Apologia Educational Ministries is a well known company in the homeschooling community. Whether you are a veteran or a newbie, chances are you have heard of this wonderful company. They offer a variety of products to help homeschooling families learn and achieve their goals. You can find curriculum for Science, Language Arts, Geography, History, and Civics. They even offer homeschool help books, planners, books for encouragement, and devotionals.
For this review, we were graciously given the following materials to use in our homeschooling.
Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition is a collaboration between Jeannie Fulbright and Damian Ludwiczak. Jeannie Fulbright was the author while Damian Ludwiczak contributed content for the book. Mr. Ludwiczak is an engineer at NASA! Their partnership created this astounding curriculum for homeschoolers. What better way than to learn about our remarkable universe when we can't go exploring it ourselves. Maybe one day we will get to travel to the moon, like we travel to Rome!
Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition is recommended for grades Kindergarten through 6th grade. My kids were rising 6th and 7th/8th graders when we started using this astronomy curriculum. The Exploring Creation series from Apologia Educational Ministries are outstanding books that are great for younger kids, but can be adjusted perfectly for children in middle school. For this upcoming year, we are using
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1 Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day and
Exploring Creation with Zoology 3 Land Animals of the Sixth Day since both kids wanted to learn about animals and birds. When you have children that want to study marine Biology and Veterinarian Science, you try to find them something that will be of interest to them. We will just move at a faster pace than suggested in the book.
Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition introduces students to the universe that God created. They will learn about the sun, the moon, the solar system, the stars, asteroids, galaxies, and so much more. I love how the book set includes bright colorful illustrations and pictures. The hands-on experiments are a must. Over the years, I have always tried to get the kids involved in their learning. I have found my kids, like so many other kids, learn more and retain more when they have an active role in the learning process. My kids were thrilled to do the experiments and projects. I have to admit I probably enjoy them as much as the kids.
So How Did We Use the Exploring Creation with Astronomy 2nd Edition?
For this review, the kids shared the student text. They took turns reading the required readings that were suggested in the notebook journal. The Student Text and Notebook Journal are divided into 14 lessons. The Notebook Journal provides parents and students with a suggested lesson schedule. These lessons can be easily followed or just as easily be adjusted to work at a slower or faster pace. Since we were technically in summer our break, we followed the suggested lesson plan.
Both my kids used the Astronomy Notebook Journal geared for students in grades 3rd/4th through 6th. I believe the Journal can be used by students in 7th-8th grade too. They can easily work at a faster pace, complete more pages in a day, and parents can add a few reports or science projects (think science fairs) to make the book more challenging for eager learners. The Notebook Journal provides the students with their own notebook to write down their notes, a place to keep track of completed assignments and pages, and a place to record their experiments. It's like a binder with all you need already in it! I didn't have to print papers for lessons, activity pages, or review sheets. I didn't have to find experiments to go along with the topics being discussed. The kids could take notes and work on the activity pages all in one book. Normally, my kids have a notebook and then a separate binder to store all the papers and worksheets I find online.
We didn't use the Jr. Notebook Journal, since it is geared for children in grades Kindergarten through 2nd/3rd. The Junior Notebooke Journal has coloring pages, wider writing lines, less writing for the student, easier vocabulary, and easier activity pages.
What Did We Think About the Exploring Creation with Astronomy 2nd Edition?
Exploring Creation with Astronomy is everything we thought it would be. The text is filled with plenty of information to keep their minds challenged and a variety of hands-on activities to get them involved. Michael and Therese both loved the hands on activities we have done so far.
I will admit they hate the note taking, but I love that the Notebook Journal includes it. This is one area I wanted to work on with my kids this year since they are getting older. Good note taking skills are very important!
I will admit that we didn't use the audio CD yet. It will definitely get used when we head on vacation in a few weeks.
The audio CD is perfect for busy families on the go. Whether you are running errands or just heading to practice, the Audio Cd is a perfect way to homeschool on the road. The CD is the text book narrated by the author, Jeannie Fulbright.
If you have kids that love science, are eager to learn about the world God created, and want to have fun while doing it, I can't recommend enough this amazing curriculum!
Find out more about Apologia Educational Ministries on their social media pages
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stop by their
website to see all the great products they have to offer homschooling families!
If you have younger kids and want to see what the other families had to say about Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition just click the link below. Almost 100 families reviewed this fantastic program from Apologia. I'm sure you'll find all the answers to any questions you may have!
Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.
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