Are A Beka Teacher Manuals necessary?

I like to open the TM and just start teaching with little planning ahead like AAR and Sonlight Core. We are doing things a little bit differently this year and have made some changes and additions to our line up. We homeschool year round and I am gearing up for the big start for this year. I already purchased A Beka Language 2 and 3 and the Our America books for 2nd and 3rd. I thought I could get away with out purchasing any of the TMs but now I am thinking I need them. The History books to me look like glorified storybooks and I am not sure how to schedule it. The Language books look easy enough where I don’t need the TM for the answers but does it have more instructions for each page?
Can anybody who has used/is using A Beka help shed some light on how the TMs helped you.

I know in K4 and K5 the curriculum guides tell you exactly what to teach and how to use everything. Not sure in older grades if things are the same.

I know some people don’t get them, but I feel like they are necessary to ensure I am not leaving something out.

I have only done K4 and am doing K5 now, so I don’t have any experience with the older grades. I think they are essential (especially for phonics/reading/math) because they give extra activities that reinforce the learning. I plan on getting them for every grade I teach.

I agree with the others about the need for the TMs for teaching K5. It was extremely helpful for me when I was starting out. However, I used A Beka from K5- 3rd and I only used the TM for K5. It was pretty self explanatory in the student pages. For History I simply read aloud and scheduled 1 section per 2 weeks and that gave me enough time to read it all and do an activity as well that related to it, like a craft or something if we had time.
I too had asked a friend who uses A Beka if she used the TMs and when she said no I felt reassured that I did not need them.

I have used all the TM except for Our America 2, this is my opinion.

Language 2. I think you can do it without the TM. Phonics and Language are taught together but the lesson plans are more focused on phonics. There is just a little paragraph about language in each lesson with very simple explanations. The student book is supposed to be done independently. You can just follow the number of lesson which is at the bottom of each page. I have the TM because we use also the phonics and spelling portion, but if you are using only Language you don’t need it.
Language 3. I do recommend the TM. It tells you exactly how to introduce a new concept, how and when to review, how to guide your child in the creative writing exercises, etc. I really like this TM and found it very helpful.
Our American Heritage 3. I also recommend the TM. It tells you the pages to read and include comprehension questions for each section, more than those included in the textbook. I don’t know if you are using them, but it tells you when to do the quizzes, tests, and map skill sheets.
Our America 2. The lesson plans are in the Teacher Edition. I have not used it. I just divided the number of pages between the number of weeks to see how many pages we needed to do. You can also add your own fun activities. History is not evaluated in second grade, the book is used mostly as a reader. I have used the Science teacher edition and like it, but I don’t have experience with the History TE.
Hope this helps!

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Thank You Elizabeth. That is exactly the advice I needed!