BJU Press Vs Abeka: Which Christian Curriculum is Better

Are you struggling to choose between BJU Press and Abeka for your Christian homeschool curriculum needs? Today, I'll give you a detailed comparison of both, leaving no stone unturned as I explore their similarities and differences. We'll compare BJU Press and Abeka in terms of content, price, teaching method, and overall effectiveness.

The aim is to help you make the best decision for your homeschool journey. 

Hi, I'm Rebecca Devitt, a homeschool mom and curriculum expert with personal experience using both BJU Press and Abeka. My unique perspective will guide you through this comprehensive comparison.

I'll give you my opinion of these programs.

For this post, I've distilled literally hundreds of Facebook comments on Abeka vs. BJU Press and will show you what I've found.

This article will help you make the best choice for your homeschool journey.

Let's start by exploring the similarities and then the differences between these two well-known programs, which will help you make an informed decision.

Affiliate links used in this post (I’m affiliated with both companies).

Similarities: Abeka vs BJU Press

Let’s think about how these two programs are the same and why they’re so often compared.

Easy-to-Use, Open-and-Go

What’s the most common reason so many people love these programs?

The main reason is that you can give your children a high-quality education without leading the lessons yourself.

Both are a good option for parents who want to work and homeschool at the same time.

That’s because both curriculums (when used with video lessons) are open-and-go meaning you don’t need to spend much time prepping lessons when they’re small, and older students can do all the work independently when they’re past grade 2.

You don't need to worry about whether your child is getting a good education - because it's clear they are.

Christian Content

Both Abeka and BJU Press promote a strong gospel-centered Christian message throughout all their content.

For me as a homeschool mama, the most important thing I want to teach my children is that Jesus died for their sins and they can have forgivness and eternal life with him.

So I love that these programs teach the gospel message continually.

BJU Press places a heavy emphasis on teaching from a biblical worldview.

Both programs offer the Bible subject in all grades.

Using either program will give your child an excellent grounding in Christian behavior, theology, and the gospel.

Robust vs Easy

Okay, now let's consider whether you want a robust (or rigorous) curriculum or something that's easier to use.

If you're planning on using either of these programs, you should know they're both pretty rigorous—your kids will not receive a public school education!

Abeka is known for being particularly advanced - some say it's an entire grade year ahead of public school students.

Christian School Curriculum

Also, how do you feel about using a curriculum that's used in a school?

Well, both these programs are used in Christian schools all over America.

Their homeschool programs are adapted to a homeschool environment, but essentially, your child is studying a traditional Christian school curriculum.

However, BJU Press video courses make lessons more adaptable to homeschooling.

The Homeschool Hub provides flexibility and planning for the parent, so everything is at their fingertips, which is different than a school resource. It allows you to customize the course, the lesson content, what you grade, and so on. 

Homeschool Hours Taken

Indeed, these programs generally take a little longer than many other homeschool programs, and each child is taught individually.

Why does it take longer?

Kids are learning more, and there is more material to complete and study (some call this busywork).

Parents can use their discretion to skip lessons if they think their child has the concept down pat.

I also sometimes skip portions of review sections in their regular lessons—these are usually at the bottom of the lesson pages at the end.

I use BJU Press, and we skip roughly a quarter of the math work because my son scores over 90% on all the tests.

However, he's not so good at reading, and we do all the extra work we can get our hands on.

So it's nice because you have that reinforcement work if they need it.

Individual Learning

Also, how do you feel about children learning individually (that is, not teaching history or science together as a family)?

With BJU Press and Abeka, everything is taught for each individual child.

There are no shared video lessons or textbooks, as you see with Gather Round or Notgrass.

That is, you can't bundle teaching your grade 3 student with your grade 5 student.

Teachers Manuals

Also, if you choose the offline, textbook-only version, you'll receive physical teacher's manuals (you get these in PDF form if you go with video lesson versions, by the way).

Using the textbook only version (or the Teachers’ Manuals version) is much more involved for parents to teach and takes much longer.

This will be great if you want to get really involved in homeschool lessons.

But for most of us, the video lesson option will be 90% easier (so much easier!!!). If you're vacillating between options, I'd definitely say the video lessons!

But which curriculum is easier to use if you go with the manuals?

Teaching with teachers' manuals is hard with both versions.

However, when I looked at the online forum, I noticed that people tended to prefer the BJU Press Teachers' Manuals over the Abeka ones.

Accreditation

Also, have you thought about accreditation?

Many people want an accredited curriculum because they know it will be high quality and roughly follow what private schools teach.

Both companies offer accredited and unaccredited versions.

Accreditation through Abeka is through Abeka Academy.

Accreditation through BJU Press is through the Academy of Home Education.

Having accreditation adds a small cost to the program.

But if you get the unaccredited version, your kids will honestly study precisely the same stuff.

If you go with the accredited version, your kids will now be classified as studying in an online school (not technically a homeschool anymore).

