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BJU Press offers both curriculum for purchase and a distance learning solution. The texts cover all core subjects with a Christian worldview, critical thinking, and hands-on learning.
Website: BJU Press
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(44 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
I think there is a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed
Grades Used: Grade 11 Algebra 2
I used BJU distance learning for math from 6-8 grade and loved it. My daughter took Algebra 1 at a hybrid school and was more than well prepared, acing the course. We are now back to Algebra 2 distance learning with BJU and I am highly diappointed. The videos do not line up well with the problems presented for homework resulting in WAY to much time on our part trying to figue out how to do the problems that were not presented in the video. For example, the video instruction today was just over 6 minutes. Several problems were not addressed or not fully addressed in the video. The instructor could have easily done more examples to include problems like those presented and to help solidfy the ones that were. This is almost an every day occurance so far (we just completed day 21), although typically the videos are longer....still same problem. I paid a lot for this but I feel I should be paid for my work!
Cons: Environmental push
Grades Used: 10th
The maps are wonderful and overall views of various culture and history were good. I felt it pushed an environmental view a little too much but overall it was a good curriculum. I did like the tests and activity book. My son took it 10th grade. The maps to locate places was good too. It was easy for my son to follow a manageable schedule each week. I gave him 1-2 weeks each lesson. There were 24 lessons.
Cons: too many essays, too many assignments, long days, too many problems for math, not enough math help, need to get more simple
Grades Used: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11
long and bad days, too much work, too many essays, to much work. the work load is too much, math problems are too hard. I am not very happy. They need to teach math better.
Cons: Needs more Diversity like most other Curriculums
Grades Used: K4-10th
BJU Distance Learning Online (DLO) with the New Homeschoolhub is Awesome. It really helps keeps things organized each school day. The kids can work independently with a planned workday calendar. I have 4 students in grades k4, 2nd, 4th and 10th. I also just had my fifth child in December and we were able to keep things flowing during that time.
The curriculum is of good quality and covers all areas in each subject. I have used Abeka, Christian Light Education, Etc and they all seem comparable to topics, just in a different order and different paces. I like that BJU is more hands on and uses manipulatives a lot. There are no perfect curriculums but the good outweighs the bad in my opinion. Whatever I don’t want to use can be skipped.
Homeschoolhub has been such a great improvement to our school each day. The parent can log in and grade assignments, skip assignments, retest students, add other classes or activities into the students calendar. A lot of flexibility with this platform.
The DLO with video teacher and books is setup like a mini college and each class comes with a syllabus that allows you and the student to keep a schedule of the assignments for each school day. Digital grading is available for tests and quizzes starting in 5th grade. This features saves a lot of time on grading.
I have seen complaints about some of the videos being outdated and it seems they are updating classes each year. My kids didn’t mind much. We have used k4-10th grade so far.
I just want people considering this curriculum to know that you can make it work for you. Even if it’s just a few classes at a time. I like to use just the core classes for videos at times because They have discounts on video classes through the homeworks by precepts consultants.
I have had a great experience with BJU and the customer service has always been helpful when I’ve called for help with ordering or using the Homeschoolhub Platform.
I don’t leave many reviews but this curriculum has really made schooling multiple children doable and less stressful.
VERY disappointed that you are unable to return unused books and never signed into online classes. Definitely going to reconsider curriculum I use going forward. BJU will not be my top pick. It's expensive to start and then a short return policy for those trying to prepare for the next school year at home.
Cons: Demanding
Grades Used: 5,6,7,8,9
We have used BJU for 5 years now. We love it. They use the Word of God as the ultimate authority and the books have amazing quality. The videos are engaging and factual. It takes us about 5 hours to complete our school day. The online resources they have a great too. The teachers are qualified and engaging too. Thankful for this homeschooling option.
Cons: Disorganized, confusing, mistakes, typos, uncreative
Grades Used: K
We purchased BJU press Focus on Fives and Math K5. We feel that the material is highly disorganized and that the authors made little effort to make the system user-friendly. They included the wrong CD with that math curriculum, which added to the confusion.
The songs and the poems are not poetic or creative at all, and lack depth and inspiration.
There are countless mistakes, like when they ask you to cut pumpkins out of the appendix for lesson 9 in Math K5, but then the other side of the page has mud puddles that are needed for lesson 11. Apparently you can print these from the CD but why not just make it consistent and either have everything provided on paper or have everything be printed by the parent. Why cause this confusion and time consumption by having the parent check the appendix to see if a page is ruined by a previous lesson because it was printed double sided?
