*Some links are affiliate links; see disclosure below.*

Introduction

Last year, I needed my 2nd grader to do at least part of his science independently as I juggled three different students in three different science courses and a toddler. (We normally try to combine science, but it was not practical last year.) He loved doing Apologia’s Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day.

So, this year I decided to let him pick another book from the Apologia elementary series and use the same type of setup. Last year, my son chose to do Apologia’s Swimming Creatures of the fifth day because he loves the beach. This year he chose Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day because he enjoys looking at birds and studying insects during our nature study time.

Apologia’s Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Audiobook

My son loves audiobooks and has great auditory comprehension, so I wanted to stick with a book that he could do via audio. This also allows my four-year-old to listen and learn as he is interested.

So, we purchased the audio version of the text to go along with the hardback version. Then my son can listen on his kindle while he follows along in the text or sometimes he colors or works on a notebooking page.

The audiobook allows him to do science in the car while we travel or listen to the information again if he doesn’t remember something. Often he is listening while I am cooking lunch or folding clothes.

We usually use Apologia’s notebooking journals when we do these courses, but we decided it would be too much with my son’s reading difficulties. So, I found some other resources that we could use to complement the text.

Other Flying Creatures Resources

Chalk Pastel Art Lessons

We always love Nana’s chalk pastel art lessons, and she has some excellent, easy-to-follow lessons that fit perfectly with Flying Creatures.  These are fun for my son and help tie together what he is learning. I have gone in and picked out bird and insect pictures to fit with each chapter. Then I organized it on my Trello board to help me remember which lessons went well with which chapters.

You can purchase individual courses or the You Are An Artist Clubhouse, which is our favorite because we have access to everything and he can pick and choose different projects each week.

Notebooking Pages

My son is just getting comfortable with writing, and I am using notebooking pages to work on his writing while recording what he is learning in science. I have made a collection of one or two notebooking pages per chapter, and he writes a sentence or two after he listens to the chapter. Then he can draw a picture of what he wrote about. (There are a huge variety of different pages to choose from for each topic, depending on the child’s level.)

Nature Study

My son would do nature study every day if time allowed, and he spends hours outside most days. We have set up multiple birdhouses and bird feeders to allow him a good first-hand view of the birds in our area.

We are also using the bird and insect resources that are included in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. Their courses provide information, hands-on ideas, follow-up suggestions, and more. There are also some great printables included to help record what they are seeing and learning.

I love being able to give him such a hands-on approach to his learning.

Field Trips

I am so excited about all of the field trip opportunities that go along with flying creatures. There is a wonderful bird park that is just a few hours from our home. We are planning a field trip there this fall to see a wide variety of birds. You can even feed the flamingos!

In addition, our state zoo and aquariums both have some bird exhibits, and since our family has an aquarium membership, we can get into both of those for free!

Our state science museum has a wonderful butterfly garden and insect exhibits to get a close-up look at different insects.

Finally, we love hiking and nature walks so we will look for birds in various state and local parks as we hike.

Even if you do not have a local bird park, I encourage you to look around at various local science centers, zoos, etc, to see what they have to offer.

Burgess Bird Book

Last year, we used many Suzanne Tate’s Nature Series books to study swimming creatures. She also has a few bird books, so we will use those this year. However, our primary extra text for this year will be the Burgess Bird Book. The Burgess book uses fun and engaging stories to teach children about various birds. I purchased the illustrated kindle edition for less than $1 and also used an audible credit for the audio version. This will allow my son to follow along and see the bird pictures as he listens to the audio.

Library Books

Finally, do not underestimate a trip to the library for some picture books to go along with each chapter. I have been going online about a week before we get to a lesson and searching our library system for books about the topic. Then, I simply put them on hold and pick them up the next time we go to the library.

This week we enjoyed several great books on birds that helped me include my four-year-old in our studies.

Conclusions

The flexibility of homeschooling is so important, and what works one year might not work the next year. For our family, this semi-independent study of Apologia is a great way for my son to be able to do much of his science independently while still giving us time together.

We love Apologia for its biblical worldview, thorough content coverage, and flexibility to use this program in a way that works best for our family! We are excited about our study of birds and other flying creatures.  I would love to hear what other resources you enjoy for this program. Share ideas in the comments!

