Apologia What on Earth Can I Do Review

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May 27, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

We love, love, love Apologia Educational Ministries and are thrilled to review volume 4 of the What We Believe worldview series!

We received the following:

What on Earth Can I Do? (hardback book for ages 6-12)
What On Earth Can I Do Notebooking Journal (for ages 10-12)
What on Earth Can I Do? Junior Notebooking Journal (for ages 6-9)
What on Earth Can I Do? Coloring Book (perfect for preschoolers)

Liz has completed the whole series now.

What is covered in the What We Believe series?

The series includes four volumes:

Volume 1 – Who Is God? (And Can I Really Know Him?) Biblical Worldview of God and Truth
Volume 2 – Who Am I? (And What Am I Doing Here?) Biblical Worldview of Self-Image
Volume 3 – Who Is My Neighbor? (And Why Does He Need Me?) Biblical Worldview of Servanthood
Volume 4 – What on Earth Can I Do? Biblical Worldview of Stewardship

Why do we love Apologia Christian worldview curriculum?
We are bombarded with the world all the time – through TV, radio, Internet, billboards, print media, friends and family, and even church. I am continually amazed at how Christians compromise the gospel and teachings of the Bible in favor of the world and concern over offending someone.

I say: “Take back your family and stand firm in your convictions that are Bible-based.”

I have never found a discrepancy Apologia worldview helps immensely by affirming our beliefs and why I teach my children what I do.

We are different and I am ok with that.
What did we do with this curriculum?
I read aloud from the book each morning and we discussed the lessons, stories, biographies. The journals have schedules for each day, but we found ourselves reading, reading, reading and loving it so much that we did above and beyond the daily lessons. The journals make things so easy, but they’re not necessary to have.

Alex was super excited to have a coloring book and he’s just the right age and ability to complete a page during or after our read aloud time. The coloring pages are the same as in the junior journal and he loved coloring in his book while his sisters colored in theirs.

Tori and Kate shared the Junior Notebooking Journal so sweetly (since I couldn’t find an additional one for a few weeks). Tori was thrilled when her own journal arrived!

The girls love the lapbooking components, coloring pages, copywork, and puzzles. Some of the free writing assignments we skipped since the girls weren’t ready to do those. Kate and Tori really loved making blueberry and lemon walnut muffins as one of the assignments.

Liz had her own Notebooking Journal and completed the assignments daily. Occasionally, she had to complete the reading if she missed the read aloud time.

I am amazed at how God has orchestrated events in our lives the past couple months.

We’re in the transition of moving from Utah to Germany and it’s been quite stressful and confusing for our younger three who have no memory of past military moves. (My husband is Air Force and this is the first PCS I’ve experience not being pregnant or nursing a newborn!)

The opening stories in the first few lessons about World War II and German and British characters delighted my kids who are eager to learn everything they can about our new home. Great images and biographies accompany the stories. And we all love history.

We haven’t quite reached this era in our history studies, but God’s timing is always perfect. My children immediately related Colin and Jenny’s experiences to the Pevensie kids in the Narnia books! They’re excited to visit these historical places mentioned and read more about the historical events. And they’re tickled to realize that the BBC existed that long ago as a radio station before the modern TV station with the Doctor Who shows they know and love.

Even Dad enjoyed listening to the read alouds during our roadtrip. The stories and fictionalized retelling of Jesus’ parables are real page turners. This is my favorite in the series, I think.

We continue to read our lessons aloud and complete the journals while we are staying in temporary housing on Ramstein AFB in Germany. We found a house and are awaiting our household goods. How appropriate is our lesson on greed and not coveting too much that we don’t need. We downsized a great deal before we moved, but we will not have room for some of our stuff in our new German house. I love how God is pruning us in this area. Good thing I don’t really have emotional attachments to many of our things.

I discovered neato devotional on YouVersion app called What On Earth Am I Here For. It’s so complementary!

No teacher manual needed. Great for the whole family. My kids are 4, 7, 8, and 13. The lessons are even powerful and interesting enough for family devotional time.

