I’ve been a little negligent this year because I haven’t posted anything about what we’re doing for school. One of the small changes I’m making this year is in our Science curriculum. Since Megan’s in 7th grade, she’s moving into the Apologia self-study phase. I really love Apologia, but I didn’t want to buy two full new sets of curriculum for science this year. SO, I dug out one of my old favorites (that we never finished) for the boys–Stephanie Redmond’s Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space.
The curriculum works for elementary age, so it’s perfect for my boys, who are in 3rd & 5th grade–but are only 7 & 9. The only drawback for me is that there is no workbook! I’ve grown to LOVE the student notebooks that come with Apologia, so having no option to purchase a workbook for the kids is really a bummer. Instead, you have to make copies of the book, which is really cumbersome.
So, for Unit Two, which is the first full unit, I made my own workbook. Using the reviews, I created a fill in the blank study page for the boys to fill out as I read them each chapter. They fill in the main idea of the chapter, some essential facts, and some definitions. Then, they write what they learned and what they would like to learn more about. (We’ll be making some trips to the library so they can explore some of the topics on their own!)
I also included some of the experiments and recipes on the lesson page, as well as any illustrations that I thought would be helpful. And, of course, I created a “Test” to complete at the end of each unit. It takes a little bit of work to put this all together, but I know I will be so glad to have it all organized as we continue on with the school year.
For those of you using Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space, I’m attaching my Unit Two study guide here–feel free to borrow it! I’ll attach more units as we move through the book. Enjoy!
Update 11/2–adding Unit Three! 🙂