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you updated on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

*Some links are affiliate links; see disclosure below.*

Introduction

For the first time since we started homeschooling, I have three students doing three different science courses. We usually enjoy doing science together, but with a 10^th grader doing high school level science, an 8^th grader who needed a good general science, and a 2nd grader, we needed to do different courses.

We have always loved Apologia for elementary science. My son chose to do Apologia’s Swimming Creatures of the fifth day because he loves the beach. I knew that I had to keep it simple and make it somewhat independent to be realistic with my available time (we also have a three-year-old who sometimes limits my teaching time). 

Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day Audiobook

My son is a beginning reader but has excellent auditory comprehension. So I looked for resources that would allow him not to be hindered by his reading skills.

First, we purchased the audio version of the text to go along with the hardback version. Audio has been a HUGE benefit for us this year. My son can listen to the chapter while I cook lunch or work with the three-year-old. He follows along in the book and stops to ask me questions as needed.

It has also made it possible for him to do science in the car while we travel or listen to the information again if he doesn’t remember something.

We usually use the notebooking journals when we do these courses, but we decided it would be too much with my son’s reading difficulties. So, I found some other resources that we could use to complement the text.

Other Swimming Creatures Resources

Chalk Pastel Art Lessons

We always love Nana’s chalk pastel art lessons, and she has some excellent, easy-to-follow lessons that fit perfectly with Swimming Creatures.  These are fun for my son and help tie together what he is learning. We are particularly enjoying the seashore and sharks courses, but there are several other courses that have sea life. You can purchase individual courses or the You Are An Artist Clubhouse, which is our favorite because we have access to everything and he can pick and choose different projects each week.

Notebooking Pages

While my son isn’t doing a lot of writing yet, I want to help track what he is learning. I print out one or two notebooking pages per chapter, and he tells me what he knows about that topic. Then I scribe what he tells me onto the pages. We are keeping those in a three-ring binder so that he can look back and see all that he has learned. (There are a huge variety of different pages to choose from for each topic, depending on the child’s level.)

Food

We have to eat, and we love good food. Seafood is a family favorite and a fun way to incorporate a bit of hands-on learning into this study. It doesn’t work with every chapter, but we are trying to source some for any of the lessons that have seafood that we eat. Then we let him look at it and then cook it together. Fish, shrimp, clams, squid are just a few that we will be enjoying during the year. (If you don’t want to cook the seafood, you could go to a local restaurant and try different options.)

Field Trips

We are blessed to live on the east coast with many excellent field trip opportunities. Before we began our school year, we visited the ocean and a little place nicknamed ‘Sand Dollar Island.’ There we were able to find dozens of sand dollars, hermit crabs, and other treasures.

Then a few weeks ago, we went to one of the three semi-local aquariums. In addition to the typical aquarium features, this aquarium has a turtle rehabilitation center. That was the perfect timing to go along with the lesson on aquatic herps.  After seeing the real turtles, my son was able to go through a simulation where he pretended to render vet care to a plastic turtle. If you do not have a beach or aquarium near you, you could go to a local pet store or even a seafood market to get a close-up view of some of the many creatures discussed in this curriculum. In addition, many aquariums and wildlife centers have online resources, virtual field trips, and even live feeds that you can use to get a good view.

Suzanne Tate’s Nature Series

Suzanne Tate’s Nature Series books are a great addition to our studies. We have collected almost all of them over the years (and check for any we don’t have each time we go to a gift shop or store that carries them). They are fun picture books featuring different animals found in the water and around the seashore. You can find out more in my post on Danny and Daisy.

Library Books

Finally, do not underestimate a trip to the library for some picture books to go along with each chapter. I have been going online about a week before we get to a lesson and searching our library system for books about the topic. Then, I simply put them on hold and pick them up the next time we go to the library.

Conclusions

This year’s science may look slightly different for our family, but we thoroughly enjoy working through Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. It has been a perfect fit for my son, and with the modifications, we made he can work through most of it independently.  Then we can enjoy the experiments and read alouds together. This has also allowed my three-year-old to enjoy learning along with him.

We love Apologia for the biblical worldview, thorough coverage of the content, and the flexibility to use this program in a way that works best for our family! Swimming Creatures is a big hit because of how interested we all are in marine life and the ocean.  I would love to hear what other resources you enjoy for this program. Share ideas in the comments!

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.