Just curious to find out how many of you will be using the list of living books for science on the curriculum guide as opposed to Apologia, etc for middle school and high school? I am seriously considering going done this road. We are not super science people and it really tends to be our least favorite subject. We use living book for history and literature so it just feels right to have that flow over into science as well. My daughter is starting 7th grade this year and I just ordered the first three books from the living book list instead of Apologia General Science. At this point if she goes to college it will be something in the fine arts field such as theatre, art or illustration. Advice and guidance would be appreciated.
I’m bumping this up because I’m curious as to the use of living science books vs. textbook science such as Apologia. My 8th grader is not thrilled with Apologia General Science but handles it okay. Narrations or answers to On Your Own/Study Guides are minimal at best, and she hasn’t gotten as far with it as she should be. I’m wondering what kind of science I should really require of her since her oft-mentioned career choices don’t involve much science.
I’m more concerned with my 11yo and 12yo. The older of the two is autistic and doesn’t like Flying Creatures of the 5th Day at all. He barely recalls anything we’ve read and says he hates it. I think it is likely a bit too much for him. 11yo dd, however, says she does like science but she is not very good at narrating, so even in oral form, she doesn’t tell me much of what we’ve read. We haven’t progressed much with the text, and I’m wondering if I should teach them separately (*sigh* more work for me) or just use living books for awhile since my youngest is only in 5th grade right now.
Any thoughts about living science books for upper elementary or middle school?
Sue, Apologia General Science seems to be the least interesting of the upper Apologia courses. My kids liked the other courses much better.
You can use living books for science for upper elementary and middle school. It is a bit harder to do for high school because it is hard to find living books to cover the different science topics. There are many living books that will cover some biology, but I have yet to find a high school level living book on cells. 🙂 It is even more difficult to find living chemistry or physics books. The books listed on the curriculum guide are only suggestions and can be used as a good starting point. I like to browse the shelves at the library for living science books because science books tend to go out of print quickly.
Yikes! I’m at the library, so I had to actually remember my username and password to login! (I’m so lazy at home….all I do is click.)
I am thinking that I should just keep going with Apologia for my older daughter, who is entering high school next year. She works fairly independently and would handle them okay.
My middle one is the special needs child, and I am fairly certain that I don’t have to do all of the upper-level science with him in high school, unless he is ready for them. At this point, it’s hard to see what he will be capable of in 4 years or so when he is 16.
My youngest would love to use living science books, so I think I’m going to switch from Zoology I for now. She’s only in 5th grade, so I could still keep her and her brother together for science. I have another interlibrary loan option I discovered this year, so I might have more success acquiring living science books than before.
Bumping this thread to ask if anyone has used a creation science curriculum (ie. something from Answers in Genesis or Master Book publishing) for high school credit. Studying creation vs. evolution science, dinosaurs, geology, etc. Just a thought!
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