Apologia's elementary anatomy book with 3rd grader?

[jcmi]

From what I've read, this is geared more towards the upper elementary level. However, I'm considering using it with my youngest, who will be in 3rd grade in the fall. She's a good reader, a great writer, and generally pretty advanced academically. She wants to be a nurse and is fascinated by the human body.

 

I'm not expecting her to memorize or even understand everything covered, and I imagine we'd go back through the book again in a few years. But if we just read through it casually and did some notebooking, do you think that would be overkill for a 3rd grader? Would it be better to wait a few years?

 

Thanks!

 

Jen

[mom@shiloh]

It would depend on how much time you want to spend working with her on it, I think. I had a 3rd grader when my older boys went through it and we did parts of it together. I think it would be difficult for most 3rd graders to do independently, but I think she would get a lot out of it if you would help her. The experiments are lots of fun! If you're thinking of sticking with Apologia for science, keep in mind that General Science, which is recommended around 7th grade, has several chapters covering the human body as well. You could do Anatomy with her now and then she'd get a review in General a few years down the road.

[texasmama]

My boys did this book this year in a co op setting using the notebooking journal. The class was compressed into one semester. They were 4th and 6th grades at the time. My 4th grader is doing mostly 6th grade work, though.

 

I think this would be a fabulous study for your dd in third grade with a lot of help/support from you. I would read the chapters aloud to a child this age and then assist her in doing the activities. I would also spread the book over an entire school year and make it the only science we did.