5 Tips for Adapting Apologia Science to Your Family’s Needs

By Rachael Yunis

It’s easy as homeschooling parents to find ourselves perplexed by the differing interests and learning styles of our children. It gets even more complicated when we are teaching multiple children at different academic levels.

Although we may not have specialized backgrounds to teach our children every subject, we can find them the resources to fill their needs and provide an enriched environment that promotes their learning. Creating a customized Apologia Science program for each child in our families, while maintaining sanity, isn’t difficult.

1 – Adjust the curriculum schedule to fit your needs At Apologia Science, we recognize the fact that children are unique to themselves and have designed our curriculum with an adaptability to help you and your children achieve the goals for your family’s homeschool vision. Curriculum schedules should reflect family goals and not be the goal themselves.

To help you easily adjust our curriculum, Apologia offers suggested science schedules with plenty of time built in to help you adjust our curriculum to fit your family’s schedule.

Once you set your schedule, we take over with curriculum specifically written to your student in a conversational tone so that the textbook is the subject expert and you have more time to enjoy your family.

It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.

Albert Einstein

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.

G.K. Chesterton

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2 – Recognize that the textbook is only one of many educational tools

It is important to recognize that textbooks are only tools, not the education itself, and that there is a distinct difference between facts and knowledge. Too many students (and parents) believe that science is only a compilation of rigid facts, and they get caught up in memorizing details instead of understanding whole concepts.

Children are born scientists. They are filled with energy, curiosity, and desire to know and understand more about the world that surrounds them. Think about how passionately younger children ask questions, usually without waiting for the answers. As adults, it’s easy to forget how good that heartfelt curiosity feels.

It’s our duty as parents and teachers to remember that curiosity, observation, and questioning are not only enjoyable, but also really important in science. It is curiosity that makes us look closely at something that has piqued our interest. That interest and time spent observing something leads us to ask questions, and questions lead to learning and gathering information about our world.

Apologia Science curriculum is packed with hands-on experiments to help your students experience science, not just read about it. We do our best to make sure that most of our experiments can be done with typical household items. Allowing children to achieve their own “Aha” moment is important to us – and them. Knowledge is gained when scientific facts are understood in a manner that makes them relevant to a student.

Additionally, Apologia’s online book extra site for each of our science titles is a place where students will find additional materials to explore at their leisure for each lesson. We give field trip ideas, talk about important scientists, and explain complicated concepts in more detail. This is a wonderful source of information, prescreened to help your students further investigate their interests while exploring creation.

Knowledge, which is acquired under compulsion, obtains no

hold on the mind. Plato

Give  your  children  the  time  to  explore  their  world  without  a  lesson  plan  looming  over  them.  

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3 – Give the gift of a “big picture”

As homeschooling parents, we not only have the right to decide the pace and direction of our children’s educations; we have the right to determine the ultimate goal of our children’s educations.

Apologia Science develops curriculum with the end goal of helping students gain deeper insight into human existence. We want all students to gain intellectual illumination, capable of understanding not only how all of creation works and interacts, but also their specific purposes in all of creation.

The study of science is not a purely factual endeavor; it is intimately linked to our knowledge and acknowledgement of our Creator. Knowledge of God gives meaning to scientific data; it permits us to know the truth not only in concept, but also in encounter.

As homeschooling parents, it is our purpose to teach our children to both understand and interact with the universe so that they can truly respect and love God’s handiwork. Make sure you give your child the gift of science in its proper context of understanding creation.

The end of a chapter in a science textbook is only the beginning. The knowledge gained from scientific study is meant to be the stepping-stone that starts the journey, guides the interaction, leads to more discovery, and points to the wonder of God. True knowledge roots itself when students close the book, open their minds, interact with God’s world, and appreciate God’s magnificence.

The significance and joy in my science comes in the occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to myself, 'So that's how God did it!' My goal is to understand a little corner of God's plan. Dr. Fritz Schaefer in U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 23, 1991.

It is a pity to see so many young people bewildered by highly developed and specialized, but chaotic, instruction about anything whatever in the field of

particular sciences and miserably ignorant of everything that concerns God and the deepest

realities in man and the world. Jacques Maritain

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4 – Know your student’s learning style

In addition to providing award winning science curriculum, Apologia also offers students instructional support. We believe in helping students achieve their full potential and realize that there are multiple learning styles. When you choose an Apologia curriculum, you are not just selecting a static textbook. Our entire curriculum line has been designed with your students’ needs in mind.

Independent Learning Apologia textbooks and notebooks are written to students in a conversational tone so that students can easily navigate through the curriculum on their own. Apologia curriculum helps students methodically learn, self-check, and master difficult concepts before moving on.

Auditory Learning Sometimes students learn best when they can see and hear the materials they are studying. The Apologia Audio Books are the text of the course read aloud to the student. Students can follow along with the audio or use the audio by itself if they are away from home.

Visual Learning Sometimes subject matter is easier to comprehend when the topic is animated and presented by a knowledgeable instructor. Apologia Video Instructional DVDs enhance students’ educations with over 20 hours of instruction, including on-location video footage, PowerPoint lectures, animated diagrams of difficult concepts, and video presentations of all experiments.

Social Learning Some students thrive when they are able to interact with others in an online setting and ask questions of a live instructor when needed. With Apologia Online Academy, students can interact in real time with both their classmates and a professional instructor in a structured virtual classroom. Also, we offer recordings of all our live classes on the Apologia Online Academy Video-On-Demand Channel.

