Apologia Elementary, Real Science 4 Kids, or Another? « SCM Discussion Forum: Charlotte Mason Method Homeschooling

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Apologia Elementary, Real Science 4 Kids, or Another?

(21 posts) (12 voices)

Started 10 months ago by Inky
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Inky
Member

Advice for what to choose please! My daughters are 6 and 4 and love science. We used Noeo this year - loved the experiments but had to make lots of book substitues for the younger ages of my two, and overall expensive. So... my thoughts are:

?Apologia

Pros: CM friendly and Christian

Cons: Doesn't cover chemistry and physics, which for me feels like a big gap. Also does it insist too much on a 7 "this world" day creation, rather than allowing room for a God to whom "a year is like 1000 days and 1000 days are like a year" and for whom "the year of the Lord's favor" is clearly not a "this world" year. (BTW I'm not saying he didn't create it in 7 "our world" days, just that I'm not sure the Bible insists this is the only possible way of understanding the word "day" ). Also does it treat Genisis as a science text, rather than as how God intended it when he first gave it to Moses?

RealScience4Kids:

Pros: Includes Chemistry and Physics. Well reviewed

Cons: Expensive. Not exactly CM or christian

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
crazy4boys
Member

I've used both, and like both for different reasons. For your kids ages I'd go with Real Science 4 Kids. We HATED Apologia at first but now that they're older, we're liking it more. We've used 2 books (of Apologia) so far. I thought RS4K very engaging and interesting and you can keep the lessons short. I appreciated that it was 'just science' and I was able to teach my own views of religion/creation on the side.

Apologia is coming out with a chem/physics book next year. It does not give good room for discussion on different versions of Creation. It is something that I've had to bring up on my own. "Hey, the author says this, but we believe this...or we think it MIGHT be this...." I wouldn't hand it to a child to read on their own without addressing this.

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
Kate Mom of 1
Member

I was just wondering the same thing for my 3rd grader. I like RS4K, and might get it if we decide we need it later. Glad to have seen this thread!

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
missceegee
Member

I have RS4K Pre-Level 1 and RS4K Level 1 with the experiment kits that I can sell for a bit of a discount to anyone interested. Both are brand new. We had a co-op science opportunity open up and won't be using them. PM me if interested.

Christie

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
pslively
Member

We have used both. As much as I wanted to love Apologia, the truth is, the books not very interesting. (We have used Astronomy, animals of the sixth day, and Botany) My kids do not enjoy them. We would get so behind on science because I just didn't like reading them and they didn't like listening to them. One thing they are good for is for Mom to use as a spine to build a study around using library books, etc. Of course, that is a lot of work. With a 6 and 4 year old, I definitely would not go with the Apologia.

We have not used Real Science 4 Kids.

Have you looked at Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding? Your kids would be the perfect age to begin it. I recently bought it and I just think it is the absolute best science curriculum I have ever seen.... and I've seen a lot of them. That, along with relaxed CM nature study and reading good living Science books seems like an ideal science curriculum to me. That's what we are doing with my kids, aged 4, 6, 8, 10, and 11. The author sells the whole ebook on his website for $5 so that you can really see what it's all about. (The ebook is not printable.) There is an extensive sample on amazon. It is not christian. We are diehard young-earth creationists and I don't have a problem with the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Foundations-Scientific-Understanding-Curriculum/dp/1432706101

If we weren't doing that, I would be doing the 106 days of creation studies from here at SCM. Have you looked at that?

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
pslively
Member

I meant to say.... We have *not* used both.

And, BTW, I love the Apologia books for high school. But, of course, that's a different author and a different audience. Nothing against Jeannie Fulbright. I feel bad for saying the books were uninteresting. They just didn't work for us.

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
Inky
Member

Wow, thank you all for your wonderfully helpful comments. Looks like its RS4Kids or another... am off to bed but tomorrow will do some more research on your suggestions

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
Corie
Member

We will be doing 106 DOC this next year. Way excited about it! I had planned on Apologia Anatomy, but after taking a look at it, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe when the children are older.

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
LDIMom
Member

Well I don't know antying about RS4K, but we use and love Apologia. We have used all three Animal books (Swimming, Flying and Land Animals) as well as Botany. We will be starting with Astronomy this year. We plan to use Anatomy next year, though the Chemistry book looks to be great too. Might try to fit some of both in actually.

I would say for a 6 and 4YO you really don't need a science curriculum. I have heard wonderful things about the 106 days and if we had just those ages, I think I'd be trying that one for sure. But we have 6 children and do science together for all but our oldest, who is using Apoligia's Gen. Science, which we don't love but it is good and is what he needs.

So, my vote is to wait on Apologia and maybe consider it again. Please don't discount it though altogether because many people including me and our children love it. You might want to take a look at it sometime from a friend who has it or at a store, but I would say your children are too young to fully appreciate it. I think the Apologia elementary books are written with the 3rd-6th grader in mind. I wanted to add as well that for us, Apologia is a starting point. We try to do many of the experiments, which greatly add to it, and also to further explore topics that we first read about in Apologia.

Just tonight, we revisited the seahorse in talking about its unusual reproductive means (don't ask how this came up LOL! at dinner no less), and one of the books we consulted was our Swimming Creatures book. The real-life photographs also in the Apologia books are a great asset in my mind, but this is all just my two cents of course for whatever its worth!

Oh and don't leave out the nature journals. I am so glad I got one for our two 6YOs last year. They will always be cherished by me (and them I hope). Such precious keepsakes to see nature through their eyes at 6 years old!

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
jmac17
Member

We tried Apologia Astronomy last year when my kids were 6 and 4, and just couldn't get into it. It's on the back burner to probably use later.

We are now working through 106 Days of Creation. The lessons are short and sweet, so it's working well for my young children (including children in my home daycare, right now I have an almost-7, 5, 4, and an almost-3, plus 15 month old twins.) With my oldest DD we are also reading the Burgess Animal and Bird books, and she reads The Seashore book for fun. With nature study, this is plenty of science for right now. I intend to go back to Apologia in a year or two, when they can get more involved in the projects and notebooking.

Joanne

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
my3boys
Member

Outdoor Secrets, from SCM, would be great for your children, too.

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
missceegee
Member

Outdoor Secrets is FABULOUS!

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
jlcs
Member

We used Outdoor Secrets last year. My son was 6. He really enjoyed it and learned so much. We are planning to use 106 Days of Creation this year. From all I have seen of it in planning, I love it!

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
momof3
Member

I am new here so I hope you all don't mind me jumping in with a question. I have a 4 year old (5 in Sept) and an 8 year old. Besides nature journals, I would like something else I could do with them together. Would Outdoor Secrets be something that I could do with them or would it be too young for my 3rd grader? I read on there that it was for 1st and 2nd grade approximately so my kids are right below and right above that. I was also considering 106 days of Creation.

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post
missceegee
Member

Momof3 - Either of the SCM products would be great or you could read some great books like those by Jim Arnosky or from the Smithsonian Oceanic Collection.

Posted 10 months ago # Report Post

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