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aprilleigh

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Everything posted by aprilleigh

  1. Looks good - I've used Campbell in the classroom (both the one-semester version that works great as a a HS text and the two-semester version). It's a good choice. Feel free to pick my brains if you need anything - science and math are what I do.
  2. Nevermind, I just realized his age is in your siggy. Nebel's science stuff says K-8, but most people use it all the way through high school. I'll be using it until high school, but my son is very math and science oriented, even at the tender age of 6. What are you using for science?
  3. How old? The age ranges are only very loose suggestions - older kids tend to go through the books faster, even if you increase the thought level required.
  4. I suspect we'd get along fine where science is concerned. I'm not an atheist by any means, but agnostic christian is a pretty good fit. For me science and faith are complimentary, like two sides of a coin - they both provide answers, but not to the same questions. If it can be demonstrated by science there is no faith involved - but it doesn't mean they're incompatible, either. You might want to look into the science program I'm using - it's written by Bernard Nebel, and the first book is called "Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding." Dr. Nebel is a Christian, but the curriculum is neither overtly nor covertly Christian. It's thorough, and as the title indicates, it focuses on learning to think like a scientist rather than focusing on learning a bunch of facts (a common failing of many science curricula at the elementary level). He's put a lot of effort into keeping the material costs down, and only a few items cost much (and those are used a lot throughout the entire curriculum, not just in a couple experiments). For example, you'll need a decent microscope (not the garbage you find at Toys R' Us, or even Lakeshore), and a triple beam balance - both of which can apparently be sold for almost as much as you paid if you take good care of them. Off-hand, those are the only two expensive items I can remember. The rest are mostly either inexpensive or homemade from stuff you find around the house.
  5. Yes, Avondale is very close - we do a lot of our shopping in that area. No, even though we're Christian I've shied away from most of the Christian homeschool groups because it seems like they're all young earth/creationist in outlook - we're not. I teach college biology, and I've studied numerous other sciences and have reached different conclusions. I don't have a problem with people disagreeing with me, but I'm tired of arguing with people who think that single topic defines what it means to be Christian. It seems like there's always one who gets militant about it. As a result, I tend to gravitate towards secular homeschooling, although we use all of the curricula from Peace Hill Press (including the Telling God's Story series by Peter Enns). For the record, I do believe God created everything, I just don't reject evolution and the scientifically established age of the universe as His methods. In the long run, I don't think it matters what we believe happened, as long as we give Him the credit.
  6. Hi Jessica, Sad to say I think this thread is dead - it's been quite a while since I stuck my foot in the door and no one ever replied to me. Where are you in AZ? We live in Laveen.
  7. I'm used to it showing up in old posts when I make changes so I never understood the concept of testing them until this board.
  8. My mother was 38 when she had her youngest, and I was the same age when I had my first. Had it been in the cards I would have been happy to have another (two months modified bed rest and 5 years without conceiving again changed that plan, but I'm okay with it). I personally thought there were lots of advantages to being an older mom, and I still think so 5 years later. Enjoy it!
  9. Actually, although I remember attending and hosting sleep-overs as a child, I couldn't tell you a single thing, good or bad, that happened at any of them. I can describe various other parties from the same time period. That may explain my stance that sleep-overs are not a necessary rite of childhood. I'm not truly against them, either, since I have permitted my son to spend the night at a friend's house whose daughter is one of his best friends. I trust them, and when it comes right down to it, that's all I really have to say about it. He's not allowed to spend the night at my mother's house without me because I have BIG problems with some of the things my mother does lately, but my ILs, my dad's ex-wife that I still refer to as my stepmom, and my brothers are all fine by me. My dad and his new wife I'm not so sure of, but recent developments have me leaning towards "okay." That's a crazy, and OT, story all by itself. That said, unless I have issues with a particular child's behavior, sleep-overs at our house are okay. I have no problem adhering to rules other parents have that are stricter than mine, whether they be about food or media content or whatever, but I need to be confident I can expect the same consideration in return.
  10. I just did a quick Google search. I had heard of him, but didn't remember the name. Oddly enough we're using Peter Enn's bible curriculum. Interesting. We'll probably still go, but I will not be attending any of his sessions. Is the creationist/young-earth viewpoint predominant with AFHE?
  11. I've been homeschooling for a year but haven't otherwise been part of the HS community, so I have no idea who Ken Ham is. Can someone fill me in? DH and I are planning to attend the AFHE convention this year, so I'm wondering what's up.
  12. I noticed that too, but wasn't willing to work around it when my background already makes me a much better math and science resource than the teachers at Covenant. I was hoping to find activities for DS5 there, but ended up deciding the offerings just didn't suit us. Perhaps when he's older we'll be able to take advantage of the programs they offer. I'm very impressed that they're so reasonable - I wouldn't have expected that.
  13. Sounds like you and I have at least some of the same issues with typical Homeschool science curricula. I had almost reached the point of just writing my own when I accidentally ran into Bernie Nebel's program (my ecology professor from Gordon College was his co-author for an Environmental Science text). We're starting it this year. I love his approach, the books are inexpensive ($30 each, and they cover approximately 3 years on average), and he provides free and ongoing support via Yahoo! Groups. I live in Laveen, but we used to live in Chandler - many of our family's care providers are still there.
  14. I live in Laveen as well, although I have a son (5) - probably not your daughter's first choice of friend. :)
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