Apologia Exploring Creation General Science, 3rd Edition Review

We had the opportunity to review Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition by Apologia. The set included the Textbook, Student Notebook, Solutions and Tests and a Test booklet. One of the nice features of the curriculum is the Student Notebook's schedule that allows the course to be taught over a full school year. We completed the coursework for approximately an hour a day, four days a week. Apologia notes that the Student Notebook is the key to the curriculum in that it helps students transition out of elementary to middle school thus preparing the student(s) for high school. Geared towards those in the 7th grade, it was perfect for my daughter. 


The Textbook

The Textbook contains a well-rounded general science course with a large focus on Earth Science which is one of my favorites from college. From Astronomy to meteorology to geology and paleontology and more, it's just enough information to spark an interest in to what could be a child's future career. Of course, there is more ... much more. They have thought of so much when writing this curriculum to prepare the student for higher levels. The book contains 14 chapter-modules with a suggested completion of 2-2 1/2 for each chapter-module. Another component that I like about the Apologia curriculum is how it's constructed to reinforce what is being learned through activities such as the "On Your Own" questions and the Study Guide questions.

The "On Your Own" questions are completed as the student reads the text and the Study Guide questions are completed at the end of the chapter-module. Utilizing both will ensure a greater chance of mastery. In addition to those two activities, there are experiments and Explore More boxes to complete. A note, Apologia recommends a student completes all the experiments but the Explore More are more discretionary.  


The Student Notebook

The Student Notebook is essential for the course and contains a daily schedule and the ability to take notes. From my experiences with college as well as in my career, the ability to take notes creates a successful environment. The same goes with this course as a student will be more successful by getting in the practice of taking notes, will become proficient in recording what is important and it reinforces what they are learning. It's a win-win altogether.

Daily Schedule

The Student Notebook provides a thorough explanation in how to grade the course which I found extremely helpful as they break down each of the components. We began the course and reviewed the first module together. As noted in Module 1, Week 1, Day 1, it starts out getting the student acclimated to the course with writing out definitions, writing, answering questions, starting the timeline and getting the student in the practice of marking off their work which is a good exercise in responsibility. 

As we continued with the course, she continued to be able to work on her own for the most part. I would review the pages with her to see if she had any questions and post grading, I would review how I graded some of her work which helped her to learn from any mistakes. The experiments were fun and matched the reading material allowing both another way to reinforce what was being taught as well as a break from reading and answering questions.

Here is another example of a later module at week 4:

After she completed the lesson, she took the test:

Solutions and Tests and Tests for Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition


The Solutions and Tests and Tests for Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition provides all the solutions and answers for the test questions. There is also an informative 'before you begin' section to assist the teacher/parent in moving forward with the test portion. I liked the format of the test as it offered variety and wasn't just multiple choice. It required the student to think and process what they learned in answering some of the questions.

We started out using the curriculum Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We only conducted experiments on one day of the week to allow enough time to really utilize them to learn. The experiments were a favorite of my daughter's and the entire section of "Introduction to Labs" was helpful. The experiments continued from very easy to harder and I peeked ahead just to get an idea of a later module.

Take a Look Ahead

Module 6 is Earth Science - Geology and Paleontology. This is the really cool experiement that we are both looking forward to. Experiment 6.1 is growing crystals! The experiments are set up with the following outline:

Purpose
Materials (needed)
Question
Hypothesis
Procedure
Conclusion

The corresponding lab pages follows/repeats the same outline except it has sections to have the student record their notes and answer questions.  Here is an example:

Apologia mission:

"Our mission is to help homeschooling students and families learn, live, and defend the Christian faith through our print and digital curriculum and online classes."

Overall, we are enjoying the course and maybe it's more so me but she's not grumbling completing the questions. She even told me she's learning a lot and likes how it's Christian based. The best part for her our the experiments. We look forward to moving through the rest of the modules and definitely recommend Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition by Apologia.

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Jump In, 2nd Edition by Writing with Sharon Watson: A Review

I told my middle child that I wanted her try out Jump In, 2nd Edition by Writing with Sharon Watson and I was met with resistance as she's not the type that likes to write unless it's what she wants to write about. After getting her convinced that she might like it and should give it a try, she found she actually did like it. What makes Jump In, 2nd Edition so nice is it is as student directed as possible meaning she's able to complete her lessons on her own and I only have to check daily answers and utilize their new specific grading grid for her essay assignments if I prefer.

There is a choice to have either the physical copy or it can be downloaded.

