Talk to me about Apologia Science

[4boys]

Right now for my pre-K and Gr. 1 sons I am reading various Let's Read and Find out Science books. They love them! I am thinking I will start a more formal science program with the older one either next year or for Gr. 3. The one I was going to use is Apologia's Exploring Creation With... series. I have read good and bad things about them and I've also looked in Noeo science as well. Now I am not sure which approach to take. I have a year or two before I decide but I was hoping to get your opinions and pros/cons on Apologia.

Also, do you find it is complete enough a program? If we only study astronomy, botany and zoology in the elementary grades, is that enough? What about introducing forces, matter, weather, etc.? Or is that all in there somewhere?

Thanks for any help!

[Chris in VA]

We tried Apologia Zoo 3 at the tail end (ha ha) of last year. Not as big a hit as I thought. I am finding dd wants tons of activities, so I am trying to design a field biology course for her next year (4th grade).

I thought Zoo was done well. I didn't necessarily like the few activities that we did, but in general, the program is well done. I'm not big on the disparaging tone towards evolution, but I can handle it. I would not use it under 3rd grade because I just don't think it is the best way to go for the younger set. There's a lot of information, very factual in nature, and you have to make sure your kids can absorb it. We could only do a small amt each day (about 3-4 pages), and I would've liked to have made notebook pages for the chapters, but dd wasn't very interested in it.

We do use Apologia for hi sch. We used Bio and Chem. Both were good, basic science courses. Not honors, but a good start.

You can introduce physical science by using some kits, tracking the weather yourself, getting Magic Schoolbus videos and books, etc. It's easy.

[Cadam]

Our favorites were Botany and Astronomy. We really like these. I personally couldn't spend a whole year on winged creatures. It is a great book but I simply wasn't interested. No they do not have earth science books and I really, really, really wish they did but I don't think they are even planned at this point. I am still looking for a good earth science book for this age.

[mims]

My youngest has loved these for several years so probably since she was 6. She gets a lot more out of science by focusing on one subject for a lengthy time. It has been amazing how much she has retained. This is a 'growing' program. I think every year, maybe even more often, they have come out with a new book. You will have a lot more available since your kids are so young. Also, nobody says you need to stick with one program all the way through! Use Apologia one year and another the next year. Observe what works best for your family or choose which subject you want to cover.

[RootAnn]

Our favorites were Botany and Astronomy. We really like these. I personally couldn't spend a whole year on winged creatures. It is a great book but I simply wasn't interested. No they do not have earth science books and I really, really, really wish they did but I don't think they are even planned at this point. I am still looking for a good earth science book for this age.

We are doing Astronomy right now and it works ok for us. The kids wish I would do more experiments with them. I believe Apologia will probably have an Earth Science book out at some point. Someone other than Jeanne Fullbright (author of the Astronomy/Zoo/Botony books) is scheduled to write one on Physics & Chemistry (not sure if these are going to be separate or together?). Mrs. Fullbright did announce she is writing an Anatomy book that should be out by next school year.

I have a do-it-myself earth science program for next semester. I never did find a good earth science book (spine) or curriculum. I don't plan on using the other Apologia books at this point.

[coffeefreak]

We're doing Botany and we love it. My dd is in 3rd grade and it's the first year we'll spend a whole year on one topic (it's the first year I think her attention span can take it).

I think Jeannie Fulbright's books are recommended for 4th and up. We did Considering God's Creation last year, 1st semester, and really liked that. We only got 1/2 way through - hm, maybe not even;) but I think most people take 1 to 2 years to go through the whole thing and it's well rounded. It covers Astronomy, Earth Science, and biology. We also liked "Real Science for Kids." Look at the samples and see what you think, but since your kids are still in the "learning to read" stage, I would hold off and look into Apologia later.

Blessings!

[Linda]

We have the astronomy book and are, umm, kind of (cough) using it this year. I've found that the book is a decent jumping off place for me, but we still prefer loading up on library books to learn.

When Classical Conversations breaks for the term, I plan to do a lapbook with the boys on the solar system. We'll reference the Apologia book, I'm sure, but I don't see it as a cover-to-cover read for us.

Also, although "Astronomy" is listed for science on my Great Big Plan for the year, the boys are learning much through nature walks, occasional Backyard Scientist experiments, and, of course, the Magic School Bus.

These avenues can be cemented through discussion, drawings, and WTM-inspired experiment logs (what did we use, what did we do, what happened, what can we learn from this).

I like interest-led science for early elementary, and I plan to follow the WTM schedule when they get a little older. Everything will be covered that way.

HTH!

[dwkilburn1]

We did alot of earth science when my DD was in K-2, because she loves experiements. We tried Sonlight which we loved, but it was rather pricey so we went to the library and looked up books on the subjects and a few books on experiments and jumped in.

We are using Apologia this year in 3rd grade, but we started with Sea Creatures since that is what the kids enjoy most (we did have to learn some terms that were in previous books). It is a nice well written cirriumulm that has taught all of us a good deal, but we love library books. Basically we read the chapter one week, and then we go get library books to dive deeper. There are some fun experiments in the cirr., but we also get some additional books at the library.

It works for us and is a great cirr., but like everything else it just does not work for everyone.

Wendy- Mommy of 3 Munchkins