mommyto4QT Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 First year to homeschool, I have a 2nd grader who is very advanced. He LOVES science and math. After reading lots of reviews and talking with people that homeschool, I chose to do Exploring Creation with Zoology I from Apologia. My child is VERY excited about the topic and has enjoyed it so far. However, we had our first lesson "real" experiment. My DH who is in a science field helped with the experiment. My DH was very unimpressed with what he called the "scientific quality" of the experiment and how he's worried about the rest of the experiments too after flipping through it. He thinks I should look at other science materials. Here's what we would need - Christian viewpoint, affordable (I got the Apologia NB and Text on sale for a total cost of $40), uses regular household materials, and very Scientifically sound/advanced. My child also enjoys reading and being read to, so a text like Apologia is a good fit. Lastly, I personally do like Apologia so far (but we did just finish Lesson 1), if you've used it and thought it was ok then how can I convince my DH???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 BJU is a very good text. It reads nicely like Apologia.There is a TE with added infromation. You don't have to use it as a text. But they have really good experiments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Can you use the text and just supplement the experiments? I am sure a google search will yield multiple experiments that you could use instead. Also, is your DH being reasonable with what you can do with household objects? I mean there are some great things that can be done with baking soda and vinegar, but they probably aren't going to look quite like what you would see in a lab using full on lab chemicals and equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyto4QT Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Thanks, anyone else have a science curriculum that might meet our needs? I tried to explain to DH that 2nd grade science should mainly be about getting a child interested in science and experiments, rather than doing any crazy in-depth experiments. He's not convinced yet though :):tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 BJU is a very good text. It reads nicely like Apologia.There is a TE with added infromation. You don't have to use it as a text. But they have really good experiments. :iagree: BJU is a great program, and has great experiments. It's a very classic, schooly text and program. Colorful, interesting, and my dd likes it. We love the Apologia elementary books, but the experiments didn't work for us. My dd reads them for fun, they just didn't work as a "curriculum" for us for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Did you make any decisions with this? I'd recommend continuing with Apologia (assuming both you and your ds still like it) and supplementing with more experiments from another source. Maybe BFSU? That would help with the scientifically-sound part. And extra reading. We are using Astronomy. I'm not completely in love with it but I feel it is perfect for my 7yo. He loves his notebook, loves doing the activities. They aren't always experiments as much as activities. But for my ds science is fun. I like that there are so many available, there will be a Chemistry/Physics book and a Geology/Earth Science book in addition to the ones that are already out IIRC. So by the time we go through all of these books he will have studied many topics in-depth and enjoyed science the whole way through (I hope!). And he'll have a nice collection of notebooks to look back through. There is also the Christian Kids Explore series, but I don't know if your dh would be any more happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I was a little saddened with the science value in Apologia Elementary too. We're trying SL Science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Another vote for BJU. The teacher's manual has many demonstration and experiments for your child to do. Very methodical experiments. If you want to keep using Apologia, just vamp up/do more with the experiments. Ask your DH for a better way to do the experiment. We used Apologia for my youngest son and he loved them. I am using Apologia Astronomy with my dd right now but added Jan Van Cleaves Astronomy for every kid to go with it, maybe she has a book on Zoology that will work. Or look at the TOPS books, maybe there is a book that will work with your studies, these are great and easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OK Family Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 We are doing apologia zoology 2 and the journey through learning lapbook. I am no scientist but I don't believe everything about science has to have or be about experiments. It is only second grade the major lab experiments I thought were mainly done in middle and high school. Plenty of time for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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