Jump In, 2nd Edition is for grades 5-8 and has been utilized with homeschools, co-ops and Christian schools. The key to the course is to teach students to write in the four common modes of persuasion, exposition, description, and narration. 

TEACHER'S GUIDE

The Teacher's Guide has a robust Table of Contents as this is a course designed to cover a four-year time period. The proposed schedules allow for parents/teachers to adjust to how they would like to utilize the course with their student(s). I like the flexibility as well as knowing that one course can be so versatile. We are going to use the two-year plan which guides us as follows:

• First Year: Complete "Get Your Feet Wet" through "A Report."
• Second Year: Finish "A Biography" through "Poetry."
• Complete each end of chapter essay by first putting away the next chapter assignment. The suggestion is to allow the student to focus and not be rushed which I like AND she likes too!

Another key feature from the Teacher's Guide is the Teacher's Backpack full of tools to help teach the course and produce no tears or maybe less tears! From helping to teach them how to proofread to different modes of writing, it's all available to help the teacher teach. 

For the inexperienced teacher or even the reluctant teacher, as well as the seasoned teacher, it's a one source for teaching and grading the course. I even learned a lot from the Teacher's Guide and suggest reading ahead of every lesson to produce a confident approach with teaching. My girls look up to me so I have to make sure I seem confident with what I'm teaching and the Teacher's Guide provides everything I need.

The next section is called Sample Essay Evaluations which provides examples and guidance on how to grade your student's essays while still being encouraging. There are sample essays with a commentary as to why each one received a grade of A, B, C, D or F, respectively.

The next session, 10-Minute Writing Plunges Programs, contains enough Plunges (or prompts) that will last over the school year. They are to be used either to give the student a break from lessons or to be their own task. Some examples include: "I think the leader of my country should be..." and "Something good about me..."  These really were fun to do and did provide a needed break on days that she was not really feeling inspirational. I found that when I wrote my own responses and we read them to each other, she had more fun and enjoyed it.

STUDENT'S GUIDE

The Student's Guide is easy to follow and literally jumps in with the lessons. The Table of Contents provides an easy reference for each chapter and name. What I find most relevant about this course is how it appeals to children and their thoughts. The very first paragraph reaffirmed to my child that Sharon Watson gets it. She understands how children think and can relate to them in a most sincere and productive way. As I mentioned above, my daughter was very reluctant to try another program but as I read the first paragraph to her, this hit a cord:

"Writing may send warm shivers of pleasure up your spine. Or you feel as though you are drowning in an angry, choppy, icy sea with nothing in sight but hungry, toothy sharks."

As soon as I finished that part, she lit up and I could see that she realized she was not alone and this book acknowledged her feelings. Her mood immediately changed and she was willing to give it a go. It also provided me better insight to how she felt about writing as I didn't know how to ask the questions that were presented to her. For example, in Get Your Feet Wet, she was asked in question one, "what types of writing assignments are difficult for you?" Due to her responses, I now know why she always grumbled over my request for book reports.

She moved through the skills or daily lessons three days a week and seemed to enjoy most of them. I did not have to remind her to complete her work as she was diligent in completing them Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

MY DAUGHTER'S REVIEW:

"The lessons are very short and easy to do. It usually takes about 20 minutes maxium to finish a lesson per day. Natually, I would complete more than what I was instructed to do because I enjoyed it. The directions can be difficult to understand sometimes for me but otherwise I really enjoy doing these. It helped me brainstorm ideas! I would write about anything for about 10 minutes and then fix what I might not like or did incorrectly afterwards. They teach to write first and go back and work on any issues afterwards."

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I really liked how Jump In, 2nd Edition by Writing with Sharon Watson utilizes smaller lessons to teach over 98 different writing skills. The concept of teaching students to write paragraphs first and eventually essays is brilliant in starting smaller versus the whole paper. It's less intimidating and allows the students to just start writing without worrying about accuracy and it really appealed to my daughter. It allowed her to freely write without interruption as she knew she could return and correct. 

As I looked forward to future lessons, I can definitely see how they will aid in her being able to expand on her thinking processes and add more to what she's writing. For instance, Chapter 7 or titled Reports, expands on organizing by using the outline method. I'm also looking forward to the chapter called Narration as it goes through the methods from setting the scene, descriptions, dialog and more to encourage greater depth in writing by still using simple approaches that aren't intimidating. It becomes a fun way to teach and I expect she will continue to enjoy the lessons. I would recommend this course.                                                                                                                     
   

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The Complete Starter Kit by The Kingdom Code Homeschool Review

Teaching children about money management is a needed course and seems to be one that is neglected in some school systems. This is why I enjoy homeschooling because I dictate what is best for my children. I have the drive of my parents in me with the desire to be an entrepreneur and this has rubbed off on my children. We were provided an opportunity to review The Complete Starter Kit by The Kingdom Code. It is a Biblical-based hands-on program that teaches kids about money management and how to become a kid entrepreneur. It's a very cool course with a medieval theme that should appeal to most kids. It's geared towards helping parents and teachers to teach children and teenagers a fun way to start a business and all the steps in between. 

