Strawberry Queen Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I'm confused about which text I should use. My dd is 7 and I have a 5yo who loves science. I'm feeling disjointed with science, but I think that's because I haven't been consistent about my requirements (notebooking etc.) I like the astronomy text because it coordinates experiments/activities to go with the subject studied. I like the Usb. text because it's cheap (on sale at scholastic) and we have like other ones like it. So, do I go for the cheap usb first encyclopedia of space ($5), be consistent and put a bit of elbow grease in to coordinate outside books/experiments, or should I spend $50 or so on the apologia astronomy text? Oh, the other aspect that I liked about the usborne text was that my kids would take it out of the shelf to read again. I'm not sure if they would do that with the Astronomy one. TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 but you know me and my duct-taped sewing machine, LOL! When we studied space a couple of years ago with the Usborne book, it was EASY to find library books with fun astronomy activities in them. Did F. tell you I found a one dollar button holer from 1966 to go with my sewing machine?? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 For that age, I would go cheap. My dd7 loves the Usb. books. She pulls them out and reads them to herself. She takes them to bed with her. I think you will get more mileage out of that kind of enthusiasm. After you get it if you want to be more formal with it, I would take the TOC, and plan to do one topic a week. See if you can find a simple hands-on project to go with some of the topics. Then let them pick some library books from the space section on topics they want to know more about. Easy cheesy and cheap. And if it doesn't work, you can always go back and spend the $50 later and get the textbook, but you will still have the interesting $5 book that they will enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 okay that's too funny. I guess I won't mention the $40 ruffler that I bought for my machine last week. It makes gathers and ruffles. Essential equipment with 2 little girls who love to wear dresses. I am leaning towards the usb. one. I'm just having a moment of angst about it, probably because it hasn't been going well. Have you ordered from scholastic? My friend is going to order some books for me. There is a big package of usborne texts from their library of science, as well as some scholastic books-10 books for $30. It's a really good deal. They also have another package of all the First Encyclopedia's 7-$30. I'll probably get this even though I have 3 of the books, and don't want to have the dinosaur one. I'll use the extras for b-day presents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 OK, I'm not really getting how these messages are sorted, but anyway....I suppose I'll figure out more as I explore more. WOW!!!! Those are excellent prices for the Usborne books!!! No, I've never ordered from Scholastic, but I have a friend here who collects orders from people for Scholastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra in CO Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 For those ages, I'd vote Usborne too. My kids used that book at that age... which prompted them to be incredibly interested in Astronomy, so we bought Jeannie's book (which is available for less that $50!) But they still pull out the Usborne, and only my oldest usually pulls out the Astronomy text. Oh, and I've ordered from Scholastic. The quality on the Usborne books isn't quite what you'd get if you purchase the real thing, but I always found them to be "good enough" (and I sell Usborne!) Debra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 but you know me and my duct-taped sewing machine, LOL! TOO FUNNY!!! Stacy, click on the link in my signature at the bottom that says "Our own Earth science with geography/astronomy and it will take you to a page to download our lesson plans I created for 2nd grade. In the plans, there are living books (biographies, non-fiction and fiction) to read, websites to visit, titles at UnitedStreaming.com to watch (if you have it) and a weekly scheduled focus with assignments that you can pick and choose from. It's free, nothing else you could use it to create your own, the projects in The Geography Book by Caroline Arnold are fabulous for earth science. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I vote for Usborne too. I love Usborne, and I think Jeannie Fulbright's books are for 4th and up right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Well I am going to go against the norm and vote for Apologia. I enjoy Usborne books, but use them as secondary sources. Love the pictures but struggle with how the information is arranged how cluttered it is on the page and how many factoids they include. To be honest we own a lot of the younger books and not a whole lot of the older texts because they are more simple. Apologia, on the other hand, only includes information that pertains to the topic, builds on topics in a logical (to me) manner and is isn't cluttered. We will be starting Zoo 2 in about a month, and have done Botany before we started what we are doing now. The kids still remember a TON from Botany (even the 6yo), but none of them remember anything I can point to from the Usborne books we used before that (SL science). Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I vote for Usborne too. I love Usborne, and I think Jeannie Fulbright's books are for 4th and up right? If used independently yes, but read aloud they are fine for much younger. I read Botany, which is considered one of the more advanced due to the vocabulary, when my kids were 8, 7 and 5 (in other words we finished it a year ago in December). Just about a month ago I had my 5/6yo correct me on what was a veggie and fruit based on what she learned from that book. Couldn't believe she remembered it, but she was right on and I was wrong. Yep that hurt the pride a little. :rolleyes: Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 :p I love moments like that! I plan on using Jeannie Fulbright's books on the next go-round. I wish she had something on chemistry. I'm thinking about using God's Design for chemistry, but haven't decided. We'll see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted January 20, 2008 Author Share Posted January 20, 2008 Well, If you want to know what I decided...here goes. I'm going to do the usborne for right now. The cost for the Astronomy book is $45 here in Can. and I just can't justify it, although I really want it. Of course, I have been known to vacillate, and I might just get the Jeannie Fulbright text anyway. I'm soo bad:) Thanks for your advice. It helps to get a 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Well, If you want to know what I decided...here goes. I'm going to do the usborne for right now. The cost for the Astronomy book is $45 here in Can. and I just can't justify it, although I really want it. Of course, I have been known to vacillate, and I might just get the Jeannie Fulbright text anyway. I'm soo bad:) Thanks for your advice. It helps to get a 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinion. Wow that much!?! Look for it used. Even with the increased shipping I think you will find it much cheaper used. But if you do want the revised edition (where Pluto is no longer a planet) you are going to have to ask questions. Most will be the older version. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jail warden Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 To go the Usborne route depends on whether you will actually do it. For myself I KNOW I WON'T. I tried the first year and never did it. We are doing Astronomy this year and it's going very well. Did you check out the sale & swap board or ebay? I don't think I paid more than $15 for my book. You can get the experiment kit, I got the starter kit because I didn't want to pay for markers and things, but I also didn't want to search for the hard to find items. Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 I haven't actually jumped in to ordering things off ebay. The majority of homeschool stuff on swap boards is from the US. Shipping is a pain across the border (at least that's my understanding) and the homeschool community in Canada is smaller than US. I also have the problem in that I want to do it now, of course. Thanks for the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 One thing to consider if whether you care about the Creationist viewpoint of science or not. Apologia is definitely in the "young earth" camp. Since I am, too, I prefer Jeannie Fulbright's books. We have Usborne, too, but for our science text, I prefer one written from that standpoint. We did Astronomy last year and my son still pulls it off the shelf and reads it, more than he does our other space and astronomy books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 Thanks for the input Rhonda. I'm still waffling over the whole science thing:) I'm glad to hear that other kids will pull those texts off the shelf. Hmmm this just makes it that much harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I just planned our astronomy unit for my 7 year old boy this weekend. I am using the Evan Moor Exploring Space book for his "notebooking" (no elbow grease required). I will also use the usborne first book of space and other library books. He likes cut/paste stuff so we will do a few crafts from enchanted learning. Easy and cheap.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 On Pluto . . . We''ve been using considering God's Creation for science and because pluto is included as a planet, it sparked a great discussion about why it's no longer a planet and why scientist have to "change" their theories/minds etc. I think if I could get a cheaper version of the book with pluto in it, I wouldn't mind (but then again, I'm always looking for a bargain :D ). Dorinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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