Geology and Apologetics by Northwest Treasures -- my REVIEW

One of my children is interested in geology.  She has taken several geology classes (and just went to a library program about geology today!) and jumps at the chance to learn more about earth science and geology.  We were given the opportunity to review some online courses relating to geology and she was very happy to participate, especially when she found out that the courses were produced by Northwest Treasures -- Patrick Nurre of Northwest Treasures taught some online classes that she took--and enjoyed and learned a lot from Schoolhouseteachers.com.

The courses that we were given access to in order to review were Geology and Apologetics accompanied by a short course called Taking the Mystery Out of Geology.

The video "Taking the Mystery Out of Geology" is a shortish video, about twenty minutes long and gives the viewer a good quick overview of Biblical young earth geology and timelines as well as introducing the viewer to several geology vocabulary terms such as uniformitarianism, rock cycle (and rock types), fossilization/petrification, and more.  It is basically narrated slides--and the narration is interesting and easy to understand.  My daughter had taken a geology course before, but she found this video interesting and helpful.  I think that the rest of the family will watch this (as well as the next one that I'm about to tell you about!)


After she finished the first video, she jumped into the course entitled Geology and Apologetics.  This course is a set of six videos, short lessons followed by review questions.  These lessons are entitled:
1: Knowing the Scriptures in the Secular Geological Age
2: Clarifying the Conflict Between Science and the Bible
3: The Geneologies and Chronologies of Genesis, are they Accurate and Reliable?
4: Evolutionary Gaps in the Fossil Record, How Serious are They?
5: Dinosaur to Bird Evolution, the Story that Never Seems to Die
6: Time and Chronology in the Secular Geological Age

Lesson 1 begins with an overview of the course and jumps right into what apologetics actually is and encompasses (and that is is for every believer) and why the teacher (Nurre) has chosen the field of geology to link to apologetics.  Lesson 2, regarding the conflict between science and the Bible...hmmm is there a conflict?  Is modern geology truly science?  Science/history/the Bible/philosophy--do you know what the differences and overlaps are? You might need to watch this chapter!

Lesson 3 Jumps into the age of the earth question (and how/if the Bible can enlighten us on this) using the writings of Genesis to help age the earth.   Lesson 4 deals with the fossil record and the "missing links" or evolutionary gaps and deficits that uniformitarianism can leave.  Lesson 5 tells us how the archaeopteryx came about (1861!) and how it relates to the fossil record and the evolutionary theory.  Lesson 6, the final chapter, kind of reaffirms the importance of the age of the earth/fossil record to Christians (how we ought to take it as important) and how/why the subject of time is so important to geologists and those espousing evolutionary theory.

The lessons are taught by Patrick Nurre--basically a lecture filled with illustrations--graphs, charts, photographs, word slides, and more.  The variety of the slides and the accompanying lecturing keep your interest, so that when the lecture is over, you are surprised that the time has passed so quickly!  They are actually pretty short lessons (between 10 and 22 minutes each) but are packed with great content.












At the end of each lesson, there are questions for the student.  Most of these questions are ones that were addressed/answered in the preceding lecture, a few are more for thought or discussion.

So, how did we use this lesson series?  My 13-year old daughter happily watched these interesting videos (and so did I!).  She answered the questions on paper (I did not!)

She wanted to share what she thinks about this course:  "The class is really cool.  I like the teacher.  He is firm in his beliefs and explains it really well!  I understood what he is teaching!  I really like it!  I learn a lot, and love it.  It talked about apologetics, and confusion people have between philosophy, history, and science."

SO, she is 13 and it is interesting/understandable to her...I (mom) am --well, many years older-- and it is interesting and understandable to me as well!  It is not just for highschoolers--also for parents!

So our wrap-up on these classes?  They are short videos, presented in a very easy-to-understand lecture, that is interesting and engaging.  They're not perfectly professional--a few additions into the video (edits)--but those did not negatively affect the content or delivery!  I would definitely recommend these to students as well as to adults. Christians need to be aware and educated in apologetics, and this area, where geology is concerned, is a great area to learn how to reconcile with your Biblical beliefs.

After enjoying these courses, I wanted to find out more about Northwest Treasures, so I stopped by their website to find out more of who they are and what their other products are.  They have a very interesting story of how they came to be (check out their "What is Northwest Treasures" page) and tons of cool projects and products!  They have a really neat looking high school curriculum entitled The Northwest Treasures Curriculum Project:  Building Faith for a Lifetime of Faith which looks really good--it's a 4-part series that I would like to look into for perhaps an upcoming schoolyear.  They also have products for younger students as well as some great education kits (need to add to your fossil or rock collection anyone?), fun gifts, and more.  They even offer field trip/camps!  Wow!  Spend a little time checking out Northwest Treasures, especially if you or your students have an interest in geology!

