Curriculum Review: Science

So while writing my math review last week I realized there was another subject which Merry has used one curriculum exclusively, science. 

Her older sister had used public school text books I had bought from a library sale for the first 3 years, but when Merry started first grade I wanted something they could use together. So began our journey with Apologia, the Exploring Creation series.

We started with Birds, which was by far our favorite, then Water Creatures followed by Land Creatures. While the main focus of each of those was exactly what you would expect, the different types of animals, I appreciated the amount of other science stuff they threw in. For example, while studying birds we also learned about aerodynamics and how planes get lift.  The curriculum also did a great job preparing students for the observation side of science class.

So even when I was back to one child in the elementary grades, we continued with the series; studying Astronomy, Physics, and Botany. Now these courses were very much designed for elementary, so while they were very well rounded, they were not intense or all inclusive.  To me elementary science was a subject that was meant to be fun, not meant to take a lot of time.

Middle school science is a different ball game. It was important to have a more structured class with experiments as well as textbook learning. Middle school is also when subjects like science and history start having the same value as math and writing. Apologia General Science was a great text for starting this more intensive class schedule. It even has a daily work schedule mapped out for students at the front of the notebook.

The Student notebooks that are a part of the upper level courses were easy to use and familiar to Merry since they were similar to the elementary version. And I still wanted science to be fun, so using a curriculum with easy to follow experiments was important too.

Now we haven’t been entirely successful with the curriculum. Biology in particular was rough because of the amount of microscopic things we were supposed to look at. With my older daughter we tried using a hobby grade microscope but we were unsuccessful and it was more frustrating than educational. With Merry we opted instead to YouTube videos of microscopic images. That was more successful but not a perfect solution.

That brings us to this year, we will be using Apologia Chemistry. From previous experience I know we will want to use the lab kit, just to make sure we have all the supplies on hand. And Merry will be using the notebook that goes with the textbook. So yep, we will keep on keeping on.

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.