Christian Light Education - tell me more

[HeatherDanae]

I'm intrigued with CLE. I hear great reviews about it, but I'm unfamiliar with the curriculum. How does it compare to Abeka...grade wise? Is it as advanced or more relaxed? I would be interested in possibly the Language arts, Reading, Math, and Bible for my 2nd grader and Kindergartener for next year. Also interested in using HOD, I wonder if CLE would be a good fit with it..?

Any personal thoughts or experiences on the curriculum would be helpful as well! Thank you!!

[marliah]

We really like it, I would say its similar to abeka, there's LOTS of repetition so things get learned really well. My one son who loves workbooks loves cle. My son who is more a literature fan does not like it because there is o much writing and workbook stuff. I think it's overall a nice curriculum, we have been using it for 3 years now

Edited to add: they have samples from the workbooks on the website which I find to be very helpful, shows a lot of what is offered in the lightunits.

[stephcrouse]

I'm interested to hear what people think about it. I just ordered the math and readers for my second grader, but liked the looks of all of it! I was just worried too much of one thing (workbooks) might get old real quick! I will combine it with MFW or HOD most likely...

[melissamomof3girls]

We use HOD, CLE Math, Rod & Staff for English & Spelling

We used MFW for 4 years and Singapore Math. Neither one worked well for us and every year seemed to get more frustrating.

We love everything we are using now!

We love CLE because of I feel it includes both mental & memorization, which is best for my children. The teacher's guide walks me through and the kids love the flash cards, time drills, and progress they make in the light units.

We are using 100's, 200's, and 300's of the Math.

We are using Little Hearts, Beyond, & Bigger this year and love every one! I love the individual time I get with each child.

I would love to answer any more specific questions for you I can. Just let me know.

[Luvingmy4boys]

We just finished the CLE Kindergarten II Little Light Workbooks yesterday. I love how simple and easy it is to follow and use. My boys usually knew what they had to do just by looking at the page which is nice and allowed them to work a little more independently. The teacher's manuals are great and tell you what you should say or do and also include a copy of the kid's page with answers. I'm not too fond of it being just black and white and wish they had a color option in particular for Math.

Overall, I do like it and would use it again. It has repetition and my boys learned very easily. I am switching things up a bit right now but if it doesn't go as planned, I'll be back to CLE. I'm planning on using CLE Social Studies for 1st grade since it's very simple and easy to explain.

[Luvingmy4boys]

double post

[stephcrouse]

Originally Posted by melissamomof3girls We use HOD, CLE Math, Rod & Staff for English & Spelling We used MFW for 4 years and Singapore Math. Neither one worked well for us and every year seemed to get more frustrating. We love everything we are using now! We love CLE because of I feel it includes both mental & memorization, which is best for my children. The teacher's guide walks me through and the kids love the flash cards, time drills, and progress they make in the light units. We are using 100's, 200's, and 300's of the Math. We are using Little Hearts, Beyond, & Bigger this year and love every one! I love the individual time I get with each child. I would love to answer any more specific questions for you I can. Just let me know.

I am halfway through mfw adventures and singapore math 1b/2a. I am planning on doing hod bigger for 3rd next year, but wasn't sure if I should stick with the singapore math 2a/2b or do the level 3 books.
I went ahead and ordered the cle math100. I wasn't sure where she would place, so I ordered all of the 100 level light units, and I can see that she is beyond most of them...not sure where we should start. I don't want to back up too far, because I don't want her to get too far behind. However, it is apparent that she is struggling with her facts and that makes it all overwhelming. She really freaks out when she sees a whole page of double or triple column problems!
I also ordered the cle flash cards. Just not sure where to start, or if this is right for her...
I ordered the readings books for practice, and now I wish I had gotten the light units too.

R & s is the English 2 that is scheduled with bigger right?

[Luvingmy4boys]

I just ordered the first half of CLE Math for 1st grade. I started with Singapore Math Essentials but my boys who don't complain about their workbooks didn't like it and personally, I found it more difficult to teach since they don't give you too much info to go by. They actually asked me for their other workbooks (which was the CLE Kinder II) that we just completed. It provides enough repetition for them to feel confident at what they are doing. They learn much more readily if they aren't getting frustrated learning and I think CLE has allowed them to learn easily since it has a gentle approach introducing new concepts.

[HeatherDanae]

Wow, thanks everyone for your responses! I just ordered CLE's math and LA for 2nd grade. I'm excited!!

[loulou belle]

I have used CLE math 200, 300, 400 and now 500. I will use math 100 next year. The math program is wonderful for my non-mathy kid. She took a standardized test when she completed level 300. She was a 4th grader, and took the 4th grade test. (Long story, pulled her from PS and she was that far behind ) She placed 2.5 grade levels ahead in math according to the test scores.

I have also used their LA and reading, but moved on to other things.