I have been going to homeschool conventions for many years now, and have been homeschooling since my 16 year old was in PreK. This past spring I spent some time at a booth I had mostly ignored all of these years and really dove into looking at Alpha Omega’s LIFEPAC curriculum. This was sparked by a need to switch a few things up, especially for one of my kids. I spent hours at the booth browsing and asking questions. In the end I have decided to give LIFEPAC a try for a few subjects!

In addition to being personally interested, I was contacted by Alpha Omega to ask if I would be interested in reviewing a subject from LIFEPAC – one branch of their homeschool curriculum options. This worked out very well, as you can imagine, and I said yes! They sent me History/Geography for my 4th grader and 7th grader!

My daughter is going into 4th and my son is going into 7th. I wanted to be sure we liked the format of LIFEPAC before I bought the other subjects I am interested in, so we completed the first unit to give us a feel for it.

What is LIFEPAC?

LIFEPAC is a Christian homeschool curriculum for grades K-12. Designed by a team of accomplished educators with years of classroom experience, LIFEPAC is based on the principle of mastery learning. Students master content in each unit worktext before progressing to the next. Ten LIFEPAC worktexts provide one full year of learning content per grade level; individual worktexts can also be used as supplemental material. In addition, you can mix and match subjects or grade level worktexts to personalize your student’s curriculum content. Individual worktexts take approximately 3 to 4 weeks to complete.

What SHE Thought…

I must be honest, when I first showed it to my daughter {rising 4th grader}, she took one look and frowned. Not a fan. I encouraged her to give it a chance and no joke – by the end of the first lesson, she loved it. I did it with her, although eventually it may become a subject she can do on her own.

After our first lesson I asked her why she decided she did actually like it. She told me that when she first saw all of the words and blanks she thought it would be boring but once we started reading she actually enjoyed learning what we read about. I think she liked that we did it together too, which is fine with me. I want to make it fun for her instead of just another workbook. The workbook gives me a clear guide to spring from!

Want a peek inside of the workbook she is using? You can download great samples here on the AOP website. Just scroll down and you’ll see the links to samples.

What HE Thought…

It was my rising 7th grader that inspired my initial investigation into LIFEPAC. There are a few reasons for this, all centered around his gymnastics. He trains 6 days a week, many hours per day. Homeschooling has allowed him to pursue his dream but I know that the hours we actually spend doing school are only going to increase as he gets older. I wanted a curriculum that would be easy for him to take to the gym with him – the magazine format of LIFEPAC intrigued me. I didn’t want him having to carry several big textbooks just to get one simple assignment done during his break.

He doesn’t really care what publisher I choose, he just wants to get his schoolwork done and get to gymnastics. As we worked through the first unit of LIFEPAC History/Geography he didn’t love or hate it. He did like the smaller book and said that will be much easier when he needs to take it to the gym {or anywhere}.

Want a peek inside of the workbook he is using? You can download great samples here on the AOP website. Just scroll down and you’ll see the links to samples.

What MOM Thinks…

I love…

• small books
• simple planning
• text and worksheets all in one
• two subjects combined in one {history and geography}
• Christian worldview

I love that the year is divided into 10 smaller books, this just works with my brain. I adore this concept. I made a planning sheet and was able to duplicate it for each kid since the layout is the same! I am all for simple planning. I love that we don’t have a separate textbook and workbook – the idea of them being all in one is genius. The only downside of this is not being able to reuse it, but at this point I see the value in keeping it all together like this and just making the investment.

In the beginning of our homeschool journey I thought I would reuse curriculum with each younger child but now I see how different my kids are. The Apologia science is a great example. We loved it for my oldest but know it is not a good fit for the next kid. So it isn’t getting reused anyway! At this point in our homeschooling, simple is KEY. The worktext format is perfect for us!

The fact that this particular subject covers history and geography from a Christian worldview is a great fit for us. I love that these two subjects are woven together and look forward to diving in deeper with my kids.

If you have any questions about our experience with LIFEPAC, please leave a comment and I will do my best to answer! If you’d like to purchase LIFEPAC for your homeschool you can do that here!