Hi readers! Welcome to today’s homeschool curriculum forum on science!
As most of you know, I am currently using Abeka science in our homeschool. I have to say that this has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool this year. Not only does it require very little planning on my part, but it does include some hands on activities as well.
Since this program has a variety of resources included, I thought it might be helpful if I told you which things I purchase when doing Abeka Science.
One thing I don’t love about Abeka are all of the little booklets that you have to purchase. It would be nice if they came all together to make life easier. But for the science I always purchase the teacher’s manual or “curriculum” as they are often called. The student work text, the student workbooks, and the answer keys if I am teaching an upper grade. I also purchase the tests and quizzes and answer keys to those as well.
I do not always choose to purchase the optional visual aids, however if you plan to use this curriculum for several years it is worth it as the materials are re-used across several grades so you will get good use out of them.
Another great thing about Abeka is that you can typically find their materials used at a very reasonable price. Just be aware of which version you are purchasing and whether or not you can still purchase workbooks that correlate with that version.
Pros:
- Material is grade appropriate.
- Lessons are easy to teach and plan.
- Includes hands-on activities to reinforce lessons.
- Re-uses colorful flashcards through the grade levels so you only have to purchase once.
Cons:
- Can be a little confusing for the teacher with several booklets to purchase.
Once my children are a little older I plan to switch from Abeka to God’s Design For Science by Answers in Genesis. This curriculum is a four year curriculum that is meant to be repeated with older grades. Unfortunately I did try to start it but the materials were just too advanced for my younger children, so we will wait to start this.
Pros:
- Focuses on God as Creator.
- Hands-on activities to reinforce skills.
Cons:
- Can be expensive, but not so bad when you consider it is four years worth of curriculum.
A fun hands-on alternative for younger children is the Nancy Larson Science program. I have been tempted to try this a few times, however they currently only offer Science K to Science 4. With my oldest going into 5th grade, I wasn’t sure if it would benefit my children or not.
The other issue I have with this program is the price. Materials are quite expensive, however it comes in a complete kit. So it is tempting to purchase a science “kit” that includes everything you need!
Pros:
- Hands-on and fun activities for younger learners.
Cons:
- Expensive
- Currently only available for elementary grades.
So, now comes the fun part!
What are your favorite Science curriculum, resources, websites, etc? Leave a comment below discussing your choices for this year and why.
Feel free to ask questions or reply to each other too!
It’s my way of doing a forum without actually doing a forum haha!
And hopefully this will help us all as we start the process of researching curriculum, and trying to decide what will be the best fit for our homeschool.
Note: Please keep today’s conversations geared towards SCIENCE, I will be posting one for each subject separately so we can keep our comments organized.
Click here if you missed my previous Homeschool Curriculum Forum posts!
Disclosure: This was not a sponsored post, I may however be affiliated with one or more products mentioned. The opinions expressed in this post were not influenced by the company. They are products I have used and felt like sharing, cuz’ it’s my blog and I can if I want to.
I haven’t used it yet, but we are going to use Sonlight this year for science. I like the “real book” approach, and it seems like a good mix between books and hands on work (and there is a DVD to walk you through the experiments:)). It’s a bit pricey, but you can use it for more than one child with an inexpensive addition of a second consumable workbook.
We are finishing Sonlight’s Science A and I am impressed on how much not only they but I have learned. They love experiment day. I only used Abeka’s Science K and feel my kids learned so much more from Sonlight, and it is a curriculum easy to follow for the parent…I got it like 10 weeks late in the year due to economical reasons but we were able to catch up since it is not overwhelming. The DVD is a plus ’cause even when you might not have the things on hand in order to do an experiment they enjoy watching it on the video. 🙂
We have used Abeka in the past but I found it too general and a bit boring. Maybe that was because it was for younger kids? This year we switched to Apologia Astronomy and we liked it much better. Astronomy isn’t our favorite subject but I like the way the book is written with the emphasis on God’s design. We purchased the notebooking journals to go along with it but abandoned them after a few lessons because they weren’t very clear. Next year we are doing Apologia Zoology 1 Flying Creatures. My girls love birds so they are looking forward to it.
