Science- your favorite curriculum

[Di3kids]

I need science for my 3rd and 6th graders (8th grader is doing Rainbow). I'd love to combine them, which is why I was thinking about Christian Kids Explore Biology. Now I just looked online at the BJU 6th grade text. It's colorful and manageable, and dd would probably do it (which is more than I can say for this previous year). :( (my fault) Comments on either one, or additional suggestions? I tried doing the WTM method, but I wasn't organized enough to carry it through. Thanks bunches.

Diane

[Kate CA]

I need science for my 3rd and 6th graders (8th grader is doing Rainbow). I'd love to combine them, which is why I was thinking about Christian Kids Explore Biology. Now I just looked online at the BJU 6th grade text. It's colorful and manageable, and dd would probably do it (which is more than I can say for this previous year). :( (my fault) Comments on either one, or additional suggestions? I tried doing the WTM method, but I wasn't organized enough to carry it through. Thanks bunches.

Diane

We have been doing Apologia's Elementary choices and have really loved them. It is the first science program we have used that we have all enjoyed and really learned from. That has been our experience. :)

[Di3kids]

Kate, thanks for the Apolgia suggestion. I've always thought that we might use Apologia for high school. Checked out more info online and it looks good. What titles in the series have you used and for what ages? Do you use one book for the year, or two per year? Thanks!

Diane

[Colleen]

Like Kate, we use Apologia elementary. (I like to think I influenced her.;)) My second and third sons started the series when they were entering their 3rd and 1st grade years; I consider 1st grade on the young end for the program. I'd not use it solely with a child that age, in other words, but he was sitting in with my 3rd grader. I'd say the series is ideal for mid- to upper-elementary. My oldest son was in 6th when the next two boys started Apologia elementary and I did prefer to have him use Apologia General Science. In retrospect, I certainly think the elementary texts are appropriate for 6th grade as well.

As far as pace, it's quite flexible and dependent on how deeply you delve into the material. Because hands-on activities make me break out on in rash (;)), we tend not to do a great many projects/experiments. It's more about reading and making notebook pages for us. In the course of two school years, we've thus far used Astronomy, Zoology 2 (Swimming Creatures), and Botany. This fall we'll start Zoo 3 (Mammals), which is my boys' primary area of interest. I anticipate spending much of the school year in that book, though we'll bring in some Zoo 1 (Flying Creatures) during spring, when the birds are all a-twitter.:)

Let me know if you have more questions.

[Michelle in MO]

My youngest really enjoyed these, and we've done all of them: Astronomy, Zoology 1 (Flying Creatures), Zoology 2 (Ocean Creatures), and Botany. The format and CM approach were very, very easy to implement: simply read a section, ask questions, and then I would have dd do a narration on what she learned. Each of these books also has accompanying worksheet pages which you can download and print off for free from Apologia's website.

[Faline]

We tried Apologia Elementary and even though they are beautiful books, my dc got bored with spending such a long time on one subject. :001_huh: How bad is that?! But then, they were used to jumping all around in Sonlight's K-2 science. Anyway...I started Christian Kids Explore Biology, and really like it. It gives us some structure (and variety!), yet leaves room for plenty of add-ins if desired (it even has extra book lists in the back). So I can tweak to my hearts content! The yahoo group also has extras like worksheets, ideas, etc. to go along.

[Beth in Central TX]

Apologia Elementary has been a big hit around here too. My oldest son has completed all 4 books: Astronomy, Botany, Zoology I & II. He will continue with Zoology III next year. The writing is engaging, the pictures are colorful, and the experiments work. I also like the notebook assignments, and I've downloaded some of the quizzes and tests from the Yahoo! group.

[HollyDay]

Apologia was a flop here. We enjoyed Astronomy but that was it. BJU is the only thing we all have enjoyed and stuck with.

[Michelle in GA]

For elementary age, I love the Apologia Elementary series. All of them are great;Astronomy was our favorite. For middle and high school, I like Bob Jones, with the DVDs.

[Suzannah]

I'll go ahead and jump on the Elementary Apologia bandwagon. We used the Botany book this spring with 5th grade and a 6yo K sitting in when she felt like it. Mostly the K joined us on nature walks, flower dissection and that sort of thing. 10yo DS did all the real work. It has been delightful. I thought at first it was a bit "light" but really it just explains complicated topics very simply. I'm very happy with what DS has learned and retained this year and we're planning to do Astronomy next Fall.

It is intended to be a full-year course I think, but we have not felt rushed or had any trouble getting through the book in 4+ months. Obviously we didn't do every activity or project and we didn't linger over every lesson as we could have. We also did WTM science with the human body, insects and animals. Next year in addition to Astronomy we'll also be doing Earth science and weather. I haven't fully formulated this plan, but I think it will involve a free online weather curriculum that someone here pointed out and Lyrical Earth Science: Geology.

[CynthiaOK]

I really liked Singapore science for the elementary years. I know there is a new program from Singaporemath.com now which I haven't used (I used the Primary Science program). It is inexpensive and is great for laying a foundation for upper level science.

[Melissa in CA]

We tried Apologia Elementary and even though they are beautiful books, my dc got bored with spending such a long time on one subject.

:iagree: This was our experience too. We TRIED to like it, but just got bored after a while and wanted to move on. :tongue_smilie:

I personally love BJU but I am not sure you could combine a 3rd and 6th grader effectively into one book.