I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide conditions

in which they can learn Albert Einstein

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5 – Creatively combine classes when teaching different age groups

One of the most asked questions we get at Apologia is, “Do you have any suggestions on how I can teach the same science subjects to children in multiple grade levels?” It takes some creativity, but it can be done in 3 easy steps.

Step 1 Find the Right Textbook Combinations

Biology

Elementary – Exploring Creation with Zoology 1, 2, or 3 High School – Exploring Creation with Biology

Human Body

Elementary - Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Junior High - Exploring Creation with General Science High School - The Human Body: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Marine Biology

Elementary – Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures High School – Exploring Creation with Marine Biology

Botany

Elementary – Exploring Creation with Botany High School – Exploring Creation with Biology

Chemistry

Elementary - Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior High - Exploring Creation with Physical Science High School – Exploring Creation with Chemistry

Physics

Elementary - Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior High - Exploring Creation with Physical Science High School – Exploring Creation with Physics

Astronomy

Elementary – Exploring Creation with Astronomy Junior High – Exploring Creation with Physical Science

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Step 2 Compare the Table of Contents

Once you have the right textbook combination picked out, compare the table of contents for each textbook and see where they overlap and where they are out of sync. Oftentimes you can rearrange subject order to teach the same content at the same time. If a higher-level course has sections that aren’t in a lower-level course, you could always supplement materials (check out our book extra sites) or fill in with field trips. Additionally, our elementary notebooking journals have suggested supplemental readings, DVDs, experiments, and so forth for each lesson that you could use during this time.

Step 3 Build Up

When making your lesson plans, start at the bottom and build up. Look at what your elementary student will be learning that day. Would it make a good review for your older student? Perhaps having the older student teach the lesson to the younger student would be a good way for them to review their materials. If you start with the elementary student’s lesson, junior high and high school students can listen and participate in any discussion. As you continue to build up in complexity, younger students can begin a notebook lesson while older students can be instructed further.

Always come together for the experiments, labs, and dissections! It doesn’t matter what age the students are; all kids love hands-on materials. Make sure you make note in your lesson plans where there are experiment days so that everyone can participate, even if it is just watching.

Set aside time each week for all of the students to talk about what they are learning. Little ones will be excited to be able to understand some of the concepts that older siblings are discussing. Older students will be excited to know that they understand concepts enough to explain them to younger siblings.

Perhaps most importantly, remember to not stress yourself. Learning is a lifelong endeavor, and your children learn from your actions. Showing them an enthusiasm for science, a willingness to seek out answers, and the flexibility to adapt is the best education you can give your kids.

At Apologia, we believe in homeschooling and are there not only to support your endeavor, but also to help you and your student thrive. Find out more about the options available at apologia.com

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Rachael Yunis, the Director of Apologia Science and Math, and her husband, Dr. Sam Yunis, an engineer at NASA, have always homeschooled their three sons and strongly believe that God’s glorious world is meant to be explored with passion. They can’t imagine life any other way, and have enjoyed the journey from elementary through high school. It is their belief that children are born with unique, God-given talents that need to be individually nurtured. They also had a lot of fun with their kids and the kids in the co-ops that they taught, knowing that nothing beats witnessing an “aha” moment when a child understands a concept. Their oldest two graduates are at Virginia Tech to studying Astrophysics and Computer Science.

Rachael has a Masters degree in Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology, over ten years experience in molecular genetic research, and publication in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals. A second Masters degree in Biomedical Ethics led to a career as a science writer, as well as her current position at Apologia. She has volunteered on hospital ethics committees, worked for the American Medical Association’s Institute for Ethics, written articles for the Alzheimer’s Association, and speaks on science, ethics, and homeschooling topics. She is a co-author of Apologia’s The Human Body, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, 2nd Edition and author of Apologia’s Field Trip Journal.

As the Director of Apologia Science, Rachael desires to make solid, creation-based science accessible to all students, while making sure that parents have the support materials that they need to help their children successfully navigate the sciences as they advance through the grades. The entire Apologia science team strives to ensure that Apologia Science isn’t just a series of products but rather a presence that is available to encourage and support parents and students on their homeschooling journeys.

While we do not assign elementary titles with any specific grade, we do recommendthe following grade suggestions for middle and high school science courses:

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VOTED #1 HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE CURRICULUM FOR GRADES K-6

Purchase at Apologia.com or via phone at 888-524-4724

NOWAVAILABLEin MP3 Audio CD Format!*

Apologia’s award-winning Young Explorers Series ignites a passion for learning and a love for God’s creation. Each of our books is written in a conversational style children find fun and engaging.

Now, six of the books in the series are available on an MP3 audio CD! The audio version is the textbook read by the author.

Reinforce reading skills and listen anywhere. The audio versions make teaching science even more fun and easier on you. They are designed to make your homeschool experience even better!

“My children struggle with reading but love the hands-on nature of Apologia science. I encouraged their love of science by adding the audio CD along with the textbook, allowing them to move at their own speed independently, and it worked wonderfully!

- Heather Laurie, Owner, SpecialNeedsHomeschooling.com

“We have used Apologia Science for several years.This year I purchased the audio CD, so we can all listen while I get other work done. I am pregnant with our sixth child, and the audio version saves me so much time!”

- Homeschooling mom

*Audio version not yet available for Botany. Audio version is the textbook read aloud. Audio versions do not include the notebooking journals. Audio CDs are MP3 format.