Apologia Elementary

[BearWallowSchool]

What book would be the best to start with a 7 and 8 year old? Are the lab kits good for this age or more geared toward older kids?

Edited June 6, 2016 by BearWallowSchool

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

I ask my kids. We've done Zoology 1 & 2. Last year we did SITB instead but this year we're back to Apologia. I showed the kids the options and they chose Chemistry and Physics. One of the wanted Zoology 3 but I told them they had to agree on one and they settled on Chemistry pretty easily.

 

I don't worry about getting through a book in a year at these ages either. It's taken us 1.5-2 years for the previous 3 books and I'm fine with that. I have a feeling this year's will go faster though because they're older and very excited about it. I would also not hesitate to switch to a new book if we get bored of the topic. We can always go back and finish it later.

 

We do all the experiments but don't buy the lab kit. I find it works better for our budget to just pick supplies up as we need them. Most are common household items and we have a lot of them on hand anyway.

[SebastianCat]

For a 7 and 8 year old, anything except (my opinion) the Chemistry/Physics or Human Anatomy books would be age appropriate, so you really could do whichever book was the most interesting.   I know she recently wrote an update to Astronomy, and haven't seen the new edition, but in general the order of difficulty was easiest in Astronomy, then Botony/Zoology, then Chemistry/Physics and Anatomy.   We used Anatomy for 6th grade as a good bridge between the elementary series and General Science in 7th grade.

 

We've done every book in the series except Astronomy, and never purchased lab kits.   There were only a few things in each book that we didn't already have around the house, and I usually ordered what we needed from Home Science Tools.

[mschickie]

I would say the best bet would be either Astronomy or Zoology (1 probably being the best choice but you could do 2 or 3 with out too much trouble).

[UnlikelyHomeschoolingMama]

We did Land Animals with my 8 year old this year.  I wish we had done Astronomy instead or Botany.  She got enough out of it, but a lot of it was just...well...thick.  It was her first science (2nd grade) and I honestly think we could have just done something lighter and waited until this year.  She loved the notebooking and I think that is where most of the learning took place for her.  She is an artist and very creative.  

 

Good luck!!

[...................]

We enjoyed Flying Creatures as that age although we didn't get through the entire book. The labs are very fun and worthwhile. You can get a kit from Home Science Tools

[2_girls_mommy]

Yes, I agree.  I did Flying Creatures in 3rd grade with my dd.  She used the older journal, not the jr. as I was having her use the regular lines.  The journal was really what we used the most.  It had a ton of lists for library books and DVDs and that is mostly what we used, doing the pages in the journal and lots of the activities and experiments.  I didn't have a lab kit. 

Then in fourth we did Astronomy (from MP for that one.)Her co-op class did Land Animals that year, but we never bought the book. She just did experiments with them and the occasional assignment they sent home like a report on an animal and picked up whatever she picked up there. We did the Astronomy and a Robotics team and had a baby sister that year. Couldn't do more.  Then in 5th she did the Chemistry/Physics, and in 6th the Human Anatomy.  It has been good for her, though we missed out on Earth science, so we are doing a unit on that this summer. 

[jjeepa]

I agree with PP that recommends Chem & Physics and the Anatomy books for later elem.  I think they are written to a higher level of comprehension than the Astronomy book (so good!) and the zoology books.  And maybe Botany.  

[BearWallowSchool]

Thanks everyone. I ordered Zoology 3 and Astronomy and decided to wait on the lab kits. :001_smile: 

[SoCal_Bear]

One bit of feedback on Zoology 3...I am pretty sure that assumes that you covered the introduction to zoology in zoology 1. Classification, study of zoology...that sort of thing. If you read Fulbright's comments about it. She intended Astronomy or Botany first then the Zoology series ending with either Human Anatomy or the Chem/Physics books.

 

Hope this helps!