Customer Reviews

Exploring Creation With Astronomy (Young Explorers)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is important for me to note at the outset that we are a Jewish family and this is very much a Christian program, however, it is easy for me as the mother to read around the few bits that are overtly Christian.

I recommend that homeschoolers from other faiths do not dismiss this outstanding program because of the Christian content. This is the perfect science program for all homeschooling families who are giving their children a Classical education.

"Spiral learning" seem to be the current flavor of the month in educational circles. This means that I keep on finding science programs that touch on an enormous amount of topics but don't deal with them in any depth. This is exactly what I do not want.

We subscribe to the maxim, "Multum non Multa" - not many things (multa), but much (multum). Jeannie Fubright's "Exploring Creation with..." fulfills this maxim perfectly. One topic is studied a year, e.g. Astronomy, Botany, Zoology and that topic is studied in great depth.

With "Exploring Creation with Astronomy", our children are immersed in astronomy and learn about the stars and planets in great detail. Rather than touching on many, many scientific concepts, our children are focusing on the heavens for an entire year. By having the children narrate what they have heard after every lesson, I can tell whether our children have understood that particular lesson.

Jeannie adds in really great activities at the end of every lesson that don't require expensive tools. I had most of the tools in our home already. As an example, in lesson one the children make a model of the solar system using balloons of different sizes, string, markers, construction paper, a measuring tape and thumbtacks.

In lesson 7 the children build a model of Olympus Mons on Mars using homemade salt dough, a plastic bottle, vinegar, rocks, baking soda, red food coloring and dish washing liquid.

This course is perfect for families with multiple age children as you can assign extra reading to the older children and require differing degrees of complexity from their narrations.

Other great pluses for me:
- Jeannie has written this in a conversational tone which makes it very easy to read ot the little ones
- There is so much depth in it that I am fascinated all the time while I am doing this with the children, yet, the depth is not so complex that it goes over the children's heads.
- Absolutely beautiful photographs from space adorn the pages
- This last plus, may not be an issue for many of you, but I don't have the best vision and I find this book really easy to read. The publishers, Apologia, have used a bright, white matte paper with a clean font with double line spacing.

I will start with a confession - I am not a "science mom". I do not like messy experiments. I do not like to gather 42 tiny items to do something that is over in 90 seconds. I do not like paper mache. But most of all- I do not like textbooks. In our house, a science textbook is suitable only for bathroom reading or as a cure for insomnia. The first time I picked up this book however, I was in love. The text is vivid and well written. The projects are fun and EASY!

If you join me in being a non science mom, I stronly recommend ordering the kit that goes with this course from Home Science Tools. It costs less than $30 and has every single little thing for every project. You will not have to rumage for or purchase anything. When it's time to do your project there will be no frantic trip to Walmart. Relax mom, it's all here : )

We are creating an Astronomy Notebook as the book recommends. My son puts pictures, drawings, and written information in his notebook. He is really enjoying adding to it and loves to show it to company.

One of my favorite quotes is "Education is not the filling of a bucket. It is the lighting of a fire." I know this astronomy study is not just filling his head with knowledge of space. Rather, it is lighting a fire in him for learning about our world. It is inspiring him to create his best work and to read more independant of his "school work" on the topics we've studied.

I will definately be using the other books in this series!

Blessings on you and your homeschool!

This Astronomy book doesn't read like a dry, school textbook but has the feel of a mentor sharing with the student, explaining the wonders of space. God is glorified throughout. Instead of worksheets or quizzes, the author presents "What Do You Remember?" questions within the text body. I appreciate this gentle, Charlotte Mason approach. A few, easily do-able projects are laid out in each chapter. Even this experiment-avoiding mom, found these enjoyable. (You can purchase an experiment kit with all the needed supplies from another vendor, but we got along fine without this.) For those who enjoy notebooking, an internet link puts coordinating sheets for each chapter at your fingertips.

