Dive into the wonders of the universe! Delve into earthquakes, hurricanes, glaciers, volcanoes, planets and more. Use eggs to understand plate tectonics, make a volcanic eruption, make up some edible sedimentary rock, a glacier, a tornado in a bottle!
Now you can teach the whole family, all ages, at the same time in a wonderful hands-on science course with this series of Christian classical science lesson books written in a friendly conversational tone. Each volume contains well-organized and easy-to-follow lessons, detailed realistic diagram and illustration pages to color, experiments, hands-on activities, review sheets, memorization lists, vocabulary, scriptures and suggested field trips. Designed to be used twice a week for ages 8 to 14 years. Excellent! Paperback, approx. 300 pages.
Janice VanCleave Science for Every Kid - 101 Experiments
Put some zest in your science studies! The beauty of these excellent books by Janice VanCleave is that they focus on just one field of science and present easy-to-do experiments from common household materials that prove a scientific point. Explanations are included as to why the experiment works. 101 experiments per book are illustrated with black and white drawings. Paperback, 224 pages for ages 8 and up.
My children get so absorbed and intrigued with these fun hands-on science lessons that they never want to stop. Specifically created for homeschool use, each kit contains all the materials you will need for every project, plus a 100+ page write-in lesson pack (reproducible), a parent's guide to help you explain your children's explorations, an answer key, plus all the materials needed to do the projects. This is instant—no parent preparation! Another great thing about these fine science kits is that they hold the interest of an 8th grader just as easily as a 1st grader, so you can teach science to all your children at once. If you do science once a week, these large kits include enough for one school year's worth of hands-on science lessons. I like to expand the topic into a unit study with library books. Science is fun!
Kit 1: Astronomy Adventure will lead your family through discovery of the night sky and the solar system. You even get to make artificial gravity! Includes a pair of sturdy binoculars too.
Discovering Birds combines lessons on observing birds with investigations into how birds fly and how they see. You'll make a bird feeder and a real working pen from a feather, plus more. Comes with a colorful 32 page photo guide to backyard birds.
The Magnetism Adventure covers magnetism from "opposite poles attract" to mapping magnetic fields, electromagnets and making your own motor. Contains super-strong latch magnets, bar magnets, and even the battery to make your motor run. Included in the kit is enough equipment for two children to work together through the 40 lessons and projects.
Kit 2: Microscopic Explorations
Learn how a microscope works while investigating everything around you, including plants, animals, fungi, protozoa, and more. You even get to watch crystals forming! Comes with an easy-to-use quality pocket microscope and projects to lead you through 14 fascinating lessons. Several children can easily learn at the same time, but I do recommend purchasing an extra pocket microscope or two, as it is such a nifty tool and my children spent a lot of time waiting their turn while their brother or sister "oohed" and "aahed" over what they were discovering with their eye to the microscope. This kit is marvelous!
The Wonders of Light
From mirrors to rainbows, polarization to phosphorescence, this excellent kit will take your children through an adventure in discovering the wonders of light. 16 lessons and materials enough for several children to share.
Discovering Insects has the scoop on bugs without the yuck! Plastic models, bug-eye viewer, and other goodies allow kids to study insects and arachnids indoors, as well as in their natural environment (which would be indoors at my house!). You don't have to touch any bugs if you don't want to. (I'm with you, Mom.) Enough equipment for several children to share in these 12 interesting insect lessons.
Apologia's "Exploring Creation Series" is the #1 science curriculum for homeschoolers! I think it is the very best way to teach a family all at once, since it covers ages K-6th grade. Instead of trying to do a "cover everything" approach, Apologia textbooks are very specific to one field of science, such as Botany, Zoology, Astronomy, etc. which is not what we are used to for young children, but oh, it works so well! We can really delve into the subject! One textbook is to be used as a year-long family unit study which I really appreciate, as it is so much easier to teach all the kids the same topic, and do the experiments together.
The chapters are fun to read aloud together, as the tone is conversational, like "let's all learn together!" There are hands-on activities, and experiments at the end of each chapter that we had a good time doing, plus they didn't use any odd ingredients so I could really pull them together quickly—I love that! Each student develops their own science notebook that contains their writing "narrations" of the things they have learned along with their illustrations, vocabulary words, projects, etc. This really works and is fun! My kids were excited about the cool science notebooks they were involved in making.
One of the things I really love about Apologia science books is that I don't have to always be running interference, and trying to explain our faith in a God who created the universe. That seems to be a dominant problem when using secular science resources. When teaching astronomy, I am always faced with the Big Bang theory, the "trillions of years old" stuff, and trying to keep faith strong in the face of scientific "proof" that we are all evolved creatures living in an accidental universe. Apologia's Astronomy book is fabulous for giving reasons to support faith in God while teaching scientific truths! One of the interesting facts presented by this book is that Venus spins the opposite direction than the other planets in our solar system. The Big Bang theory says a big explosion set the planets all spinning, whirling out the same direction from a central "bang". If this were so, Venus should also be rotating the same direction. I love learning facts that support Christian doctrines!
