janainaz Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 I am thinking of using Joy Hakim's science and history series for my soon-to-be 8th grade son, but I'd like some input as to what others have thought about her books. We completed the entire series of God's Design for Science, and we just finished up with Middle School Chemistry by ACS, and I want something different. I did look at samples online, and I was impressed with what I read, but I could not find information about the length of the books. About how long will it take to complete one book? Is it possible to complete all three books in one school year; that would be my goal. Thoughts about the books are also welcome. We've been doing history TWTM way for the logic stage (loosely). I want to focus his 8th grade year on US history. Is this a good choice? Are there any other books I could use as a supplement, or is this series complete as-is? All thoughts and opinions are welcome! I despised US history when I was in school, and I would love to make it a more enjoyable experience for my son(s). Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 I have the first two science books, but we have not used them yet. I am planning to use them as a supplement to science, so it won't bother me if it takes my DS (rising 7th) two years to get through the two books. Aristotle Leads The Way is 270 pages plus credits, index, etc. Newton At The Center is 431 pages plus credits, index, etc. I haven't seen the third book, but I think it has a higher reading level than the first two (?). HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Einstein Adds a New Dimension is 455 pages. My boys have done these books over two years during middle school, but they have done other science as well. There are Student Quest Guides that go with each book. They are nice workbooks that have vocabulary and student activities. They look really good to me and I have the first one, but we haven’t actually used them. http://www.amazon.com/Students-Quest-Guide-Aristotle-Science/dp/1588342549 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 I haven't seen the science books, but I really really like the history series. I'm using the 5th grade Teaching Guides from Oxford University Press. There are also 8th grade teacher guides. If they are the same in quality as the elementary 5th grade guides, then I would bet they are great. These are not the same as Student Guides. The two do not go together. The Student Guides are not very good IMHO. The Teaching Guides are nice. http://www.amazon.com/Recontructing-America-Middle-Teaching-History/dp/0195188926/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372716081&sr=8-1&keywords=History+of+Us+8th+grade+teacher+guides+Hakim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 K12 sells a condensed version of History of US that is 4 volumes rather than the original 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 In regards to her science books, I did not care for the anti-Christian bias she showed in the first volume, and decided not to continue on with the series for that reason. You can read my Amazon review for further details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 We did Aristotle last year. It was good, but more history than science IMO. Well, the history of science, which in the pre-enlightenment era didn't involve a whole lot of "doing" science, KWIM?. We did a *ton* of other science during the year, so that was ok - I was actually looking for something to be cross-disciplinary to make connections, and it fit the bill perfectly. If it would have been all we did for science, it would have felt a ittle skimpy. We had the Quest guides, and used them for awhile, but then just stopped - there were a few science and math activities included, and we did those, but the rest we just discussed. We are planning on doing the Newton book this year, and it will be the core of our physical science studies for the year. I think we'll use the Quest guides much more, there are many more activities/projects to do in them. We also have the Thames & Kosmos Milestons of Science kit and a lot of the activities correlate nicely. We'll add in McHenry's Elements for Chemistry and Dava Sobel's book The Planets to round out astronomy, and I think we'll be good to go. This book feels a lot more meaty, and waaaaayyyy more sciency than the first book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 If you are using a resource called "God's design for Science" then you may not be the target audience for the History Of Science books. I say that knowing not one single thing about God's Design. History of Science was written to meet the needs of public schools. If you need your science written from a Christian world view then it might not work for you. I liked the books, but had a difficult time using them well. They sit on the shelf making me feel very, very guilty. The books are pretty big. I was hoping to use all three over the course of 4 years, woven in with my other history resources. They fell by the wayside. I don't feel too badly about it because I got one for free and the other two for almost nothing...and I have another kid who can maybe use them, lol. I am thinking that if I had the Quest guides. We are doing Physical science next school year, so maybe I should get my hands on a quest guide this summer and find a way to integrate it into our history....like I always mean to. You know, in all my free time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 We have them all, though haven't used them much. What I've read of them, I love. The history books have a "story" feel, which is so my style (much like SOTW). I'm hoping to start really working through them this year with dd10 (5th grade). