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CKwasniewski
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| Posted: April 10 2007 at 6:37pm | IP Logged
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Hi everybody,
Has anyone used the Apologia Science (elementary) books by Jeannie Fulbright? They look great, are CM style w/ narration prompts and Christian. But they are Protestant and she says that she goes with "young earth" theory. a
Thanks,
CK
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marianne
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| Posted: April 11 2007 at 7:45am | IP Logged
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Did you finish your post?
I am so excited about using the zoology books with my kids starting next year. I will take a year and a half to go through the two books. These look so wonderful, and I love the in-depth approach. I love the notebooking ideas and the projects. In the 2nd zoology book, she has them make a huge model of an ocean in a box using those toob animals and such things.
I'm sure she does use a young earth approach, and we will discuss it - I don't make a big issue of young earth/old earth in our homeschool. My older kids know the two major viewpoints and can understand why people disagree. They are free to think what they want to think on that one.
I have heard great things about the astronomy and botany as well, but I personally would not enjoy spending so much time on either of those subjects. Each book can be spread out over a year, although many people go through them quicker. I can only find 28 weeks worth of science in the first zoology book, although in the intro it says 32.
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CKwasniewski
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| Posted: April 11 2007 at 10:48am | IP Logged
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Marianne,
I am sorry about that a-- I don't know why it was there!
I will review my posts more carefully! ;)
The young earth approach does bother me somewhat, and it really bothers my dh, who has researched these issues a lot. I guess it would come up more with the astronomy book.
My ds is a science maniac, so I wanted to find something that would suit his level of interest. They do look pretty in depth.
Thanks for your reply.
CK
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: April 11 2007 at 3:46pm | IP Logged
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I'm wondering about these too. A CM minded friend of mine is raving about them, but I am hesitant...wondering if its a textbook in disguise.  Could someone give a review of what they are like?
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~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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marianne
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| Posted: April 12 2007 at 8:01am | IP Logged
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Books,
They look like textbooks - so much so that I have seen them at conference and walked by turning up my nose. However, after reading several good reviews, I went to the website and poked around. I was still hesitant, and waited until my conference where I could look in person. I ended up buying the zoology books, and spending my evening in the hotel room reading about zoology, neglecting my other new purchases. They read like living books, with lots of color photographs. There are narration prompts in every chapter, the students are told to start a nature notebook and notebooking suggestions are suggested throughout each chapter too. Jeanie's website has notebooking pages that you can download and print - with for instance, a black and white line drawing of a bird so that the child can label the parts. That sounds a little like a worksheet though - you'll just have to go look to decide if they are the right "style" for you, and of course they're optional. I think there are 40 notebooking pages on the website for the zoology 1 book. The experiments look doable and fun.
I haven't used this yet, but I've spent some time with the book, and I'm very impressed. The main difference I see between this and other elementary science programs is the in-depth approach. I couldn't believe that there would be enough material to spend 14 weeks on birds and then 14 weeks on insects for elementary students, but there is! I've seen some people who haven't used the program asking if it is tedious, but then others who have saying "no, it's not". Looking at the book, I am expecting my kids to LOVE it and for science to be 100% painless and fun next year.
HTH a little, maybe others who have actually completed the program can chime in.
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: April 12 2007 at 9:28am | IP Logged
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Thanks for review, Marianne. My girlfriend is planning the botany one for next year, and she is so excited about it...says its gorgeous, and she is the kind of person who has never used a textbook for science.
I think I'll ask around locally and see if anyone has one I can see.
Thanks again!
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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CKwasniewski
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| Posted: April 12 2007 at 11:21am | IP Logged
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Marianne, thanks for the in-depth review!
I am sure my ds would go for it!
I am still wondering about the "young earth" thing. Has anyone gotten their hands on the astronomy book?
CK
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MacBeth
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| Posted: April 12 2007 at 1:26pm | IP Logged
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Don't forget to use the "search" function for this forum. We have discussed Apologia materials several times, and there will be more information in older threads. 
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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MacBeth's Blog
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CKwasniewski
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| Posted: April 12 2007 at 6:40pm | IP Logged
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MacBeth,
Thank you.
I searched for apologia and apologia elementary and found the old thread where this was discussed. If I knew how to post a link I would!
One of the points you and others made there is that living books are a much better option, again. However, I am not a science person at all... and I would feel totally unqualified to put a plan together, even at an elementary level. Have you or anyone else done an outline for any area of science like this?
thanks
CK
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MacBeth
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| Posted: April 12 2007 at 11:22pm | IP Logged
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While I have done it for myself, I have been working on and off to put something together for anyone. I am bogged down in the area of how much needs to be covered, how much is too much guidance, and how much is too little. Soon, I hope, it'll all be put together--flexible, but solid  . Right now, all I have is a booklist (changing from time to time) and some general guidelines. For some folks, I'm sure it's too much. for others, it might not be enough. 
I misread the first post  , and did not realize that you were looking specifically for info Apologia's elementary products.
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MacBeth in NY
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Nature Study
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CKwasniewski
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| Posted: April 13 2007 at 10:51am | IP Logged
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MacBeth,
There was a bit on the elementary books--in particular, the "young earth" theory is all over the astronomy and bio 2. That was my main worry. So you were right that it was there.
I looked at your book list on your blog--mostly it was field guides! Maybe you have something else somewhere too?
We own 4 or 5 volumes of Henri Fabre (Life of the spider, Story of Science, etc.), Adolph Portmann, one by John Muir and I am looking into Durrel. I know these books would all be great and I am not conerned about his "real" science education, BUT my concern is that none of this makes a science curriculum that is "comprehensive and progressive" which is what our state is asking for.
Has anyone used or seen My World Science??
Its supposed to be CM-ish and use living books as the spine (One small Square series). I just hesitate to spend 30$ on something I am not sure about and which may be a lot of fluff!
Thanks for everyone's help!
CK
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Karen T
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| Posted: April 13 2007 at 10:55pm | IP Logged
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I used the apologia astronomy book for ds in 6th grade (It could actually be used as young as 4th grade I'd say but he had been in ps previously and had never had astronomy and wanted to do it)
Even though the young earth belief is mentioned, it was not offensive to us. We discussed it and explained other viewpoints; it never impacted our study. There are notes on their website for each chapter, with links to various sites that are helpful. I previewed all the sites before using any with ds, and I think only one was problematic; it was on Galileo and had the anti-Catholic bias there. So we substituted another biography of Galileo.
We did use some living books along with Apologia, mostly picked from MacBeths lists. Ds really liked the "labs" that are in the books.
I am considering getting the zoology books when my younger kids get old enough.
karen T
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mariB
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| Posted: April 14 2007 at 5:40am | IP Logged
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Also with these elementary Apologia books are science kits that go with each book at http://www. hometrainingtools.com
I have the Astronomy book and plan to use it with my 11 and 7 year old next year along with the science kit. There is an awesome link given inside the book to go with each lesson for supplementing. My 15 year old loved the rotating planet one where it shows by date where the planets are in rotation. On some of the dates the first four planets completely lined up!
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CKwasniewski
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| Posted: April 14 2007 at 8:31am | IP Logged
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Hi everybody,
thank you all for the input.
I actually looked inside of one of these at Seton's website--didn't know they were their choice. And I can see that there are a bit too detailed for what I want to do with my ds right now. (Though, I think he would love it!!)
So, I guess we'll wait on these for now, but thanks to you all-- I now have a good sense of what they are and whether or not I want to use them.
God bless,
Clarissa
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: apologia science (elementary)
