One more school year done!

Now that our year is done it is time to start planning for next year.  I have to admit I love lesson planning and curriculum exploring.

For the most part I will be keeping with what I have from this year, with one major exception: Science.

Next year for science we will try a Christian curriculum, Apologia.  When I first decided to homeschool, 5 years ago, I was against using "Christian" text books.  I didn't want my kids to be ignorant about what was being taught to other kid and I never wanted them to think of the Bible like a text book.  Besides I went to public school and never had my head filled with scientific sounding fables so why should I worry about text books, especially when I will be the one teaching.  My change of heart isn't from concerns about secular teachings but from concerns about the church.

I am a firm 7 days of creation believer and it surprised me how few fellow Christians hold that view.  So many think it is unimportant or that science has already disproved it.  Young earth science is being dismissed as "religious" and people who still believe are being called, "uneducated."  I want my daughters to have a firm foundation for their faith. So I started to look for a curriculum that would show the science behind creation from a young earth perspective.

So next year we will be trying out Zoology 1.  There are two things I really like about this curriculum.  The first is that my daughters can work on it together.  The second is that it is more exploratory than fact memorizing.  My favorite science lessons this year were the ones we did together and started by just asking questions.