Exploring Creation with Human anatomy and Physiology {Review}

Last month was certainly one of the very best happy post days in our homeschool. Apologia blessed us with the complete set of Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. I was so overwhelmed with their generosity!

What we received

Human Anatomy and Physiology Textbook
Begining with a short history of medicine and following into human anatomy from a Christian perspective.

• Author by Jeannie Fulbright and Brooke Ryan, M.D.
• Hardcover
• ISBN 978-1-935495-14-7
• Pages 265
• The book is divded into 14 weeks of lessons:
  1. Introduction to Anatamy and Physiology. Cells, DNA,
  2. The Skeletal System (bones, ligaments, joints)
  3. Muscular System (tendons, musckles, cells, muscle types)
  4. Digestive and Renal Systems
  5. Health and Nutrition (nutrients, water, carbs, proteins, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals)
  6. Respiratory System (nose, lungs, asthma, diaphragm)
  7. Life in the Blood (veins, arteries, plasma, red and white cells, platelets)
  8. Cardiovascular System
  9. Nervous and Endochrine Systems
  10. Nervous system Extended
  11. Senses (smell, taste, sight,)
  12. The Integumentary System
  13. Lymphatic and Immune Systems
  14. Growth and Development
• Each chapter has a practical hands on experiment to reinforce learning.
• These books are a part of Apologia's Young Explorer's Series and uses the Immersion Approach to learning. Jeannie Fulbright the author explains that by examining one topic fully children go deeper so that they can really know, understand learn more fully, this in turn builds their confidence as well as giving them the tools to actually know science via the terminology and processes.

Human Anatomy Notebooking Journal 

• Softcover spiral bound journal 
• Contains 202 pages and an appendix of 66 pages.
• Consumable and intended for a single student use in grades 3/4th level and up.
• ISBN 978-1-935495-15-4

Human Anatomy Junior Notebooking Journal 

• This journal is for beginning writers.  It is divided into 14 lessons.
• Softcover spiral bound journal
• It contains 230 pages
• appendix of 66 pages.  The appendix contains all the mini book cut outs and templates to complete the assignments.
• Consumable and intended for a single student use.  
• This journal is similar to the and intended for use by younger students in years K to 2/3 grade level.
• ISBN 978-1-935495-47-5 

Differences Between the Journals

• The juniour journal contains colouring in pages with the scriptures on them, the older journal does not have these pages 
• Juniour Journal has less pages for notes.
• Juniour Journal contains lines with height spaces to make writing easier.  The lines are also wider apart.
• Older Journal uses crossword puzzles for the vocabulary exercise where as the younger journal uses matchbook mini books.

Human Anatomy and Physiology MP3 Audio CD 

• The CD contains the complete audio recording of Exploring Creation Human Anatomy and Physiology Textbook read by the author Jeannie Fulbright.  
• The CD is not in standard format.  The audio files are in MP3 and you will need an MP3 compatable player or computer to listen to it.  You can download a sample on the Apologia website.  

About Jeannie Fulbright 

Jeannie Fulbright is a mother of four and the author of Apologia’s Young Explorer Series. She is a regular speaker at numerous conventions, conferences, women’s retreats, and other events on all topics related to parenting, marriage and family, homeschooling and science. After her homeschool journey began, Jeannie discerned an immense need for Creation-based, scientifically sound, engaging, and easy-to-use science curricula. And so the Young Explorer Series was born.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

  How we used it
One of the many curriculumns I've had my eye on over the years is Apologia.  I really love the idea of teaching science from a Christian world view. Apologia's mission is "To publish homeschooling curricumlum and resources and host online classes to help families learn, live and defend the Christian faith."  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to look over and begin using their Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology.

At times I've been anxious about teaching the sciences as some of the fields are fairly complex.  One of the most inspirational quotes that has given me the confidence to continue home educating is the following statement I read by Dr. Jay L. Wile "Can I teach high school science?  NO As your student gets older, your role changes from teacher to fellow learner."  One of the things I've appreciated about using this series is the conversational tone that the author uses.  She speaks to the person reading the book and as such both Nathaniel and I have learned some interresting things about the human body.  Human biology has long held my interest and I've always enjoyed reading more about it and it's amazing complexity.

Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is the sixth book in the Young Explorers Series.  Your journey begins with a short historical introduction to anatomy and physiology.  From here you move onto the study of the single cell which is the fundamental building block of the human body.  It then progressively teaches through the specific bodily systems such as the skeletal system, muscular, digestive, nervous, respiratory systems et cetera. Integrated into the learning is caring for these systems via life style, nutrition and finally all this is reinforced with hands on activities and notebook assignments.

The textbook is divided into 14 lessons.  Each of the lessons have been designed to be done over two weeks therefore covering 28 weeks of school.  IF you purchase the Notebooking Journal the weekly reading and suggested notebook assignments have been prescheduled out for you. In the sample above for Lesson one you can see four days worth of science.  The readings have been scheduled with narration breaks.  Narration is a Charlotte Mason method to encourage the student to pay attention, think, process and retain the knowledge they are learning. The narration breaks are clearly noted in the textbook.