These quality hardcover books are full of gorgeous full-color photos, pictures, and interesting information. Opportunities for discussion and narration are inserted during the lesson. Experiments and assignments follow with opportunities to add to your notebook. Each book is divided into chapters that I use as our week's science focus. Written on a 4th grade level, so young ones will enjoy hearing it read aloud, and older students can read it themselves (although they still sure enjoy hearing it read aloud in a family setting, where discussions can develop). Information supports the National Standards of Science, but more importantly, supports Christian beliefs. This in-depth approach uses the elements of the Charlotte Mason and classical methods for a wonderful learning experience!
Choose the topic your family is most interested in learning first—that's the fun of it! Then progress to the next topic of interest. Here is the order they were written in, if you have no preference: Astronomy, Botany, Zoology 1: Flying Creatures, Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures, Zoology 3: Land Animals, and finally Human Body and Physiology. If you are wishing for more, no worries: two books, one on Anatomy and another covering Physics + Chemistry are in the works by this excellent author!
Wow, just what I needed! These handy notebooking journals contain everything your student will need to fulfill the assignments given in the Apologia Exploring Creation textbooks, keeping all his work nice and neat and cutting out the copying over questions, and assignments. Very handy and motivational for your student too! The Notebooking Journal serves as your child's individual notebook, providing a place for them to complete every assignment, record their experiments and display their work.
Notebooking Journals include:
* A daily schedule for completing the reading, activities and projects, utilizing a two-day per week plan.
* Fascinating Facts Templates for your student to record what they learned with both words and illustrations.
* Templates for completing the Notebooking Assignments.
* Review Questions, which can be answered orally or in writing as a written narration.
* Scripture Copy work, with both print and cursive practice - which is a valuable method for memorizing Scripture, teaching spelling, grammar and writing, as well as handwriting practice.
* Project Pages for the student to keep a record and log of projects they completed.
* Take it Further ideas for additional activities, projects, experiments, books or videos that correlate with the lesson.
* Beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books, which the students may wish to create, encouraging them to record facts and information they learned in each lesson. These are then placed on the Miniature Book Paste Page, to display in their notebook.
* Field Trip Sheets to document astronomy-related field trips they enjoyed during their studies.
* A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know about astronomy at the end of the course.
Apologia's Exploring Creation Series is the #1 science curriculum for homeschoolers!
When I taught my children about weather, this book provided valuable information in a simple format. Black line drawings on heavy white paper are ideal for coloring or for use as a study guide. Contents covers cloud types, scientists who contributed to the study of weather, weather disasters (tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, El Nino, lightning), and more. Paperback, 48 pages, 9 x 12", for ages 8 and up.
What are stars made of? Why does the moon shine? Amazing up-close photos introduce the young reader to the wonders of the universe! Learn about astronauts, telescopes, the solar system, our sun, galaxies, the night sky, satellites, living in space and more! A great bonus: each topic has internet sites (reviewed and updated by the Usborne company) that give extra knowledge for a curious space-lover! Paperback, 64 pages, for ages 5-10 years.
Why read cereal boxes?. . . when you could be learning the planets, the periodic table, the systems of the human body or the states and their capitals? These colorful, wipe-off placemats are a favorite. Since it seems that my children spend most of their time eating, perhaps this is the right place for study! Standard placemat size: 12" x 18". Placemats feature full color front; the reverse side is the same picture outlined in black and white so your child can color or write in the information on the write-on, wipe-off surface.
Family Science: Activities, Projects and Games that Get Everyone Excited About Science! 15% Off
Why should kids have all the fun? More than 200 safe, easy science activities are just waiting for you to dive into in the fields of Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science and Physics. Tackle investigations, experiments, expeditions, and competitions guaranteed to get your family's creative juices flowing! You'll be able to help your kids learn how to apply scientific concepts to real-life situations. Uses everyday household items so you can get started right away. Grow a crystal garden, sail a baking soda boat, blow super soap bubbles, whip up matter that is both a liquid and a solid, launch a spaghetti rocket, create paint like the masters, and much more. Big paperback, 282 pages.
Introduce your children to the fun of science with this happy book by bestselling author Janice Van Cleave. Contains 50 simple, fun experiments each in physical science, nature, bugs and human body (200 total experiments). Each easy experiment includes drawings, a list of easy around-the-house materials and simple instructions. Find out why your hair doesn't hurt when it gets cut, why your fingertips have ridges, why you can see your breath when it is cold, and more. A good science curriculum for young ones! Paperback, 211 pages, for children 4 to 7 years old.
You'll find anything you want to know about science in this bestselling volume that covers science topics in encyclopedia fashion. This book is fabulous for teaching science to your 10- to 15-year-old. Conveniently arranged by field of science: Matter, Reactions, Materials, Forces and Energy, Electricity and Magnetism, Sound and Light, Earth, Weather, Space, Living Things, How Living Things Work, and Ecology. Easy to use as a springboard for unit studies.
I use this to teach science, just taking the Index and planning for one topic per science class, supplementing with other resources. Includes more than 100 biographies of scientists and inventors, has a 24-page fact-finder reference section, and more than 18,000 entries! Contains the latest up-to-date information on scientific subjects, from matter to space travel. (As expected, there are some pages on evolution.) Ages 10 years to adult. Paperback, 447 pages, full of color photographs and drawings.