The Focus on Fives had a chart of vowels on a lady-bug. It included letters W and Y are potential vowels. It is correct to say that Y is sometimes a vowel. However, W is NEVER a vowel by itself. It is wrong to include W on this chart. W can only be a vowel if it accompanied by other certain vowels. Things like this can really set the wrong foundation for the child.
This is just the tip of the iceberg and I really do not think there was any real effort put into putting this curriculum together. I understand it was created by teachers and many lessons actually direct the lessons at a group of students. We do not have time to read through things that do not apply to our situation, which is one-on-one instruction. The teachers definitely have the knowledge of many different tools for teaching little ones but throwing it all together into a big confusing pile and letting the parent sort through the mess is not the way to go!
Grades Used: 3
Anti Catholic to the max!!!! I’m embarrassed to just finally research and figure this out after hearing many abut Catholic comments from 3rd grade Heritage Studies! Will disregard this class and switch studies next year! I’m beyond disappointed and disgusted!
Cons: Not always Factual
Grades Used: 9-12
I use this to teach Biology and Chemistry, as well as upper-level math, and I can't stand it. I love that it is taught from a Christian perspective. However, the material is so anti-secular that some of it is wrong. My degree is in science, I know biology and chemistry extremely well. This program does not explain everything to the student and it complicates things for the teacher. I'm switching back to a secular publisher and then using my time with the students to remind them of the truth.
Cons: Too complicated
Grades Used: 11
While the books provide good information, the overall program is unnecessarily complicated for each subject. A program like K12 is superior in its design and execution of schooling. BJU may be Christian but I would not recommend it to other people, based on the fact that you have to jump between videos,multiple books, tests, and reviews in a more complicated way than needed. Honestly I wish my parents got me K12.
Cons: some videos need to be updated
Grades Used: 5, 6
I LOVE BJU Distance Learning Online. I use it for my 5th and 6th graders and it has made life SO much easier for all of us. We use it for Bible, English and Spelling right now. The videos are just the right length and the assignments are appropriate. I particularly like how English alternates between grammar and writing chapters (and includes diagramming!!!).
The teachers are engaging, especially the Eng 5 teacher. My daugther just loves her. I will say, it makes a huge difference whether you have updated video instruction. Some of the instruction is dated, which really does take away from the content. I know it's difficult for BJU to keep the videos updated, but updated videos will be make-or-break for my future purchases.
I love how you can tailor the curriculum to meet your needs. If I am confident that my student knows the material, I can skip lessons or entire chapters.
The parent site allows me to stay hands-on and keep an eye on everything my kids are doing. I'm excited to continue our journey with BJU DLO and highly recommend it.
Cons: Curriculum too easy
Grades Used: Kindergarten
We are doing kindergarten DVD. I like that it is easy to follow and my daughter likes the songs. I am very unhappy with the level of the curriculum. I have another child who is in public school and he did most of what is being taught in BJU kindergarten when he was in preK. I wish I had known this and I would have gone ahead and bought 1st grade or maybe another program all together. Because of this, it does not keep my daughters attention since the work is too easy.
Cons: Teacher's manuals not included, but have to be downloaded or purchased separately
Grades Used: 2, 7, 10
Abeka vs. BJU... review from experience!!
We have been using BJU Press Distance Learning Online for my daughter since August 18th, 2017. I am very pleased with how it's going so far. The materials arrived very quickly.. around 5 days from when I paid the first payment. I like that the down payment and monthly installments are affordable. I wish the teacher materials, printed versions, came with the package. The curriculum/BJU online is NOT accredited unless you pay extra. The fully accredited version that is nationally recognized costs $800 extra up front, so instead of about $280 to start, it is around $1100. The monthly installments are around $116 per month for 6 months, which is not bad at all. There is a version that is recognized in Iowa, where the school is located, and it costs $50 for them to monitor the students progress and create a report card. It is called the Academy for Home Education. This is acceptable to most college institutions according to what I have read. I plan on upgrading her to this plan so that she has an official report card. there is a way to print out a Progress Report, which is sufficient to prove that your child is learning (according to state mandates)
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT BJU: The online system for the parent and child is integrated. My screen shows what my student is supposed to do, and resources for myself and her. If she checks the box that the assignment is complete, it shows on my screen as well. All of the quizzes and tests are graded instantly and appear on my dashboard for my review. I love this!! I can review it and give her credit for those that are simply misspelled. It updates the grade instantly.
