Marvelous Mondays- SCIENCE
Monday, May 4, 2009 at 1:51AM
Bird Watching on a Hotel Balcony
Unlike History, Science is not my favorite subject. Seems people are wired one way or the other, doesn''t it? I'm a writing/reading girl, not an abstract math/sciences girl. Regardless, science is something that children need to be exposed to and educated in, so there''s just no getting around it. Whether I feel like it or not, we've chosen to educate our children at home and so science must be a part of my life.
It seems I bumbled through the first five years or so of science. We used Considering God''s Creation, which I did love, but which is very hands on (lots of cutting and pasting) and while one of my boys loved it, the other loathed it. The book covers all aspects of God''s creation, including the natural world, solar system, the human body, animals, plants, and weather. It comes with a CD of science songs created for each chapter, but we found them highly annoying. Maybe you won't :)
After Considering God's Creation, I floundered. Providentially, at about the same time I was needing to decide what to do next, I read an interview with Dr. Jay Wile in the Winter 2003 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. This one article changed my whole thinking, and left me shouting, "Hallelujah!" Dr. Wile, a Nuclear Chemist and author of the Apologia Science Texts, explains that elementary-level science isn't science. Without an understanding of advanced mathematics principles, science simply isn't. All the pressure was off me for the elementary years, and we switched to nature study and observation, science non-fiction books (such as the Christian Liberty Nature Readers), and science biographies.
I now approach elementary science with unit studies in mind. It's actually fun stuff for this non-science loving mom. Most recently we've done a cooking science course using a free lapbook from Homeschool Share, an excellent resource for science unit studies. And free!
Other elementary science units we've done and loved include My Body, Exploring Creation With Astronomy (an Apologia-published book in a series that lays terrific groundwork for junior high and high school science), and Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day (also in the Apologia elementary series).
DVDs are a great tool for all levels of science study, bringing to life many concepts and teaching in a way that is visual and memorable. We have several favorites, DVDs that my kids actually ask to watch. I'll be bold here and say that our family is not terribly fond of the Moody science series; they seem dry and crusty, in need of a good update. Here are the DVDs we've loved most:
Children's DVD Pack from Answers in Genesis
Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution
Planet Earth
Biology 101
The World of Nature
We utilize our public library often, and I'll check out a whole subject at a time. I plop the books in a big basket in our living room and just let the kids casually read through them. Non-fiction science-related books well-loved here:
Nature Finds
We also, as I'm sure you've picked up if you've spent any time on the Preschoolers and Peace site, love Amanda's nature and craft kits from Hearts and Trees. Amanda is a homeschool graduate and daughter of Barb, who also has wonderful blogs and materials for nature study. She inspires me to get my kids out and about looking at things, really looking at things in nature. Barb's Handbook of Nature Study blog and e-book could fill your elementary years with all the nature study you need.
*Beyond elementary science/nature study, we use Science Shepherd in our home for biology. Neither of our first two children are science-lovers, and Science Shepherd has been an excellent fit. As for other sciences, our firstborn passed the Natural Sciences CLEP and our second son is taking chemistry on campus at a hybrid high school (homeschool/campus classes).
Creation Sensation was started by a homeschooling family who recognized the need to gather all of the materials required for the junior high and high school labs. Gotta love a kit!
Live and Learn has created module-by-module mini-books that will help your student learn to study the materials in a way that reinforces the concepts by having them create notebook pages. This is a memorable way to study and my boys both say the Live and Learn books have been a big help to them this year.
A final word about evolutionary inclusions and material. Fundamental to laying a strong foundation in Truth for our children is exposing them to the materials from Answers in Genesis. AIG gives us tools for combating and arguing against the evolutionary theory so prevalent in books, video productions, and texts written by secularists. Our older children openly and boldly argue against evolutionary theory because they have been well-equipped to do so.
And we're not afraid to expose them to evolution.
Recently our eldest child was discussing a book with me and he said, "Mom, there is no book I could read that would change my beliefs. If it doesn't line up with Scripture, I know that it isn't Truth." Wow. That's a mouthful, isn't it?
We teach our children when they rise up, when they lie down, and when they walk along the path. We also teach them to be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves, which means knowing when to saturate them with Truth and how to equip them to fight lies.
Start with Kids Answers.
Don't forget Cheryl's Marvelous Monday post on Science. We have quite a few similar thoughts this week.
