Having seen Apologia
Educational Ministries, INC at the vendor hall, heard them speak at
homeschool conventions, having drooled over the Apologia curriculum and having
done a review for them in the past while on the TOS Review Crew, I was thrilled
to be asked to take part in this review. Once the Young Explorer Series Exploring Chemistry and Physics,
a homeschool science curriculum showed up in the mail, homeschool young man was
ready to start. Our son was just going crazy over the color pictures, upcoming
fun experiments and the activity pages in the Exploring Creation with Chemistry & Physics
Notebooking Journal!! Due to a shipping error we were sent the wrong
notebooking journal by Apologia, they offered for us to keep the wrong one and
then promptly sent us the correct one. I was excited to be able to use the Exploring
Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journal. I've never
had chemistry or physics so I thought it would be a great way for me to pick up
on some of the materials so I have at least a foundation in those two subjects.
The homeschool young man is interested in
becoming a physician. (this is the reason why this homeschool Momma will
not be re-joining the TOS Review Crew for the 2013-2014 school year. The
homeschool young man has been accepted to a medical school's physician prep
program, so our days are going to be a little busy with this program, so I
would not have the needed time to devote to the wonderful TOS Review Crew.) So
in preparing the homeschool young man for a ministry in medicine, I've got some
tough subjects in my future as a homeschool Momma. Chemistry and Physics SCARE
ME and can keep me awake at night if I am not careful! lol. When this review came
out, I saw that it was for K-6th grade, but thought this would be helpful to
me, so I applied and explained my reasoning. I was so excited when we were
approved for the Young Explorer Series Exploring Chemistry and Physics review.
While completing this review, I noticed
that the materials were right on this tired, old homeschool Momma's level and
of course too low for my freshmen homeschool young man (remember that Young Explorer Series Exploring Chemistry and Physics
is for K-6th grade), but he still enjoyed it. Sometimes it's fun for our
homeschool kids to have something that is educational, yet easy.
There were so
many concepts in this homeschool science resource from
Apologia
Educational Ministries, INC that were a great foundation for homeschool
young man to learn before stepping into their high school series on these
subject. I think it is important to learn some concepts as a younger student,
they might not fully understand them or know exactly how to put them into
practice. Nevertheless, when the full scope of learning comes about, there are
some foundational materials in the brain already and I think it helps things
come together in the end.
The Young Explorer Series Exploring Chemistry and Physics
book is a very nice hardcover textbook, which could be used by more than one
student. Textbook is $39.00 (hardcover) and is authored by Jeannie Fulbright.
You all know me and how I like bright colored pictures in my textbooks, you
have got those in the Young Explorer Series Exploring Chemistry and Physics,
and LOTS OF THEM! Nothing less than what you would expect from a quality
homeschool science curriculum like Apologia Educational
Ministries, INC. "Engaging text, many hands on demonstrations,
projects and experiments and exciting articles." Your child will make bouncy balls, lava lamps,
smoke bombs (COOL!) and mini motors. There is a list in the back of the book
for needed supplies for the experiments. They are all pretty easy to locate. I
will give you a hint though, for ease of doing the experiments in our busy
homeschooling lives, I would shop around for a supply kit, because I find it is
MUCH easier on me if I actually have everything bagged up for me, for each
experiment, otherwise I find it an effort to drop what I am doing and drive to
town to buy X. It is so much easier for me to say, "We will do this
tomorrow." Well, ya know what? In our perfect world tomorrow NEVER seems
to come! So homeschool Momma, treat yourself to a pre-made kit of supplies.
The homeschool Momma's notebook was the Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journal it was just right for me! There were coloring pages, short vocab crossword puzzles, lapbooking (homeschool young man liked those, but who does not like lapbooking? lol). Very easy to do and great graphics as usual from Apologia Educational Ministries, INC. This notebooking journal for the young grades is just $24.00, you can use the hardcover textbook without the Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journal, but I do not recommend it. The notebooking journals add so much to the learning process that I personally think that they are essential.
The homeschooled young man used the Exploring Creation with Chemistry & Physics Notebooking Journal also $24.00. The older kids notebooking journal has many of the same things as the Junior Notebook does, but at a higher level of difficulty. The fun and economical aspect of Apologia Educational Ministries, INC is that you can buy one textbook for your family and then just buy the needed notebooks based on grade. For one low price you can teach science to all your children together, while each works at a different level in their notebooks. How easy is that on the busy homeschool Momma's schedule!
You all know that I like to get the most bang for my buck when it comes to education. When I think of skills learned by using Young Explorer Series Exploring Chemistry and Physics I think of public speaking (telling me back what was learned), reading/oral reading of daily work, writing skills, Bible and so much more! I love how the textbooks are written in an easy to read fashion, the text really flows as the student reads. The suggested use is 2 days per week, for this review we were asked to do 4 days per week. In our homeschool we do science 5 days per week, so it was manageable for us. We enjoyed the sections on atoms and energy, we had not studied either of those in the past. As a homeschool Momma, my favorite part was the fact that the answer keys were easy to use! Homeschool young man loved the puzzles in the book, I had thought he would like the experiments, but it was the vocab puzzles that he liked best.
The only thing that I thought about regarding this review that was negative is that I think that there is a LOT of notebooking activities for the Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journal. I would not get bogged down with the notebooking at this young age (K-3rd), I would let them pick and choose what to do in the notebook, UNLESS you would be trading out handwriting class, for them writing on the copywork pages. To me the Exploring Creation with Chemistry & Physics Notebooking Journal would be just the right amount of work for a 4th-6th grader.
YET AGAIN, ANOTHER QUALITY PRODUCT FROM
Click below to see what my Crew buddies had to say when they wrote their reviews.
Moe