For the homework, I have pdf versions of everything I need to support her and check her daily assignments. There is some work on the part of the parent to monitor the work completed. I don't mind this at all, because I'm fully committed to making sure she succeeds.
This program is much better than ABeka in my opinion. My son is using Abeka for his 10th grade year. It's much more labor intensive for both of us, as opposed to my daughter's curriculum with BJU, which takes about 2 hours less per day.
The instruction videos in Abeka include a full class time with students reading, prayer time, homework check, students doing classwork, etc. Only about half of it is actual instruction from the teacher, which is all we need. My son can do the assignment on his own once he receives the instruction. There is a lot of wasted time on the Abeka videos. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to watch each video, and he has 6! Math, English, Bible, Science, History and an elective.
With BJU- my daughter's, her videos are short, and there may be 3 in math, each explaining a concept (around 5 minutes long each) The instructor uses a white board screen of some sort to work out the problems. The student guide gives them a list of what to do that day that corresponds with the instruction. I love that!!
The homework/assignment portion is not as long as Abeka as well. There may be homework/assignments in 2 or three classes with BJU, but with Abeka, the assignments and "extras" are never ending.
The Student Guide included on the Studen'ts Dashboard is awesome. It tells them everything that they need to have (materials, and references the pages) the video, or quiz or assignment to complete. That is always the first box for the day. The second box will be the video instruction. The third box will be the assignment to complete. There could be more boxes to check depending on how many concepts are taught on that day.
The materials for Abeka and BJU are very similar, but I like the media and pictures in the BJU texts better. The videos also include little programs similar to a PBS show or something. They are engaging and provide visual aids to the student.
The Accrediation, costs and materials for Abeka are much cheaper. All included, for Abeka, its around $980 for the year (about $280 up front, and $140 a month for 5 months) All the videos (online or DVD's) are included, along with the student texts, teacher's manuals, paper tests and quizzes and all keys for the texts, tests and quizzes. I love that about Abeka. It is an awesome value for a fully accredited, nationwide program. It is not for children with any sort of learning disability. It is for smart kids with a heart to learn and listen carefully and for kids who don't mind the extra work, knowing it will better prepare them for college.
For kids who still want to be challenged, but have a hard time staying in one place for 6 hours a day watching videos, BJU is a better fit. The assignments are shorter, but the material is still comprehensive. BJU is more media rich, which my daughter craved.
The grading system for Abeka is not too bad if you do the paper version. I would not recommend doing the online tests, because we had a very hard time with it. There is no access to the tests or answers, or to see what you made on a test or quiz for a number of weeks. This is incredibly frustrating for the student. If I were to purchase all the paper materials separately, it would costs hundreds extra. Abeka only gives you once choice... all online with student texts, or all paper and you have to grade everything on your own. This STINKS! If Abeka could condense or edit their videos to only include instruction and include a parent portal to key-in grades or grade the online tests immediately, it would be much better.
BJU has given us the best of both worlds. We have the convenience of online testing, but I also have pdf versions of everything at my fingertips, and I can go in after the automated system grades my daughter's tests or quizzes and review it with her and give her credit for ones that she made a typo on.
If she made a bad grade, I have two choices in the Test Review section on my dashboard. I can "Reset Test" or click "Review". I love, love, love that feature... just as if the student was in a traditional school, the teacher can allow them to retake the test, but they don't give them any answers. They just tell them that they didn't pass and give them an opportunity to study for one more night and take it again. This is KEY for us! My daughter has good days and bad.. and she really needs this flexibility. Last week, she had a big exam over the first several chapters in science. She didn't understand a couple of the questions, so she just typed in the box "I don't understand this question" She did this on two questions and on two others, she misspelled a word. I was able to go in, review it, and ask her to answer those questions verbally, making sure she understood the question, and give her credit for them. It brought her grade up to an 82%. The look on her face was priceless. She was so happy. Before we reviewed it, the automated system had given her a 68%, and she was so disappointed.
With Abeka online testing... there is no way to print the test out.. .which is key for math tests.... I like to pull up the pdf version of the tests/quizzes for my daughter using BJU, because she is very visual. She can make notes, underline words, etc. My son was literally pulling his hair out with Abeka online. We called them and switched over to paper tests and they sent them to us at no additional charge. I was grateful for that. I just told them that we didn't like the online testing.
