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Karen T
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| Posted: June 27 2005 at 12:04am | IP Logged
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Last year I used Apologia's astronomy book for ds, who was in his first year
homeschooling, but in 6th grade. He'd wanted to do astronomy and did enjoy
it. I liked the textbook very much; it has a CM flavor of having the child
read and then narrate. The experiments were easy to set up and we had fun
with it. I am thinking of using their Exploring Creation with General
Science for 7th grade, as it covers several areas such as biology,
paleontology, archeology, machines, etc. Shane is not science-oriented so
I'm not looking for something very advanced for this year, although I do
like the looks of their biology and chem for high school later on.
I know the author is a creationist and frankly, we liked the references in
the astronomy book, to God's creation, etc. It wasn't overdone and didn't
really explore evolution. But with topics like paleontology I'm wondering
if this year might be different (also I know the actual author of the
astronomy book is Jeanne Fulbright, not Jay Wile, but they're both under teh
Apologia co.)
Has anyone used this course specifically?
Karen T
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ALmom
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| Posted: June 29 2005 at 6:14pm | IP Logged
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We haven't used that specific course but did do the biology. It definitely had a creationist bent to it.
We have ordered a book by Mary Daly from CHC called Creator and Creation which we thought was excellent. We want to correct some of the errors that we felt crept into our dd biology.
Our dd is also not a science person and this one seemed to be the only one our dd was successful with so thus our dilemma.
Wish I could help you with the specific text - but haven't used it.
Janet
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Karen T
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| Posted: June 29 2005 at 9:50pm | IP Logged
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ALmom wrote:
We haven't used that specific course but did do the biology. It definitely had a creationist bent to it.
Janet |
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Thanks, at least now i know to be looking ahead to biology, b/c I was hoping to use their books again for that and chem in h.s. And they aren't cheap, either, to get and then have to use something else along with it. The astronomy book, b/c it's more for elementary/jr high, was only about $25 so I was willing to take a chance on it. The main religious references were just things like intelligent design, and the beauty of God's creation, etc. They have extra stuff on the web to go along with each chapter, and I did preview all of it; only once was there a problem IMO. It was a link to a biography of Galileo which was extremely anti-Catholic, so we just skipped it and used a library book that was a bit more even-handed.
I'd definitely recommend the Astronomy book for about 4-7th grades.
KarenT
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jdostalik
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| Posted: March 15 2006 at 10:42pm | IP Logged
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I thought I'd resurrect this thread...I see that Emmanuel Books, By Way of the Family and other Catholic suppliers are offering this curricula as a good Christian science program for Catholic homeschoolers.
Has anybody else used this or looked into this series of elementary books since Karen posted her questions last June? My brief impression from a quick flip through a friend's copy of the astronomy book was that Fulbright's creationist outlook skews the whole series...though it sure seemed to be an attractive book with some great "living book" attributes...
MacBeth, if you get a chance, would you mind sharing what you think of Apologia in general and the elementary series, specifically?
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Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 16 2006 at 8:53am | IP Logged
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I looked into some of the Apologia books and decided against them. Not so much for the creationist viewpoint, which I can handle by supplementing with more rigorous materials, but because it was a young-earth creationist viewpoint, which I can't handle. I think it was the marine biology which caused the most problems for me when the author discussed plate tectonics and sea-floor spreading from a young-earth viewpoint.
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Theresa
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jdostalik
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| Posted: March 16 2006 at 8:56am | IP Logged
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Yes, Theresa, that was my initial reaction...the young earth thing seems so ridiculous to me...I saw A LOT of references to this in her astronomy book.
Thanks for your comments! 
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Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: March 16 2006 at 8:59am | IP Logged
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I took a look at the General Science text last fall.
The writing style is better than most, but its still a big fat textbook. In the first chapter there were some anti Catholic references about the church and science in general...it could be dealt with, though.
~Books
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 16 2006 at 9:19am | IP Logged
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This may be off topic, but truthfully, I think science is one area where textbooks in general are the least affective method of learning. (As a biology major I cannot recall a thing I learned from a textbook.)There are so many excellent living books out there to teach children about the world and how it works in a way that grabs the imagination and stirs interest Such rich food for the mind! Why use a textbook, which is meant to be a "bland diet" way of learning? MacBeth has an excellent set of recommendations of living books for science, and I'm sure between us all, we could come up with additional excellent materials to cover any science topic, from amoeba to zephyr. Plus, there is the greatest teacher of all, out there just waiting to share it's secrets- God's creation! We should all just go out and explore it. I guarantee a child will learn more from a walk in the woods accompanied by a field guide than he will ever learn from a textbook. 
OK, off my soapbox now.
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Theresa
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LaPaz Home Learning
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MacBeth
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| Posted: March 16 2006 at 9:21am | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
| I looked into some of the Apologia books and decided against them. Not so much for the creationist viewpoint, which I can handle by supplementing with more rigorous materials, but because it was a young-earth creationist viewpoint, which I can't handle. |
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I really don't care for Apologia for the same reasons, and others that have been mentioned, but I know that many great families use them, and if they work for you, that's fine.
For me, the young earth issue is too much to overcome, and as 'Books' said, Apologia books are still big text books, no matter how you disguise them and no matter how many folks call them "CM".  I also had a problem with the tone of the books. A good friend chastised me on this  , reminding me that if I feel the tone is pedantic, it's because I am familiar with the material.
I love Mary Daly's book, mentioned above, and there are other books, including many, many living books on all topics that can be used in lieu of these and other texts. I know that it can seem daunting to make a curriculum yourself out of living books, but even if you use a text (as a spine, or as a source of questions) living books can be a way to save your kids from the dreary droning tone of most committee-written texts.
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog 
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MacBeth
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| Posted: March 16 2006 at 9:27am | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
I guarantee a child will learn more from a walk in the woods accompanied by a field guide than he will ever learn from a textbook.
OK, off my soapbox now. |
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Ditto (and thanks for the plug)!
Just an additional push on this topic--I have never used a science text for anyone under high school age, and even then I use them only for reference. I know some folks don't recommend science books for those under 3rd grade, but I don't see how these texts get any better by then (they don't). The biggest waste of money in education are science workbooks which "teach" the painfully obvious. Theresa, you can have the soap-box back now.
Karen, I think we hijacked your topic...sorry! 
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog
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jdostalik
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| Posted: March 16 2006 at 9:41am | IP Logged
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Thanks, Theresa and MacBeth for your opinions! Nothing like shooting straight from the hip!
I really appreciate all the comments, and I know my friend who is seriously thinking of using these, will appreciate the frank comments!
We haven't used a science text, yet, and I tend to agree with you, Theresa...in fact, I'm hankering to get outdoors and do a little nature study...The weather here in Texas has been fabulous these last few days!
And thanks, Karen, for starting this thread many moons ago! 
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Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: apologia science?
