Looking for Apologia info

[Jenny in GA]

Science has been my nemesis: We've done it with no curriculum, tried RS4K and Elemental Science, and are back to no curriculum again ... which is okay for now, but I'd really rather find something I like eventually.

 

I'm one of the many people who really wishes there was a science curriculum in the format and style of SOTW, and someone suggested that Apologia would fit the bill.

 

I feel like I don't read much about Apologia on these boards. If you've used it, what are your likes and dislikes? IS is like SOTW?

 

What are the experiements like? Are they very complicated? Do they involve boiling red cabbage? (shudder)

 

My hesitation is that, although we are Christians, we are definitely not a YE family. Also, I've seen science materials that are really more like a Bible lessons kind of "disguised" as science, IMO. Is Apologia like that? Is it possible to work about the YE issue?

 

If we were to try it, does it matter which order? For example, I had ordered ES's "Biology for the Grammar Stage" for my fourth grade child, only to realize later that it was considered a first grade book. Is Apologia like that, or should we just start with the subject that interests us the most?

 

BTW, my kids are 10 and 8, and one of them really really really likes science, especially biology and, to a slightly lesser extent, astronomy.

 

Thanks for any input!

[Jay3fer]

Hmm... We're doing Zoology 1 (Flying Creatures) and, hesitatingly, I'd say it IS more like SOTW than other science curricula. Mostly, you sit down and read it. I can't really speak to all the experiments in all the books, but so far, there is nothing terribly daunting. You can always skip something you don't love and watch a video or find an alternative experiment online. I bought Elemental Science, hoping it would be like SOTW, living-books-based, but it was simply NOT. This is far closer to what I was hoping for.

 

As for who I am... DEFINITELY not a YE Christian. We're Jewish, and fairly flexible in some of our ideas about age of the earth, dinosaurs, etc. I have to edit as I read, and frankly, some of what's in there I consider silly and/or not exactly science, as such. But as I blogged recently, I would rather edit stuff OUT than try to edit God's hand in creation IN to our science curriculum. So there you have it...

 

By the way, I also just bought A Child's Geography for the same reason - wanting more of a living book that we could sit down and enjoy together...

[Jenny in GA]

Oh, and another question -- what are the notebooking journals like, and would you say they're an integral part?

[acurtis75]

I would say I use it like SOTW. We are doing Anatomy & Physiology. We really like it but I can say that would not be true if dd wasn't a great reader and able to read the chapters on her own. They are very wordy and I would hate to have to read them to her. I read/scan it. She reads a chapter. We do the activities in the notebook and then get library books on the same topic. The notebook includes suggestions for books and sometimes dvd's for each chapter. I probably wouldn't like it as much without the notebook. The chapter for each notebook typically has a Bible verse for copywork, some pages for writing down key things you learned in the chapter, a "what do you remember" section which is kind of like the narration prompts in the SOTW activity guide, a chart for labeling the body parts you learned in that chapter, a crossword puzzle, and some sort of mini-book or craft/fun project. There's also what the book calls your "personal person" which is one of dd's favorite activities. After each chapter you add a transparent copy of the body system you just learned to a picture of your child they tape in the book. I realize it doesn't make sense as I'm typing it but it's fun for her.

 

I will confess that we don't always get to the experiments. So far we just read about most of them. I bought the kit from Rainbow Resources and plan to do them all at the end as a review.

 

We take several weeks per chapter and sometimes I write in some answers for dd on the narration questions because it's a lot of writing.

 

As for the YE issue, I would say most of the information in this particular book doesn't have anything to do with the age of the earth. There are references to God's design titled "Creation Confirmation" in each chapter but not specifics about creation or evolution. For example, in the introductory chapters there is a reference to the OT and the fact the those who ate according to rules outlined in Leviticus 11:3 did so because they wanted to please God but scientists later discovered that the Ancient Hebrews had better health than some other cultures because following that command avoided animals that often carried deadly parasites. There is a common thread in the book that God designed body systems in an amazing way but no reference to how that design took place (i.e. y.e. creation of a perfect world without sin and death or theistic evolution). I agree with the pp that you can edit out if necessary but that's better than having a curriculum that denies or ignores God's hand in creation all together.

[Dahliarw]

I find it it trying to be organized like SOTW, but it does not have that nice narrative easy to read feeling of SOTW. My 6 1/2 yo is not like it (the text) all the much, but loves the experiments. The text is very heavy and informative, for a younger student that can be too much information. We're doing astronomy, and it does have a YE reference in the first chapter, if I'm remembering right, but you could edit it out if that's not your thing.

[Mom28kds]

We are doing Apologia Swimming creatures this year for my 10 yr old boy. I just let him pick which book he wanted to do this year. He is really liking it. As far as the journals go. I like it. I don't do everything it says but we do most of the journal. I bought it because I think it helps things sink in when you write something down. This is what the jounal does for us. So we like it.

[Jay3fer]

My dd loves the journal almost TOO much! I have no idea how you're supposed to fit in narrations for an entire chapter in the space they provide. We're improvising - I've taped science vocabulary sheets to the front cover and have glued/taped extra sheets in as necessary. I figure the book won't be too thick bc we will be removing some of the cut/paste/fold "lapbooky" parts later on.

 

We haven't been doing school due to a family field trip, but today at naptime when I brought Apologia Zoo1 to bed with us as one of several "possible" read-together books, dd6 said, emphatically, "I want THAT one!" We had a great discussion of insect mouth parts. Any paragraph that has the words "vomit" and "feces" together is okay with them! :-)

 

p.s. It's true what they say - the intro chapter is VERY dry. I put together a PDF printable to try to make the sorting/classifying section a bit more real for the youngest kids.