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 I haven't seen the science books, but I really really like the history series. I'm using the 5th grade Teaching Guides from Oxford University Press. There are also 8th grade teacher guides. If they are the same in quality as the elementary 5th grade guides, then I would bet they are great. These are not the same as Student Guides. The two do not go together. The Student Guides are not very good IMHO. The Teaching Guides are nice. http://www.amazon.co...er guides Hakim The Student Quest guides for the science series are very different than the guides for the history series. I DO like the student guides for the science series, though I haven't used them very effectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 I have the first two science books, but we have not used them yet. I am planning to use them as a supplement to science, so it won't bother me if it takes my DS (rising 7th) two years to get through the two books. Aristotle Leads The Way is 270 pages plus credits, index, etc. Newton At The Center is 431 pages plus credits, index, etc. I haven't seen the third book, but I think it has a higher reading level than the first two (?). HTH Thanks for this info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 If you are using a resource called "God's design for Science" then you may not be the target audience for the History Of Science books. I say that knowing not one single thing about God's Design. History of Science was written to meet the needs of public schools. If you need your science written from a Christian world view then it might not work for you. I liked the books, but had a difficult time using them well. They sit on the shelf making me feel very, very guilty. The books are pretty big. I was hoping to use all three over the course of 4 years, woven in with my other history resources. They fell by the wayside. I don't feel too badly about it because I got one for free and the other two for almost nothing...and I have another kid who can maybe use them, lol. I am thinking that if I had the Quest guides. We are doing Physical science next school year, so maybe I should get my hands on a quest guide this summer and find a way to integrate it into our history....like I always mean to. You know, in all my free time. I am completely open to a more secular, or neutral approach to science, and I was actually tired of reading everything in science from a strictly Christian worldview. Most of our curricula thus far has been Christian-based, but I am very open and want my kids to hear other points of view as well. I love the idea of the history of science. I wish I had known about these books earlier, but I'm not sure how much time we would have had to incorporate them into our schedule - I can see the difficulty in biting off more than we can chew. I still want ds to be prepared for what he'll be doing in high school science, but maybe these books will be a nice break and he'll learn something of value. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 I haven't seen the science books, but I really really like the history series. I'm using the 5th grade Teaching Guides from Oxford University Press. There are also 8th grade teacher guides. If they are the same in quality as the elementary 5th grade guides, then I would bet they are great. These are not the same as Student Guides. The two do not go together. The Student Guides are not very good IMHO. The Teaching Guides are nice. http://www.amazon.co...er guides Hakim This looks great - I didn't know they offered teaching guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 We have them all, though haven't used them much. What I've read of them, I love. The history books have a "story" feel, which is so my style (much like SOTW). I'm hoping to start really working through them this year with dd10 (5th grade). I loved SOTW, and I feel the books gave my ds a great foundation in history. He's been doing history TWTM way for the logic stage, and he told me today that he loves getting "just the facts" - that is how he sees it. When I mentioned this new series is written in story format, he didn't seem to be too excited about it, but he has never been bored to tears by horrible history textbooks, and I feel he can tolerate history now because of what he learned through Story of the World. Of course, if I'm going to have to go through American history, I need the material in story format!! I am feeling pretty confident about my choice for this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 K12 sells a condensed version of History of US that is 4 volumes rather than the original 10. Oh, good to know - thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 Einstein Adds a New Dimension is 455 pages. My boys have done these books over two years during middle school, but they have done other science as well. There are Student Quest Guides that go with each book. They are nice workbooks that have vocabulary and student activities. They look really good to me and I have the first one, but we haven’t actually used them. http://www.amazon.com/Students-Quest-Guide-Aristotle-Science/dp/1588342549 Wow - that's a pretty big book. I guess we'll be using these as a supplement for a while. Thanks for the link too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 I have the first two books and was planning to read relevant sections of the Aristotle with our ancient history this year. But that didn't happen. The Quest guide for Aristotle seems light and definitely not enough as a science course. This next year we're going to try just the Newton book, using the Quest guide. I haven't delved into it yet, but I expect we will do other things, too. I want to cover some earth science this year, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I have a detailed review of the science books on my blog. http://missmoe-thesearethedaysofmylife.blogspot.com/2011/02/teacher-and-student-quest-guides-for.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I am completely open to a more secular, or neutral approach to science, and I was actually tired of reading everything in science from a strictly Christian worldview. Most of our curricula thus far has been Christian-based, but I am very open and want my kids to hear other points of view as well. I love the idea of the history of science. I wish I had known about these books earlier, but I'm not sure how much time we would have had to incorporate them into our schedule - I can see the difficulty in biting off more than we can chew. I still want ds to be prepared for what he'll be doing in high school science, but maybe these books will be a nice break and he'll learn something of value. Thanks! Beautiful Feet has a History of Science study guide that is pitched a bit young for your 8th grader (grades 3 - 6) but it (or just the booklist that goes with it, you can see the books at their site) might be a point of departure for a less intensive history of science. BF has a strong providential bent as a company, but this guide is reported to be pretty ecumenical and most of the books it calls on are not religious/denominational but are written for general audiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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