jenL Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I'm so torn... I love the Apologia texts from all that I've seen, but I'm not sure if I could do a whole year of animals that fly (Zoology 1). Has anyone ever started with Zoology 2 first? Do you think Apologia is a good choice for a 1st grader, or should I wait until later? My other dilemma is if I should just skip Apologia and follow SWB's suggestions for science in WTM??? That way ds would feel empowered and be able to choose his interests. Any thoughts, advice, experiences, etc. would be greatly appreciated as I really cannot decide on this. I want to buy everything early (and hopefully used) to save money so we can start in July. Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alabasterflask Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I had a similar concern when I considered using that series - for my little guys (and myself) I wanted more variety. I ended up using The Scientist's Apprentice (Bright Ideas Press) as a guide and it worked really well. I liked the flexibility and changing topics every eight weeks or so. We've also taken some side trips - we just did a week on Frogs because there happened to be an exhibit at the Museum. At this young age I personally like variety and flexibility. The idea of one topic the entire year makes me yawn... That being said, next year we're using Christian Kids Explore Physics -I think my guys are ready to stick to one subject and the potential for experiments alone will keep thier interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio12 Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I will not be a great deal of help because I can't offer experience, but I am starting first grade science this summer, just like you and will be doing the WTM version. I do think that a whole year of creatures that fly is too much, but not really a wrong choice. You could certainly incorporate that into your unit on animals. I am tweaking it a little because my dd has been so interested in animals that she already knows a great deal about them, so I may substitute a unit on the planets or something. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 The zoology texts are too advanced for most first graders. If you want to start with apologia start with astronomy not zoology. Zoo 2 Can be used before Zoo1 , though it is suggested you read unit 1 from zoo 1 to learn the classifying information you need. THe zoo books get into taxonomy which is hard to understand for most 1st graders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I am using Apologia Zoo 1 with my first grader. We did sort of a WTM style science before starting this, but based on habitats rather than specific animals (we would study a few specific animals in each habitat). We also did interest-led nature study and some experiments and work with simple machines. I think Zoo 1 could be too advanced IF I was stuck on him memorizing every single definition (but really, I don't think any student needs to memorize the names of the different types of flight feathers!) and if he wasn't already very interested in the subject. But we already were very interested in birds and bugs around here, so it works out well. And we are not taking a whole year to do it. It will end up being end of Feb. through August. I split up the readings and do just a couple of pages, most days of the week. I am going through 2 lessons in about 3 weeks this way. It isn't hard to do this book faster, because we are doing some of the projects with DH on the weekend (like painting the feeders, building the birdhouse, making the gliders). I don't think we would want to do this for a whole year, at any age (or, at least I wouldn't) but I have seen on these boards that some moms use two texts per school year. Another option would be to use them and just pick and choose the topics you wish to study; so you could do birds and insects and skip the bats and pterosaurs if the kids were ready to move on to mammals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Another option would be to use them and just pick and choose the topics you wish to study; so you could do birds and insects and skip the bats and pterosaurs if the kids were ready to move on to mammals. This is what I was originally thinking. They are such beautiful books, and I imagine as with most things, I could probably jump around some without confusing or overwhelming him. I'm going to also look into The Scientist's Apprentice recommendation. Thank you for your responses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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