Apologia vrs. Sonlight Science

[tld]

I'm considering which would be better for my 1st grader next year. Can you compare and contrast the two? How much time is required each day for each and how much teacher prep? Is Apologia easier to combine grades on (like a few years down the road when I have a 4th and 1st grader?) Science up until about 4th grade is actually pretty low on my priority list, but I know it's something DS would look forward to.

[freesia]

I'm considering which would be better for my 1st grader next year. Can you compare and contrast the two? How much time is required each day for each and how much teacher prep? Is Apologia easier to combine grades on (like a few years down the road when I have a 4th and 1st grader?) Science up until about 4th grade is actually pretty low on my priority list, but I know it's something DS would look forward to.

For a first grader I would do Sonlight or library books. Apologia tends to be geared a bit higher than the average first grader. It's great for combining, though.

 

Anne

Edited September 16, 2012 by freesia

[OK Family]

This year I am using apologia zoology 2 with my 4th and 1st graders. We are doing the journey through learning lapbook along with it. My first grader loves it, however he is finding it difficult to write all the answers, which he needs to work on. Other than that they both love it!

[freeindeed]

I recommend Sonlight Science. We LOVE it! We've also had experience with Apologia & we didn't care for it as much. Sonlight uses living books, whereas Apologia is more of a textbook. Hope that helps.

[Samiam]

Having used Apologia (3 books) and now using Sonlight, they are DRASTICALLY different programs. Neither is bad, but it's like comparing a Chihuahua and a Lab. Both dogs, but VERY different.

 

Apologia is a textbook format, but a very beautiful textbook...amazing pictures. It's all on one main topic...ie birds, or ocean animals, or the human body, etc...so you cover one MAIN topic all year long, and get more in depth with it. By the end of the year, your child should know ALL about that topic. I do feel it's is light on experiments, usually one experiment for each chapter but the actual experiments are real, in depth, purposeful. There aren't worksheets, so unless you get those from another source, or makeup your own, you wouldn't have that aspect. You can purchase activity guides/lapbooks ,which are crafty type stuff.

 

It also generally does not have a planned format..meaning you can do a chapter a week, or plan it however you want...a chapter every two weeks, etc. Although I think, if I remember right, the Activity Guides you can buy for them now have a lesson plan in it. We only used one, and that was a few years ago, so I can't remember now.

 

Sonlight covers several topics, usually 3 main topics each year. The topics do not generally relate to each other. So you'd have 3 main topics throughout the year (ie, this year we will cover animals, then electricity, then human body). They use different books/sources to cover the topics, although generally the Usborne Encyclopedias in Science (exact titles vary based on topic) are their main spine...I hate Usborne...pages are too busy.

 

Your days are planned exactly for you. Within one week, you actually cover THREE different topics. Day 1-3, cover main topic of the week, (for example, right now we are learning about animals). Day 4, a different topic and experiment (right now we are learning about magnets). Day 5 (which is considered optional), a different topic (right now, we are learning specifically about Night Animals). This kinda annoying. First, I'd rather spend a whole week or two on ONE topic, then move to another...Second, they've stretched the topic of magnets, on the 4th day, over 6-7 weeks...really?? Ugh, enough about magnets already! I don't feel the experiments, thus far, are that great. Sillly little experiments, over in seconds, and just kinda weak. They pull them, thus far, straight from a Usborne Science book.

 

The thing I do like is there are worksheets, so after going over the science topic, there 1-3 questions to answer each day. My boys enjoy this part, and I think it shows more about what they know on the topic, than the "lapbook" craft that many do with Apologia. It's probably just me, while I always think the lapbooks look good, often for us at least, more effort goes into the construction then the actual retention of knowledge of said topic.

 

Overall, I do think that Apologia is a more in-depth science program ,and Sonlight, at least at the young age, is light and fluffy (it takes us 5-10 minutes a day, except experiment days). But on that flip side, depending on the student, the Apologia can be a little too in-depth for some. I know my 1st grader struggled to comprehend the info coming from the Apologia Astronomy book (I was reading it aloud to him). I had to restate it, reword it, etc...still didnt sink in very much for him. My boys GET the info they are learning in Sonlight science...it's such a brief amount of info each day, so it's not too much to chew on, it's just enough to walk away from with a bit of new knowledge gleaned.

[Hedgehogs4]

If you buy the Apologia text and activity guide, they are set up to cover one chapter over the course of two weeks. There are crossword puzzles, copywork, notebook pages, and study questions in every chapter, as well as lap-book style activities. My kids love theirs. We are currently doing Anatomy and Physiology and doing the lab every other Friday with friends who are also doing the same book. It's the highlight of our week when we do it.

[Ruthie in MS]

:bigear: Listening in. We're using Apologia this year (Astronomy) and my dd8 loves it and my dd6 not so much. I'm going to use something else next year and I'm really interested in using REAL, LIVING science books. Any other input on Sonlight science would be appreciated.

[KAM]

I have only used Sonlight...depending on how well your child reads it can be very low teacher involvement. With my ds7 I just hand him the book-they are usually quite easy to read and have lots of pictures and things to study-and he reads it. When he is done, we go over the activity questions. In first grade I would write down his answers for him, now in 2nd I am trying to get him to do more of the writing.

 

Once every week or two there are experiments. We watch them on the DVD and then do them. It usually takes us 30 min. to an hour to do them, but that's b/c he is really into doing most of it himself and is pretty pokey:).

 

Older kids can often do the experiments independently. I combine my 6th and 4th graders in one SL Science, but a 4th and 1st grader might be a bit tougher.

[kolamum]

Apologia takes quite a bit of time. We've just switched from it to SL for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one being the time involved.

[SebastianCat]

We have used Apologia, Sonlight, and God's Design for (by Answers in Genesis).

 

Hands down, our favorite is Apologia. But I've found (the hard way) that Apologia is best when the youngest child participating is no younger than 2nd grade or 7 years old. It's very detailed, and a child who LOVES science might do well with it at 6.

 

Sonlight would be good for a 6 year old, and if you like it, there's no reason NOT to continue with SL. We didn't like the jumping around, and the fact that the experiments don't tie in with the reading.

 

But honestly, the best science program is the one that GETS DONE and that you and your kids enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, find a new program.