Apologia Elementary Science {Schoolhouse Review Crew}

Do you have children who are passionate about science? Do they love studying God's creatures? This pretty much describes our household!

If you've been reading my blog for very long, you'll know that we have reviewed several products from Apologia Educational Ministries over the past few years, such as How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids, Educating the WholeHearted Child, Who Am I? And What Am I Doing Here?, and Journeys of Faithfulness.

I was very excited to learn we'd be reviewing one of the elementary science resources this time! Since Little Bit likes animals so much, especially mammals, we were pleased to have the opportunity receive Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day.

Apologia is well known for their creation-based science curriculum, for elementary through high school. I really appreciate the conversational style in which these texts are written.

Another aspect I like is that every few paragraphs, a prompt is given, to either encourage the child to narrate back what you've just read them, or a couple questions he must answer to demonstrate comprehension (which aligns well with Charlotte Mason methods). Little Bit seems like he doesn't comprehend well, so I'm thankful we can get this practice.

mapping the canidae members

wolves, dingoes, coyotes, etc.

Each lesson also contains Map It! exercises, where you can mark on a map where the animals discussed in that chapter can be found. You can either draw pictures, or find and print pictures online, or use the stickers from the Junior Notebooking Journal, for K-2 or 3(or Regular Notebooking Journal, for grades 3 or 4-6).

deer tracks

Track It! displays drawings or photos of animal tracks, related to that particular lesson. When we went to the Rosedown Plantation a few weeks ago, we were more inclined to noticed the deer tracks crossing the pathway.

coloring pages in journal

There are also Notebooking activities for each lesson, as well as one of the funnest aspects: the experiments. Isn't science all about the experiments?! One thing I find very handy is that at the beginning of the text, a list of necessary supplies is included for each experiment found throughout the book.

Demonstrating camouflage

While the notebooking journals are not necessary (because you can create your own, by just using a spiral-bound notebook, even), they are really nice to use. In front of the notebook journal is a suggested schedule, which I find extremely useful. For our review, we were given the text, and the Junior Notebooking Journal. I also purchased a regular notebooking journal, in case the Botanist Boy could be persuaded to join us. Ah, well; Little Bit can use it in a few years, when we come back to Zoology 3!

Junior notebooking journal and regular journal

The journals have pages to record fascinating facts your child learns from each lesson, as well as coloring pages, copywork scripture pages (in print and cursive), mini books, vocabulary activities, and more.

Some of the other subjects covered in the elementary (grades K-6) science levels are: astronomy, botany, flying creatures, swimming creatures, and human anatomy and physiology. Junior high and high school sciences available are general science, physical science, biology, physics, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and marine biology.

Cost: Each elementary text costs $39.00, while each notebooking journal costs $24.00. Prices vary for the junior high and high school level items.

Contact Information:
Website
Email
Address:
Apologia Educational Ministries
1106 Meridian Plaza Suite 220
Anderson, IN 46016 US
Phone: 888-524-4724
FAX: 765-608-3290
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Be sure to read what the rest of the Crew has to say about Apologia Elementary Science.

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