Apologia Science Curriculum is Out of this World
Why Apologia Works
Apologia has a variety of curriculums, but we enjoy the science because it is not just your typical textbook and workbook. This curriculum company has the child at heart, knows what interests a student and has creative ways to display the complicated content of science in a colorful, friendly way with Godly messages throughout.
Why We Chose Apologia for Our Science…
At the beginning of our homeschool adventure, our eldest child was a guinea pig for many of the textbooks we would later invest in. One of the science books we utilized and tried was Apologia. Much of the reason we did this was because we knew we needed science curriculum incorporated more formally in our daily teaching schedule. We had been doing science informally with library books, magazines and crafts. We had inherited an older version of the astronomy book from family. It was a bit advanced, but we were testing out what the book did and taught since it had been years since my husband Zach had read it in his homeschooling days.
Sometimes it is best to the let the child try it out…
Our son found it appealing and he learned a lot even with the more advanced sections. So we started by looking it up on Amazon to see. Like many homeschool parents, we were figuring it out as we went, learning and adapting, many times improvising.
Plus we had two toddlers in the midst of trying to start a regular, everyday, full schedule curriculum with our eldest. We weren’t always fully with it or even fully awake to realize the obvious solutions. A year passed and then finally, we stumbled upon the Apologia website. There we found updated versions of the books. We bought some and continued having our son read those for another year. While the books were helpful, we weren’t 100% convinced we were meeting our goals with it. That’s when Zach stumbled upon the workbook journals on the website. We discovered had elementary and junior versions of the workbooks. We tried one just to see and it was a game changer.
All About Apologia Science
Pros
- Colorful
- God-centered
- “Regular” and “Junior” versions
- Many different textbook subjects
- Good quality
- Textbook is user-friendly and not too thick
- Great index
- Most content in activities match book
- Reasonably affordable!
Cons
- Journals can fall apart at times
- Some of the activities are repeated
- Some are not age appropriate
- Some info hard to find
- Some activities are unrealistic depending on your geographical location
Why it is so effective- and fun!
Our middle child absolutely adores science. He’s fascinated by the Planet Earth movies and his Kids National Geographic magazine with silly animal facts. He’s always spouting off random facts about sharks and birds. Or why the planets have stars and space dust. We originally started him off with the “regular” version of the textbook with no workbook. However, it became too much for him being young and having ADHD. He found it boring and could not get focused on the content no matter how much he loved it. Then Apologia came out with a new version and junior workbooks and now he asks to do science together.
The format is beautiful and colorful
What I love most about this curriculum is that it is fun for me as a parent as much as the child. The format is user-friendly and colorful. I even find myself learning something new when I work on a craft or lesson with my son. I was happily pleased to find fun craft ideas, easy to find bold vocabulary and interesting photos, especially in the Astronomy textbook. It’s clear that the company took a great deal of time and effort to make this text and accompanying workbook colorful, engaging and easy on the child’s eyes for interactive learning. Since we had the old Astronomy textbook, we were pleasantly surprised at the many “upgrades” Apologia put in to the new version of this text.
If I had to change anything…
While there isn’t a whole lot I would change about this curriculum, there are a few minor issues that would definitely help it. No curriculum is perfect but this one comes pretty close. The journals have great activities but the cover and binding are very flimsy. Our boys are destructive and constantly cleaning up the schoolroom, and after six months of using this journal, the spiral binding and cover are ripping off and becoming undone. I am constantly fixing it. It’s also hard to put away because it’s “flopsy” and does not have a very sturdy cover. While we are teaching our children to be organized and take care of their things, the repetitive daily use does start to show on the journal.
Some of the material is repetitive…
The only other minor complaint I would have about this curriculum is that you have to be prepared for some repetitive content. For some kids that is great and useful. For our children, we find ourselves skipping some of the crafts or pages because they just aren’t practical or helpful. Some of the “observation” pages are either too annoying or cumbersome, or just plain unrealistic for their age. I do appreciate the option though, because on occasion we have greatly benefited from that option to teach the “scientific method” and extend the learning beyond the basic lessons.
There is so much more…
There is so much more I could say on this curriculum, but honestly, it’s just best you try it out and see. With kid friendly text, photos, colorful designs and easy to use resources, I call this a winning resource for any homeschool family. Whether your child is advanced or struggling, ADHD, unmotivated or anything in between, I highly recommend you try this curriculum out. With the workbooks now available you can watch as your child takes an interest in all the sciences – finding a new appreciation for our beautiful God-given world we live in.
There are so many science curriculums out there, what have you found to be the best resource for your family and do you enjoy the crafts or content in it? What makes it special for your family?