It was a pain to switch testing options mid stream, and he had to retake about 20 quizzes/tests when they arrived and he spent around 3 days doing that, which set him behind. He is now feeling much better about the program. We have a good system going and will continue with Abeka until next year. We will definitely use BJU Online, the fully accredited "Bridgeway Academy" with them next year... so I'd better start saving my money. LOL
I hope this review has helped you. Feel free to reach out to me with more questions.
Cons: Expensive
Grades Used: 1st and 2nd
I've tried several other math programs but BJU was the best fit for us. My kids enjoyed the fun characters that went along with the book. Easy to understand and works for many different learning styles. The manipulative's are great for the hands on learner!
We have also used English, Phonics, Spelling, Heritage Studies, and Science. Very happy with all subjects. We have tried both parent led and distance learning. I would definitely recommend this curriculum to others.
Cons: disorganized, inconsistent, doesn't live up to their own expectations
Grades Used: 1, 3, 7, 9
Extremely disorganized. Their "planner" is sometimes all together and sometimes interspersed with work pages. The shipments were a complete mess. I ordered four grade levels. I received 18 boxes, all with two or three or four different grade levels in each box. There was absolutely no organization to how they packed the boxes. Teacher materials was packed with student materials of a different grade level. Checking in everything was extremely time consuming because of their chaotic way of packing. Some items were damaged, yet I paid full price for those items. (They sell those damaged items for a 30% discount in their store.)
Many times the planner indicated I needed to get out a page for one of the children to do. When I could not find I called in. They asked me if I looked in various places (online or handouts) and told me to call back after I looked. Many times I could not find and I'd call again, be put on hold for 20 minutes, only for them to inform me they don't use that particular handout anymore.
My salesperson strongly suggested I pay an extra $100 for the student planners. I did NOT need that because all the planners were included in with the materials already.
You are almost required to watch an orientation video for each subject for each student. This is many, many, many hours of video time. This really is an unrealistic expectation.
I had chosen Bob Jones because of their commitment to excellence for the Lord. They do NOT live this out in their distance learning line of business.
Grades Used: 11
Physics DVDs are full of uncorrected errors making it confusing to my student. We have to guess what the instructor really meant. DVDs were made from telecourses in 2005. Much of the time is spent in outdated information pertaining to the telecourse students. These comments should have been edited before being sold to DVD students. Teacher/student worksheet packets in very unorganized fashion. The "Days" do not correspond to each other. Errors in the test questions/answers. Makes it very confusing. Do not recommend this course.
Cons: Expensive
Grades Used: K5, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6 th, 7th
I have used BjuPress distance learning for 8 years and my oldest is 13. We currently use the complete grade online for all three children. It has been a wonderful journey and my children score above average on their standardized tests. For me it is the least stressful way to homeschool. We tailor the program to fit our needs so the kids can finish the work in about 4 hours. The online tests are hard as others mention but you can also order paper tests which are easier. The important thing is the learning. We love it!
[ STUDENT PERSPECTIVE ]
Hello,
My name is Ashley and I go to a small christian school in North Carolina and have been in the Bob Jones curriculum for 5 years. Personally, this curriculum on the student side is horrendous! The textbook itself is not bad entirely, although my own English teacher as found grammar errors in the grammar textbook, the test is where the problem lies the most. The Bob Jones tests ask questions from the chapter(s) that were very small details that were not addressed much in their reviews or homework questions. My High School teachers usually had to write their own test because the questions on the Bob Jones test were so specific and irrational questions. It is as if they test questions are trying to trip you. It's not as difficult as the Abeka curriculum, which I took from 1st grade to 3nd grade, but it is more challenging in the sense that the outline of test are confusing and way too specific. I am a senior this year and will be graduating in May but if I can pass any wisdom to moms considering using this curriculum for homeschooling or a christian school researching about this, please don't! It's not professional.
Hope that helped someone.
Have a blessed day! C:
Cons: Requires extensive Spanish knowledge by parent
Grades Used: Highschool
Spanish 1 - I purchased the homeschool kit because it has such a great Christian world view. It has weekly Bible verses to memorize and a missionary focus.
However, this product appears to have been designed by and for classroom use by an experienced Spanish teacher. The teaching method is language immersion and this is almost impossible for a home school parent unless you are well versed in Spanish.
