Developing Good Health Quiz and Test Book - Revised (Bound)

Understanding God’s World takes children on a fascinating journey that focuses on seeing, observing, and understanding the world around them. Beginning with the scientific purpose and method, students study insects, plants, birds, water, air and weather, sounds and hearing, geology, as well as oceanography and astronomy. Uniquely, they also embark on a study of the birds and flowers of U.S. States and Canadian provinces. Similar to the lower elementary grades, previously learned concepts are reviewed as new material is introduced. Serving as a helpful refresher, this enables former and new-to Abeka students to have a foundational understanding before moving onto advanced topics. The textbook provides the student readings, discussion questions to check comprehension, end of chapter checks, and suggested hands-on activities. Most chapters include more than one hands-on activity that are straightforward to complete at home. You will need to provide additional resources for the activities which are listed in the homeschool curriculum lesson plans. For example, you will need to provide a magnifying glass, peat moss, various types of seeds, cheesecloth, medicine dropper, etc. Unlike the younger levels, the softcover textbook does not include a place to write answers, so students will need to use a separate notebook. Answers to the textbook comprehension and chapter check questions are found in the Understanding God’s World Answer Key.

Additional resources include the non-reproducible quiz and test book (available bound or unbound); the separate quiz and test answer key, the activity book and separate activity book answer key, Homeschool Science Grades 4-6 Teaching Charts, Birds of North America Teaching Cards and the Flowers and Field Study Cards. The quiz and test book contains 23 quizzes, and one test per chapter. Every 3rd chapter test is a cumulative exam covering the previous two chapters. The consumable, black and white activity book has 44 activities to reinforce the textbook lessons. Activities vary from drawing or coloring to labeling, puzzles, outdoor nature activities etc. Not reproducible. The Homeschool Science Grades 4-6 Teaching Charts are optional, but helpful. Measuring 8 ½” x 11” the colorful, glossy visual aids come in a soft covered book. Perforated for ease of use, the double-sided charts (one side labeled with the flip side unlabeled), cover parts of the insect, trees, the water cycle and the solar system. Charts are used in grades 4, 5 and 6, making this a great value for families. If you plan to use them for consecutive years, you may wish to place them in page protectors for longer durability. The Birds of North America Teaching Cards, also an optional but beneficial resource, measures 8 ½” x 11”. Full color, the 31 cards include birds from the 50 United States and Canada’s 10 Provinces and 3 Territories. Referenced in the science lessons, the cards would also make an excellent supplement to your geography and social studies lessons. Measuring 5 ½” x 8”, the full color Flowers and Field Study Cards contain 70 flower cards with a full-color picture of the flower on one side of the card and the flower’s common and scientific name and interesting facts about the flower on the opposite side. Along with the 70 flower cards are 4 Concept Cards that identify the parts of a flower and monocots, dicots, and composites. The flower parts card identifies each part and its function on one side while the other side is unlabeled for review. The monocots, dicots, and composites cards list the characteristics and representative flowers (including the flower flashcard number) on one side and on the opposite the characteristics are illustrated. Flowers and Field Study Cards also include a 16-page booklet with teaching instructions and other helpful information.

The homeschool curriculum lesson plans include detailed, day-by-day lesson plans, teaching tips, homework suggestions, games, bible memorization and other enrichment ideas for science (27 weeks) and health (8 weeks). Lessons are scheduled 5 days per week, 20 minutes per day, although this may be adjusted based on your child’s needs. Planning calendars and progress report forms are also included.

Also available are the Science and Health Grade 4 Parent Kit and Child Kit. Both are recommended to successfully teach science and health. The parent kit includes the Homeschool Science and Health 4 Curriculum Lesson Plans, Understanding God's World Answer Key, Quiz and Test Key, and the Activity Book Key, as well as the Developing Good Health Answer Key and Quiz, Test and Worksheet Key. You will also receive the Health Grade 4-6 and the Science Grade 4-6 Teaching Charts. Please note: The Birds of North America Teaching Cards and the Flowers and Field Study Cards are not included. The Child Kit includes the Exploring God's World text, and the Quiz, Test, and Worksheet book, Developing Good Health text and the Quiz, Test, and Worksheet book.

