A Biblical Approach to the Sciences - A New TOS Review!!

For the last month and a piece we have had the opportunity to review a product called Considering God's Creation.  This is a natural science program for grades 2-7 that teaches from a Biblical perspective.

The Product:

Eagle's Wing's Educational Materials produced Considering God's Creation to be a comprehensive science curriculum.  Our review material included a Teacher's Manual, a Student Workbook and a CD (available for $29.95, additional workbooks can be purchased for $13.95 each.)

It covers subjects like the Universe, Solar System, Earth, Clouds, Trees, Rocks, Plants, Mammals, Fish, Reproductions and Genetics, and more.  There are 9 units broken into 36 lessons -- perfect for a one year study.  They focus on the primary teaching tool being a Science Notebook which allows the student to interact with science to help promote real learning. 

You can use the TM lessons as a script or merely as a jumping off point.  Each lesson has several different areas which include:
Preparation - what you have to do ahead
Vocabulary - which you can go over, use as part of your spelling, etc.
Introduction - a brief overview of the subject matter
Sing/Poem  - a song or a poem that reitterates the lesson
Notebook - an explanation of what/how to notebook on that subject
Bible Reading - truly integrating the Bible into their science lesson and helping them to think
Activity - an activity that helps bring the lesson to life

Review - Questions that help probe the student and see what has been learned
Diggin Deeper - gives different ideas, further study, books that will help the subject matter become more noticeable throughout their day.

The other cool thing is the student book.  It is pretty much all hands-on activity sheets.  It helps the student really engage in their lesson which I think builds retention of the material.  This is a page we did called 'Tree Detective' for the Tree lesson. 

Our Experience:
With my younger crew I tried to pick out subject matters that we have covered in our regular science, but not as in depth as I would have liked as well as doing some of the "fun stuff".  So in some ways I used more as a supplement.  However, there is PLENTY of information to use this as your main curriculum.

My kiddos loved the 'detective' pages.  We spent quite some time on the Cloud lesson as well as the Tree lesson.  Since I have much younger ones, they were all very interested in the exploration rather then in-depth learning.  My eldest (who's in 2nd grade) would definitely been able to handle this as her "regular" science studies.

We also got to go out and do a lot more with this curriculum.  The clouds study was a HUGE hit!  The girls were constantly trying to figure out what clouds were present in the sky.  They also were more observant of the weather changes and similarities over the two weeks where we were really watching and notating on our chart.

My Thoughts:

I found that we could adapt it even for our younger crew (of toddler, K3, 2-K5's and a 2nd) without too much difficulty.  That adaptability is a great selling point.  I also believe that it would be very easy to increase the age range to 9th/10th or further, depending on your student(s).

I also love the Biblical integration as well as the Digging Deeper sections.  I feel sometimes that when doing science it can become disconnected or dry.   These two areas of Considering God's Creation help their program not fall into that pitfall.

I look forward to integrating this curriculum into our studies.  I know that this will be a long-lasting program that can span a larger age range then advertised and I love it's ease of use and it's adaptability.  If you 'd like go and check out some sample pages.  And don't forget to check out what all my other Crew members thought so you don't just get my side.

And to let you all know, this will be my last review for the 2010-2011 TOS Homeschool Crew.  HOWEVER, I was chosen to be on the Crew again next year!  So although their will be a lull in my reviews from them it will only be a short time before the new Crew sets sail again.  Hope to see you all again soon.

*** I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of money for any of my reviews. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences with the products and services that I receive.***