MrsMe Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 If you've done this, did you like it? I'm not understanding the cd and the worksheets. What's contained in them? Any pros or cons? It looks pretty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 If you've done this, did you like it? I'm not understanding the cd and the worksheets. What's contained in them? Any pros or cons? It looks pretty good! We've done most of the book on plants and are part-way through the human body. It's pretty good. It's dry, but the activities we've done have worked and been easy to do. The worksheet projects are fun ... we cut out and made a skeleton with brads and made a "wheel" that shows different systems and what they do we've traced our lunch sandwich through our digestive system, etc. I try to supplement with some more thorough books from the library, but it has been a nice spine for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taffnus Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I used the Life Science set for our coop two years ago. It was ok. I sold it as soon as we finished and I won't be buying another. The info was good but light. The pictures are nice and the lessons are short. The experiments were easy to implement. Those are all pluses. The cd is pretty useless for an early elementary child. There are activities, worksheets, etc. that are not appropriate for the typical K-2 crowd. I felt like it could be a good starting point for science but may need to be supplemented, especially if your child is very interested in science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I'm using God's Design for the Physical World this year with both of my children. I agree that it tends to be dry and to-the-point, but we've enjoyed it. I view it as a spine, adding in videos, library books, notebooking, and science kits. Unless you want just a brief overview of vocabulary and major concepts, you are going to want to supplement in some way. For my 8th grader, I added in Exploring the World of Physics with Tiner. It has been a great choice for being the work load up to Jr High level. We've added in Knex Simple Machines kits, Snap Circuits, biographies of inventors, Modern Marvel dvds, etc. We like the experiments included in the God's Design books. The only thing I really have not liked are the quizzes and tests. I felt they were poorly done and didn't act as an accurate assessment of learning. The worksheets (at least in the set we are using) tend to be at a higher level and include math formulas, etc. They've been a good resource for my daughter. I haven't had my son do them. The pacing comes out to 3 lessons per week for 36 weeks if you choose to complete three books in a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 The word dry keeps coming up. I may stick with what I'm using. It's not bad...I was simply looking for a change of pace. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen the RD Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 My ds and I used part of the Life series last year (his 3rd grade yr) and really enjoyed it. The activities were well done with each book culminating with one long term project. Yes, the text is not the most exciting, but honestly, I haven't found any science "text", secular or Christian, that is engaging and exciting. That includes Apologia (please no tomatoes!!!) Honestly, I think the "doing" part of science is what brings concepts to life, so that is always my first priority, especially for science. I agree with another poster that I dislike the the worksheets & tests, so I make up my own. Two other pro's for me for this curriculum is that it is easy to schedule and because the text is not too difficult, my ds can learn outlining and narration skills from it. Then I have accomplished two things at once--science knowledge & writing/comprehension skills. HTH, Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 My ds and I used part of the Life series last year (his 3rd grade yr) and really enjoyed it. The activities were well done with each book culminating with one long term project. Yes, the text is not the most exciting, but honestly, I haven't found any science "text", secular or Christian, that is engaging and exciting. That includes Apologia (please no tomatoes!!!) Honestly, I think the "doing" part of science is what brings concepts to life, so that is always my first priority, especially for science. I agree with another poster that I dislike the the worksheets & tests, so I make up my own. Two other pro's for me for this curriculum is that it is easy to schedule and because the text is not too difficult, my ds can learn outlining and narration skills from it. Then I have accomplished two things at once--science knowledge & writing/comprehension skills. HTH, Jennifer Exactly. I used the dry because it has no frills, whereas Apologia elementary is very wordy. My daughter loves that. She wants to read about science and isn't so interested in doing projects/experiments. My son on the other hand isn't too thrilled with Apologia elementary texts. I think regardless of what we use for science he is going to hear, "Blah, blah, blah, now go build your project." He loves science but wants to just do it. I like that God's Design..provides just enough of a spine to make us feel like we are staying on track. The rest (and great bulk) of his learning can all be experiment-based. And my daughter will be very happy with Apologia higher science texts next year. