Customer Reviews

Exploring Creation with Physical Science

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a degreed science major and having working numerous years in the medical field, I have a love for the complexities of science. As a homeschooling parent, I want my children to understand (and not just tolerate) the study of science. After spending lots of money on different curriculum and hearing my children tell me how they hate science, I was relieved to find Apologia's curriculum. The textbooks are written in an easy-to-understand format. The experiments are simple enough to do at home and help make the point of that particular chapter. I have taught this particular course individually and in a co-op setting and have been very pleased with the content, delivery style, study guide questions and tests. Dr. Wile is a young earth creationist and for those of us that are not evolutionists, it is a refreshing change. My children feel that they are "smart" (because they get it!), that science is NOT as horrible as they thought, and they even look forward to doing the experiments! This curriculum has turned my children's attitudes about science from negative to positive!

I recall the early years of homeschooling, the 80s, when good curriculum was hard to find. Then Saxon math came along and revolutionized math for those parents and children who hated math. What Saxon did for math; Jay Wile has done for science. Except I'd say Jay Wile has done it better. This is science by a scholar who knows how to break down the complicated concepts to the level of the common man. Nothing is lost in the translation except, perhaps, a previously poor attitude toward science by the student. Children who hated science before will fall in love with Dr. Jay Wile's way of teaching. The experiments are fun & use readily available items in the home one *actually* has on hand. He's won this home schooling family over for good. Move over Bob Jones and Abeka; there's a new sheriff in town.

The Wile series of Apologia sets is top on our list of books to educate our children as well as myself. He has broken down what is very complex to make the average bear understand the study of science. He does not miss the mark on how to teach this subject. The pricing is very reasonable also. As a mom of eight , this is a great price for our family. Exploring Creation with General Science Companion CD-ROMExploring Creation with General Science Companion CD-ROMExploring Creation with Physical Science 2nd Edition TextbookExploring Creation With Biology 1: Solutions Manual

Jay Wile is an answer to prayer for those who never "get it" in science class. He brings clarity to the subject by skillfully and clearly unveiling the concepts through appealing text and thorough experiments that can be done with at-home materials. More importantly, Wile presents the strength of evidence supporting the Biblical record of Creation while illuminating the opposing thought processes and revealing their pitfalls. This prepares our students to give an answer for the hope that is within them. Many other Christian sources do not adequately examine all the theories that exist and fail to dissect the challenges presented with each approach. Wile's series is deep, both theologically and scientifically, and goes through AP level material in all branches of science. It is amazingly understandable, however, by the science-challenged due to his conversational approach in the text and the ease of the insightful experiments. I have taught 4 levels of his courses and could not recommend them more highly.

I absolutely love this textbook, Dr. Wiles has developed quality textbooks at an affordable price. These books are written for independent study, which is great for upper grade students.

I don't dispute the science in this book but I do dispute the history. The author leaves his area of expertise to put forth the myth that Galileo was persecuted by a fearful, ignorant Catholic Church. This is an issue lots of people have an opinion about but few have actually studied. Wile is one of them. For a full treatment, with footnotes to back up the history, please see the book "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization," especially the chapter: The Church and Science. In it the author Dr. Thomas Woods - a real historian with four Ivy League degrees - explains the enormous contribution the Church made to science. Examples: There are over 30 craters on the moon named after Jesuits who discovered them. Europe's universities were founded by religious of the Catholic Church. Many of the Church's clerics were famous scientists - like Copernicus himself. He was never persecuted for teaching that the sun could be the center of the solar system. What does that tell you? There is more to the Galileo case than most people realize. In short - Galileo was invited to Rome to make his case. He was admired very much by bishops and cardinals. His trouble was that he did not have adequate mathematics to support his "theory" - which was then very new. So the Church wanted him to teach it as a "theory" and not as a fact. But he refused. What's more he was suggesting changes in Theology - not his area of expertise. The author of this book, Dr. Wile - a protestant - does a similar thing in this science book. He gets into history which he knows little about.

I'm a 14-year-old student who finished this course as a part of my homeschool co-op. I hold this company and this author in high esteem. I like science, and the book made sense. It's told from a Christian, creationist standpoint, and what I really like is that it gives scientific reasons for creationist ideas. It doesn't expect you to blindly believe things; it actually EXPLAINS them to you, using clear language. It uses "On Your Own" questions and study guides to make sure you understand more difficult concepts. Some of the sections use a little math, but it's not very hard; I haven't even finished Pre-Algebra and had very little problem with it. Some of the sections were a little confusing, such as the part about light, but for the most part, they put a lot of effort into making it understandable. It discusses different theories in-depth instead of expecting you to believe a single theory just because they said so, and I like that a lot. It's a worthwhile course for homeschoolers to check into. Signed, StoryMaker. "Gotta trust the kid's review!"

We have thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is geared toward 9th grade.

It is a course that is easily accomplished in a year and yet covers with skill some very difficult topics such as physics of motion, Newton's Laws, Waves and Sound, Light, Astrophysics. We especially liked the clear and thorough module on nuclear energy.

The book is composed of 16 modules in about 425 pages.

The experiments are fantastic for visual teaching and Wile manages to use basic things from around a home making it easy to put together and do. I had my students keep an experiment notebook so they could write up the experiment, draw pictures of the experiment and then make conclusions. Dr. Jay L. Wile always follows the experiments with what you should have seen, and what can be concluded from the experiments.

I appreciated the "On Your Own," questions which are meant to make the students think on their own about what they have read rather than pulling straight from the text some answer.

This is obviously, and without apology, Christian based.

This is an excellent science series, but there is a newer version of this text.

The update is in serious need of updating. It contains a lot of superfluous information. Omit some of the junk and add a little more science and the book would be great. One major error is his discussion on the CFC's (refrigerants), his conclusions about our lives being threatened by the changes to CFC's is blatantly false. Good for a middle schooler but the book is not high school quality.