Blog Series: Curriculum Walk-through Part 1

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As a homeschool parent, I love researching curriculum and reading about what other homeschool parents have chosen to use. I also like to glimpse into the rationals of WHY they chose what they did. So, I decided to begin a Blog Series that would explain the rationale of WHY I chose my curriculum for my kiddos. I hope it is a help to you as you create your own journey.

First UP: Science!

Okay all! I am going to be honest today: Science is not one of my favorite subjects to teach. I know, I know!!! Why wouldn't I like it with all of the cool experiments and projects?! It has just never been a subject I was excited about, even in school. I would learn what I needed long enough to ace the test and then move on. I think it was the fact that growing up, Science could be very boring... packed with information in HUGE textbooks. Even for a child that loves to read, Science just didn't excite me. This was a problem that I had last year with my girls. There was sooooo much information packed into their books and they had to travel through it so fast, they couldn't retain all of it! So, this year I have decided to change curriculum.

Before I began a search, I sat down to consider what I wanted it to look like. I knew that I wanted to find a curriculum that focuses on one area for an extended period of time. This would help enforce and promote retention. It would also create an opportunity to "dig" into the topic. I also knew that I wanted something that would be hands-on as well as textbook oriented. I like a combination. Lastly, I wanted there to be some writing involved to reinforce their language art skills. I plan to pull words from their Science to help create their spelling lists.

After figuring out what I wanted, I started to look for what was available. I am one that loves structure in the classroom. Chalk this up to the schoolroom teacher in me but I don't want my child's education to be hit and miss. I researched Christian curriculum and secular curriculum.

The curriculum that I chose is written by Apologia Educational Ministries.  (Disclaimer: I have not been compensated for any of this. I am just writing about personal experience.) They offer great resources for other subjects as well but I am starting with their Science curriculum this year. I am so excited! For the elementary age, there are six topics: Astronomy, Anatomy, Botany,  Flying Creatures, Land Creatures, and Swimming Creatures. I decided to let my children choose what they wanted to learn about first and they chose Astronomy! They will have a textbook and Journal dedicated to Astronomy. I love that we can do this together and my girls will each have their own journal for projects. I have heard many wonderful reviews about it and look forward to using it this year!

I have also decided to split the school year into two "semesters" kind of like what you would see in College. For the Fall Semester, or from August till December, my kiddos will work through Science. For the Spring Semester, January through May, my girls will work through their History curriculum. This is a new approach and I will let you know how it goes!

So let me ask... Have you ever used Apologia? What did you think?

I have linked up with an Apologia Blogroll at My Joy-Filled Life! I am excited to meet others using this curriculum!