Let me just start by saying we previously completed Apologia's Botany curriculum, which was excellent. The notebooking journal was in color and had lots of engaging activities which contributed to retention of the material. The Anatomy workbook, on the other hand, was a big disappointment. There was mostly empty pages for note-taking and empty pages for regurgitating information (if the kids could even think of anything to put on those pages!) It's mostly black and white, and the only interesting activity was the human body acetate overlays which were once per chapter. There was one review page per chapter, and a crossword puzzle for vocabulary. The vocabulary in this curriculum is pretty intense, and it's not something I would require my students to learn. (Especially since they struggle with mild dyslexia and much of the vocabulary are words even adults don't know.) The pages to log experiments weren't especially well laid out, and did not reinforce scientific method. Our school requires us to turn in a work sample every unit, and I didn't feel like the workbook pages represented what the kids were actually learning. The textbook is excellent, and I wish the workbook was of a similar quality. It makes me wary of ordering anymore workbooks from Apologia. I'm no longer confident about the quality of their curriculum. Oh, I will say one thing that I really liked: The workbook has a list of extra resources at the end of every chapter, and some of the suggestions were really engaging.

My 6th grade daughter has been enjoying her science journal and I appreciate the extra content reinforcing what we read in the textbook. She is looking forward to adding organs to her personal person as the year progresses and the crossword puzzles are a great review of the unit. I also like the copy work which gives her a chance to improve her penmanship. We don't use every page in the journal, but it is worth having and using.

my boys 9 and 12 are learning so much. they love this curriculum.

Let me start by saying that I'm disappointed in this particular Apologia curriculum. It is much too difficult and in-depth for kids younger than junior high age.

That being said, my 11- and 13-year-olds are enjoying their notebooks considerably more than they enjoy the accompanying text. I wish I'd had notebooks like this for my science classes in school! There seems to be just the right amount of space to write a few lines of information and draw some pictures, and there are also cross-word puzzles, diagrams to label, Bible verse copywork, and neat suggestions for projects and experiments. The personal person project is pretty cool, too!

I was amazed at everything this journal has! Really reviews the materials extensively. Very fun for my 3rd grade daughter's way of learning. Drawing pictures to what you learned. Crosswords. And making a personal body. Can't believe how much we are learning and retaining even at her young age, and she's having FUN!!! We're just finishing the first chapter, and I'm looking forward to what else it has. It does have a lot of work/review, so you may not have to do each page, or have time to do each page. But at least it has options!! Worth the price. So glad I decided to add this supplement to our schooling!