Tell me about the science?

[lovedtodeath]

How happy have you been with it? What other science programs have you used (for comparison purposes)? Before discovering HOD I was all set to go with Sonlight or BJU.

[Tukata]

I would love to hear thoughts on this as well. We'll be doing LHFHG in the fall. I was all excited to do Apologia before finding HOD.

[laurabelle1317]

We are just going to be starting LHTH soon. But I always wanted to do Apologia elementary science too (as well as Mystery of History).

I'm thinking I'd still like to squeeze those in somehow (when my kids are older). Mystery of History has a CD, so we could listen to it in the car during the summer. Apologia, maybe do stuff from there in the summer? I don't know. But yeah, Apologia science for the younger years has intrigued me a lot too.

[mom23]

I'm beginning Beyond this next year with my two kids (1st grade and 3rd.) I'm beefing up certain areas for my 3rd grader, and was wondering what others would recommend for science. You think Apologia? I noticed that Bigger for next year does not use the CLP science. I was wondering about doing that with my 3rd grader this year. What do you guys think?

[lovedtodeath]

I am mainly concerned with Preparing and CTC... wondering how the science is going with those more toward the middle school years. I was so excited looking at Sonlight and BJU and their creationist resources.

[LynnH]

We are finishing up Preparing today. My ds has really enjoyed the science. It may look light, but it isn't. He has learned so much this year. I think it is nicely balanced. One day a week he does a notebooking page, one day he answers questions based on what he read, one day he orally narrates back to me and the last day he does a science experiment. The experiments aren't super fancy, but they teach the scientific process which is so important to learn. At first he really struggled to make a guess of what he thought would happen. He had to learn it was ok to be "wrong" in your guess. At this stage he draws a picture of his procedure and we have worked on making his drawings more detailed. He has also learned to write his conclusions in a concise, but specific way. Having a highschooler also, I can see how important it is that he learn these skills now. It has amazed me that by reading a biography about Albert Einstein he learns so much science. He was in ps until this year and so he was used to the textbook/memorize facts type of science. He did well, but he didn't remember it a month later and it took the joy out of science for him. Now he loves science and he remembers what he learns.

As far as the creationist science goes there is plenty of that in the beginning books of Preparing and from looking at the CTC books, it is there as well. CTC uses the Apologia Land Animal book for 14 or 15 weeks I believe so if you like the Apologia books like we do you will get some of that there. As far as additional science my ds did the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy book in co-op. The nice thing about the upper guides is they are 4 day a week schedules so if you want to add something you can. He also has chosen to read the Apologia Sea Animals book for fun this summer.

[Motherjoy]

We just finished Preparing, and I loved the science. My son worked independantly, there were no fancy/costly experiment kits to buy and he learned a lot. He enjoyed the variety and looked forward to science every day. The guide itself (the instructions written for the students) adds a lot of Bible and 'critical thinking' to the program. Its not like they just read the books. It really is excellent.

We are very creation-oriented, and we cover that with lots of extras like magazines, videos, books and Jonathan Park cds. Honestly, its just part of our everyday life, not just a separate subject that we study in 'school'.

RTR seems to have a creation focus, and I'm sure that will continue in the older guides.

[my3sons]

We've done all of HOD's science (from LHFHG on up to CTC) and loved it. We consistently read excellent living books for science that are often linked to the history. We have learned the scientific method with HOD, and their lab sheets make this process easy to understand. We are getting experiments done every single week with HOD, and my dc are doing the experiments themselves which results in better retention. My dc score very well in science (and in all areas) on their standardized testing as well, but what's most important to me is that they see science as something that pertains to them, as something that is from a Creationist perspective, and as a way to answer questions - about how things work, why things are the way they are, and how an experiment can be set up to solve problems. Here's a recent thread on Bigger's Science:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5797&p=42536#p42536

CM's philosophy of using living books wasn't just aimed at history. It was meant for every subject area. Using living books as opposed to textbook-style science has made each of my dc see themselves as scientists. It has made science come to life for them, not just a body of knowledge to be learned, but as a subject rich with people passionate about science, who spent their lifetimes perfecting a certain theory or discovering a certain scientific answer to a problem that literally changed the world. If you have not truly given science a try like this for several years along with all of the excellent plans HOD provides, I highly recommend it. It will change your view of science in a way that is enriching. Until you have tried it, it is impossible to foresee its impact. Any subject taught with living books is a subject taught to its best capacity. I think you'll see this with HOD's science!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

lovedtodeath,

There's been some very extensive terrific science discussions along this topic line on the board that will be of help to you as ponder. The thread I'm linking for you is one that is a very thorough discussion and fully explains our reasoning and our thinking behind our science choices: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2094&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Happy reading! It's a long one but VERY imformative!

Blessings,
Carrie

[lovedtodeath]

Thank you for responding. That is exciting that the Apologia book is used. I haven't read the links yet... Lab sheets? I don't see any in my Bigger manual?

[my3sons]

The scientific method is introduced in Bigger Hearts via the directions in the Science box of the plans. In lieu of the lab sheet, students write the parts of it themselves. This is to better cement in their minds the process at a young age, as what they write they remember better. Starting with PHFHG, a lab sheet with these same steps is included in the Appendix.

In Christ,
Julie

[lovedtodeath]

Thanks Julie!