Apologia Science

I LOVE Apologia Science.  This is our third year to use their Elementary series and our first for their Middle/High School books.  I am SO impressed.  They not only teach everything from a VERY Creationist viewpoint, they also teach the kids to use this knowledge to defend their faith.  Preparing them to give an answer for the HOPE that lies within them.  LOVE APOLOGIA.

That said, this semester we have chosen Zoology 3 - Land Animals of the Sixth Day.  We did our first lesson today.  It was basically just an introduction to what all they will be learning.  The books look like textbooks but Jeannie Fulbright writes directly to the students, even giving personal examples for the topics she is covering.  It reads like a story.  LOVE APOLOGIA.

Sidenote:  Today while I was reading, Sonora was doing a coloring page from the Junior Notebooking Journal.  Hard to see, but it's just a picture of a Prairie Dog with Genesis 8:17 below it.  What impressed me however, was the fact that Sonora identified the hills in the background as The Badlands.  My heart SOARED.  She remembered that we had seen white Prairie Dogs in The Badlands and made her picture reflect her memory and even colored them correctly.  Ahhhh...Sweet sigh.  Vacation was worth it.  For many reasons.

Back to science:  The girls and I discussed predator/prey relationships and how it wasn't always this way.  Also, how it won't be this way forever.  1 Corinthians 15:26 says that the last enemy that will be abolished is death. We talked about how this applied to animals and used passages in Isaiah to show that the wolf will dwell with the lamb.  Harper was SO excited and said when Jesus comes back she's getting a pet cheetah.  The passage in Isaiah says that "the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den".  We discussed and Judah overheard us.  He piped in (LOUDLY as always) and said, "I don't like snakes.  I like caterpillars."

On a different note: Years ago, we had the privilege of hearing Jay Wile speak at a homeschooling conference.  We were so inspired by his lecture that we KNEW when our children were older we would be using his textbooks.  He also speaks directly to the reader which I personally love.  Nate is using his Exploring Creation with General Science this year.  It's Nate's first year to do all the reading, experiments, and lab reports on his own.  So far, I am impressed with his effort and with what he is learning.  We are on week 2 and he takes his first test on Module 1 soon.  The grades are weighted with the tests making up two thirds of his grade so I am holding my breath.  Today, I did see the following in the front of the teacher's manual:

"Finally, I must tell you that this course is user-friendly and reasonably understandable.  At the same time, however, it is Not EASY.  It is a tough course.  Thus, a letter grade of "C" would represent the score of the average student who will most likely be college bound."

Whew.  We're up for a challenge.

LOVE Apologia.