Friday, February 17, 2012

Who Am I? (a TOS review)

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I am a fan of all things Apologia

 

 

I cannot tell a lie.

 

 

But really when it comes to Apologia, why would I want to anyway?  Winking smile

 

 

I first learned of Apologia a year or so ago through some homeschool forums I belong to.  Other moms were either buying or selling Apologia Science books all over the place.  Everyone seemed so into it that I had to snoop for myself.  And I am SO glad I embraced my inner nosey-ness…because I learned that Apologia offers much much more than just Science!  Apologia now provides homeschoolers resources for topics such as writing, geography…and worldview.  I don’t know about you, but a large chunk of my decision to home educate my children lies in my desire to have the primary influence on their worldview.  The filter through which they see themselves, the world and their place in it. 

 

 

Which is why I was so excited to have the chance to review Apologia’s Who Am I? curriculum (2nd in their What We Believe series).

 

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We do a lot of casual worldview shaping (or discipleship) in our home.  What I mean by that is…I have my personal quiet time in front of them.  Minister with them and to them.  Incorporate character building into our daily studies.  Memorize verses together.  Talk about Jesus a lot.  Listen to K-love.  You know…all those things you do daily as a Believer.  Things that just become a part of your identity as His Child. 

 

 

But what I like about this curriculum is that it builds on the more casual day-to-day discipleship that happens by providing an intentional coming together to explore the important things about what we Believe.

 

 

The whole package includes four pieces:

 

Who Am I? text book ($39 – pictured above)

Who Am I? notebooking journal ($24 – pictured above)

Who Am I? coloring book ($8)

Who Am I? audio CD ($19)

 

Who Am I? is geared for children between 6-14.

 

 

Maybe not to you…but to me…these books look so serious.  Which I’m sure is appropriate for worldview shaping.  But when I first held it, I thought the kids would totally not be into it.  Even if mommy was.

 

 

I was very very wrong!

 

 

In fact, the day the package arrived they insisted we cuddle on the couch and get to it.  The main thrust of this layer of Apologia’s worldview curriculum circles around building a Biblical self image.  The first chapter was especially special to us because the story was woven around the life of a child with a disability.  We happen to have one of those. Smile  Needless to say, my kiddos little hearts were VERY receptive right from the get-go. 

 

 

While I don’t think you need the whole kit n’ kaboodle to fully appreciate this curriculum, I am glad that we had the coloring book (especially great for the littles) and notebook to help the truths sink way down deep.  Truths that I deeply want them their hearts to shika (Swahili for hold tightly to).

 

 

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The only negative I have is regarding the CD.  It’s in MP3 format and will not work in a normal CD player (of which I have many).  I had the double whammy of never being able to get it to read on my PC either.  I’m sure it would be nice to have the audio…for longer car rides or read-aloud time that also saves mommy’s vocal cords.  I also like uploading everything audio to iTunes and adding it to my iPad for easy peasy access.  But really…I don’t think we missed much without it. 

 

 

I would encourage any Christian parent interested in exploring Biblically rich worldview shaping curriculums to check out Apologia’s whole What We Believe series.  For our family, it’s been the perfect fit to fill that gap.

 

 

**This is my little place to disclaim, as part of the TOS Crew, I was given Apologia’s Who Am I? in exchange for my honest and timely review.  All thoughts expressed are my own.  I received no other compensation.**

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