Opinions on Who Is God and Can I Really Know Him? series

I just ordered the first book in the Apologia series.  There are four altogether.  I thought it would be more of a read-aloud/devotion type book, but it’s written directly to the student with notebooking ideas and questions for discussion.  Also two verses for each lesson to memorize that really solidify the content. We have only read through part of the first lesson, and so far it’s great.  Very grounded in the Word.  I am reading it out loud with my 8 year old, but I noticed my 6 and 5 year olds listening in, too.  I think it will be a great course in Biblical worldview.  My daughter said it reminded her of Ann Voskamp’s geography books. (Explore His Earth, and Explore the Holy Land). 

I am glad to see that everyone so far likes it. I was thinking about purchasing it but have been wondering myself if it would be a good read.   I hope to hear more input from others too….

Hi there – I’m brand new to the SCM forum, and thought I’d weigh in here. 

I was raised in a liberal denomination, and so far there has been absolutely nothing in the Who is God, book 1, to cause alarm.  That said, to stay on the schedule requires 45 minutes to an hour to get the reading done, discuss questions and do the journal assignment.  This is more time that I would like to spend, now that I’m trying to finish earlier. 

I’m also not a fan of snippets of Scripture, which they use quite a bit in this series. The book uses a story format in each chapter to discuss how secular worldview has influenced one of the two main characters, who are children.  We are using the journal as well, in which there are vocabulary words, crossword puzzles, mini-books etc. (similar to the Apologia Young Explorer Science journals).  My daughter is 11, and this year we made a point to schedule Bible first each day after our SCM Memory Verses (LOVE this).  May just have to spread out the assignments more.  We will probably not do the rest of the series, because I’d really like to simply read the Bible each day, and discuss and respond to it as He leads. My daughter has never read through the Bible and I think as a goal, perhaps that’s what we will work towards through her middle years. 

Hi! This is my first time posting after lurking around the boards for several months now.

I bought the Apologia book last year for my 11 year old daughter. I really wanted to like it but both my daughter and myself found it a little too contrived. It seemed to be working too hard to pull things together and just wasn’t realistic. I thought the stories were too simple for older kids yet the concepts too advanced for younger ones. After reading so much quality literature throughout the years my daughter is quick to see when a message is thinly veiled as a story and that’s what we found in this book.

We found we much prefer to focus on reading the scriptures together and taking a more holistic approach to worldview. As Dueteronomy says we are to teach them throughout the whole day in the context of real life. We teach worldview when we talk with them about television, magazines at the grocery store, billboards, the news, etc.

I agree with Saraspondence and Melanie32.
I was very excited to try the series with my students. We got the Junior Journal last year with the text and coloring book. The site says that the Jr. Journals are suitable for students with “limited writing skills”, ages 6 – 9. However, even for my advanced reading son, I found that these were over his head. (For instance, one of the first exercises in the jr. journal included comprehending and writing the word “foundation”. Not entirely practical for most 6, or even 7, year olds.)
I did not find that it fit into CM’s method very easily. The daily lessons, even broken down, took at least 45min (vs the 15-20 prescribed by CM for young children), there were a TON of canned questions, and lots of busywork – like  fill-in-the-blanks and word searches.
In Lesson 1 of “Who Is God” there is: a “Big Idea” section, followed by some individual verses, and canned questions. Then a snippet about the Great Architect (God). Then a 3 page story about two young boys. More canned questions. Finally, we get to the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Then a snippet about the Pyramid at Gyza. More canned questions. A box of vocabulary words. More disconnected verses. THEN we have some practical application, which is comprised of 7 parts over 4 large pages, and some quotes thrown in, along with more individual verses. Then a notebooking exercise, which includes writing down a list of all of the things that will prevent you from Building on the Rock. (Seemed counter-intuitive to me. If CM balked at children writing a word improperly, what would she think about writing a whole Biblical principle this way?) Finally, we get to a pre-scripted prayer.
All of that is separate from the 13 pages of exercises in the Jr. Notebooking Journal that go along with Lesson 1, as well as the pages of the Coloring Book, if you choose to include that.
It definitely felt contrary to the idea that the teacher/text shouldn’t get between the student and the subject. Haha. 😉
Ok, this overview sounds pretty negative, so let me add that I do know of families who have gotten a lot out of the series and they recommend it very highly. (I do not believe that they were following a CM philosophy, however.) I DO think that there are some good concepts in the series, so I’m hanging on to it for now… Perhaps when my children are working more independently, this resource might become more practical? However, at that point, I am concerned that, while the volume of information might be more attainable, the activities might be too simple. *sigh*
I really wanted to like it (obviously, I’m still torn!), but cannot recommend it from a CM standpoint. I just seems like there are much simpler and more organic ways to plant seeds of understanding in our children’s hearts.