Apologia Elementary Science questions...

[Sue G in PA]

I didn't think I wanted to spend an entire year or half year on one topic b/c my dc didn't like spending all of this year on Life Science. BUT, I'm coming around to the idea b/c I really like the looks of Apologia Elem. Science series. Questions:

Do you spend an entire year on one book?

Can you do 2 books per year w/out making yourself crazy?

Are there adequate experiments/projects for hands-on kids and if so are they easy to do/prepare for? My ds9 wants experiments and projects. He's very hands-on. I want simple to carry out otherwise they will never get done.

Do/did your dc enjoy spending that much time on one topic?

What are your feelings about the immersion approach to science (one or two topics each year, in depth information) vs. the spiral (little bits of various topics each year, progressively more difficult info. w/ each subsequent grade level)?

TIA for all your help!

[Alana in Canada]

I loved the look of it.

We have Flying Creatures of the Fifth day.
Funny you should ask about this just now. I'm just coming to the conclusion that I don't think it'll work for us.
1) we like variety
2) some of the concepts were very difficult. Thermodynamics? The then nine year old got it, not the then 6 year old.
3) Experiments: The planes we made didn't work very well: and no one was interested in recording our observations.

Um. That was the first lesson. It took us about four one hour sessions to get through it (but then I have discipline/attention problems to deal with). That was about a year ago. I don't think we're going to pick it up again.

[Kate CA]

I just read Alana's post and I so completely disagree! LOL :) Though we skipped that book and went right where our interest lay - Swimming Creatures. I use this with my 9 and 11 yos and they really learn from it. It is not a "one topic" book. We are covering a great deal.

We begin with taxonomy - they recommend that if you skip the first Zoology book that you download the chapter for free from the Apologia website and go over it. It is really helpful to know as you go into Swimming Creatures. It sets the stage so to speak. From that chapter we learn what aquatic animals in general - how are they classified - how they move, how they feed, water currents, tides, planet water, fresh versus salt, continental shelf, the zones in the abyss, abyssal animals, and then there are the activities. All are easy to do and usually don't require much in the way of purchasing. Just like all the other Apologia books, they list what you need for each chapter's activities in the beginning of the book.

There are recommended activities - beach combing, and keeping a notebook that is also free to download from the website. Then your child can start his ocean box of all the animals made from clay that he will study.

That is only the first chapter. The next starts you on whales, but it is not just "whales." You learn the two different kinds, how a whale breaches, their tails, blowhole, about beaching, whalers, whale calfs, echolocation, dolphins, porpoises (and the differences), narwhals, various toothed and baleen whales, barnacles on the whales, and more experiments. Not only that, but we really love the special page you have access to once you purchase the book. It gives you links for video clips and articles on the subjects you are studying.

Then the next chapter is all about pinnipeds: sea lions, dugongs, manatees, seals, walruses, sea cows, etc. The next chapters is aquatic herps - reptiles and amphibians. So you get into sea turtles, water snakes, aquatic frogs, toads, and salamanders. This is just in the first four chapters.

So, it is really quite far from one topic. :)

We have enjoyed this study immensely (as you can probably tell - LOL!) It has honestly given me a love of science that no other curriculum has ever done. We all enjoy it so much and it becomes a family time centered around science.

I am not sure what ages your dc are, but I would not do this with children much younger than 8 or 9 because I think they would only get a bit here and there. We started when my dc were 8 and 10 and that was perfect for us. I would also not recommend you do more than one book at a time. You are really covering the subject in an in-depth manner and focusing on two subjects so different from each other - well I don't think it would be beneficial. I would be much happier knowing my children really learned what we were studying rather than trying to power through it. :)

I hope this helps!
Warmly,
Kate

[siloam]

There is no way we could spend an entire year on a book, but we hs year around 4 days a week for science, LOL! You would really have to work hard to get them to last that long. If you do science a couple days a week then it would be easy to stretch it to a year long program.

Yes there are adequate projects. Just adequate. My hand on girl just colors, draws, plays with Legos or something else while I read. For my oldest who wanted more experiments I bought the SL Discover and Do DVD, the corresponding Usborne experiment book and their experiment kits. That was a jackpot. She can do them when ever she wants, the DVD's walk through the experiments following the scientific process and they correct any problems when the experiments don't work, in addition to the kits, which have all they need to do the experiments. Easy peazy. Let me know if you want to know what books go with what kits and DVD's. I have it written out here, so I can cut and paste it.

My kids do fine with being on one topic for that long. Before trying Apologia we did SL science, and the jumping from topic to topic with little depth drove my kids nuts, especially because they only wanted to study plants and animals. All other topics were boring to them.

We did Botany Fall of 2006. My 3rd dd was 5 and despite being so young she can still tell me the difference between a fruit and veggie; believe me she has correct me when I slip. :D There was a bunch of the book that also when over he head, but I am fine with that because she will cover it again and she will be able to, "get," it then. If you do vocab cards or if you repeat the definition of the word when ever the word comes up: photosynthesis, how plants make food out of sun light....which is what I did with the Botany book, then they do fine.