At the kindergarten level, Abeka prioritizes the 3 Rs: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Families wishing to introduce science in kindergarten have the option to do so using the God’s World course. Designed as an interactive course, children read aloud (or co-read with a parent) the lessons from the consumable softcover textbook, which also includes coloring or activity pages. At this level, early learners will focus on familiar topics to inspire their curiosity. Topics include health and the human body, weather, seasons, seeds and plants, animals, and the seashore. The teacher edition includes smaller formatted student pages, discussion questions, simple demonstrations, and hands-on activities to reinforce the lesson. Parents will also find teaching notes, a scope and sequence and brief lesson plans. It is recommended that science begins after the (also optional) social studies material at this level. There are 29 lessons, with a recommended 3 lessons per week, 20 minutes per lesson schedule. Under this plan, students would finish the curriculum in roughly 10 weeks. I appreciate the instinctive flexibility the number of lessons provides which allows parents to prioritize their child’s learning needs and family schedule. Student and teacher material is not reproducible.

Beginning in first grade, science and health are separate, complementary courses. Families may choose to do one or both courses. Science in Grades 1-3 introduces children to God the Master Designer and guides them into understanding God’s plan for creation. At this level, student textbooks are consumable. Building upon the foundation of God the Master Designer, the upper elementary levels, grades 4-6, teach foundational scientific principles as well as the process. Glorifying God for His magnificent creation is a central theme, as children learn more about God’s orderly, law-abiding creation and refute the man-made idea of evolution. Textbooks are no longer consumable at this level, and families will want to purchase the separate activity books and/or test and quiz books. Worth mentioning, Abeka streamlined the 1st and 2nd grade curriculum lesson plans to help homeschool parents of little ones. At this level, lesson plans cover health, science and history, with single subject teacher guides sold separately. Grades 3-6 curriculum lessons plans (sold separately) combine health and science with history. Teacher guides for Grades 1-6 contain reduced-size student pages with the correct answers, margin teaching notes with reading assignments, discussion/explanatory notes, comprehension questions, activities, exercises, and more. Grade K-2 materials are sold individually. Grade 3-6 materials are sold individually or in the Student Kit and Parent Kit at a kit discount. Both the student and parent kits are necessary to teach one student.

Instilling an academically solid, God-centered understanding of all branches of science from the early elementary years through high school is the mission of this traditional curriculum. Uniquely, Abeka focuses on mastery of the sciences from a young age through two pathways. First, the science curriculum follows a spiral approach to learning, which means students review previously learned concepts each year, expanding on known concepts and learning new material. The second path, if you chose to use Abeka curriculum in other subjects, is the integration of the grade level scope and sequence, which takes the material taught in science and reinforces it in other subjects like language arts and reading comprehension. While this approach is helpful for mastery, it is not necessary to use other Abeka courses to gain a thorough understanding of the sciences. Scripture references are KJV.

Following a traditional philosophy of education, the basic components include a student text and a teacher edition and/or answer key. Student textbooks are full color and written at a level that each learner can read and understand. Teacher edition content will vary depending on the grade. At all grade levels, Abeka science is teacher led and not designed for independent student work, although at the higher levels, students may be able to do some reading and related activities independently. The K-2 teacher guides include all the information needed to teach science successfully from the scope and sequence and lesson plans with teaching notes, to the activity suggestions and answers (except kindergarten). Beginning in Grade 3 through the high school courses, teacher resources have been divided into separate categories. While this may seem overwhelming, targeted teacher resources help parents and teachers find what they need quickly. Additional supplemental resources may be available. Student and teacher books are not reproducible. See individual descriptions for more information. ~Deanne

Items listed in this section tend to be complete science programs with a teacher and student component, requiring few supplements besides science supplies.