I'd like to say that the two preceding reviews (from John316 and Geri) are both accurate. I graduated from an ACE school as valedictorian and maintained excellent grades in college. So even though I agree that ACE may appear to be a grade behind compared to other curriculums, they make up for it at some point or we wouldn't do so well in college!

Now that I am homeschooling my own children, I had my oldest do the ACE diagnostic test. She had to do a few make-up PACEs but was diagnosed as a 5th grader while she was currently doing 3rd grade work. So she totally skipped 4th grade! I figured this was due to my child being much smarted than I thought and me not giving her challenging enough work OR that the grade requirements for ACE were a little below average (as Geri said, a grade behind).

This curriculum is excellent for those who read well. They can do all of it on their own with occasional help. I myself would have preferred a classroom setting for learning math. While I graduated a year or more ahead in every subject, I had two years of math to do my senior year (but I didn't have ANY other subjects because they were all done at least the previous year!).

So figure out your child's learning style and then try to choose an appropriate curriculum for that style. My sister is switching her children from ABECKA to ACE in certain subjects. Don't just chose the grade in ACE that your child is in right now - DO THE DIAGNOSTIC test. This does ensure that the student starts at whatever level they are actually at in a particular subject (and any gaps in their learning are covered by "gap PACES.").

My second eldest is taking the diagnostic test to start the ACE curriculum this fall (previously doing Sonlight with her because of her reading ability). Once she learned to read, her learning style changed and she's really taken off, reading book after book and building her library. Thus, she will be starting Word Building in the 5th grade, but other subjects are 3rd grade (her appropriate grade level).

I will soon have 3 infants/toddlers in my house so I will not (and have not) been able to give the schooling of my three older children all the attention necessary. Thus, switching to ACE will relieve me of "teaching" their classes. I will be working on helping my son (just turned 8) learn to read better this summer and maybe he will start ACE also but that will depend on his learning style and the fact that he is a boy (older two are girls).

I love that ACE is STRONGLY biblical in every aspect of it's teaching and based on my experience (having graduated from it and starting my children in it) I would highly recommend it to anyone (keeping in mind child's learning style).

If you are changing from one curriculum to PACE be sure to test online before you purchase. You may be a year behind or a year ahead in some cases, and you want to make sure you choose the correct grade. It depends on the curriculum you are changing from. That said, my friend's daughter graduated from ACE, and is at the top of all of her classes at college. She has received scholarships, and is very intelligent. I switched from the curriculum we were on and struggling in, and wow, what a world of difference it is in our family. My son enjoys school, and PACES are so easy to travel with. As well as, the curriculum builds and builds until my son is doing multiple things. He is growing with it in many different ways. We are definitely loving ACE'S PACES. They have solid content, and I see the fruits of his future when I see my friend's daughter doing so well in college. My only wish is that we had been with ACE from the beginning. We are thrilled with ACE....! Its been a huge blessing.

We purchased this curriculum this year after using Bob Jones for 3 years with our daughter and 6 years with our son. Big mistake. There are wonderful character building skills in each book, and solid biblical principles but the material is at least a grade behind. They've already learned most of what is in these books from previous grades. I would recommend this to a friend with the advice to go a grade ahead of what grade your child is actually in.