KristenR Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I keep seeing mixed reviews on this. Amazon lists it as "Young Adult" but I see two reviews where one says grades 5-8 and another that says grades 8 and up. What is it appropriate for? Also is it secular? Young earth, old earth? Creation or evolution? Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I have decided to save it for high school. I am using The Great Scientist Series that is shared by Paige Hudson, the author of ES. As far as the reading level is concerned, it appears to be upper middle school. You could certainly read this aloud. I read the parts that were offered, and I thought perhaps that the details were too much for a first time approach to studying scientists. I do not add a book of this type to history, but I add it to science along with timeline entries for science too. It is a secular resource. With that noted, you should be prepared for references to prehistory that assume a much older earth, billions of years before the marked history of 4000ish BC. I believe that it truly is going to be a child-by-child decision based on previous studies and content. :) I hope that this helped you some. http://www.joyhakim.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I have used it for logic stage. it has been a great addition to our history curriculum. It isn't religion based so old earth or whatever doesn't come into play. Evolution hasn't come up in the first book, that I have noticed. It started with the Egyptians and then moved to the Greeks etc. I brought it in for additional history reading where applicable. My son was in 5th grade last year and he liked it very much. We used it for history outlining and narrations. I have all three books and plan to use them for the entire logic stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 We have the first two. I'd say Middle school/Jr High. (DS read the 1st one for 6th, will use the 2nd for 7th). For a highschooler, the books are a nice supplement, but do not replace a highschool science or history program. I do not like them particularly because they are too busy - sidebars, boxes, color, and I do not care for the tone in which the author addresses the reader. But they do contain a lot of information, and are nicely illustrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS in LA Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I do not like them particularly because they are too busy - sidebars, boxes, color, and I do not care for the tone in which the author addresses the reader. But they do contain a lot of information, and are nicely illustrated. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I do not like them particularly because they are too busy - sidebars, boxes, color, and I do not care for the tone in which the author addresses the reader. But they do contain a lot of information, and are nicely illustrated. :iagree: , but what to replace them with. Haven't found anything, yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 :iagree: , but what to replace them with. Haven't found anything, yet. neither have we - that's why we use them, just not as a main resource, but as a nice optional addition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I bought them recently because they were a good price, but we'll be waiting a while before giving to my dd8. I think a good "replacement" for that age is this, even if you're just reading the books. http://www.bfbooks.com/History-of-Science-Pack-with-The-New-Way-Things-Work?sc=18&category=858 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 My 7th grader is using the Aristotle this year. We just began, but I pre-read most of it. I also bought the quest guide to go with it. I decided to go this direction because we are out of sequence in history and are back to Ancients. I like the idea of covering the great scientists and their discoveries in a historical context. The quest provides experiments and projects to accompany the text, but I feel they are probably too light for a high school science course. As for secular. I would consider it secular although each scientist listed is influenced by the culture and religion of their time. There are quotes from the Bible in the opening as well as other religions, but they are used to describe those times and thoughts more than to say this is a biblical truth. Joy Hakim was the Keynote at our convention, and she wrote the books to be used in homeschooling and in the public schools so she walks the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 We really love Hakim's books. As a bonus, she also just seems like a really nice person. My daughter emailed her and had a nice conversation about her books. She even sent some chapters of her new book for my daughter to read and give her opinions on. I don't think my daughter would love them so much if I just handed them to her and told her to go read. The fact we both like them and read them together makes them special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 We have the first two. I'd say Middle school/Jr High. (DS read the 1st one for 6th, will use the 2nd for 7th). For a highschooler, the books are a nice supplement, but do not replace a highschool science or history program. :iagree: I'm using them as a supplement with our world history program. I'm not attempting to line things up perfectly, just generally. For this I think they are good. I do not like them particularly because they are too busy - sidebars, boxes, color, and I do not care for the tone in which the author addresses the reader. But they do contain a lot of information, and are nicely illustrated. Yes. But I don't dislike the layout/tone in these as much as I do her US history series, which I've never been able to bring myself to use at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I just bought these and really lke them. I do agree they are a bit busy, but that can be easily dealy with. I plan to read through them for use in 5th, 6th, 7th... to be a fun bridge between science and history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine in al Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 add lots of context and structure. I was going to do this with mine this year ( 6th and 4th) but we are overwhelmed with Calvert so I'm saving them. I was hping to use them because 6th grader is never ever getting out of Ancients. I think they are great if supplimented with the John Hopkins Quest materials. They are science not religion, She honors religious truths, and myths , but is not Christian Biased, pointing out that BCE and CE are appropriate terms to use in non Christian contexts. ~christine in al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in SC Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 We are using them along with K12's Human Odyssey for my 5ht and 7th graders. I am assigning her chapters where relevant to HO Content. Chris in SC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 We love the Hakim books, but for those who don't there are other options. National Geographic http://www.amazon.com/Theories-Everything-Illustrated-History-Science/dp/0792239121/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1313591469&sr=8-10 and DK http://www.amazon.com/Science-Definitive-Visual-DK-Publishing/dp/B003R4ZHZO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313591594&sr=1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enviromommy Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I keep seeing mixed reviews on this. Amazon lists it as "Young Adult" but I see two reviews where one says grades 5-8 and another that says grades 8 and up. What is it appropriate for? Also is it secular? Young earth, old earth? Creation or evolution? Anyone? In my opinion, it's middle school. 8th grade is the oldest I'd consider it appropriate for. Totally secular. We are using it as a crossover between history and science. It's sort of a supplement to each. We love her books here, too, though I agree that they are busy. I don't like sidebars. We just go back and read them after finishing the chapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I agree about 8th being the oldest - and then only as a supplement. However, I have not seen the Quest guides - perhaps they add more meat? I think they would be interresting to anyone at any age, but for actual curriculum..... they just aren't in depth enough for what I personally consider a science course. To me - they are more history. We are using them as a supplement to our history curriculum this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I'm using them for the first time this year as a supplement to history, with a 5th grader and a 3rd grader. I am just planning on reading aloud from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.