Looking For A Great Homeschool Science Program? Let Me Introduce You To Apologia! {Curriculum Review}

Over the last few weeks, my family has had the wonderful opportunity to review the Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology program from Apologia. As a family already familiar with the Apologia homeschool science program, this review promised to be a great fit for us. In fact, Apologia has been our go-to science curriculum for both elementary and middle school level science for the last three years!

So, how did this newest program from Apologia stack up to the other programs we have used? And what did the kids think of this set?

Let’s find out!

Starting Something New

The timing of this review was perfect for us. My daughter had just finished up her middle school level book. My 2nd grader had just completed one of the modules in his current Apologia text. It was the perfect time to start something new.

The entire Young Explorer Series from Apologia is geared towards elementary–aged students. It’s set up so that you can start with whichever textbook piques the interest of your little learner. Each book is designed to be used independently. However, Apologia does offer several additional products that are created to enhance both the experience and the learning. You can choose some or all of these products depending on your needs.

For the purpose of this review, Apologia not only supplied our family with the textbook but two Notebooking Journals and an audio CD as well. We happen to be familiar with both levels of Notebooking Journals available. The audio CD, however, was a brand new experience for our family.

Diving Right In

The Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology textbook is broken up into 14 lessons. The first lesson starts out covering a lot of historical information about the fields of anatomy and physiology. This part was less than interesting for my 2nd grader, but we covered it anyway.

The second part of the chapter covers the human cell and many of its parts. Here is where the book started picking up for him. We journey through the parts of the cell learning about parts such as the “mighty mitochondria,” the “grocer Golgi,” and the “nucleus government.” Each small section gives a general overview of the parts of the cell, the job that each cell performs, and a simple idea of what the parts look like.

Throughout this part of the first lesson, there are pictures showing the different cell parts. This is great for giving your child some idea of what the various parts look like. It is all geared to help them visualize what the parts look like, as well as to help them when they draw their own cell later on.

Try This, Review, and Apply

One of my favorite aspects of the Apologia science program is the many opportunities to review what the child has learned. Each lesson is broken up with prompts for your child to narrate what they have learned. Being able to explain what they just read, or what was read to them, helps them to retain the information. This also helps you to know how much of the material was understood before moving on.

At the end of each lesson are “What Do You Remember?” questions. These questions give you the chance to review the entire lesson, check for learning, and review material that has not been fully remembered.

For my older children, I use this as a quiz opportunity. With my second grader, we simply talked about the questions and the answers.

It was at this time that we started using the Junior Notebooking Journal. Neither the Notebooking Journal nor the Junior Notebooking Journal are required to complete this program. However, they complement the textbook and material very well. Included in the Junior Notebooking Journal are scripture copy work, lesson-based activities, and everything you need to create lesson-related mini-books. They also have a great schedule in the front cover to help you keep on track and complete each textbook in a year. This is something we have always purchased to go with all of the Apologia textbooks we have used.

The Junior Notebooking Journal is geared towards lower elementary learners, while the Notebooking Journal is better suited for upper elementary students. The Notebooking Journal goes more in–depth than the Junior version does, offering additional activities geared for a deeper learning.

And while Apologia does consider this program an elementary one, as a parent and fellow homeschooler, I do feel you can easily use this material for a middle school student as well.

Learning Together vs Independent Learners

My seventh grader is currently interested in all things human anatomy. She currently dreams of growing up and becoming a doctor. So when this particular title became available she really wanted to participate. Where she has just finished up her current middle school level science book I decided to let her.

Having two students working the same program was great.

My daughter was a primarily independent learner for this program. She would use the schedule located in the Notebooking Journal to determine her science lesson for the day. She used both the textbook and Notebooking Journal independently of my second grader and myself. We would check-in a few times a week to check for progress and retention.

Being older, she also worked the program at a faster pace, often nearly double the material. Due to this, she completed the first four lessons in the program covering the history of anatomy, cells, the skeletal system, the muscular system, and the digestive and renal systems.

With my younger learner, we would use the program together. Reading, learning, and the Junior Notebooking Journal were all completed by both of us. This allowed me to help explain how to pronounce new and challenging words, paraphrase from areas of text, and assist him in completing the Junior Notebooking Journal activities.

Something New – The Audio CD

One thing we have never tried from Apologia is the optional audio CD – however, this was a very nice addition to the program! Read by the author, this CD follows along in the textbook. My daughter, who is more of an auditory learner, really enjoyed being able to sit back and listen as the author read the material to her. An added bonus we found with the CD is that because the textbook is read to the listener, they hear exactly how to pronounce all of the new words in the material. This really helped her to be able to properly say the names of bones, organs, and parts of the digestive track she has been learning.

The one complaint she had with the audio CD is that she felt the author read the material too slowly. I didn’t think this at all, however, she tends to like things at a faster pace. However, for an independent learner, I think this is a wonderful addition to the textbook.

With my son, though, using the audio CD made it harder for us. He is naturally curious and loves to ask questions. I can hardly get through two or three sentences without having him pipe up with either a question or a comment about the material. We also take our time reading, looking at the pictures, and discussing what we have learned.

Making Science Come Alive

No science program would be complete without the opportunity to experiment a little. In the first lesson, we had the opportunity to use water to create a microscope, mummify some apples, and make a gelatin and candy cell. Lesson two, which covered the skeletal system, gave us the opportunity to give bones to a clay person, use an egg and water to see how our brains are protected, see how important the 27 bones in our hands are (which my four-year-old joined in on), and even see what bones are made of using a chicken bone.

My daughter was able to complete two additional lessons. Some of the projects she worked on included seeing how much of her body weight is muscle mass and check reflexes on her siblings. In the following lesson, she got to check out amylase in her saliva, used soap to learn about bile, and even created a digestion theme park map.

Older students are also encouraged to start working with the scientific method for their experiments. Included in the Notebooking Journal are Scientific Speculation Sheets that get them used to writing down materials used, the procedure, drafting a hypothesis, recording the results, and coming up with a conclusion based on the results of the experiment.

This perfectly prepares them for the middle school level program which includes deeper level thinking and more in-depth science experiments and tracking.

Is Apologia’s Young Explorer Series Right For Your Homeschool?

Well, the simple answer is yes, in my opinion anyway! This program offers everything you need to start teaching them all about the human body. Taught from a Christian viewpoint, this series encourages your young scientist to look for God’s hand in all aspects of science. Perfect for various types of learning, the Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology dives right into a full study of the human body.

With fourteen lessons in all, each one covers a different body system allowing your elementary student to start learning all of the amazing things their body can do. This program can easily be adapted to fit a wide variety of ages and learning styles. With more than enough scientific facts and plenty of science-based fun, Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia offers something for everyone.

Want to know about more Apologia products?

Be sure to read my Apologia Chemistry for high school review!