Why I use Abeka Homeschool curriculum

My two youngest children have not always been homeschooled. They were put in private school in K4 and I let them go through the first grade in that private school. Campus Prep Academy used Abeka curriculum. It is what my kids were use to. I checked it out online and found out you could buy it for home use, and that's what I started using. I checked into a few other curriculum but they either didn't seem to fit my needs or were way too expensive. I have 2 children to buy for, so spending $950 per year per student was out of my reach. Oh, I probably could have talked my husband into spend 2 grand on one year's homeschool curriculum, but even my own frugal sensibilities wouldn't let me do that. SO, I buy 2 sets of the "boxed" curriculum. Both of mine are in the 4th grade this year. And, NO they aren't twins. I have an 8 yr old son and a 9 yr old daughter. My son was/is gifted and he just is not challenged at his own grade level, so I bumped him up to the 4th grade this year and he is doing much better and being challenged. He is no longer bored with school like he was.
We do what I have read to be called "school-at-home". We get up every morning and start school at the same time, in our dining/school room and we do every subject (language, spelling, reading, penmanship, math, science, history, book of virtues) every day. Then the kids have an art class I take them to on Thursday's at our local Southern Cultural heritage Center where they are taught by the local high school Art teachers how to paint, sculp, etc.
I am not against public school for anybody who goes that route. It's just homeschool was right for us.
I homeschooled my oldest child, who is 24 yrs old now, from the time he was in 7th grade through the 12th grade using textbooks similar to the ones they used in the local Texas school system. We lived in Tx at the time (MS now). Manufactirers such as Saxon, Globe Fearon, McGraw-Hill. It was much easier just homeschooling one, but it is not hard homeschooling these 2 since they are both in the same grade. I don't see how those moms out there homeschool 3 or 4 different kids all in different grades. I guess you get a system down and it gets easier as you go along, but I am glad I don't have to try it.
I am going to try out a new curriculum next year. That very expensive curriculum I mentioned earlier. Calvert curriculum. The reason being, it is a secular curriculum. The Abeka is a christian curriculum and it is all my children have ever known, however, they are getting up to an age where the Science is getting more advanced and I want them to have a secular Science program. I do not want them being taught that the Earth is only 6,000 years old because that is not what I believe to be true. And most christian curriculum Science programs come at you from a 'young Earth' approach. SO, it is time for us to switch.
However, I am attempting to get 2 sets of the Calvert curriculum USED off Ebay. You can get them for less than $200 a set but some are not complete... have one or two books missing. But I think through homeschool classified websites and other resources I have found, I can find the missing elements to the curriculum.
The Abeka curriculum cost me $200 per each child set of books and an additional $270 for the parent/teacher set. Once you add in the few extra books I had to buy to complete the teacher set and the outrageous shipping costs, it ended up costing me about $850 for the year for both kids. With this used Calvert curriculum it will cost me less than $400 and the parent manuals come with the kids set of curriculum.
One of my Ebay auctions actually ends in a few hours, cross your fingers for me. And the other one ends in 2 days. I will let you know if I get one or both of them.
I am always interested in talking to people about what kind of curriculum they use because most people don't buy 'boxed' curriculum, and they piece different stuff together from different sources, and it enables me to learn more about what's out there. So let's keep talking about it!!

UPDATE: One of my Ebay auctions ended this afternoon and I won the auction, so I now have ONE set of the Calvert curriculum. Waiting on the other auction to end to see if I got the second one. This auction price was $129 plus $14 shipping so I am super excited to get one whole curriculum for less than $150.00!! To buy it new off the website is almost a grand!