GaHadley Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 just wondering if anyone uses it and if you enjoyed it? I'm looking at options for our first grade next year. TIA :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Here's our review... We've completed Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day and just started Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. The books (in my opinion) are written for a middle school audience. Having said that...my kids are 2nd and 1st grade and LOVED these books. Absolutely loved them... There is no way they can grasp everything that is covered in the text, but it is a very Charlotte Mason-y approach to science. There are experiments and notebooking activities thrown in each chapter - so you could mix it up a little. In the beginning, I was making them draw pictures of insects they found outside and label their body parts - stuff like that. My kids are also enthralled with the pictures. They look through the pictures over and over. If your kids are very science-y, then this would work for them, but we're friends with another homeschool family and they took one look at it and cringed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friederike in Persia Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 We do Apologia ever so often. I wouldn't say that it's very "sciency", because it isn't experiment based. But I personally think that's not that necessary at grammar and logic stage. I myself had little exposure to experiments at that age and did very well as a science major at university. That wasn't your question tough. The astronomy book we've used and the botany one we're just starting are very thorough and they can do a fair share of it on their own, which is a plus of sorts. You are aware that they are outspokenly Christian. If you don't believe in creation then there are some sections about that ever so often. But most Christians still use secular books too and just talk it through with their kids, so I think that could be easily done in reverse. If you do believe in creation it's a nice change to not have to explain all the time why evolution is a theory. It depends on how you scedule your science lessons, but one book didn't take us a year (it actually took a bit more than half a year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christielee7278 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 We have just a few more weeks left of Astronomy and LOVE it! We will be using the rest of Apologia's elementary series as well as Gen Science next year with my oldest!! I haven't seen the Zoo books yet and I have heard that they are geared a little higher grade-wise. However I thought Astronomy was perfect for my k'ner....and 6th grader. Both have learned SO much this year!! My k'ner knows the planets and about the sun, space rocks, and Earth's moon; and he can recite quite a few facts about each. I am really surprised at how much they both have retained. We don't do many of the experiments, only the ones that appeal to us. We do the notebooking suggestions. My k'ner dictates to me what he learns each day and my 6th grader of course does his own notebooking. They especially like the part of drawing each planet. I also printed off the lapbooking pages found on a yahoo group (The name has slipped my mind. I can find it later if you would like.) I have some pictures of what we have done so far on my blog under Weekly Report. I usually find some You Tube videos of different aspects of each chapter. For example when we studied Earth, I found videos on the different layers of the Earth and more info about the atmosphere. When we studied about the moon, we watched the video of Neil Armstrong. Just some fun extra stuff like that to go along with the book. You don't need those things but my boys like the pictures and videos. I am not a sciency person. My 6th grader tends to be sciency and my k'ner just likes to have fun with all of his schoolwork. Apologia has been a great fit for all of us! I enjoy teaching it. I think I have heard that the majority of Creation talk is in Astronomy, and I can see why as it talks about how the solar system was formed and why Earth was perfectly made for us. So obviously there is a lot of Creation talk in this book. The author talks from a Young Earth perspective. We believe in Old Earth Creation but I thought those little YE parts were easily tweaked. Just from what I've heard about the other books in the series and what I've seen in Astronomy, I think this book is the best to start with if you plan on doing the whole series. Great series!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I'm trying to remember why our friends didn't like the Apologia science (just to give you a different POV before you buy it)...like I said, we really like it... but our friends have a 2nd grader and 1st grader. I let them look through the book and the parents were instantly like, "No way." I think the parents thought it was written at a higher level than they operate on and I think it was just way too detailed for them... :confused: You can look at sample pages on their website...also there's supposedly a workbook you can get with the Zoology series that looks like fun - but this workbook I've only seen on the Apologia website itself. I never could find the workbook for the Zoology series on the other sites (like christianbook.com)... I looked recently too. :confused: Oh well, hope this helps you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 My first grader is using it right now, but he's doing it with his fourth grade sister. It would be too much for him to do alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle l Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I'm doing Zoology 1 - Flying Creatures with my 10, 8, and 5 year olds. They LOVE it. It's not so much that they love listening to the book, but they love th learning that is taking place. They LOVE knowing about birds. I had no idea young kids would be so excited about identifying birds in our yard, but they really are passionate about it. I think the thing is that it's hard to be interested in the world around you when you don't know any details about it. Their interest is being piqued because of what they are learning. So, I guess it isn't the book that they love so much as the result of going through the book, if that makes sense. We well definitely continue with Apologia. Oh, I should mention that my youngest is able to retain more than I would have expected, and enjoys the notebook pages. She sometimes puts more into them than her brothers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 We are in Zoo I with a 1st grader. LOVE IT!!!:D Although, my 1st grader has always been an animal lover....and completely exhausted books like the Kingfisher Animal Encyclopedia and the animal info books at the library at 4yo and 5yo. So, for him, Apologia is a nice step up. The pictures are great and the writing is easy to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I did not like Birds with a 1st and 2nd grader - but now I am doing Botany with a 2nd and 3rd grader and we LOVE it. I think it's experiment-y enough - we've built a light box, started seeds, taken seeds apart, and are testing seed growth in different environments - all part way into week 2. I bought the notebook from CBD and it's an awesome compliment to the course. It's almost TOO much, but we pick and choose what we'll notebook about and leave it at that. We're also doing Answers in Genesis ecosystems as a part of MFW ECC and I don't like it anywhere near as much as Apologia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classically Minded Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 We have been using Apologia's Astronomy this year and we absolutely love it! :) We plan on doing Zoology 1 next and continue on from there. My daughter is K but doing some 1st grade work and she is having no problems with it and loved building the solar system! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura W. Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 The books (in my opinion) are written for a middle school audience. :iagree: I tried Apologia Astronomy with my oldest when she was in 2nd grade. It did not work for us at all. I think there were several factors - 1) it was too detailed for her, 2) the style of presentation of the material, and 3) some (but by no means all) the activities were more suited to older children and she didn't enjoy them/couldn't do them well. Apologia will work for some younger elementary children, but not others. The pictures are gorgeous and very appealing to some children. If your child likes a chatty style of presentation (sorry, I can't think of a better way of describing it), it could work. If they like lots of details or are fascinated with a specific science topic, it could work, too. I've known several families who used it with younger children and really enjoyed it. Hopefully you can get a copy to look at and decide if it will work with your family at this time. Blessings, Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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