Apologia...How it's Going

Well, thought you would like to know how it's going using Apologia Science for this year.  My kids love it.  I asked them if they liked this science or Sonlight better and both said they liked this one better.  They still loved the science books for Sonlight (My son especially loves books with lots of facts and information.).  The problem as I said earlier was the curriculum that went with it which consisted of random fill in the blank questions for each couple of pages or several pages.  We still enjoyed the Discover and Do videos and the science experiments.  The main problem I had was that it didn't seem to all connect together.

I think Sonlight's philosophy is to give a smorgasbord of books and information, hoping that children will catch something in the process.  I did enjoy reading and discussing the books but it was short on review and activities.

At least for the Apologia Botany book, there is reading, activities/experiments for you to explore what you learned, and various minibooks to create to review the concepts you learned.  There is a lot of scientific vocabulary to learn but I think the kids like the challenge and I don't expect them to remember everything. I am learning a lot myself! We have been going outside a lot to study the plants, which has been fun.  There is a little repetition when they ask you to review the concepts (answer questions, crossword, minibooks) but the kids don't seem to mind this since there is variety.  You get to study one subject in detail instead of various subjects that don't relate like in Sonlight.

I am also adding some Sonlight D curriculum that relates to botany. We will try to do the TOPS corn, beans, and lentils experiment.

I don't know how the other books are in Apologia but unfortunately, I had already bought Sonlight science books for next year so we will use them and maybe try to add some lapbooks to review some concepts or focus on a few concepts in more detail.  Then, maybe the following year, we will try to do Apologia Anatomy.

I would recommend Apologia for third grade and up, but I heard people use it for their young ones as well.  They have junior Apologia notebooks as well for younger children. The notebooks are expensive but the kids really like them and it saves me time.

Question about Teaching Science to Two Kids

Right now, I am in the middle of Sonlight Science D (Biology). We are a little behind because of our year in K public school last year.  We’ve enjoyed this science the most so far.  Now I’m trying to decide if I should finish it this summer and then start Sonlight science E (Electricity, Magnetism, and Astronomy) next school year.  The other option is to finish the second half of Sonlight D Biology next school year and do Apologia Botany or Zoology the second half of the year.

I looked at the Sonlight Science E books for next year and went into a bit of a shock!  Noah loves science and he loves a challenge but I am concerned that it would be too abstract/complex for Hannah.  I have been teaching my kids science together but now I wondering if I should teach them separately.  Do you have any advice for me?  How did your kids like the Science E Sonlight?  Should I teach Hannah something else?  I have a friend who has some Apologia science books that she is not using.  Has anyone had experience with Apologia and what do you think about it? The only thing is that I do not want to have to do separate experiments for both of my kids.  I wonder if I would be able to teach them well if I do completely different things.  Noah is in fourth grade right now and Hannah is in second grade right now.

Any advice would be great!  :)