podoba01 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I noticed the elementary curriculum says it can be used for kindergarten through sixth grade. Do you think kindergarten is too young to use this? If so, what age/grade would you suggest? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2blessings Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I think it's too much for K. I would just do nature study and some fun nature readers. Apologia Astronomy is the shortest, and least latin terms...but I wouldn't use it that young (unless I had an older child and the younger just listened in). Just my .02:) Gina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 .but I wouldn't use it that young (unless I had an older child and the younger just listened in). Just my .02:) Gina :iagree: -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I have used the Botany and Zoology 1 books and I think the ideal range would be 3-6 grades. My second grader listens in, but the reading has way too many details to keep his interest. If I didn't have my 5th grader I wouldn't even considered it for my second grader alone. I think teaching it to K and 1st grade would be a waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homemama2 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I think the ideal range would be 3-6 grades. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Another one who thinks this ideal for the 3-6th range. There is just too much detail (not in big words) for a K or 1st to really grasp. Also these books are for a school year, possibly do it in a semester. A typical K -2nd will get bored hearing only about plants or birds. My 1st grader is doing elemental life and is getting bored with the human body and they is a 10 week course. She is ready to study whales and sharks, butterflies and mushrooms. I would just do a week to a month unit study for that age. Go nature hiking and find your topics that way or see what they want to study, you will be surprised. When my dd was in K we did Magic School bus kits and had a blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrjoy Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I tried the Anatomy book with my kids last year...UGH. They were K and 2nd. Totally not cool with us. I may use it NEXT year, when they are in 2nd and 4th. I think using it for both of them would be ideal at that time, instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podoba01 Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 (edited) Thank you everyone for your responses. I had a feeling the Apologia materials might be too much for K-2nd grade. It does look like a really nice course, though. I will look for some experiment books that work for her age range (I think I might start with Science Is Simple by Peggy Ashbrook this fall, add some library books that will tie into whatever experiment we do for the week, and look through some sites like discoverthis.com for additional materials). Thank you for your help. Edited March 10, 2012 by podoba01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dahliarw Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Finishing up apologia astronomy with my 1st grader right now and couldn't agree more that it's much more suited for 3rd+. We won't be using apologia next year. I had to do a lot of tweaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Thank you everyone for your responses. I had a feeling the Apologia materials might be too much for K-2nd grade. It does look like a really nice course, though. I will look for some experiment books that work for her age range (I think I might start with Science Is Simple by Peggy Ashbrook this fall, add some library books that will tie into whatever experiment we do for the week, and look through some sites like discoverthis.com for additional materials). Thank you for your help. Check out the science recommendations in TWTM for the early grades. They are fun, but simple to plan out and do. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I tried the Anatomy book with my kids last year...UGH. They were K and 2nd. Totally not cool with us. I may use it NEXT year, when they are in 2nd and 4th. I think using it for both of them would be ideal at that time, instead. I have done Zoology 1, 2, and Astronomy. My ds, who was in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade respectively did fine with all of them. My dd, who was 3, 4 and 5 at those times just tagged along. She loved listening--she loves the science books, but to have her do the exercises and learn all that vocabulary was way too much at 5. I am about to do Zoology 3 with her because she is animal crazy and I think it will hold her interest. I am about to do Anatomy with my son who will be in 6th grade. It is totally appropriate for him, but would be way too hard for her to do without tagging along. I plan to do Anatomy "light" with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 (edited) I used Apologia Astronomy last year but my son LOVES science and he really enjoyed being read to. He loved the notebooking journal. We moved on to Zoology 3 ... because he was really interested in land animals, as well. We just read through the chapters ... he picks up some of it -- not everything -- and then does a few notebooking pages and we doing the "create a zoo" and "map - it" with filling up a world map with each animal. He is enjoying it. It is way too hard for my kindergartener, though. In fact, if DS didn't love science so much -- it would probably be too much for him. Edited March 11, 2012 by mommy5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podoba01 Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Check out the science recommendations in TWTM for the early grades. They are fun, but simple to plan out and do. :001_smile: I will take a look at SWB's suggestions, too. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudboots Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 (I think I might start with Science Is Simple by Peggy Ashbrook this fall, add some library books that will tie into whatever experiment we do for the week, and look through some sites like discoverthis.com for additional materials). Thank you for your help. I'm in exactly the same place. I had decided to use Science is Simple. Then I found TWTM boards and thought maybe I wanted to try Apologia. It looks like I need to wait at least a year for those. Now I'm working my way through TWTM science recommendations, and those look pretty good, too. I think this year I'll use a combination of the books recommended in TWTM, along with Science is Simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Well my dh is going through the Apologia Elementary books with my dc. My oldest ds started in 1st grade and dd1 started this year. She is K age and 1st grade ability. Both of them enjoy it!;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think it totally depends on your dc! We are using Apologia mostly as a read aloud in addition to ES, and we really like it. My 6 yo dd can't enough of reading, though, so it really suits her. I know some of it is going over her head, but she does retain quite a bit, too. Many people say it is too wordy, but I guess we just like wordy around here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 My girls are in Zoo 1 this year at co-op, and both really enjoy it. My oldest did Botany last year. They are 6 and 8. We also really like R.E.A.L. Science at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4littleones Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Yes, 3-6 would be great, unless a) younger siblings were were listening to an older sibling's science books and b) you have a very scienc-y 2nd grader. My 2nd grader son drunk up the Swimming creatures book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiveOaksAcademy Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I noticed the elementary curriculum says it can be used for kindergarten through sixth grade. Do you think kindergarten is too young to use this? If so, what age/grade would you suggest? Thanks! I'm using Astronomy with a K child this year, and he is eating it up!! I didn't buy him the astronomy notebook but have him listen in and answer questions. Sometimes I'll tear out or copy one of the coloring pages from my older child's notebook and let him color it while I read. This is a situation with an older sibling, though, and I probably wouldn't have purchased it just for a K child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morosophe Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'm doing Astronomy with my oldest son, along with the junior notebook, and it's pitched just perfectly for him. We started it halfway through his second grade year, though. I would recommend checking out Pandia Press's science for children with a shorter attention span. We just did the "Try Before You Buy" "Life" and "Earth and Space" for my son in first grade. Then again, I'm not much of a science-lover, so what do I know? I have to say, though, that Science is Simple book really does look good. 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.