Have you looked at Sonlight's new Science 3? If not, I would take a good look at it. I would think you could easily use it for 3rd and 6th and you could add the Lyrical Life Vol. 1 & 2 with workbooks for your 6th grader (I personally like Vol 2 best. I believe they are also scheduled out for you in the IG). Just a thought. I personally have not used SL's Science 3, but know others who have and they really enjoyed it.

[MeganP]

Another fan of Apologia elementary science. We've done Astronomy and Zoology 2, and we're halfway through Zoology 1 right now. We'll finish it next year and then do Botany. Zoology 2 was my favorite, but we've enjoyed all that we've done so far.

[Di3kids]

Apologia Science - Astronomy is what we're planning to use, thanks to the hearty recommendations many of you gave. Thanks for all the help. Now... anybody have experience with the lapbooks to go along with the curriculum? Also, where have you ordered a lab kit (I was thinking Creation Sensation)? With two children, could I get away with one lab kit and one book? Thanks!

Diane

[Melissa in CA]

Apologia Science - Astronomy is what we're planning to use, thanks to the hearty recommendations many of you gave. Thanks for all the help. Now... anybody have experience with the lapbooks to go along with the curriculum? Also, where have you ordered a lab kit (I was thinking Creation Sensation)? With two children, could I get away with one lab kit and one book? Thanks!

Diane

Diane, this is the Apologia book we used and to be honest, you really could gather the supplies yourself and save some money (we did). They were simple supplies. If you are sold on the Astronomy book, I would buy it first and look at the supply list before forking out money on a kit.

Just my 2 cents. ;)

Oh, and yes, you only need one book.

[Kate CA]

Kate, thanks for the Apolgia suggestion. I've always thought that we might use Apologia for high school. Checked out more info online and it looks good. What titles in the series have you used and for what ages? Do you use one book for the year, or two per year? Thanks!

Diane

We have the last two Zoology books (Z2 and Z3) and they are lovely thorough books. As for spending a lot of time on one subject, you can go as fast or slow as you want through them so I would not limit myself on that. We really don't grow very tired to studying animals because they are all so different!

The subjects are thoroughly studied, but all in an interesting way. I wish I had known about them sooner, honestly. I like the looks of the Astronomy one a great deal. Apologia has full chapter samples online I think of every one (except maybe the newest one, Z3) and they are worth the time and money. :)

[Colleen]

Now... anybody have experience with the lapbooks to go along with the curriculum? Also, where have you ordered a lab kit (I was thinking Creation Sensation)? With two children, could I get away with one lab kit and one book? Thanks!

I'm not a lapbook kinda gal and have found notebook/narration pages suit us well. I read and the boys create a page ~ writing a bit, drawing a picture as desired. I download and print out pages off the Yahoo Apologia Elementary group. As for lab kits, I've never found need for one. I mentioned earlier that we don't do all the activities, and those we've done are so simplistic as to not warrant purchasing a lab kit. One text book is all you need, btw.

[Brindee]

Even though I'm outvoted, I'll just put in a word for Christian Kids Explore... We did CKE Chemistry this year and dd LOVED it! She was in 5th this year, so it could easily be used by a 3rd and 6th grader!

Last year we did the Apologia Astronomy and she loved that too! But she didn't have an interest in the other Elem. Apologia books, so we went with the CKE!

[sandellie4]

We've really gotten a lot out of the Christian Kids, and the reading list is very handy -- we use them as read-alouds. We tried the Elementary Apologia books but found that Christian Kids was more flexible. We prefer flexible and being able to go into subjects more in depth, especially in science when the kids are younger. They build a good base of knowledge that way, and when they get older, we buckle down more with science. All our kids like science, at least so far, right through high school. :-)

Sandy

[jenn&charles]

I liked Apologia's Botany. I also liked Real Science 4 Kids (although not as much).
Besides that I like Otter's Science, which is what I made for my son to use this year. You can see the link in my sig.

I also like how Noeo homeschool science looks. If I wasn't using my own curriculum, I'd probably go with Noeo this fall. I really like all of the variety and bunches of books/kits. That's more my style than a text book.

[swellmomma]

I don't chose we use them all lol. OR so it seems, next year we are using apologia elementary science 's astronomy in term 1, zoology1 in term 2(my dd begged for this one) once per week, plus Noeo CHemistry through out the week. Add to that Sonlight science 5 as a health curric(it all based ont he human body and reproduction/puberty). SO essentially next year is 3 sciences per term, which works for my family, because other than history science is their favorite subject(and has always been my favorite)

[swellmomma]

:iagree: This was our experience too. We TRIED to like it, but just got bored after a while and wanted to move on. :tongue_smilie:

I personally love BJU but I am not sure you could combine a 3rd and 6th grader effectively into one book.

Have you looked at Sonlight's new Science 3? If not, I would take a good look at it. I would think you could easily use it for 3rd and 6th and you could add the Lyrical Life Vol. 1 & 2 with workbooks for your 6th grader (I personally like Vol 2 best. I believe they are also scheduled out for you in the IG). Just a thought. I personally have not used SL's Science 3, but know others who have and they really enjoyed it.

I agree about sonlight's science 3, it is what we are using and looks like the changed the spine book for next year, so that is good news. The kids really enjoy the science program, they are just wrapping up grade 3 and 4, I did not use the lyrical life sets, and we ended up on a few bunny trails along the way as things happened like being given tadpoles to raise. But ont eh whole it has been a very good program. We will be finishing it up over the summer.