We are using God's Design for Heaven and Earth. It is a very nice curriculum I am on the fence if it is the right fit for our family at this point. I have kids that are 7 and under. I think it would work better if my kids were older so if I do move away then I will definitely consider going back in a few years when they are older.
I love that they include all of the student material that needs to be printed on a DVD so I can print off what I need. The lessons are short which is perfect for the younger kids but there is not really many activities that are geared towards their age level. The activities in my opinion are better for older elementary and middle school students.
We used the World of Animals book. I read it aloud to the whole crew of grades I marked. The reading level was aimed at the older kids, but the fact depth was aimed at the younger kids. I could tweak it as I read to keep the little kids' eyes from glassing over, and they did finish the book. Nothing fixed it for the older two. I put them in Apologia's General Science and they were much happier.
Grade levels used
1
3
6
7
Pros
Very easy to use, no messy projects, no lab kit needed
Cons
tries too hard to reach too wide of a spectrum of levels
We have used all four topics in this series. The kids enjoyed God's Design for Life best. Chemistry and Ecology is geared for the older students. I appreciate all the experiments and projects that help to reinforce the subject matter using things you would commonly have at home. The lessons are short so they fit easily into the school day.
These books have short to the point chapters that give the younger students a good introduction to science. I don't like that they do not clearly tell you which order is the best order to do them. Sometimes the terminology used in the questions does not match what was used in the text which can confuse the younger children. I will continue to use it though just not so strenuously for my younger ones.
We've used several of these books. I really like how the lessons are presented...the little ones have a simplified page, followed by the older students 3 or so pages going in-depth. After the lesson, there are comprehension questions, followed by an activity, which varies from a worksheet to an experiment. Our experiments almost always were successful, and very easy to implement. My oldest will be moving on to Apologia 7th grade science, but my younger children will continue to use this.
We used the God's Design for Life: The Human Body. We accompanied it with The Body Book. It was SO FUN! The text is easy to understand. There are 3 levels in one curriculum. That was helpful for us since we were doing it with a 2nd grader and a 6th grader. Subject coverage was great. Good experiments for reinforcing the concepts but adding on the Body Book (where we assembled an entire skeleton really brought it all together).
Grade levels used
2
6
Pros
Young earth standpoint, well organized
Cons
could use a little more oomph as far as activities to do to reinforce concepts learned
We are just finishing up World of Animals with my 2nd and 5th graders. Excellent materials. Love how much is included about each kingdom! Lessons are short and reasonable amount of info. I wish we did more of the activities and extras! I know AIG has tons of videos at their website as well that we barely touched!!
