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**Tiarali** · (This post was last modified: 06-24-2012 06:02 PM by Tiarali.)

Somebody online did the most sarcastic "fan" fiction based on the PACE characters. It was pretty awesome. I'll look for it when I'm at my computer.

Here you go! All you ever need to know about the PACE characters Smile

Sophie · (This post was last modified: 06-24-2012 09:23 PM by Sophie.)

(06-24-2012 02:36 PM)pastors wife Wrote: That style of learning worked well for some students - I enjoyed meeting my goals and filling in my chart - but it was terrible for others.

You're right about it working great for some students but not for others. Personally, I've always been pretty good at teaching myself, so this system was no problem for me and I frequently got ahead. But my sister, who has autism, struggled with the reading/memorizing routine. She got extremely behind and the teachers (who were unlicensed and completely incapable of dealing with learning disorders) were always saying things like "I don't understand why this is so hard for you." (They also got upset with her for falling asleep in class every day, even though we told them it was a side effect of her medication. Cuz y'know, mental disorders don't actually exist. Clearly she's just lazy and rebellious.)

And tiarali, that's hilarious!! Poor ole' Pudge... and Ronny's leather jacket and blue jeans were a sure sign of wickedness.

leaving · 06-24-2012, 09:27 PM

(06-24-2012 08:56 PM)Sophie Wrote:
(06-24-2012 02:36 PM)pastors wife Wrote: That style of learning worked well for some students - I enjoyed meeting my goals and filling in my chart - but it was terrible for others.

You're right about it working great for some students but not for others. Personally, I've always been pretty good at teaching myself, so this system was no problem for me and I frequently got ahead. But my sister, who has autism, struggled with the reading/memorizing routine. She got extremely behind and the teachers (who were unlicensed and completely incapable of dealing with learning disorders) were always saying things like "I don't understand why this is so hard for you." (They also got upset with her for falling asleep in class every day, even though we told them it was a side effect of her medication. Cuz y'know, mental disorders don't actually exist. Clearly she's just lazy and rebellious.)

And tiarali, that's hilarious!! Poor ole' Pudge... and Ronny's leather jacket and blue jeans were a sure sign of wickedness.

The fact that you learned something is a bonus. Yes, some children are good at teaching themselves, but that does not make ACE a good curriculum. It's a very bad curriculum but some were lucky enough to learn some things. There are so many gaps in the learning and also one can memorize facts without understanding said facts.

Sophie · 06-24-2012, 09:47 PM

(06-24-2012 09:27 PM)leaving Wrote: The fact that you learned something is a bonus. Yes, some children are good at teaching themselves, but that does not make ACE a good curriculum. It's a very bad curriculum but some were lucky enough to learn some things. There are so many gaps in the learning and also one can memorize facts without understanding said facts.

True... I managed to squeak through algebra without actually grasping many of the concepts. It wasn't til college (thank goodness my parents talked me out of going to Fundy U) that I finally understood what the "powers of i" were.

notdrinkingthekoolaid · 06-24-2012, 10:46 PM

Thankfully I never did ACE. Mr. NDTK grew up in an ACE school. He's very intelligent but the transition into college was difficult.

Sophie · 06-24-2012, 11:36 PM

Wish I could find more of those comics... Tongue

Wythy · 06-25-2012, 12:09 AM

I went to an ACE school in Florida (Harvest Christian Academy of Camp Tracey fame). My parents taught me to read before I went to school, so I spent the first few hours finishing a booklet then the rest of the day helping other students (most of them older than I). In 3rd grade, I transferred to an ABEKA school. I couldn't add or subtract, and I spent a year learning how to pay attention because I was so used to self-paced, self-absorbed study. Most of my friends who graduated from the ACE curriculum can't spell/use grammar/discuss history or science in any meaningful way. This may be more of a fault of their imbibing screwdrivers at school rather than the curriculum. I do not know because I did not experience the higher level curriculum.
I did have an overly developed conscience. Once, in 2nd grade, while grading my booklet, I saw the answers to a page I hadn't graded. I used/remembered the answers. For a year, I was guilt-ridden over cheating. In 3rd grade, in my new school, I went forward sobbing after a chapel service to confess my sin. As extreme as that was, I never ever considered coming close to cheating again...

dramaturge · 06-25-2012, 12:37 AM

(06-24-2012 09:47 PM)Sophie Wrote:
(06-24-2012 09:27 PM)leaving Wrote: The fact that you learned something is a bonus. Yes, some children are good at teaching themselves, but that does not make ACE a good curriculum. It's a very bad curriculum but some were lucky enough to learn some things. There are so many gaps in the learning and also one can memorize facts without understanding said facts.

True... I managed to squeak through algebra without actually grasping many of the concepts. It wasn't til college (thank goodness my parents talked me out of going to Fundy U) that I finally understood what the "powers of i" were.

This is the foundational problem with the ACE curriculum. Yes, kids who can memorize and work through workbooks get good grades, but ACE doesn't teach you how to learn, or critical thinking, or a number of deeper concepts within subjects. It's not as terrible for lower elementary where memorizing basic facts is the primary objective. It's very bad when you get beyond lower elementary when the objective is to build on the facts with analysis, inference, and application. Many self-motivated students do get through all right but missing some important conceptual and analytical skills. There's just so much better out there. I would much rather a student go through ABeka than ACE, and ABeka isn't a bastion of critical thought, to say the least.

We did a few PACEs in school (I was homeschooled), but almost entirely for enrichment subjects (music, art, sewing, some Bible, that kind of thing). We tried a couple of maths, as I recall, and it was...not good. We didn't do that again. haha.

~~Persnickety Polecat~~ · 06-25-2012, 08:47 AM

(06-24-2012 03:54 PM)bean Wrote: Education is about lighting a fire and stirring the mind and spirit to be curious, not regurgitating answers.

I'm a homeschooling mom, not a professional educator, but yes -- a thousand times, yes!

elfdream · 06-25-2012, 09:16 AM

I went through them for one year. I was the type that memorized things very easily. Dates, history was a piece of cake. Literature was easy.

v=x/t)

See that. I could regurgitate the physics equations but I could not tell you one thing about what they actually MEANT!