crazyforlatin Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Are the notebooks accompanying the Exploring Creation books worth the cost (example)? There are free ones in the yahoo support group, but has anyone found the notebooking journals created by Jeannie Fulbright to add value to your child's study of the subject or make it easier for the parent in assigning copywork and doing narrations? If it makes any difference, Christianbooks has a sale on all Apologia items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlisonK Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I would like to know this too :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazymom4 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 We used the astronomy notebook this year and it was AWESOME! I never had to think (this is a big bonus to me!)...it was well laid out on what she needed to do each day. She really enjoyed it and was able to remember a TON!!! I have never looked at the free ones so I can't compare....but I highly recommend the notebooks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I had the same question about the botany one. I decided to buy it and I am very pleased! It had a schedule which I needed since botany is season related. It also has extra suggestions if your kids want to dig deeper. I am glad I purchased it and can't wait to use it! It would also depend on your kids and how much they enjoy doing notebooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I asked this a couple of months ago on my homeschool group and everyone who had used them said the workbooks were worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I'm using Apologia with a first grader, so I have not used the notebooks, as I've heard they're for older kids. I have used the freebie notebooking pages available on the Apologia site (with the samples). For a first grader, they've been perfectly fine. For a study we just did on wolves, I printed out the "Weekly Wag" 2-page spread, and we filled in some things as we read. It was easy enough to use. Yes, I had to decide what to narrate, but that's ok for his age. I can't remember the age(s) of your kid(s), so wanted to mention that if you're dealing with a youngster. ;) I've only heard good about the notebooks for older kids. They sound great. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) I'm so glad to have posted the question here, rather than agonize over it on my own. Thank you for giving me more details. I need a supplement to make teaching the books easier. The free ones online are good but they are just lines with some pictures so they are really not enough for me. I want the questions written out for me so that I can open up the book, ask them and write down DD's narrations. I don't have that much time to prepare in advance. Did you gals notice that Jeannie Fulbright has junior notebooks now (just for Astronomy and Anatomy)? I'm thinking of getting a junior one. Edited May 9, 2011 by crazyforlatin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Are there samples of the junior notebooks yet? I really haven't had to prepare anything with the freebie ones. There are usually spots in the text to suggest that you do a narration, and we do one. If there are multiple sections, we'll just pick the one he remembers the best. :) But again, he's just first grade, so I'm not too worried about retention and such. He did have fun with that "Weekly Wag". After we completed the text, we spent a few minutes googling pictures to put in there. Just be aware that if you search for "dog nose", you will come across a picture of a dog nose... sitting in someone's hand... no dog attached. :001_huh: My 4 year old wanted to use that one. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Are there samples of the junior notebooks yet? I really haven't had to prepare anything with the freebie ones. There are usually spots in the text to suggest that you do a narration, and we do one. If there are multiple sections, we'll just pick the one he remembers the best. :) But again, he's just first grade, so I'm not too worried about retention and such. He did have fun with that "Weekly Wag". After we completed the text, we spent a few minutes googling pictures to put in there. Just be aware that if you search for "dog nose", you will come across a picture of a dog nose... sitting in someone's hand... no dog attached. :001_huh: My 4 year old wanted to use that one. :tongue_smilie: I found an Astronomy Junior sample here with a table of contents. The Botany junior is here. I hope I linked to them correctly, as I'm doing this while cooking. Please let me know what you think of the junior version as I also have a younger child working on these books. I don't think we will be studying Botany this year as I heard that that book is the most difficult of the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 We have the jr. version and it is more than just lined paper which is why I decided to get them. We haven't used them yet (they are for next year) but I think they are going to work well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 We have the jr. version and it is more than just lined paper which is why I decided to get them. We haven't used them yet (they are for next year) but I think they are going to work well for us. Did you get Astronomy or Anatomy junior? We've started with Zoology but I'm willing to switch to Astronomy in order to get the benefit of a good notebook. I don't think Zoology has junior notebooks yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flobee76 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I am so glad this thread is started!! I was going to ask a similar question. :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kchara Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I use the free notebooks on Jeannie Fulbright's blog. I can't justify paying that much for a notebook, they seem rather expensive to me. The ones on Ms. Fulbright's blog aren't as "pretty" as the ones you buy, from what I've seen, and don't have some things like the crosswords, but they definitely have the basics, and are fine. I do have a subscription to notebookingpages.com, and we downloaded a wildflower notebook (we're doing Botany this year), and we add any extra pages we need with that, to keep with our theme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 If you're not certain about purchasing the notebooks, I would try the on-line ones first to see how your kids like those before spending the money. We have purchased the Botany and Zoology 3 notebooks and I think they're wonderful. I have one son who thinks they're wonderful. I have another son who begs me to let him just write a narration and be done. He writes very nice narrations, so he's not trying to get out of work; he just doesn't like the creative aspect of the notebooks. He didn't enjoy doing the free notebook pages either, so I should have known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I found an Astronomy Junior sample here with a table of contents. The Botany junior is here. I hope I linked to them correctly, as I'm doing this while cooking. Please let me know what you think of the junior version as I also have a younger child working on these books. I don't think we will be studying Botany this year as I heard that that book is the most difficult of the series. Those do look cool! We'll keep going with the freebies, since they're working fine for us, and we're just using Apologia in bits and pieces, not as our sole curriculum. If I were planning to go through a whole book, those junior notebooks would be a great addition, I think. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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