Apologia notebooks

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  • January 20, 2011 at 11:00 pm
    Rachel White
    Participant

    HI all,

    I was wondering if someone who’se used the notebooking journals could chime in. My son has read all of the Apologia by Fulbright (more than once) and has absorbed them all on his own, no need to write stuff down, and done the experiments on his own, yada, yada. My dd has tried the same thing and due to the amount of info on a page (according to her words), she hasn’t been able to absorb it. Now, she likes the kind of stuff that is in the Journals-drawing, puzzles, etc. that breaks down the material into chunks; that’s the impression I get that the Journals can do. Her brain is just different, it’s not sequential, which is fine, but I think by using the Journals, she’ll be able to slowly go through them easier. Please correct me if I misunderstand the Journals.

    Of course, narration will do the same thing by organizing her brain; but my health and my husband’s health has been poor of late and I need her to be a little more independant at this time, so I can’t add in anything else that requires me that much; there are other things she’s narrating.

    Thanks for any input on the Journals,

    Rachel

    January 21, 2011 at 2:10 am
    houseofchaos
    Participant

    Hi Rachel,

    The journal sounds like it would suit your purpose well.  We are using the Botany journal at the moment, and that is exactly what it does – help them work slowly through with drawing, puzzles, some handwriting, a few questions to answer to highlight important parts.  I would be glad to give you some details about the journal if you would like – which one are you thinking of using?

    Gaeleen 

    January 21, 2011 at 3:01 am
    Rachel White
    Participant

    Thanks Gaeleen,

      That’s exciting to hear! Let me ask her which one she’s like to start with and then I’ll let you know tomorrow (probably Zoology 1). The good thing is she’s been getting great stuff via the Burgess books, the Among the … People series, and other living scence books (like Seed Babies), plus ridiculous amounts of library books! Plus, they both love to observe Creation outside. I just think it’s time for her to dig into these more meaty books. She’s 9 1/2, so as long as she works in front of me and I check behind her consistantly after every section (Instead of just letting her move forward without supervision, like I’ve done him because she needs more oversight), like you’re saying, she’ll absorb.

    I’ll let you know; thanks!

    Rachel

    January 21, 2011 at 2:56 pm
    Rachel White
    Participant

    Gaeleen,

      Could you tell me details about the Zoology 1 Journal? That’s where I want to start her.

    Thanks, Rachel

    January 21, 2011 at 4:56 pm
    houseofchaos
    Participant

    Hi Rachel,

    I have the journal here.  Basically there is a suggested schedule for two days a week – we do ours more like four days for the reason you mentioned – too much information at once.  So the schedule is good, and works well as is for our 11 year old, but I usually break it up even further for our 9 year old.  I think I might have that schedule typed up somewhere if you want it.

    Each section breaks down into: pages for written narration with areas for drawing pictures, review questions, pages to record an experiment and/or project from the chapter’s activities, copywork (the cursive copywork is ugly in the sample, but I believe they have changed the font to a nicer one now), vocabulary crossword, a page to glue on minibooks, additional reading suggestions, and a “Fly Higher” section with additional activities if desired.  Obviously you can choose to leave any of these parts out.  Our kids like to do them all. 

    Lesson 2 has two nice pages to record birds you’ve seen in your yard, with space for the date, bird ID, field marks, behavior; Lesson 4 has a sheet to record bird migration activity; lesson 5 has a sheet to record local bird nesting habits, etc.  Everything is integrated with the chapter’s learning, but definitely giving ideas for research and record keeping from outside observation or books (in the case of dinosaurs)

    Have you seen the sample pages from the journal on Apologia’s website?  They give the entire Lesson 1 as a sample, and it gives a good idea of what is contained for each chapter (with some variations).  The last three pages of the sample are cut and fold minibooks; those end up glued on the Minibooks notebook page.  They have not, however, given you the ones for the first chapter, but for later chapters instead.  

    I can send you the “Descriptions and Instructions for Each Page in the Journal” if you like.

    If I haven’t answered any questions you have, ask away. 

    Gaeleen

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