*Information ammended as of May, 2011
Reader Comments (13)
Have I mentioned (like thirty-hundred times) how much I LOVE this series???
O.K.
I am wired similarly (love words, reading, writing, etc.) Math & Science not so much.
We started with General Science from Apologia for my daughter in 7th grade and it was a real. slow. process.
Because my girls were in public elementary school, I felt like I had to pick up where they left off. Because that first year was such a drag, we decided to take a step back this year and we used Apologia's, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day ... and we loved it!
I know I should have had my oldest doing something more challenging but she had already done a year of General Science and I knew I had at least four years left to cover the other mandatory ones (Biology, Physical Science, etc.)
This coming year my 9th grader will do a homeschool co-op class that will use the Physical Science from Apologia and my 7th grader will take the General Science class.
In my short few years I have learned what you did. The early years should be enjoyable and there is so much out there! In a couple of years I will use the Elementary Apologia series because we loved the Flying Creatures so much :) They have retained so much of what they learned and have passed it on to me. We are now avid bird watchers and lovers (something I never thought I would say!)
Kenj,
I will not burden your comment section, as I did Cheryl's, with my long drawn out commentary on Science. But the comment I left on hers may be of interest to you as well.
I pray all is well. Blessings, Jean
Do you need to do the Apologia elementary books in order-flying creatures, swimming creatures, etc? And is it something that can be used multilevel and reused again as they get older? I am really enjoying this series.
Thanks,
Alicia
Thanks for the good review of our material, Kendra. I have to agree, we've used the upper level Apologia in our own home for years, and we've been very pleased with the results -- which is one reason I work for them now! We're excited about the new additions to the K-6 curricula and looking forward to using them with our younger kids ... and yes, we have preschoolers too :-)
Regards,
Hal Young, Electronic Marketing Coordinator
Apologia Educational Ministries
I have to say, we too love the elementary Apologia books! We used the Astronomy one this year, and have also started the Botany one. Wonderfully done, and I'm learning just as much as my 7yo son!! Can't wait to get to the next book!
Loving these reviews!! Thanks for all the work you've put into this for our benefit!!
Jaclyn
Thanks once again for taking the time out to write these reviews for us!
I love your series of reviews, Kendra! I love History and English, but am not a fan of math and science. Your science tips make learning math fun!
This is my least favorite post so far, but that's ONLY because I hate Science, too. :) [Not that I didn't like what you wrote, here. It's just the topic I'm not fond of.]
I must have read the same article you did about the elementary years, because we decided to just do nature study/observation with our kids at their ages. And I love that. :)
I'd have to second the recommendation given by Jean over at the Coppers Wife, we LOVE Gravitas Publications Real Science 4 Kids. My kids thrive with hands on things, which this program has in spades. It's short, so we can add in lots of extra experiments for each chapter. I just got the Physics books in the mail for next year, and my kids were actually excited!! That hasn't happened in our family before :)
Kathy D.
Thank you for this post! Actually thank you for this site!! You have helped me in so many different ways! We too ditched our early elementary science "curriculum" and have gone to observation and lapbooks as well... Yesterday we got to observe something REALLY NEAT! A roly poly (sow bug) having babies!! She must've had 20 of them! It was an amazing sight watching one of God's creations have babies, and it was a bug at that!
Hey Kendra,
Would you be willing to post a blurb about Homeschool Share's 2009 contest on your blog, please? We have a special category just for preschoolers AND some great prizes! :) Thanks, Ami
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/blast2009.php
We love you too Kendra. :)
I am currently working on a response to this entry entitled, "Nature Study is For People Who Don't Like Science." Stay tuned...
I also wanted to say that I really enjoy Dr. Wile and his manner of speaking and his books. They fit our family and once we started with them, we have not looked back.
Great information in this post, thanks.
Barb
I love this series!!!
I have to add that the Jonathan Park cd series from Vision Forum has been incredible in basing my children's scientific knowledge on Creation and familiarizing them with evolutionary fallacies.
A funny story--we headed to our local IMAX theater to see their movie on prehistoric sea creatures, since the monster factor was wowing my kids. We sat down, the movie hardly began, when my 3 year old piped up in his not-so-quiet voice, "Mom--I think that lady is an ev-oh-lu-shun-ary-pay-lee-un-toll-uh-gust!" I got the giggles and had to remind him that we needed to whisper. Just from listening to JP at naptime...