We have enjoyed Apologia science for middle grades through high school. In the early grades Considering God’s Creation was a great program for all my hands-on learners here. I’ve never liked Abeka’s textbook approach.
Now we have been using New World Adventure units (grades 4-8) and using her picture book suggestions for Science from the library. Picture books have worked so well for us for learning and staying interested in Science. I also have a list of our favorite picture books here http://www.homeschool-how-to.com/homeschool-science.html. That list has kept us busy for several years.
I plan on ordering Considering God’s Creation for my K and 3rd grade boys next year. http://www.eagleswingsed.com/products/considering-gods-creation/ It’s very inexpensive and I’m really looking forward to using it. I first heard about it from a homeschool veteran at a conference. In future years I plan on using Apologia, which I’ve heard many great things about too.
I have used Considering Gods Creation and we loved it! It is black and white print, not very fancy but the information is really good. I loved their projects and experiments. We had fun with it.
I have never heard of Considering God’s Creation but it looks GREAT!!! Does it include a lot of hands on experiments? Using common items? This would be a total answer for science if it does!!!
I started Apologia with my third grade son this year. We did Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day and loved it! I absolutely love how easy to read and interesting the science textbook is. We have used the notebooking journal a little bit, but it hasn’t been my favorite part of the curriculum. I also ordered the all-inclusive kit with everything you need to do each experiment in the textbook and have loved having all of the supplies close at hand.
This my 1st yr homeschooling. Any suggestions for science for a 1st grader with ADHD and autism?
I just want to clarify that the levels in Nancy Larson science don’t necessary match grade levels:
Science 3 is recommended for ages 8-11 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience.
Science 4 is recommended for ages 9-12 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience.
One thing that our family has LOVED about Nancy Larson Science is that we can use it all together. We’ve used the K through level 3 so far. This past year our oldest three {3rd grade, 5th, and 6th} used the Science 3 program together.
Also, with Nancy Larson, the bulk of the program is non-consumable, so you can use it again with younger children {i.e. we have a rising 1st grader}. The curriculum also includes EVERYTHING you need, so you can literally open the box and go without hunting for various things around the house. 🙂 That alone has been a huge help for me!
I’m also a huge fan of sonlight. My kids go back to the books all the time.
I have used Apologia for 4 years now. We LOVE it! I appreciate having a junior notebook as well as the regular one. I appreciate having the website (info at the front of the textbook) linking to some great online resourses which really make it come alive! I absolutely LOVE the notebooks; everything is there and done for me, event the lesson plans. They have supplemental list called “Dig a little Deeper” that we often use – these include additional experiments (there is at least one per lesson in the text book already); books, DVDs, and other things. It is a great curriculum and I would strongly recommend it to everyone – I love how it is from a Christian perspecitive and reinforces God as the creator of the universe.
I have been looking at apologia for my soon to be 9 and 7 year old. I was thinking about getting the notebook for my 9 year old and the jr. Notebook for my 7 year old. Would this make things too confusing or are they the same material but just scaled down for the jr notebook?
Hope this question makes sense. Thanks for any insight you can give!
Yes the material is just scaled down. I used both this year and had no problem!
We used apologia botany this year in kindergarten/first grade and loved it. I had planned on sticking with it but am a little concerned because it doesn’t seem to cover any earth/physical science such as weather, water cycle etc. I feel that is something my daughter is curious about and needs exposure to. Any thoughts?
Haven’t used it yet since we are new to home schooling but we will be using Real Science 4 kids next year with our 1st grader
We have the whole Real Science 4 Kids set. It is very simple to use and easy to understand. I think it is perfect for that 1st -2nd grade level. My 3rd grader is a bit too advanced for it, but enjoys it.