I've spent my life avoiding science, but this Apologia book brings the Creator right into the study and leads you to worship as you learn so that I've discovered that science is about HIM!

When I started my homeschool journey four years ago, I stumbled. I wasn't sure what to use for each subject & a lot was hit or miss. I turned to the Internet to connect with other homeschoolers & gain some knowledge through what others had tried & enjoyed.

I was very blessed to have stumbled on a group discussing Mrs. Fulbright's newest book - Exploring Creation with Astronomy. My son - then six years old - loved everything space related. I bought it & never looked back!

As most homeschoolers know, you are always on the look out for the next best curriculum. You watch with anticipation for something "new" to come out. Something that will fill that gap. Something that is just better than what you are currently using.
My son is now nine years old. We have since gone through this book not just once, but twice. Each time we have both learned something new. I am not concerned about his science education. I'm not looking for the next best science curriculum. This one is it.

Mrs. Fulbright has woven together a fabulous book that blends together wonderful readings, easy to follow projects, & creative notebooking activities. It simply can't be any easier than this. With little to no prep involved, I simply opened the book each day & read. There are prompts throughout to remind me to ask my son what he has learned. There are even answers in the back to refresh my memory if I needed it. The book is fantastic for creating a notebook to go along with it. All the tips & prompts are included right inside.

The best part for me, as a Christian homeschooling Mom, is knowing that I did not have to be concerned with "millions of years" being discussed in the book. Not only does it show science from a science point of view, but from a Christian point of view.

In my opinion - there IS no better science curriculum out there.

We decided to use this book on the advice of another homeschooling family and couldn't be happier. I would agree with the person who gave this a 3 stars in that the sun isn't that big compared to many other things in our universe, but within our solar system, I believe it is. Regardless, we have really enjoyed this book. Science is one of my dd's favorite subject. She loves that we get to cuddle up while reading the material. However, she also loves sharing with others what she has learned. People are amazed at how much she knows and has comprehended, especially for her age (she just turned 7 and we used this for our first grade science). I have also spoken with my neighbor, who is a second grade teacher, and she was impressed with what she has learned. She told me they could never go into that kind of depth in her classroom. They just don't have that kind of time.

Next fall, we will be using the Zoology 1 as both my dd's are totally engrossed with bugs and other flying critters right now.

I really like this series as it is based on a 7 days creation view, which is what we believe in and wanted to teach. I also like that evolution ideas are brought in (how some scientists explain...and then she gives a bried synopsis of what they think. For example, the parts of Mercury that don't have any craters because they are "new" as a result of volcanic eruptions).

I also like the conversational tone to the book. It provides for interaction with the book instead of just memorizing the "facts". I also like many of the experiments as it allows my dd to become more actively involved in what she is learning and helps to really cement what she has learned.

As with many things, you will find mistakes (many of them have been corrected if you go to Apologia's website), and things that you may not agree with. However, if you want to really dig into a subject, spend time on it, and have your child retain what they learned as well as be excited enough about it to want to share what they have learned with others, I would highly recommend this book (as well as this series)

My son loved this book. He learned so much because not only is it written in a speakable way, it includes great projects that really help sear things into his memory.

We had so much fun with all the projects and experiments. They used your basic household items or items that were EASY to get at Walmart. The results were fantastic.

We are about to start one of Jeannie's other books called Zoology 1 and I know we will enjoy it just as much.

You are so blessed to have curriculum like this available to you! As I read through this textbook, I got so excited about teaching it that I forgot my kids were grown! (No, I don't want to teach someone else's!) This is the curriculum I dreamed about when my children were young. It's interesting, fun, easy-to-use, and best of all, teaches so much more than traditional textbooks!

I like it because:

It is Christian-based and accurate scientifically. For instance, in the unit on Mars, I read that giant meteors hit Mars, which sent pieces of Mars flying into space. Some of these pieces actually landed on earth. I knew this, but this I didn't know: In the same way that giant meteors sent pieces of Mars to earth, there is a possibility that these meteors sent pieces of earth to Mars. So if they do find life on Mars, there is an explanation!