When I first received the package of all the material, I had to take time to read and understand how to assemble it all. In the past, I would have been annoyed with the time it required to assemble and make sense of it all but as I've proceeded in the homeschool journey, I have learned how important it is to take the time to prepare. The course itself looked inviting to me so compiling everything also turned into a fun task. This curriculum is comprehensive thus requiring the time needed to prepare and plan appropriately. Every item is vital to the curriculum and I think they did a wonderful job creating an informative, educational and fun way to teach a subject that some might not normally like nor learn about. It did require some inexpensive items like a couple of binders, tabs, pencil pockets, and red pencils, but once you compile the binders for the students, it makes perfect sense and it's pretty cool looking. I did assemble my own binder as I wanted to have my own separate area for information. 

THE KINGDOM CODE MAKE AND MANAGE MONEY...GOD'S WAY STUDENT BOOK

We started out using The Kingdom Code Make and Manage Money...God's Way book. As the cover states, the curriculum is designed to, "empower students to be entrepreneurs" and to "build a business," "develop character,"and "prepare for the future." It's a nice spiral bound colorful book that has engaging photos, illustrations and more. The Table of Contents lists the 27 lessons, a glossary, a bibliography, credits, and an index.

Lesson One is the "Path to The Kingdom Code" and provides the students with everything they need to know to understand what The Kingdom Code is. As it discusses starting one's own business, it is reinforced with the word of God. Each lesson includes:

• Proclamations which are designed for the Kingdom of Code Kid (KCK) to become brave and build faith. For example, Lesson One states, "I trust in the Lord with all my heart and depend on Him, instead of myself. In everything I do, I honor and remember Him, and He makes my path straight."
• Check Your Path are worksheets that require the KCK to answer the questions about each lesson.
• Quest for the Clue are provided to help the KCK understand how God wants them to live and use money. It is stressed that as they find the Clues, they will be able to put on the full Armor of God for protection. They are knights in this journey.
• Codes of Honor provide a Bible verse and a character code that describes how a KCK thinks and acts. 
• Share Your Thought further the KCK's learning experience by asking more questions such as, "how can you have a financial responsibility and not be a financially responsible person?" These were fun as it allowed me to fully understand if they were comprehending what was being taught.
• Treasure Seeking is the way KCKs discover treasures that will help them build their own business to make money. A business is called a Treasure Builder.
• Action Time is where they refer to their binders and start exercises to build their own Treasure Builder.
• On Your Own are more activities the KCKs complete on their own or at home.
• Kingdom Keys are reviews of the lesson. They consist of: Key to the Lesson, Key Ideas and Key Terms
• Upon completion of each lesson, the KCK receives a key (a sticker) to place on the KCK Treasure Map.
• Bonus Code Work varies lesson to lesson and provides additional activities for the KCKs that are optional.

I know that sounds like quite a bit, but if broken into days, as the schedule recommends, it's very easy to accomplish and was a favorite activity of the day to complete.

TEACHER'S GUIDE

The Teacher's Guide consists of print outs that are designed to be placed in a binder. It contains:

• A Contents section that lists each section and lesson.
• A Note to the Teacher that provides a letter of inspiration and more from Jimmie Byler aka Aunt Jimmi and the staff.
• An Introduction to the Kingdom Code indexed by parts with Part 1 noting the supplies needed as I noted above.
• Part 2 is how to organize everything and these sections are paramount to setting up the course for a smooth transition in teaching it. Note: this can be used for one student or more.
• Part 3 explains what is in the textbook and what to expect in a lesson which I explained above in the sections from the student's book.
• Part 4 is instruction on using the Essential Elements such as activities, worksheets, flashcards, posters, forms, notices and Treasure Builder ideas. This is the part that is a little more cumbersome in ensuring you are organized before beginning as they are not bound, As I noted above, they all have their respective places in folders, binders or pencil pouches. I'm glad they provided it this way as I think it really cuts down on costs since we assemble and buy the non-teaching essentials. Before separating and placing everything in their respective binders, read carefully so you place each section where it needs to go. This is where the binder tabs is very handy, if not essential, in organizing everything as they suggested for the supplies needed.
• Part 5 lists what is in the Teacher's Guide which includes the Lesson Plans, Masters (Appendix A), Flashcards (Appendix B), Assessments (Appendix C), and Additional Enrichment (Appendix D).

