Apologia science

[Embassy]

For those who use Apologia science and like it, can you tell me what you like about it? I'm looking for a science curriculum for my older son for next school year. So far I have only used living books and Real Science 4 Kids. I liked both of them. Apologia seems so popular so I keep looking at it. Every time I do I wonder why it is so popular.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

For those who use Apologia science and like it, can you tell me what you like about it? I'm looking for a science curriculum for my older son for next school year. So far I have only used living books and Real Science 4 Kids. I liked both of them. Apologia seems so popular so I keep looking at it. Every time I do I wonder why it is so popular.

 

 

It goes so in detail that my 2nd grader can hold adult conversations about astronomy. The zoology 1,2 & 3 by far surpass ANY biology curriculum I have found (and I HAVE been looking) I love that it is written so my daughter can not only understand, but she can use words most people can not believe an 8 year old uses, BUT also tell them what it means. She can explain thermonuclear fusion so clearly and detailed my mother in law was speechless (do you KNOW how hard it is to make MY mother in law SPEECHLESS!!!!!!!!!!:001_huh:)

 

It is an AMAZING curriculum!!!!!! I will NEVER switch science curriculum!

[Jeanine in TX]

My 5th gr ds enjoyed Astronomy. He really learned a lot.

 

We are looking forward to using the new Human Body text.

[AK_Homesteaders]

We used Apologia Astronomy this year and greatly enjoyed it. My boys did lots of hands on things outside of the book. They love notebooking and lapbooking. BUT, they thought it was excessive and got tired of learning so much about astronomy day after day. They learned an incredible amount, have retained it, and amaze people with their vocabulary and understanding. But, they were just not interested in getting into that much detail right now. Maybe it's just because they're boys.???

 

We have all of the Elementary Apologia books. My boys love them and pull them out often, asking me to read something to them or do a project. But, they don't like doing it day in and day out. Too much of one thing for them. However, they also don't like totally switching gears each week, either like many of the science programs do. We have found a good balance for our daily science curriculum to be Noeo Science. It uses real books they love and it has lots of great experiments and activities. When they are really into a topic, we read additional books, look online and do other projects. Sometimes they pull out one of the Apologia books and we work on that for a while, especially if it's a topic that fits with what we're studying. This works best for us.

 

I wanted and was all ready to do Botany this upcoming year with my boys, but decided that if they thought Astronomy was "too much of a good thing", then I'd have to sit on them to go through that much botany. I think it's wonderful to pick a topic and do a thorough study, but you have to balance that with your child's learning style. So, in a nutshell, Apologia is wonderful and we love it! But, it's not a perfect fit for our family on a daily basis.

 

Jenny

[....]

We've also used Zoology 1 and 2. It is a Charlotte Mason -type approach to science (that's what their back cover told me).

 

It is very, very detailed...in fact...I have a Bachelor of Science in Biology and I am constantly learning things in the textbooks.

 

I think these books are written for a Middle School level (even though they are labeled elementary school) and if you have a younger kid, they are going to need you there every second you guys are reading through the textbook.

 

There are some experiments and notebooking. The Swimming Creatures textbook includes making an Ocean Box - which is pretty cool.

 

The pictures in the zoology book are incredible. My kids sit there are draw sketches of the animals onto paper - when there's no school...:glare:

 

My kids are very science-oriented. Animal Planet is CONSTANTLY playing at our house. We recently went to a herpetology convention and my 1st grader corrected me in front of one of the herpetologists and the man said that my 1st grader was correct. So, my kids are really into science and they enjoy Apologia.

 

However, my friend (they also homeschool) took one look at our Apologia text and said, "No way." She said her kids would get bored and would not be able to make it through.

 

Sooo, it's not for everybody...

[Suzannah]

We've used Botany, Astronomy and Swimming Creatures. It is written in an engaging narrative style. There is at least one experiment or science activity in each chapter, thought there are sometimes more. You can get free notebooking pages from Jeannie Fullbright's website.

 

We used Botany when DS was in 5th grade and DD listened-in while coloring. She always wanted to be where we were. We did Astronomy for 6th/1st and both kids really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. This year DS has an outside class for Apologia General Science but he enjoyed listening in when we did DD's Swimming Creatures.

 

Until this year I had only used the books for a semester. This year I thought of it as a whole year course but we finished the book a couple of weeks ago. We definitely could have stretched it out with additional reading, more narrations, more experiments, etc if I'd wanted to.

 

HTH Good luck!

[TXMary2]

I like the elementary series because of the conversational tone, the creationist worldview and the easy to do experiments and projects. This is just my opinion, but I think these are better suited for 3rd grade and up to really get the most out of the books. I did all the books with my middle ds (except Botany)- we did them 4th -7th and they were wonderful. We now use the upper level Apologia. I plan on using the elementary series with my youngest when he gets to third grade because I figure by then he should be on a more appropriate reading and comprehension level to get the most from these books.

[AK_Homesteaders]

:iagree: The Astronomy is written for the younger children, but the others are too much (IMO) until the child is about 3rd grade level, at least to get the most out of it. All of us learn so much when we read the books, but I think my boys sort of zone in and out. The activities are great fun, and my boys live for those, and as another poster said, the pictures are fantastic and so engaging. They really make my boys want to learn more about the subjects. That's why I'm definitely keeping my books, and on a low shelf for my boys to use at will. We very well may come back to them in a year or so as our science curriculum.

 

Even though we did lots of extras with Astronomy and went at a slow pace, we easily finished in 21 weeks of school. If a family started the series when the child was a little older, it would still be easy to cover the entire series at a leisurely pace.

 

Jenny

[Kari C in SC]

I like the elementary series because of the conversational tone, the creationist worldview and the easy to do experiments and projects. This is just my opinion, but I think these are better suited for 3rd grade and up to really get the most out of the books. I did all the books with my middle ds (except Botany)- we did them 4th -7th and they were wonderful. We now use the upper level Apologia. I plan on using the elementary series with my youngest when he gets to third grade because I figure by then he should be on a more appropriate reading and comprehension level to get the most from these books.

 

:iagree:

 

We have used Astronomy, Zoology 1 and 3. I am planning on doing Zoology 2 and the Human body next year. We started this in 5th grade with lapbooking. I really love doing this with my dd, niece and nephew. We sit around the table and read together. Then we fill in the lapbooks and just discuss it. They love the activities. It is just easy to use and full of info. I have learned so much!

 

I tried Astronomy with my dd when she was in 1st grade. She did pick up on some stuff, but not nearly as much as doing this with her in 6th grade. My 5 year old learned a little bit listening with us, but I think it really is more suited for older kids.

[FO4UR]

My ds7 has loved Astronomy and Zoo 1. We did the "bugs" section of Zoo 1 last summer...he was 6yo teaching all his neighborhood friends about the different types of insect mouths as they caught their bugs.:tongue_smilie: *I* didn't know insects had different types of mouths before reading that to ds.

 

It is very detailed, but it fits my ds7. He tired of the Kingfisher Animal Encyclopedia and library books on animals for his stage long ago...Apologia gives tons of info, but it's reachable for young ones.

 

We went to a duck pond with friends a couple weeks ago, and he was lecturing anyone who would listen on the types of feathers he was finding:lol:. I think he could have a future as a Zoologist someday...