Interspersed throughout the reading in the textbook are beautiful colour illustrations clearly illustrating what is being taught. Applicable vocabulary words are printed in bold type face.  The Try This! segments are hands on activities helping to reinforce learning.

  
Experiments to enhance understanding (and some are edible making them a true hit around here especially as they are created using highly desirable items 😀) are interspersed throughout the book.  In the introduction section of the textbook is an itemised list of what is needed for each of the experiments and Try This! sections. The items are listed by lesson and most of the items used are common household items we had on hand.

The Notebooking Journal and Junior Notebooking Journals are very similar and contain

• Suggested schedule
• Colouring pages
• Notebook pages to record interesting facts 
• Review Questions
• Assignments
• Scripture Copywork (print and cursive samples to copy) 
• Vocabulary Crosswords
• Project Pages
• Miniature Books
• More to Explore (extra experiments, biblical insights, and book suggestions)
• Field Trip Sheets
• Final Review
• Appendix - contains all the full colour mini books, and personal person resources needed to complete the journal.

The journals are designed to enhance learning and as such you are encouraged to choose which activities to do and which ones to leave so that learning does not become a chore.

The audio CD was a surprising addition we enjoyed. It is beautifully presented and Jeannie reads clearly making listening a pleasure.  We used the AEM MP3 player provided.  This made selecting the correct track for listening super easy as there are over 400 files on the disk.

It looks like a mini iPod on your screen and works in the same manner.  We really ejoyed the music which enhanced our listening pleasure. For example there was music in the transition between history of Anatomy and Ancient Egyptians.  The music had an Egyptian flare.

 The CD contains the complete audio recording of the course Exploring Creation with Human anatomy, it is not always verbatim as on occasion some of the words or sentences have been altered slightly to make it easier to listen to.  The CD is a great compliment to the book and especially helpful if you are not familiar with the pronounciation of the terminolgy in human anatomy.

Apologia has provided a section called Book Extra's which is located on their website.

You will need to create your account and log in. Your homepage will display the books your have registered.  Each textbook comes with a special code word that you use to add to your course list.  Once added you click on the course title which opens a page full of links which Apologia have curated to enhance each of the lessons within the book. Each link has a short discription of what you will find. For example here is a video they shared about skull bones. I really like these extra's as all the work has been done for me, and I know that the information is correct and I do not need to pre-check any of it.

 Connect with Apologia on Social Media



Blessings
Chareen

Princess Cut {Review}

Who would have know that my son would grow into a young person so passionate about everything movie production.  In fact we now remain seated in theatres and read through the credits!  It's quite amazing what you can learn about the movie industry from a twelve year old. We were very excited to see Princess Cut as it was produced by homeschool graduate Paul Munger and Watchman Pictures.

The Story
Princess Cut is the beautiful unfolding love story of a young woman named Grace who has been with her boyfriend Stewart for fifteen months and is dreaming of  the perfect proposal, by her knight as he presents her with a princess cut diamond ring declaring his unfailing love for her. She however learns that true love waits for the perfect time along with some painful life lessons along the way.

As her dreams of the perfect romance fall away to ashes around her, two young men walk into her life - Jarred and Clint.  Two very different young men with two very different hearts and backgrounds.  One wants to get to know her and her family and change the trajectory of his life the other is interrested in a fast romance with intimacy and little else.  Who will win her heart and the love of her family and how long before Grace sees the truth?

Through the many turns that life takes Grace learns that discovering your soul mate and remaining true to your heart is a narrow road but one that is well worth the wait.

Princess Cut  is an old-fashioned romance that emphasises getting to know someone well before entering into a deeper relationship with them.  It encourages young people to trust their parents and enjoy being home.

For the Parent

• The Dove Foundation have rated Princess Cut to ages 12+
• Nudity - None
• Drugs - None
• Offensive Language - None
• Sex - some references to by the therapist who recommends that the young woman move in and live with her boyfriend comparing it to 'trying on a shoe' first to see if it fits, she however rejects this advice.
• Violence -  A young boy is hit by a vehicle but the scene is not shown, you see the badly bent bicycle, the boy is fine. There is a fight scene.
• Other - some tension between characters which is resolved through love and forgiveness.