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I like AIG more at planning time than at implementation time. If a student is already tired, yet another textbook is too much. So I found that too often I skipped it, or tried to just skim it. I'm doing better with implementing BFSU. It seems to stimulate a different part of my brain and doesn't make me feel so tired. A subject curriculum that is sandwiched between several other subject curricula isn't really truly judged on it's own. My opinion is that it doesn't fit well into the big picture for most students, rather than there being any fault with the curriculum itself. I have a few of the books and have no intention of parting with them, but am not in a rush to buy any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 We are almost through with all the life books (body, animals, plants). I agree with what everyone else is saying. Not the most exciting, but it got done! I think we have enjoyed the animal book the most. I think they are a great jumping off point for further investigation, too. I have gone back and forth whether to do their earth science next year, but I think we're going to attempt the WTM-method for earth science, along with Apologia Astronomy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 We just finished God's Design for Heaven and Earth: Our Universe and started Our Planet Earth. I just use it as a brief overview; I don't supplement with other books, videos, etc. We like it. I like the layout a lot. We rarely do the experiments and activities. I anticipate doing more of the activities and such the next time through. So some might call that dry; we like it, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petepie2 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) We've used both God's Design for Life and God's Design for Heaven & Earth. (We're starting the weather book of the H&E series next week.) We do just the beginner section of each lesson, which is very short and to the point. I supplement with Usborne science encyclopedias and similar books, as well as any relevant videos that we can fit in. After I read the lesson, I find the same topic in the Usborne book and read that. We only do some of the activities. Some of them can be kinda crafty, and I don't really care for those. Some of the worksheets are okay, but most of them are more appropriate for upper grammar. I think the AIG series is a nice spine that can be easily supplemented. We've really enjoyed it, and my DD has learned a lot. We started notebooking this year, and I found it easy to implement that into our science. That said, next year we're going to try Apologia. I need to combine my 3rd grader and 1st grader, and I think the Chemistry series would go right over their heads--especially the 1st grader. (The chemistry & physics series start at grade 3.) Even if I could simplify it, they would probably be more interested in bugs than the periodic table. :) Edited February 18, 2012 by petepie2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 We'll be using Apologia Astronomy next year after using Zoology 3 this year and instead of going the route that is scheduled after Astronomy, I thought I'd try AIG. It looked less technical than Apologia, which seems to go on and on with complicated terms. AIG looked like more doable experiments but I don't think I want something I'd have to supplement either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 We are almost through with all the life books (body, animals, plants). I agree with what everyone else is saying. Not the most exciting, but it got done! I think we have enjoyed the animal book the most. I think they are a great jumping off point for further investigation, too. I have gone back and forth whether to do their earth science next year, but I think we're going to attempt the WTM-method for earth science, along with Apologia Astronomy. A curriculum that gets done is superior to a superior curriculum that doesn't get done. It didn't get done here though. It's a very doable curriculum. That is why I picked it at first. But it wasn't doable in CONTEXT if you know what I mean. I was sorry about that, because I was expecting it to work better than it did. It took me awhile to figure out what the problem was for ME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 We used God's Design for Heaven & Earth last year - my kids were 3rd grade & 1st grade. The "beginner" section wasn't quite enough for my 1st grader, and the regular section, for mid-elementary ages, just repeated what the beginner section already said. We didn't like that aspect, because I specifically thought it would fit a young elementary and mid-elementary combination. And yes, it was dry. We switched to Apologia Flying Creatures this year, and have enjoyed it much more than AIG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 If you've done this, did you like it? I'm not understanding the cd and the worksheets. What's contained in them? Any pros or cons? It looks pretty good! We've done the Heaven and Earth series, the Chemistry/Ecology series, and the Physical World series (with different kids at different times). We've enjoyed all of them. The CDs contain worksheets, unit quizzes, and a final exam. Worksheets can be word searches, hands on labs that are more involved than the normal book activities, a cut and paste paper type of activity, etc. Many of the worksheets are geared towards older students and go along with the green sections in the book. Pros: short lessons, lots of hands on activities, wide spectrum of topics, can combine different levels of students, easy to schedule/implement, most supplies are common household items, can be done independently by older students (5th and up) Cons: The writing is very concise, so can be a bit dry; doesn't have the same depth as Apologia elementary in the area of life science; At our house, the books are a hit because of the activities. If you just want to read about science and call it a day, then I wouldn't use the program. If your kids love hands on, and you are willing to do the hands on with them, then it's a great program. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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