What on Earth Can I Do? is $39.00
What On Earth Can I Do Notebooking Journal is $24.00
What on Earth Can I Do? Junior Notebooking Journal is $24.00
What on Earth Can I Do? Coloring Book is $8.00

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Apologia Chemistry and Physics Review

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November 11, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Our family is thrilled to review Apologia Educational Ministries homeschool science curriculum and we received a copy of Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics and two Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journals for my girls, age 6 and 7. This is quickly becoming our favorite volume of the Young Explorer Series. We are all eating it up, including my chemist husband! Alex (age 3) loves to be included when we do the experiments, and even Liz (age 13) and Dad like to listen in to the read alouds.

Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Schoolhouse Crew Review

Tori and Kate love the junior notebooking journals and it makes my planning so much easier that it provides a schedule I can use and space for them to write up their assignments. I love the Scripture copywork and lapbook items. There’s enough variety for each lesson that we never get bored! (There are two levels of notebooking journals, depending on the reading and writing levels of students.)

We also love the resource lists for extra reading, DVDs, online sites to explore to extend lessons. We’re currently devouring the recommended Physics by Basher (there’s a whole series!) It’s fun and colorful and entertaining for the whole family. Even my husband is impressed with what we’re learning and he’s picky when it comes to math and science curricula!

The kids loved the different colored fluids in the density experiment.

Playing with oil, syrup, water, and Alka Seltzer to make lava lamps.

How many pennies in the “boat” until it sinks? They pretended they were pirate ships.

We have never needed to look any further than this homeschool science resource for all our science needs. We have been pleased with this company since Liz (now 13 and in Apologia Physical Science) was in her first homeschool year.

There are 14 lessons and we usually take a couple weeks per lesson to dig deep and last all year, but they can be completed weekly – which means more science in a typical school year! Within each lesson are mini experiments, notebooking pages (that can be completed with or without the notebooking journals, critical thinking, and usually a more comprehensive experiment. We complete a great deal of narration and do the notebooking together. Older kids can essentially complete the whole curriculum without parent supervision (Liz did and does!).

The science is solid, not dumbed down -very well-researched and written for all levels of kids (recommended for K-6) to understand. We do love the Creation Confirmation sections in the text that tie in the science to creationism. It’s a great balance for us as academics and Christians.

My girls haven’t noticed and wouldn’t deceive, but there’s an answer key in the back of the book for the “What Do You Remember?” questions throughout the book. I didn’t really need this guide because the questions are basic narration and we do these orally. But some older kids might cheat, unfortunately. This is such a minor negative and can be easily monitored. There are no complaints to this homeschool science program.

It’s definitely wise to look ahead at the supply list in the index to know what items are needed for experiments in each lesson. Ask me how I know. I spent a Walmart trip on the phone with my eldest daughter, wandering around and finding items for all the science experiments last month since I didn’t plan ahead. Most items are everyday supplies and easy to find, but once in a while, they’re something a bit unusual or something we just don’t keep on hand or something we need to plan to save (like black powder paint or Wint O Green Life Savers or cardboard tubes.

6 thumbs up from our family!

Recommended for K-6

Hardcover Text: $39 (download samples and TOC here)

Junior Notebooking Journal or Notebooking Journal: $24 each

Check out others!

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General and Land Animal Science Annual Review

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May 22, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

General Science

Liz completed General Science this year. She has completed the entire elementary series. And now the girls are working through it! I love everything about it.

General science gives a great overview of all the sciences. Liz especially likes physics and can’t wait for that program {in a few more years}! We’re starting physical science after summer break.

I got the journal for Liz to keep all her work together. She has organization issues and there’s a handy little schedule in the front that she would just check off each assignment as she completed it.

Dad’s a scientist. He helped lots this year with Liz and her experiments. He extended some of them to further teach her the concepts well.

Liz liked the simple experiments. Even when they go wrong {or Mama doesn’t have the correct type of toilet bowl cleaner, sigh}

She was much more successful making this DNA strand model out of pipe cleaners.

We still have this baby taking over my kitchen windowsill, sprouting plenteous roots.