But given your ds likes to do stuff you might want to look at God's Design as well. They have some sort of activity with each lessons, whether it be a scavenger hunt for minerals, a cross word puzzle or a ligament experiment. Each book has roughly 30 lessons, and I would GUESS they have about 50% experiments and 50% activities. Given the books are broken up into smaller segments you can cover at least a couple and up to three in a standard school year, so you would be able to switch topics if you found you ds needed that.

Hope you find what you need!

Heather

[awanama]

We use Apologia and love it! We don't do any notebooking or lapbooking with it. We read the text, do the experiments that interest us and do any hands on projects that we like. My kids have really enjoyed going more in depth with the subjects. They were tired of learning the same thing every year with very little new material by using a traditional textbook. We have done two books for the year, doing science everyday. My 6th grade ds did Astronomy and is now doing a Prentice Hall text for the second half. My 3rd grade dd has done Zoology 1 and is now in 2. It amazes me how much of the material they have remembered and they have even shared their knowledge with others when the topics come up.

Difficulty wise, we found Astronomy to be the easiest. It doesn't seem as technical as the Zoology books. Our plan is to do Zoology 3 for next year and I'm unsure when we will do the Botany book because it really doesn't interest us. I really wish there were more books because we like to do science daily and one book isn't enough for the school year.

[Beth in Central TX]

We do 2 books in one year. I don't do the lapbooking, but we do keep the notebook and follow the lesson assignments. I also don't have them do every experiment, just the ones that are easy and convenient for me.

My oldest son loves science. He will do some of the more involved experiments outside of our schooltime with Dad. He will also get library books on the lessons that really interest him. He's working through Zoology II right now and now wants to become a zoologist. I think this is a much better option than a football player.

My middle son in not as interested in the experiments, so he just does what I assign him. Even though, he really enjoys reading the Apologia science books and excitedly explains any new discoveries to Dad at night.

I think the Apologia Elementary books are a great introduction to science and have sparked an interest in my boys that they can fan later in higher level science books.

[Verena]

Let me know if you want to know what books go with what kits and DVD's. I have it written out here, so I can cut and paste it.


Thanks :)

[prairiegirl]

I think I am in the minority of those who didn't like Apologia Elementary. We did the Astronomy one. There wasn't enough experiments and activities for my science-loving 8 yr. old. She got tired of it after awhile. I had decided that I would continue to get these books as a resource as the info in these books are great, but we wouldn't use them as our curriculum.

Well, I just got the Fifth Day one and I think I may change my mind. There are more experiments in this one and there is the ocean box as well as the notebooking. So there is a lot of things for dd to do with this one. I think we will do this in the spring. So I guess it depends, for us, which one we do.

Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)

[stephanie]

I didn't think I wanted to spend an entire year or half year on one topic b/c my dc didn't like spending all of this year on Life Science. BUT, I'm coming around to the idea b/c I really like the looks of Apologia Elem. Science series. Questions:

Do you spend an entire year on one book?

Can you do 2 books per year w/out making yourself crazy?

Are there adequate experiments/projects for hands-on kids and if so are they easy to do/prepare for? My ds9 wants experiments and projects. He's very hands-on. I want simple to carry out otherwise they will never get done.

Do/did your dc enjoy spending that much time on one topic?

What are your feelings about the immersion approach to science (one or two topics each year, in depth information) vs. the spiral (little bits of various topics each year, progressively more difficult info. w/ each subsequent grade level)?

TIA for all your help!

We've been using Apologia's astronomy this entire year and we love it! This is my first year to spend the entire year on one topic and for my family I do see a difference in what they remember and how interested they are in the topic. I ordered the astronomy experiment kit from creationsensation and it had all the supplies for the experiments. My dc are very hands-on as well so we really needed experiments to hammer it in. The kit I believe cost about $40,but it included everything I would need. That's usually my problem in doing experiments- never having what I need! There are some parts that may be a little deep for my dc (they are K, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th), but my goal is to peak their interest in the study, not necessarily to remember every detail that I read. My heart just leaps b/c my dc notice the stars now, they notice the changes in the phases in the moon, and they go outside just to sit in the driveway to check out our sky. That's what I'm looking for in our science studies. I realize that not everyone may agree, but that is our experience with Apologia. We plan to continue with it all through elementary. Hope that helps a bit!

[Sue G in PA]

and kits? Sounds like something my ds9 would enjoy. I'm thinking about doing Apol. Astronomy w/ the notebook pages and checking out the experiment kids at creationsensation. AND, I figure if ds wants to do experiments w/ dad on his own outside of Astronomy...he's more than welcome to do just that! We do have an Usborne experiment book. THanks again everyobdy for all your great advice!

[Lori in MS]

We love Apologia here! We are almost finished with Astronomy. This is the first science program my children have actually liked.We are doing Zoology 1 next. I also bought the kit from Creation sensation, as well as the birdhouse kit. I have Zoology 2 also and my oldest son loves to read it for fun. They have remembered amazing detail from our Astronomy study. Even the 6 year old remembers interesting details about each planet.

We do a book in half a year.