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Just looking ahead at some of the higher guides... just for fun really , we are using Beyond and LHTH right now. I see that CTC uses Apologia Land Animals....I like the Apologia books, so just wondering why it is not used in the younger guides as well?? I know Carrie has other Science material suggested, which looks good too....just wondering Is Apologia not appropriate for youngers? I read it can be used in K-6th, but I have not done the books myself...just looked at them.

Has anyone used Apologia before the CTC guide?? How did it work??

I'm not sure why Carrie doesn't schedule the apologia guides in the early years, but I would guess it may be because it would be harder for younger kids to grasp. We are using Apologia (we started it before HOD) this year and we love it. However, my son is in 3rd grade and loves science and there are still days that it is too much for him. The readings are long and throw a lot of info out there. We use the notebooking journal and he enjoys doing that, but some days it takes quite a while to get the reading and the notebook pages done. I know it says they can be used with K and up and I could see that if you had older children and wanted to include your youngers too, but I think if you only have younger kids there are so many other programs that would be better for that age.

I am also not sure but I also agree that with PP. I did not use HOD from the beginning and used Apologia Botany with my dd when she was in 2nd grade. Then I used Flying Creatures of Fifth day last year. I think Apologia is a great program but much more suited to older kids. It takes a while to go through and my kids had a very hard time lasting through the entire lessons.

This is my first year with HOD and my kids love their science lessons. My oldest is in Preparing and she loves all he living books. She thinks everything is extremely interesting and loves the variety. My younger 2 kids also like the science too. None of my kids aren't really science buffs specifically but they do love to go to the library and just pick out random science books. Every time we go, they always visit those shelves first. I personally am finding that I am loving the living book approach more for science than I was the more formal Apologia approach. I do though look forward to next year when my oldest does Land Animals in CTC and know she will like the book next year. I just think that when they are younger, it is hard for them to keep that long of an attention span.

I have not used Apologia yet but just looking at all of their materials it looks like a textbook based curriculum. My children also enjoy the living book style, and the short and simple lesson of the younger guides, experiments and hands-on activities, which is how they best learn science concepts at that age.

As someone who is trying to get through the Swimming Creatures book with a young guy, I can say it's not what I would normally use for that age group. Some of the readings are interesting and can keep his attention, but most days are tough for him. Our co-op has it scheduled to cover one chapter over a 2 week period for all the kids 1-6th grade. Even at that slow pace there are days my little guy zones out. Since it's not part of his daily school work, but something extra the kids want to participate in, I don't require much more than simply being in the room and being quiet while I read it to his older sister too.

My 5th and 6th graders have enjoyed doing Apologia in the CTC and RTR guides. I like the books, too, but I think older students glean more from them.

I really like HOD science in the early years. The topics change throughout the year and keep science fresh and interesting.

I believe that Carrie embraces the CM philosophy of keeping science very light in the early years so that more focus can be given to the skills areas of reading, writing, and math. Some have complained that the science is light in the early years, but we have found it to be very satisfying and has provided a great foundation for the higher level science we are doing now. Additionally, young children just don't have enough background knowledge and experience to understand many of the concepts of science, which can lead to skewed views and misunderstandings that have to be corrected later down the line. Whenever we wanted more science, we added in nature walks and notebooking. For young children, learning about the "science" right around them is much more enjoyable and beneficial than distant habitats and species.
hth,
Laura