It is interesting to read. This could be used as family reading so all can enjoy or as independent reading for upper elementary grades. The writing is not full of jargon that makes many science textbooks so dull and hard to understand. Jeanne writes so that anyone can understand it. She even makes you laugh now and then!

It is fun! After you read the lesson, there are oral questions to answer, writing assignments, and hands-on projects such as making a rocket or a compass. The projects are easy to do; the supplies needed truly are "household products," and there is a complete listing of supplies needed in the front that you can print out as a shopping list.

The only complaint I have is that it is out of date. It was published in 2004. With science, you need constant updates. However, she has remedied this by including a Course Web site where you can get updated information, corrections to the text, links to other interesting Web sites that will enhance learning, a printable notebook template for the kids to complete (love this!), and even more activities to do! Maybe out of date isn't too bad!

The Exploring Creation with. . . series currently includes Exploring Creation with Botany, Exploring Creation with Zoology (Volume 1 covers Flying Creatures, Volume 2 covers Swimming Creatures, and Volume 3 covers Land Animals - all following the seven days of creation.)

For those of you who like the work done for you, I can't think of a better way to teach science in the elementary grades than by using this series of books. HIGHLY recommended.

We purchased this book for the primary part of our science curriculum for this year. Our entire family is enjoying it very much, and I will most certainly be continuing with this series of books.

My children are at the younger age span for which this book is recommended, and they sit with rapt attention listening to it. They have been remembering multiple details which I did not expect them to recall. I have been following the recommended pace on the readings and experiments, and I love that the pace has been so relaxing and full of learning. My children are always excited when I get this book out --- and it's not a topic that they were excited about prior to beginning it. It has been very enjoyable to stay with one topic for a longer period of time. There is so much to learn and absorb. It is not consumable, so we will be able to repeat it with my children at a later date when we have finished the series. The book has so much in it that they will learn things at that time which they never even caught or understood at the age they are at now.

This morning, I was needing a last minute Sunday School lesson on Psalms 19. On a whim, I grabbed this book. As I flipped through the book, my eyes caught a very simple experiment which I was able to pull together instantly and which all the children VERY much enjoyed. I was able to use the book's beautiful pictures in talking about the heavens to this very young group of children. The book really added to my lesson of what we can learn about God from simply looking at His creation.

I, myself, have been learning so much from the book and enjoying the writing style that I have been reading ahead purely for the fun of it. To have a book that has struck a chord with my young children all the way up to my husband and I is wonderful! In fact, the book includes material that was covered in a recent college class my husband took. I understood it far better reading it in Jeannie Fulbright's book than I did in covering it with my husband. And, at the same time, it is at a level that my children will enjoy.

Thank you for this wonderful series! We are looking forward to continuing with them!

My son (7) and I both learned so much from this wonderful book! Each chapter has easy projects which children love and assignments that are fun, yet they reinforce what was learned. (There is a list at the beginning of the book of all the supplies you will need. It made planning so easy!) Each chapter also has a section called What Do You Remember that has questions to see what your child learned and what might need to be reviewed. There is a course website with additional information for those who want to learn more. This information is a great addition! This is not a boring science text, but a living book that is hard to put down!

I found this book when I was looking for a way to teach Astronomy to my 1st grader last year. He was begging for it. This book was the answer--and so much more! The book is an enjoyable read. I enjoyed how she included narrations in the lessons as well.

My majors in college and grad school were in science and I have had a lot of science classes. This is a SCIENCE book. Even though it is written for elementary aged kids, the author doesn't skip the tough stuff. She jumps right in and explans it in a way that the kids can understand.


I also appreciate her committment to keep it creation based. I'm so thankful for her efforts to help our kids how to back up what they believe.

We really loved our time with Exploring Creation with Astronomy last year. This year we are going to use her Zoology 1 book.