Liz enjoyed the anatomy lessons too. And reading sideways on the floor apparently.

Land Animals Science

The girls are still plugging along with Land Animals and we hope to finish over the summer. I focused more on math and language arts with them since they’re only just turned 6 and 7.

The girls absolutely LOVE these journals. It’s like notebooking and lapbooking all in a great spiral notebook.

We kicked off our school year in science by taking Tori and Kate to the zoo for a special primate event. We had lunch with staff and and special animal guests.

We even got to help the primate keeper with enrichment for the lemurs!

The lemurs get excited with drawings on the windows of their habitats.

Here’s the girls’ recent reaction to learning about rumination (chewing cud).

ew!

The girls really enjoyed our map work (learning where the animals live in the world) and learning the animals’ footprints at the end of each chapter.

We played games and completed most of the experiments or crafts.

Kate is rather obsessed with animals and I often find her reading an animal encyclopedia rather than doing what she’s supposed to be doing.

Since they’re studying Latin now, they’re fascinated by learning the proper taxonomy names.

Literature Study (or Book Report) Notebooking Pages

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General Science

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January 29, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 7 Comments

Elizabeth really likes the general overview of Apologia General Science. She’s breezing through it – even after having forgotten most of what she learned from the Apologia Exploring Creation series. This mama perhaps wasn’t as diligent as I should have been with taking advantage of all the fun experiments and learning experiences as I could have been. But I had three babies and we did what we could.

Liz is especially enjoying the anatomy modules – much to my chagrin since she really wasn’t on board when we studied it a couple years ago.

She’d been asking me to get her a more advanced book on body changes. Of course, at age 12, she knows the basics of human development. I certainly wouldn’t wait until she begins her first menses to let her know what’s happening! Not sure what she was wanting, I half-heartedly searched for an appropriate book online to no avail.

I’m not pleased with the secular emphasis in even so-called Christian books. They seem to skim over the implications of premarital sex and lust and not address important issues from a Biblical perspective.

When she asked about it again, I questioned her. I was frustrated because all the sex books I’ve found are blaringly inappropriate for her. She doesn’t need to understand the issues of abortion or homosexuality or teen pregnancy yet. She didn’t even know anything about those until very recently.

Alas, my little geeky girl wants a book that explains in detail the chemical changes in the body that cause the physical changes. What a relief!

I like that most of the experiments in General Science are simple enough that Liz can do them by herself. We’re all pretty fascinated by a branch of ivy that we are rooting.

Which brings to mind the verse:

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
~John 15:5

Like we are branches on the vine of God, so are our children extensions of us. When I get frustrated with behavior or attitudes, I must remember that they are His children first and I cannot change their hearts. I can only pray for them to accept His teachings and internalize them in their own hearts. I pray that someday I can sit back in my rocking chair and see the faithful tendrils growing forth from my legacy.

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Middle School Science

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July 14, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

We’re all pretty excited about Apologia General Science.

They did the first experiment together and it was colorful and fun.

The water, oil, and corn syrup layered themselves and the rock sank and the grape floated. cool.

We’re following a great schedule and notebooking plan.

It’s been an eye opener for her. We explained the plan and showed her the plan and got her notebook organized and the schedule printed out.

Then she thought she could skim through like she always has.

Not so much. She got a 64 on her first test.

I warned her that 7th grade was going to be different, harder.

Now she knows.

Her uncle is visiting with his family this week and he teaches 7th grade science. This has been great for all of us. He told us that “she’s just like a 7th grader” (the good and the bad). And he’s been able to talk to her about her studies. It’s given her a new perspective. You know, moms and dads know nothing, but uncles can be cool.

So, she knows that she has to actually work at something.

A new concept. A first step toward maturity.

General and Physical science are reviews of elementary material, preparing for high school lab sciences.

We read many living books about scientific topics, watch documentaries, go on nature hikes, visit museums, and more.