Cast of Princess Cut

• Grace Anderson is played by Ashley Bratcher and has also appeared in the films War Room and 90 Minutes in Heaven. She was named One of “Top 15 People to Watch in 2015” by Out of the Woodwork. Starring as Jim Anderson is Rusty Martin, Sr., who has been seen in featured rolls in films such as Courageous, Love Covers All, The Carrington Event, The Remaining, A Long Way Off, and War Room.
• (Dad) Jim Anderson is played by Rusty Martin, Sr began his acting career a decade ago and his very "believable" presence on film has resulted in many featured roles in numberous films such as Courageous, Love Covers All, The Carrington Event and War Room.
• Katherine Anderson is played by Mimi Sagadin, who studied improv at The Players Workshop of the Second City before appearing in over 40 projects, most notably opposite John Rhys-Davies in “Return To The Hiding Place.” 
• Rusty Martin, Jr (Robert Anderson) has been acting since third grade when he found his passion.  He has starred in movies such as Courageous, Polycarp: Destroyer of God's, Love Covers All and has received the Best Male Actor award at the CMM awards in 2014.
• Evan Brinkman (Drew Anderson) started his film career at the age of nine as Sam Stein in Doctor Bello sitting through four hours of make up each morning for his character! He has acted in Torn, The Owl and Trainwreck.
• Actress Jenn Gotzon is Brooke McClaren. She portrayed Tricia Nixon in Ron Howard’s Oscar-Nominated “Frost/Nixon.” Since then, she has been in a nu7mber of redemptive movies, and has received the Film Advisory Board’s “Award of Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to the Entertainment World” for her role in “Doonby.”
•  Actor Joseph Gray is Clint Masters. He has had guest roles on such fare as NBC’s “Revolution”, Lifetime Network’s “Drop Dead Diva” & the CW’s “The Originals”. He also ad a supporting role in the National Geographic Channel’s record-breaking TV Movie “Killing Kennedy,” and portrayed ‘John’, a principal role in the Academy Award nominated film “Alone, Yet Not Alone.”
• Cory Assink portrays Jared Cunningham. He has had tenured commercial success, including multiple Super Bowl appearances and working repeatedly with Hollywood’s top directors.

General Information

• Produced by Watchman Pictures
• Written by: Paul & Sheilah Munger
• Director: Paul Munger
• Producer: Paul Munger
• Genre: Romantic Drama
• Runtime: 97 min
• Industry Rating: Not Rated
• Purchase: Princess Cut  
• Official movie resources: Princess Cut Resources

Connect with Princess Cut on Social Media



Over All I thought ...
Princess Cut  is an old-fashioned conservative romance with a Hallmark flare.  As a family we loved  the humour (Little brother Drew advertising his sister in the local paper.  Boy did we laugh at the outcome of that choice!) and the story line.  It was wonderful to know we could watch this movie without fear of bad content or wrong morals. 
Blessings
Chareen

Navigating the Rapids of Parenting {Review}

One of the things our family has walked through is immigration.  Both Paul and I had immigrated once before we met.  Since getting married we have immigrated once and migrated to another country after that. These have been huge transitions for our family and at times rather traumatic.  I was reminded of this while watching Navigating the Rapids of Parenting. In the opening scene Carla says: "During transitions our children are changing and so are we, because they are moving through a phase that for them they are growing into new things that they don't know how to handle." This is exactly the heart of parenting.  It's a road of transitions for you and for your child.

I first encountered Joey and Carla Link around twenty years ago in New Zealand while attending the local GEMS (Godly Encouragement for MotherS) group. I was really excited to be gifted Taming the Lecture Bug and Navigating the Rapids of Parenting from Parenting Made Practical.

To Encourage and equip parents to raise obedient, respectful and responsible children in today's world. - Parenting Made Practical

What we received
We were given the following two video's from their Parent's Night Out serries.

• Taming the Lecture Bug (Read My Review Here)
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting 

Navigating the Rapids of Parenting

Length of video 1:26:00 (2.21 Gig in mp4 format)
Divided into two sessions

1. Session One: Birth to Middle School - Phase One and Two
2. Session Two: Middle School to College (starts at 41:45) - Phase Three and Four

"During transitions our children are changing and so are we, because they are moving through a phase that for them they are growing into new things that they don't know how to handle." - Carla Link

The goal in this class is to equip parents to proactively go ahead of our children before they walk through the changes that happen rather than tailing behind them and therefore trying to figure out what's going on as our children are trying to figure out what's going on.

• Phase 1 - Birth to 5 Years old This is the time that we have in teaching them what they can and can not do.
• Phase 2 - 6 to Elementary Years.  The training phase.  Teach them how to grow in the fruits of the Spirit.
• Phase 3 -  Middle Years (up to 8th grade) (11 - 18).  The Belief system years. These are the years that they begin to question you. They need their questions answered well. Helping our children to grow biblically and mature into adult hood. Fill in the why answers because Biblical Principles never change but what they look like changes as you age..
• Phase 4 - High School to College Years (19- 22)- Coaching Phase. Guidance and Council. Evaluate your goals. Discipleship years.

Cost of Parents Night Out downloads

• Taming the Lecture Bug - $12.95
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting - $12.95

Recommended Age Range

• Taming the Lecture Bug - For parents of 5 yrs. – college age
• Navigating the Rapids of Parenting

Connect with Parenting Made Practical on Social Media


Over All I thought ...
Joey and Carla use scripture as the plumb line for instruction to us as parents. They help you to understand the phases your children will walk through on their way to adulthood.  You are empowered through scripture and insight to understand what is happening in your child's life as they walk through each of these phases and empowered to make informed decisions in your parenting. This is one video that is worth having on the shelf to listen to time and again as a refresher and an encouragement as a parent in the work we have in raising our children. 

Blessings
Chareen