I homeschool my 5 kids and we use ACE paces.  I like how the kids can work at their own pace.  I am having trouble getting my 8 yr old son to do his work tho.  We have an incentive bag that they get to pick out of on fridays but that isn't helping him anymore.  He hates school and I am lucky if he gets 20 pages done a day.  They should be getting about 30 done a day.  He started out the year doing great but now is in a funk.  I also have an 11 yr old that takes to mucn time to do his....he only did 2 pages today...no incentive on friday and lost playstation and computer....my 2 teens are doing fine, but wish we could move faster with them..lol....and my kindergardner is impossible...lol...she can read but only does it when she wants too...could use advice and all that..lol

You can take or leave this advice :-)  But perhaps PACES don't meet their learning style, OR they are getting very bored with it.  It was one of the curriculums I reasearched in the beginning and *I* would be bored after one booklet.

I would look into supplementing with some FUN stuff, or some other curricula thrown in.  Do some unit studies with all the kids together.  Take some field trips, or just go off on rabbit trails.

JMO and two cents that isn't worth it! LOL!

JC

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You might try having a couple hours each morning set aside to do ACE.  Even though Ace Paces can be done independantly, perhaps your children need a little interaction with you to get things done.  You could have them read the directions aloud to you and sit and watch them to their work and suppliment whatever they are learning in the Paces with library books and crafts and other things.  Then give them a break, and check their work.   Have the children come back and correct their work.  The children who did a good job will be done quickly and can play.  The ones who did not do much work will have to sit there for another couple hours to do their work.  Explain to them that they wasted their time in the morning, so now they can't play.  Tell them they WILL do their work.  They can do it in the morning, or they can take all the livelong day, that is their choice.

C-Mo, now you sound like me!! tehehe

I have 4 to homeschool and have the hardest time with my 14 year old.  I no longer argue, yell, or even acknowledge the fact that he is goofing off.  He knows what has to be done and if it isn't, he does NOT hunt, fish, get computer, tv, phone, or playstation privlidges until he does.  He can just sit there.  I informed him last week that he is behind in his math and until all work it caught up and done correctly, the only thing he is allowed to do is eat, go to the bathroom and breathe.  He decided to get busy and has been doing 2-3 lessons a day to catch it up.

As for ACE............I used it one year and when I had my kids tested, it put them behind a whole grade level and before that they were ahead.  It is like Switched on Schoolhouse and  Lifepac's.  It is too slow and too far behind for my kids.  Unit Studies, book studies, reports, dvd's and the library teach them soooooooooooo much more and they do not get bored.

Thanks for all the advice!!  We do have crafts and breaks and stuff.  I have even sectioned in a reading hour.  I think next year we will do it differently than the ace paces...we have started taking privilages away and making them sit there..  my 11 yr old could sit there all dang nite and still not do what he is supposed to.  But that will change..Thanks for all the advice and help all!!!

I got some sample ACE paces when I realized we weren't getting anywhere with A Beka, and my daughter had a hard time with them, too.  Found that that was part of the Asperger's Syndrome (a kind of high-functioning autism) -- she has trouble getting things from her brain to the paper, or to the keyboard.  A Beka and Ace depended on writing, and she couldn't do it.

We started doing as much as possible orally, using writing only for math, short penmanship exercises, and not much else.  If she had a couple of paragraphs to write about something, she'd often dictate while I typed.  I use a different curriculum for each subject, tailoring it to her needs.  Even with grammar, I use Easy Grammar, which has very little writing... mainly circling and underlining and such.

We just (at the recommendation of her doctor) Naturally Speaking.  Once we're finished training it to her voice, she'll be able to dictate and edit orally.

I'm not suggesting that any of your children are autistic, just that ACE may work for all your children... some may need a different approach.  I remember bringing home Cs and Ds from school because I was so bored I wouldn't do the work.  I got into a more challenging program and did much, much better because it expected more from me and was more interesting.

One of the most wonderful things about homeschooling is that you can approach each child differently, and teach them the way that works best for them.  :)