Apr. 9, 2009 - Product Review -- Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day -- Jeannie Fulbright of Apologia
Product Review
Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
by Jeannie Fulbright
I wasn't sure if we were going to like this book. Seriously, so many people rave about this series of elementary level science books published by Apologia. Yet, when we tried Astronomy and my children were 7 and 5, we were sorely disappointed. Now that I have had the opportunity to work through a second book, with much older children at ages 10 and 8, I have a completely different opinion of the Jeannie's material and I am so thankful for this opportunity!
What's Included: Each book in this elementary science series published by Apologia has about 12 or 13 chapters designed to be completed over one year. I have found that by working each day, we can complete a chapter of Flying Creatures in one week. The books include notebooking questions and projects or experiments in each chapter. Each book focuses on a different area of science and treats that subject in depth.
What I Like: I appreciate the lively tone of these books, as the author "talks" to the student. Mrs. Fulbright does an excellent job of communicating and is clearly passionate about science from a creationist point of view. I really love the extra hands-on projects and experiments and notebooking prompts. We had a lot of fun creating a birdfeeder in chapter 2 and still keep them full and track the birds we see at them. (Both children created one!) Projects such as this are helping keep the interest of my daughter, who was pretty skeptical about this new book before the first project came up. The cost is very affordable at $24.95 per book as well.
What I don't like: I have heard these books referred to as "living books" and I don't think I would go quite that far. They still have a textbook feel to them from my persective, but given the subject I have come to suspect that is necessary. I think this is why my daughter struggles to get into the book without the projects to tie her interest.
My bottom line: This will not be the last book we use by Jeannie Fulbright! This series is very valuable to me because it teaches science from a creationist perspective in an engaging way. I believe using this series with only younger students is not a good idea.
The bottom line is; We try not to insist on parent-led learning or gravitate toward child-led learning. We try instead to focus on God-led learning and ask for His input and perspective on every aspect of our home school. That way, when others fuss about what Dan and I are doing and make me second guess our decisions -- I can go back to our decision process and find God's fingerprints, reminding me that this is His way.
