Apologia Science Exploring Creation with Astronomy Giveaway

A journey through space that you'll never forget. Your child will learn more about space than other children their age, and will be able to hold their own in conversations with knowledgeable adults.

One of my favorite things about this book is the conversational style in which it is written. It reads more like a mutual discussion about astronomy, rather than a science textbook. Very in-depth information is conveyed, but with words and expressions to which a child can relate. This doesn't mean it is dumbed down, for the course itself has enough information to qualify for a high school astronomy course.

Another thing I love about Exploring Creation With Astronomy (Young Explorers)
is that each child essentially makes his own astronomy book utilizing notebooking activities and assignments. These assignments are designed to replace workbooks, which do not draw from the child's heart and mind what was learned. When a child is merely filling in blanks in a workbook, not much is required of the child. His memory is engaged only long enough to get the worksheet complete. This certainly can give the child a sense of accomplishment, but it isn't as useful for long term retention as notebooking. With notebooking, the child is asked to draw upon his learning, organize it in his mind, and formulate a response that is orderly and makes sense. The child expresses the things that were important or significant to him. Creating an illustration and writing out (or for younger students, dictating or making a title page) the things he remembers will reinforce his learning. As well, the child will enjoy looking over his astronomy notebook, his own creation of all that he knows about astronomy, time and time again. As he reviews his work, he will further remember what he learned. Creating a notebook page truly draws the most out of the child. There is a saying, "Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand." Notebooking is the act of involving the child in his learning.

When my daughter looked over her astronomy notebook pages from three years ago, she remembered everything she learned with fond memories of the astronomy course. I then showed her some workbooks she had done that same year. She had completed a lot of "creative" exercises in them, and had even written stories of her own, but she didn't remember a single thing about the work. She didn't even remember doing it; she thought I was kidding her that the workbooks were hers.

Involve me, and I'll understand.

I've done science courses with the kids that had experiments that didn't relate to what we were reading. And I've done experiment kits with the kids that were fun, but didn't have enough reading and explanation to tie it all together in their minds. They were fun, but the kids never really understood the reasons for the experiments, and didn't care that much since we had not been studying the subject in an interesting way.

The projects and experiments at the end of every lesson in this astronomy course (and the other courses I have written) all correspond to the lesson. The only one that might be a little questionable is the activity for the Pluto lesson. The children learn how cold Pluto is during the lesson, and after much prayer about a "cold" activity, I chose an experiment where the kids make ice cream in nested ziplock bags by shaking them vigorously. It really works! Well, that doesn't perfectly relate to Pluto, but hey! I haven't had a kid complain yet. And we do explain the process with a brief discussion on the different freezing points of water and salt.

Now for the fun part! To enter all you need to do is follow my blog and post a comment (if you already follow just post a comment) ! Want a second and third chance? Follow me on Twitter and/or on Facebook. If you want 2 more entries Share this post on Facebook. Please post a SEPARATE comment for each entry (up to 5 entries with 4 comments). I will chose the winner using random.org on December 13th! Be sure to leave a contact email!

US residents only please.