I was compensated for my time and provided with a copy of this curriculum for review purposes, but all opinions expressed are my own.
"Mom, can I take this rock?" I hear it every time we are anywhere with rocks. Along with, "Look at this rock!" or "This is a cool rock." So much talk about rocks. My son is so in love with rocks right now, that he even got a rock tumbler for his birthday, which hasn't stopped running since.
But I don't know a whole lot about rocks. As much as I like science, rocks have not been one of my interests. So when Apologia released their new Exploring Creation with Earth Science elementary curriculum, next year's science was basically decided.
We have always used Apologia sciences. I love how thorough they are while still being Christian. They do not avoid tough topics, but instead approach it with a Christian worldview.
After using all the elementary series at least once, I has noticed that much of Earth Science had not been covered in the other books. In fact, I was preparing to repeat Astronomy for my littles when Earth Science showed up. And I am so glad it did because it should fit my son's interests perfectly right now.
Reasons to Love Apologia Elementary Science
- Christian Worldview
- Large Amount of Information
- Lots of Hands-on Activities
- Notebook Journal
- Multiple Ages
- Lessons Planned Out
Apologia is well known for being a Christian curriculum. It is not just written by a Christian company, but is overtly Christian including Bible verses and discussions on God's creation throughout the books. This new curriculum still has references and verses throughout, but they also have dedicated the final chapter of the book to seeing God in Creation.
Not only does Apologia discuss science along with Christian beliefs, but it discusses science in depth even at the elementary level. I love science, so I love this. I know my kids aren't memorizing all the details, but instead remembering processes and ideas. That emphasis on how it happens and scientific thinking rather than memorizing a bunch of little details at this age is preferable. It gives them the basics, but shows them how much more there is to learn if they decide to study the subject at a later date.
To keep track of all the information the students learn you can purchase a notebooking journal or a junior notebooking journal. At the elementary age this is a much better option than making the kids try to keep their own notes. Believe me; I tried. We chose the regular notebooking journal for grade 3-6. It has a coloring page for each section as well as plenty of areas to write about what they found interesting in the lesson. There are also areas to record labs the kids perform and what the results are. Very open ended rather than being a tedious list of questions. Plus it is spiral bound so easy to use, and hard to lose pages.
One of the main reasons we initially chose Apologia was the ability to use it for multiple kids at the same time.
Exploring Creation with Earth Science is no exception. As the teacher, I read the lesson for the day aloud to all the students, and then they can work on filling in their journals. I help them with an experiment, and they record it in their notebooks. Even being able to purchase a notebook that is appropriate for different ages to accompany the same textbook is helpful when using with multiple ages.
One thing I noticed about Exploring Creation with Earth Science is the lesson plan in the notebooking journal. I haven't used many of the notebooking journals until recently, so this is a nice surprise. Everything is broken down, so you cover the book in a year by studying science just two days a week.
Why Apologia Earth Science May Not Be a Good Fit
- Christian
- Lots of Information
- Textbook Style
Some of the reasons I love Apologia Exploring Creation with Earth Science are also reasons it may not work well for some families. First, it's Christian. There is really no way to make it not Christian, and while I would like everyone to enjoy that aspect, I know some prefer to steer clear of Christian curriculum.
The quantity of information presented, while impressive in an elementary text, may be overwhelming for some kids and some parents. If this is the case, I would try shorter, more frequent lessons, but still it may frustrate some kids.
The last reason the Exploring Creation series may not be a good fit is that the textbook reads more like a textbook. I love story books. I love living books. And honestly, I love textbooks, but they do tend to be more on the dry side which may not appeal to some families despite the vast amount of information included. I personally find Exploring Creation with Earth Science fascinating which is great since it is a scientific area I am not overly familiar with.
Really watching my son pour over the book, especially the rock section, was enough for me. We've used Apologia from the beginning, and I am thrilled they have introduced
Exploring Creation with Earth Science just in time to meet my son's curiosity for rocks.
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