I made a little envelope to place the flashcards in at the front of the binder.

LESSONS

My youngest started with the course and was completing Worksheet 1 as my middle one watched with great interest.

A close up of the first worksheet.

The Teacher's Guide provides the guidance on breaking up the days of the lessons. For the review, I will cover the first three lessons.

Lesson One

As we started Lesson One, my KCK was supposed to assemble her binder but I helped her and put it together for her. For Day One, we worked on the Overview, Essential Question, Learning Goal and Kingdom Code. We completed Worksheet One as noted in the photo above. There are tips throughout to help customize the lessons to meet individual students abilities. There are a lot of interactive type activities which makes the course a fun family type activity too. 

Day Two for Lesson One included more interactive work and the completion of pages 6-11 of Activity 1. The entire course consists of 40 colorful Activities that help to promote understanding of the material through various exercises. 

At the conclusion of the lesson, they receive their first key as noted in the above photo.

Lesson Two 

Lesson Two continued building the Treasure and didn't let her down. She was so eager and enthusiastic about each lesson. 

Lesson Three

Each lesson is a real learning adventure and this is another brief overview. This one starts out with the Proclamation, as do the others, and begins with a little history about a beef entrepreneur in the 1800s in Texas. This cleverly leads into teaching about the law of supply and demand. The lesson provides activities to build the financial concept knowledge and provides the KCK with the idea of a mentor. I was really surprised to see this as in my previous pharmaceutical life, we were encouraged to seek mentors so this was a wonderful concept to add. In addition to the worksheet, the KCK will complete Notice 1: Treasure Builder Permit and Notice 2: Business Notice.

My KCK is completing Notice 1 for her Treasure Builder Permit.

Notice 2 for the Business Notice.

My youngest discussed options with my middle one and they decided upon a food truck business or a cafe in honor of their grandfather. Although we can't start a cafe yet, we do have it in the plans for next year so as they move forward with their lessons, they will be able to start planning and preparing for a business that they will be able to be a big part of. Needless to say, they are excited and she is eager to start using the tools she has thanks to The Kingdom Code's lessons.

THE KINGDOM CODE KIDS COLORING BOOK and JR. KCK BUDGET KIT

We also received The Kingdom Code (TKC) Kids Coloring Book and Jr. KCK Budget Kit. The Jr. KCK Budget Kit is for the younger children that aren't quite old enough to complete The Kingdom Code program. It's colorful and fun and I was able to start to use it with my granddaughter who enjoyed it. She enjoyed coloring the saving pages along with some of the 32 pages within the TKC Coloring Book. The pages are full of knights, Bible Versus and of course, the budget pages. It's a fun way of introducing financial management with younger children.

OVERALL SUMMARY

Overall summary, The Kingdom Code is an elective designed course that is expected to take 34 weeks to complete or a school year. If taught weekly for 45 minutes as suggested or more frequently, it's very easy to complete. We were able to complete the first five lessons for this review. It is Biblical in nature throughout the entire course which was a huge bonus for myself and my student. It's also noted in the course information that parental guidance is needed from Lessons 1-8, which will take a semester to complete. Afterwards, the student can move forward with the rest of the lessons that refer back to their business without as much guidance. Students can share the textbook but any consumables (Student Packs) should be purchased for each additional student for completion. They are beautiful pages so one would not want to lose out on the complete nature of the sheets nor the work that The Kingdom Code put into creating every sheet.

The beauty of this curriculum is that more than one student can work on a business allowing great flexibility. 

A LOOK AHEAD

As I looked ahead at the lessons, I have to say that I just loved Lesson 27's Activity 40 titled, "Dividing My Money." As you can see in the photo, the KCK is guided in how to spend to include giving back to Jesus, others, education, savings and of course, them.

Activity 34 teachers the KCKs how to write a check.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Complete Starter Kit by The Kingdom Code is a really fun, interactive, rewarding program to teach children about money and starting a business without forgetting God. It's extremely clever in that it provides children with real practical activities to start a real business. It weaves in history, economics, writing, math and the Bible to present a comprehensive course that actually brought excitement and enthusiasm with my daughter. We recommend!

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If you use code 10TKC23, you will receive 10% off!

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