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Is 5 and 6 yrs old too young for Apologia?


Luvingmy4boys
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I've seen so many wonderful reviews about Apologia but I have many questions. I purchased McRuffy Science but I think I may want something else now so I'm going to sell it and would like to know about Apologia.

 

Is this too advanced for a 5 and 6 yr old who are doing first grade?

 

Is it truly a complete Science curriculum since it only does one area of science a year? I guess I'm used to having various topics of science each year and then as each year goes on, it's covered again but more advanced.

 

I'm looking for something that will be easy for them to understand and retain information and have fun hands on activities.

If you know of anything else, feel free to post about it.

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My K'er (5yo) has retained just as much from Apologia Astronomy this year as my 2nd grader. She has loved it. Jeannie Fulbright (the author) wrote a blog post or article about the advantages of going in depth with a science subject for an entire year. (It was years ago that I read this, not sure where I found it, sorry!) I didn't find it super hands on, but it probably could be if you wanted it to be. There are activities in the book, which we have mostly skipped. The notebooking journal (we got the Jr. one this year) had a lot of handwriting, coloring pictures, and paper activities (making a foldable book) but not really experiments. We have really enjoyed it and my kids have made me promise that we'll do the Swimming Creatures book next year. I think a key is doing a subject that your child finds interesting. HTH!

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We used Apologia astronomy at age 5 and flying creatures at 6.

I think for a child that is interested in the topic and/or you are a science oriented family, it is good for those ages.

Flying creatures is great for hands on - set up bird feeders, disect owl pellet, release ladybugs, raise butterflies - just a few activities you can do with this study. (I don't remember now what all activities the book actually suggests, but those are some that we did.)

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The Flying Creatures unit sounds great. I purchased the Butterfly Garden that I plan on doing it with them when we get the warmer weather here and it sounds like it will fit in with that. They have been asking me about making a bird feeder too. My boys are intrigued by anything science related.

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If your kids love science, they'll probably love Apologia. My DS loved Botany at 6, but my DD is not a big science lover, and she hasn't really enjoyed science until this year (she's 8).

 

I would consider just doing the reading and skipping the notebooking journals for those ages. If your kids WANT to do writing alongside the reading, definitely get the "junior journals" rather than the full-length journals.

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I think it depends on the dc. My oldest started Apologia at 6 and my second at 5. They both really enjoy it. My dh reads them with them. You could always buy one of the books and give it a try. If it is too hard put it away for a year or two and try again.

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Would have been too much for mine at that age. We didn't start Apologia until 2nd grade, and I'm not planning to start my now 5yo until then. But I've heard of many people using it at those ages and their kids do just fine with it. Depends on the kid! I think you can download the entire first chapter of Flying Creatures from the Apologia website, at least it used to be there. That way you can get a feel for it.

 

It is one area of science, but that doesn't bother me. We read other science books on the side, watch SL's Discover & Do DVDs, Magic School Bus DVDs, etc. I'm just not worried about it. If you are, the first one that comes to mind is BFSU. SL also covers many topics in a year, but I'm not sure if they cycle back around and cover them again. But their science would be great for those ages, simple experiments and worksheets to complete. For my 5yo I'm doing a human body unit, then Elemental Science's Intro to Science (probably too simple for a first grader), then some SL science before we start Apologia in 2nd. At least that's my plan for now!

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It was too much for my oldest at 6, but he does better reading stuff like that himself. When he was just turning 7, he read through the ones I had, and he got a lot out of them. He just couldn't sit and listen to ME read and still catch on as much. His listening skills weren't that developed yet.

 

My current 6 year old listened in to Astronomy last summer when he was about 5.5, and he got a lot out of it. He's better at listening.

 

I personally prefer Apologia as a "read when they want to" book to leave on the shelf, because *I* get bored doing one narrow science topic all year long. There's certainly nothing wrong with doing one book all year though. Elementary science doesn't have to be any particular set of topics. High school courses start at the beginning. So do whatever you want in elementary. :D

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