Good Middle School Science Skills

Physical science

Brush up on the laws of motion, force, speed, and the transfer of energy. Students should understand the effect of friction on objects, as well as the difference between friction and inertia. Kids have the opportunity to learn about the properties of a range of materials, studying size, weight, and shape. They should conduct experiments, use tools to gather and organize data, and learn how to make graphs to present their findings.

Life science

The life sciences include everything from the human body to ecology. With so many topics, at any given time students in middle school might be immersed in studying a particular insect, or observing a terrarium or aquarium to learn about ecosystems. Junior life scientists also learn about plants, including the basic processes, like photosynthesis, that allow them to thrive.

Earth and space science

Middle school earth science lessons review how the earth was formed. Kids should review how the earth orbits around the sun as well as the moon orbits around the earth. Make connections between orbits and time. Understand that a year is the length of time it takes the earth to orbit the sun and a day is based on how long it takes for the earth to make one rotation on its axis.

Teachers may include a geology lesson that focuses on a single point of interest like the Grand Canyon. By studying the Grand Canyon, for example, students can follow in the footsteps of professional scientists, learning to read geologic lessons in the rock, and discern the effect erosion has on the earth’s natural features.

Science and technology

Many schools emphasize the relationship between science and technology. These technology-focused activities might include a study of bridge design or a discussion about robots’ value to society. Lessons should give special attention to the way science and technology can be used to solve human problems and meet human needs.

Scientific inquiry

While studying science, your child will also be learning about the process of scientific inquiry — how to ask incisive questions, design experiments, gather evidence, formulate answers, and communicate the results. It’s not uncommon for students’ ideas and misconceptions to be challenged or changed.

By contrasting and comparing, students hone their critical thinking skills, analyzing errors and making summaries of what they’ve learned. Many other soft skills should grow and develop while studying science. For example, students might begin to learn the importance of recording their observations or recognize the limitations their own memories.

Using math skills in science

Rock solid math skills are crucial to success in science. Whether students are being asked to create a new calendar for an imaginary world or calculating sea rise from an arctic ice melt-off, they’ll use a wide variety of math skills involving basic arithmetic, geometry, and pre-algebra.

Creating graphs and tables, measuring to scale, calculating ratios, determining weight, distance, and volume – all these are math skills needed for science. Source: Great Schools

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Land Animals Science

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April 8, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

Fun with science this week

We’ve begun reading Apologia ECW Zoology 3: Land Animals.

1st experiment: predators and prey

What more fun than to prey on M&M’s?!

We used construction paper in three colors (green, orange, and brown) to represent a habitat.

We hypothesized which color M&M’s would be camouflaged the best. We proposed that yellow and blue would be easiest to find.

We sorted and counted and stalked our prey. I set a timer for 2 minutes and each “tiger” took a turn seeking her M&M’s or “deer.”

One of our read-alouds this month is Green Thumbs. It’s chock-full of fun gardening projects that are cheap and easy! We’re saving milk jugs for more fun projects next week!

We learned how plants drink water. These carnations were obviously on their last legs when we bought them since they didn’t suck up much. We did get to see a little green and blue come into a couple of them, but the red didn’t work. The celery did a better job in all colors.

Activity with baby animals and their sounds matching

More posts coming on gardening real soon! So excited to see springtime!

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Heart Anatomy Craft

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May 27, 2011 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Making a model of the heart with marshmallows, colored icing, and graham crackers…sounds so heart healthy, eh?

Doing Lesson 9 of Apologia Anatomy for science.

Of course, Lil Sisters had to get on it…there was icing to lick!

Spreading on the icing…(so serious)

The finished product…more pink than red and the blue is too light…oh well…

Our Science Curriculum:

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Elementary Anatomy

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February 21, 2011 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

Here is Big Sister reading to Little Sisters. They love this anatomy book!

Here is the little clay girl with toothpick skeleton they made from lesson 2.

They also made some layered human body paper dolls from a Scholastic workbook Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body (Grades 2-4)
and are working on a cell model mobile. We’re focusing on healthy eating this week with a Food Pyramid bulletin board and food file folder games from File Folder Fun. (oh, the alliteration!)

Our Science Curriculum:

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