Additionally, the student text and activities manual were extremely difficult to coordinate with the teacher's manual. I never did figure out what constituted a weekly lesson or daily lesson.
We tried really hard to use and like this product because of the beautiful concept of using the Bible and Bible verses to learn Spanish, but sadly, it proved too difficult.
Cons: Science has way to many activities...materials are hard to find.. expensive
Grades Used: 2,3,4,&5
My children were in public school at first. They did tell me they were not doing History or Science in public school. Also they have complained about the work being hard...especially in Math. I have noticed with 5th grade Math I do have to teach the entire lesson, which can take up to 20-30 minutes to teach. Mind you I have 3 grades I am teaching, so that takes a big chunk of my time!
When you have multiple grades to teach it can become overwhelming at times...that's why I chose Bob Jones. It fits many different learning styles and it has all the lesson plans already done for you. Of course sometimes I switch it up. I don't like that it's so expensive and all the science activities, but for now I am planning on doing the online version once my kids reach high school level.
I have also been thinking of doing a different science curriculum once we get to 7th grade.
The most important reason I chose this curriculum was because it was from a Christian view. My kids have learned so much from Bible. That's the biggest gift that it has been able to let me teach them!
Cons: ineffective way to teach reading, math not very advanced
Grades Used: 1st, 2nd math and reading
I wanted to like the BJU reading program, and I tried hard to like it, but I have to say that it really didn't work for my two girls. What happened is that both of my girls taught themselves at age four to read after a brief introduction to phonics, but I wanted them to have a broad knowledge of phonics rules rather than just the intuitive understanding they seemed to have. I had decided not to use A Beka (though it's quite well-liked) or Rod and Staff (seemed too "boring" even though many recommended it), and I liked the cute way BJU teaches short and long vowels (Mrs. Short, Mr. Short, Miss Long with her dog Marker e, etc.). But one of my daughters still can't consistently identify short and long vowels. You spend so much time trying to explain the cute clues and then they don't really retain the information, which is clearly very frustrating. The math was pretty good, but then I started looking at A Beka's math and realized BJU's is not very advanced. It's also missing speed drills, so my girls weren't really memorizing their facts. I switched to A Beka math and am really liking that so far. As for teaching my two boys to read, I'm going to be using Rod and Staff. My mom used it with me for first grade, and I remember liking it and learning phonics really well, but somehow I thought I needed to jazz things up for my own kids. I'm regretting that choice today. I should mention that I was trained as a teacher and got a masters in reading education, so I've seen a huge variety of methods of teaching reading, but I'm still convinced that sometimes the best options are the simple, tried-and-true, traditional methods. . . .
Years ago I used 2nd grade history for another child so when we went back to homeschooling this year, I bought the hard drive kits for grades 1 and 7. Grade 1 was easy peasy. My first grader was already a confident reader so if anything it was too easy.
Grade 7--no so. The instruction is so thorough that it is very difficult to study for tests. Section quizes average 5 questions per section. Even combined with the other quizzes and reviews, this does not cover what all will appear on the test. I have looked through the book expecting somewhere to find this information in bold or somewhere signified, but much of the test is random details from the chapter.
Test taking became an agonizing struggle for us. Either I "studied the test" with my student or I had to go over the whole chapter again and the information was such overload that my student hates history now.
He was making straight A's when I took him out of public school, but now even taking into consideration the adjustment to homeschooling, at the end of the year I don't know how we can do Bob Jones again next year.
I don't have time to rewrite tests to be relevant to the pertinent information and the teachers don't do a good enough job of preparing students for what is expected on the tests and what to study. I'm very disappointed because while I want a thorough curriculum I just don't feel this curriculum is age appropriate especially where testing is involved.
Cons: Expensive
Grades Used: 4/5
We have used BJU Bible Truths this year. My son is 4th grade, but I found a used TE for 5th grade (the TE are expensive!). I decided we would give it a try. We have loved it. Because I am involved in all of the lessons the grade level really didn't matter. My son hates to sing. We have done a couple of the Hymn lesson, but most of them we skip. There are reviews included, but don't use those. We have loved this so much that we have bought Math and English for next year. Like all BJU the parent has to be involved in the lessons. If you buy the TE, student workbook and all of the suggested items, BJU is expensive, but I do love it!
Grades Used: Elementary and High School
We loved BJU math for elementary aged children, and now we use BJU Biology and Literature courses. They are very informative, interesting, and provide some challenge too.