Apologia with nature study

I haven’t seen the Zoology notebook, but if it is anything like the Botany one, then I think it includes what could be loosely referred to as nature study – though perhaps a bit more guided than what CM would prefer.  I think if you’re feeling overwhelmed you would be fine with JUST the apologia program and the notebook – then as you feel comfortable you can add a bit more nature study.

Cindy – I DO think that you’re probably right in saying that Comstock’s book is fully sufficient for grammar school.  If you can do it well and not slack off in doing it (use the Outdoor Hour website for help) it would be a great science education.  My perspective is that I’m not good at doing things that aren’t laid out in a specific order in a book… so Apologia is wonderful for me because we can read and I don’t feel like they are lacking in science if all we do is read the book, even if we don’t do any projects or any nature study.  I know it’s not a complete CM education and I know it would be FAR superior if we did nature study, but unlike Charlotte – I am a HUGE baby when it comes to being outdoors in cold weather (anything below 30 – which is like FIVE months of the year in NE).  I also really need structure or I skip things, so when I feel overwhelmed the things that go are the things like Comstock.  I say decide which are your must have subjects – all those things you rate number 1 and start out the year doing those, then ADD the things that are a number 2 and number 3 as the year goes on.  That works better for me, than starting out the year doing eVERYTHING and then feeling like a failure because I can’t get it all done.  baby steps.  But you could easily do the opposite – start with nature study/comstock and then add bits and pieces of apologia as you have time.  Just don’t stress!  That’s no fun for you OR the kids. 

Rebekah

Hey amypixie, we do the Apologia books for science.  ds7 loves them!  He is my oldest.  I feel that it is all laid out for me and we can go deep into the subject.  With the future release of two more books, the series will be complete. 

Because of summer, we are studying insects in the later part of Zoo 1.  We skipped to chapt. 9.  We’ll do the first part on birds in the Spring next year.  We’ll do the rest of zoo 2 on swimming creatures this winter since we don’t live by the ocean and can’t do anything hands on with it.  So, you have the flexibility to skip around in these books based on the topics of interest.  Fulbright states this in the beginning of the book.  Do what works best for your family.  While on said topic, we also pick up extra living books from the library to read at bedtime or storytime.  If I find a reader on insects at ds7 reading level, I throw that one in for him to read on his own.  Another example is audiobooks.  I picked up the audiobook of The Cricket in Times Square from the library.  The kids loved it, and they listened while in the kitchen eating or cleaning up.

I did buy the Comstock book and I like it, but it is used as a spontanious supplement.  One day we walked outside and saw many different mushrooms had sprung up.  So, we did a nature study on mushrooms that day.  I read out of the Comstock book so we knew what to look for.  We went outside to observe and touch.  We came inside to draw in our nature notebooks.  This all took much longer than an Apologia science lesson, but we do it only a few times per month.  Another time, we learned about groundhogs after spotting one in the yard.  Then we drew it in our nature notebooks.  Same thing with salamanders and toads.  You get the idea.  You have to decide the best way for your family.  You may have to try a few things until you find what works for your family and what does not.