Does this make a big difference to your 'homeschool '?

Not really.

It's just a name.

However, if you're sending your kids back to school, you may find it easier to prove what you've been up to with an accredited transcript.

But that's only relevant for short-term homeschoolers.

If your child is going to college, an accredited program with a transcript can be handy for colleges to see, but it is not always necessary.

Spiral or Mastery-Based Learning?

Next, have you considered how you want your children to learn?

Do you want them to master a subject and then move on to the next concept?

Or do you want them to learn a subject in detail and slowly return to a more complex way of examining the issue?

The latter way of learning is called spiral learning, whereas the former is called mastery-based learning.

Abeka and BJU Press tend to favor the spiral way of learning, and this is no surprise since their curriculum is adapted from a school setting, which always tends to use a spiral way of learning.

However, BJU Press offers their math curriculum as a spiral curriculum with the opportunity to master it. They always advise that students should skip a concept once they’ve mastered it.

Differences: BJU Press Vs. Abeka

Okay, let's switch gears and discuss the differences between BJU Press and Abeka.

Cost of BJU Press Vs Abeka

Firstly, how attached are you to your money?

Well, one of these programs is significantly cheaper than the other for what appears to be a very similar curriculum.

And that program is BJU Press.

When you compare grade 1 independent study with video lessons, Abeka costs $1,349. BJU Press is just $1,049, which is $300 cheaper!

Grade 12 features a similar price difference. It's important to note that you can customize electives for grade 12 in both curricula.

Checkout the links to both these programs above so you can toggle the different things you get for each grade package.

Textbook and Workbook Appearance

Also, how do you feel about how your textbooks and workbooks look?

Having a nice layout and appearance can make kids more excited about learning.

When I looked at the online forums, I noticed that many felt BJU publications had a better layout and were more attractive in appearance.

Having said that, they both provide a colorful layout and are visually appealing.

Length of Video Lessons

Now, in terms of video lessons, I have already mentioned that both programs take longer than your average homeschool program.

However, BJU Press video lessons tend to be much shorter than Abeka video lessons.

Sometimes, they're half the length.

Given that many lessons take between 20 minutes and an hour and 15 minutes, shorter lessons can be more engaging for children due to their brevity!

Up to Date?

When looking at the online forums, some mothers mentioned that Abeka can sometimes be a little outdated.

Having said this, BJU Press also has the odd older video lesson version.

But, in general, BJU Press is much more up-to-date than Abeka.

Memorization and Reasoning

Next, consider how you feel about memorization vs teaching reasoning skills.

Some parents in the online Facebook forum mentioned that Abeka is heavy on memorization and drills. In contrast, BJU Press is heavier on teaching the 'why' or the reasoning behind a concept.

BJU Press also has plenty of review time sections and drill training, but there's undoubtedly less repetition with BJU Press.

Phonics

One thing Abeka got better marks from the public than BJU Press was their phonics program.

Quite a few people commented they'd use Abeka for phonics and BJU Press for everything else.

This may be partly because Abeka is so heavy on memorization. It assists children in learning phonics, and memorization helps with effective phonics learning.

Classroom versus To-The-Child Filming

Next, do your children want a cozy chat with a teacher who knows they're homeschoolers, or do they want to feel like they're part of a school classroom full of kids?

Abeka videos are filmed in a classroom with the teacher teaching grade students of that age.

So the Abeka setting makes it feel like your child is in a private school setting.

BJU Press videos are set up in a studio background made specifically for the subject being taught.

The teacher then has a nice, friendly chat with students as she teaches them one-on-one, making it feel as if your child is in a homeschool setting.

BJU Press teachers assume your child is a homeschooler, and the homeschool parent is presented as an authority figure the child loves.

For example, my son's teacher often says, 'Now let's show Mom what we've learned on the worktext page.'

Support

Next, have you considered what happens when you run into an issue?

How much support will you get with each program?

Between the two, BJU Press again clearly offers better support.

Customer support is more helpful and supportive.

Whereas Abeka doesn't have as good quality support and could be more helpful.

Free Hotel Meetings

BJU Press is actively involved in the community and hosts many free hotel meetings.

This further supports the point I mentioned before about the better support BJU Press gives and demonstrates its commitment to helping out.

In contrast, Abeka used to hold hotel meetings for homeschooled parents but does so rarely now.

Furthermore, Abeka only attends a few homeschool conventions each year.

BJU Press is present at lots of conventions and is more extensively involved.

This is a post from an online homeschool group where someone asks simply, “BJU vs Abeka?”

Which is Better - Abeka or BJU Press?

So which program is better?

Both of these Christian homeschool curriculum programs will give your child an excellent biblical and academic education.

Both are open-and-go and very easy to use.

My vote goes with BJU Press (as does the vote of the majority in the online forums - see picture above), but I am also a big fan of Abeka.

If you want to check out the Abeka and BJU Press programs more, watch the videos below.