kandty Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Is the notebooking journal something that needs to be bought with the textbook? It looks important and something I would want, but I am cheap and not sure I want to spend even more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I would say it depends on the child and their age... I have a 6yo. She likes cut and paste so we did the lapbooks from RR. The biology book can be done with a simple binder with regular paper as well, so it really is up to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karensk Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 The hardcover book has everything you need. It includes instructions for notebooking, experiments, and more. Dd used the hardcover by itself last year and learned a lot! And she enjoyed it, too. The spiral-bound journal is completely optional. It's ideal if you want to have your student fill in worksheets (instead of making their own journal page) and do extra activities, e.g., a crossword, something to cut & paste. IMO it would require more time to complete than the activities in the hardcover book, so it might be a good fit with a highly motivated student who will spend extra time in science. Another option would be to just do some, not all, of the activities in the spiral-bound journal. But then you might not feel like you're getting everything out of it. ;) HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 If you go onto Apologia's website, click on the botany course, there are notebooking pages to print off. We're working through the botany book and I just print off the notebooking pages for each kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 All responses have been very helpful! Still undecided as is says it has "lesson plan" and "additional projects, experiments, and reading suggestions that encourage kids to dig deeper". :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kchara Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Jeannie Fulbright has versions of the notebooks free on her blog (she has them for writers and non writers, so you can take your pick). They're not as pretty as the paid ones at Apologia, but they definitely do the job, and have all of the major pages in them. (I think they're missing crossword games and stuff like that, but they have all of the activity pages.) We use those, along with a wildflower set I got from notebookingpages.com, and any extras I can find on the Elementary Apologia yahoo group. Works for us. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Although I'm sure that a year of botany without it would still be very worthwhile, the journal has been a real plus for us. It is spiral bound and has things grouped together in one place. The worksheets are wonderful for reinforcing points of each lesson. Yes, it's fun for hands-on activities, but really it has been more than that. By the time the year is over, dd will have a really nice journal to keep and refer back to. We are more apt to keep a book such as this than another 3-ring binder. All in all, we have used it each and every week and feel that it was worth the money. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 Thanks everyone! I went ahead and bought it. I am doing this with two ds, but I just bought one, so I am sure we will use the free resources for my youngest. So thank you for the resources, they look great! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 We bought and used the Astronomy journal. But now I am not buying one for Botany. We will just print the free journal pages on her website. The reason is that even though ds enjoyed the journal, he lost momentum half way down because there was just too much to use all. Each concept is repeated in at least three ways, which takes a lot of time. So the notebook looks filled for the first half, but not as much as he moved on to the second half. So we will just use a different way now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 We bought and used the Astronomy journal. But now I am not buying one for Botany. We will just print the free journal pages on her website. The reason is that even though ds enjoyed the journal, he lost momentum half way down because there was just too much to use all. Each concept is repeated in at least three ways, which takes a lot of time. So the notebook looks filled for the first half, but not as much as he moved on to the second half. So we will just use a different way now. If there are pages we don't need in the journal, we just tear them out. The pages that are left make a really nice keepsake journal and reference book. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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