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7th Grade Science – Apologia
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My oldest will be 7th grade in a few weeks and we plan to begin an individual science for him with Apologia. I know this a recommended resource by the Simply CM team but here’s my question…
What is the recommended teaching approach with this curriculum? How do we use this resource and still approach it the CM way?
You could easily make it a very textbook/workbook style with the worksheets + tests. You could also make it more hands on with the experiments and watching videos that correspond with them. I see both of these approaches taking much time. We usually read and narrate science together as a family so with this being our 1st year with him pulling out of that I do not want to frustrate him or me with busywork. Plus, I still want to approach these upper level science years with the same CM techniques that we use and love.
Any advice on how you guys teach these upper sciences and still use the CM methods?
Simply CM Team – I would love to see a schedule or companion to go along with these Apologia texts to help us implement them using the CM methods that we love. You have spoiled me with your guides and now I need one for this subject. 😀😀😀
I am also anxious to hear how others use these books. My daughter is beginning 8th grade, and I am using Apologia as well. Zoology 1, to be exact. My daughter has some processing difficulties, so she really needs some hands-on things to help it stick. She also learns better by video, than by just reading about something. So, I am planning to do as many projects/experiments as possible from the book. But, reading living books has always been so good for her, so I want to include some of those as well. Because of my daughter’s academic difficulties, my plans are to use The Young Explorer Series through high school. I want to challenge her, but not overwhelm her, so this topic is important for us as well.
Jamie – I like the idea of a CM companion book for these as well. But, that would take some time, so it probably won’t happen in time for me. I am homeschooling my last child:(
I had my dd do written narrations on the Apologia text, and do the On Your Own questions. We did essay tests each term.
Jamie, I used Apologia Anatomy and Physiology with our 7th grader last year and the Zoology books in prior years. Actually, Psreitmom, I also did Zoology 3 with our 6th grader last year. I explained in this post how we used them…
http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/2017/06/2016-2017-year-in-review-science.html
Basically, our 7th grader spent two weeks on each chapter/module/lesson. She read a chapter and then did some notebooking/narrations based on topics I assigned ahead of time. For example, I gave her a list of diagrams at the beginning of the year that I wanted her to include in her notebook throughout the year (i.e. respiratory system, heart, skin, a cell, tooth, etc.). My kids are not fans of experiments so she read through them, but didn’t complete them. Basically, she just read and kept a science journal/noteobook of her findings. There was also some copywork and a few vocabulary words. You can see samples of her notebook at the link above.
As mentioned, I also used Apologia Zoology 3 with our 6th grader. This was part of Heart of Dakota Creation to Christ, which, by the way, was not a great fit for our family. I also included an explanation and sample notebook pages from his studies in the that link.
As an aside, we have decided to move away from Apologia this year for 7th and 8th grade and will be using some of the Ambleside Online science book suggestions for Years 7 and 8. The kids will read, narrate, and keep a science journal/notebook of their findings.
Hope that helps,
MelissaI was very close to getting a notebooking journal to use with it, but decided to pass, not only because of cost, but because I didn’t know how much I would use it. The text has everything written out, so I could make my own notebook. I believe these books are a combination of CM and classical. If I understand correctly, Jamie is wanting to make it more CM. In my case, using Zoology, I don’t know what could be added/changed, other than adding living books on topic and just more real life outdoor nature study. I believe narration is included in the text? A guide would be helpful in just knowing how to break up each lesson, without covering too much at once. My daughter needs it broken in small chunks, so it will take us longer to do a book than what is recommended.
Yes, the Apologia pre-made Journals do provide a schedule, but we didn’t use the journal as written because I felt it was overkill and included busy work. I simply chose specific topics/pages for her to complete. Our son did his own notebook pages without the pre-made journal.
Have you seen the Daily Lesson Plans that accompany the Young Explorer series?
http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/042941
They’re fairly inexpensive. I also have a child with learning differences. He is dyslexic, among other things so it is necessary to break books/lessons into smaller chunks. If you’re set on Apologia, it is conducive to breaking up as the chapters have natural stopping and starting points.
Best of luck 🙂
MelissaThanks, Melissa. I will look at those lesson plans. As far as notebooking, I guess I will decide as we go along and just have my daughter make her own. I think I am finally able to work with her through a book at a slow pace if need be, and not feel like I have to get it done at a certain time.
So, basically, to do this CM style, we are looking at narration and notebooking. Sounds good to me. Sorry to steal your thread, Jamie. I hope something here is helpful for you as well.
Thanks ladies! I love all the feedback.
No thread stealing at all. 😀😀😀
I did find a schedule/guide for the Apologia General Science from Sonlight. It seems to break the text into small chunks and incorporates the videos. I have not felt any of that was needed with the Young Explorer series. We simply read at our pace, narrate, and do an occasional experiment with Daddy.
But this guide is also written to the student so I am hoping that this checklist approach will help with independence. I plan to do index cards for vocabulary + written narrating omce a week with maybe 1 exam per term or semester.
If it helps at all, this is the way I have my kids use it:
They read a section and answer the OYO questions either on paper or orally with me. Once a week, they do a written narration about something they’ve been reading about. We do some of the experiments but not all of them, and sometimes the narration is a description of the experiment. They skip all of the study guides and tests. This way we can fit science into 3x a week so it’s a bit less intense.
I do this with General and Physical science.
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