Starting a New Adventure...

We are finished with our science for this year!  I had no idea that we would get through it that quickly!  About a month ago I made the decision that we would switch to Apologia and see how we liked it.  I had heard from several families that they love it, and with Zach nearing high school I needed to find something that would give him a solid knowledge base in science.  I have a feeling that Zach will get into some science related field.  So I took the plunge and ordered General Science for Zach.  Noah had some options for his science.  I went ahead and let him choose what topic he wanted.  We have just finished zoology so those Apologia books were out of the question, so he could have chosen between astronomy and botany.  I really wanted him to choose astronomy!  But it's not about me, right?  He chose botany which doesn't surprise me.  If Noah ever follows a career in science, I am sure it will be one of the life sciences.

A friend of mine that just recently started homeschooling, mentioned a great company, Nature's Workshop Plus, that sets up the lab kits for each of the Apologia curriculums.  Well, I just received our order from them and was totally impressed!  For each curriculum there are baggies with the materials you need to complete the experiments!  I love the way they have them set up because each baggie contains the items you need for each lesson.  All I have to do is look for the lesson bag we need.  Now obviously there are a few items (perishable items) that I will have to get for the boys to complete some of the experiments, but for the most part everything is there!

We were going to be starting Apologia this coming week, but we had a bit of extra time this week so we have done a little work to get started.  Zach will just start at the beginning of his book and work through it.  For Noah there was the challenge of scheduling the units so that we can study botany outside.  This is a real problem in Alaska considering we have snow almost nine months out of the year. Luckily, in the notebooking journal I bought there are instructions on how you need to schedule the units and what needs to be available to you outside.  Here is what I came up with...

March-What is botany? and Seeds
April-Flowers and Pollination
May-Leaves
We will take a break for a part of the summer
August-Seedless Vascular Plants and Nonvascular Plants
September-Fruits and Roots
October-Stems and Trees
November-Gymnosperms and Nature Journaling

I will keep you updated on how our adventure is going!