If you'd like to hear what some other reviewers have to say about the course their families experienced from Northwest Treasures, please click on the link below!

SchoolhouseTeachers.com -- my REVIEW (after a year of use!) of this great resource

Last year, in the middle of the schoolyear, I was introduced to SchoolhouseTeachers.com and was so impressed with this collection of online classes for different ages of students. I reviewed it on my blog here and if you read it, you will notice that I was really impressed, in an OOH! AAH! kind of way :) Well, today I'm writing another review of it to share that after a year of use, I am still just as pleased with this great resource!


When you first take a look at SchoolhouseTeachers.com you will see that there is a huge amount of material on the site, courses for preschoolers through high schoolers (and some for parents, too!) When you look at the cost of the Yearly Membership I think you will be amazed at how reasonable the cost is for your family to use for the year. If you are familar at all with the prices of other online (single) courses, you will see the great value that this Yearly Membership offers for your family.

Last year I was excited to look through and anticipate the courses that my children would utilize.  Now after a year of use, let me tell you some of our favorites!

My daughter enjoyed the Geology course (she was in 7th grade last year). It is a good mix of video and audio as well as worksheets to accompany each lesson.

  

This year she's in 8th grade and has already finished the "Apologetics: Creation vs Evolution"

  

I really like the worksheets for the lessons--
it helps her to pay closer attention and she
can look back on them at a later time.

(kind of a slideshow format with video clips and audio accompaniment, and worksheets to go along with the lessons.  She enjoyed it and learned a lot, and it brought up some ideas that she was unfamiliar with, but will definitely encounter when she's talking with friends who are not of the same creation belief that she is. She is now moving onto "Addressing Cultural Issues," another in the Bible category.




She is also taking a health class, which is basically a read-something and fill in the worksheets--which is just what we needed for our curriculum goal for this year.

My middle son (10th grade) and my younger daughter (8th grade) are both working on spelling through SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  It is a basic spelling curriculum, learning the words, doing activities using the words, and being tested on them and moving on to the next lesson.  It seems to be working well for both of them. 

My son is also doing the "Economics" course, which is a mix of reading assignments plus other multimedia online resources.  It's a very youth-friendly course, and he seems to be enjoying it and learning too (he's used some of the concepts in his day to day talking about/debating things, so I can tell it's "sticking" :) .

The third SchoolhouseTeachers.com course my son is taking is a Bible course, the "Foundations for Teens" which is a series of video messages/lessons taught by many different teachers, dynamic, interest-catching videos of varying lengths (not too long though!) and then some evaluation/thought questions on the lessons.  Topics include things like: apologetics, identity in Christ, courage, who Jesus was/is, what Jesus said about ______ (lots of different lessons), decisions, and more.  All great applicable things for your teen (and you as well!)

SO...this is how our family is using it, and those courses are just a teeny part of the entirety of the SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I suggest you check out the site--look under "quick links" if you want to see all of the offerings.  If that big list of classes is too overwhelming, you can look by subject or age group.

This is an amazing resource, right??  Well, it's even more than what I've just described to you.  There is a connection with World Book, which your student can use to learn more about a variety of topics. When my daughter wants to learn more about just about anything, she checks this out first.  It is a searchable database and returns articles from World Book as well as different media related to the topic.

Other "extras" include things like an extensive video library. Some of the videos that are used in courses are ones that peole might like to view separate from the courses.  Some of our favorites are the Drive Thru History series. There is a parent section, with encouragement, courses for parents (think "how to parent your teenager", "On the homestead," and many many more.  There are lots of resources for parents as well--printable calendars, recordkeeping tools, menu planning, and more!

We've been using SchoolhouseTeachers.com for a year and really have not even scratched the surface.  The Yearly Membership  is an amazing value, even for the relatively little bit that we have experienced thus far!  I highly recommend it.  Really, whatever materials you are using to homeschool, this fits in the gaps so well, and you may find yourself creating your plan around these courses!  We're very pleased with it (obviously!) :) 

There's actually a really GREAT sale for the month of January (2018) for new members:

It's not just us who loves this resource!  To see what other homeschoolers think about SchoolhouseTeachers.com, please click on the link below! 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com My REVIEW of a great resource!!

Our homeschool journey began kind of on a whim (well, not really a whim, but basically we moved to a new state, couldn't find a Christian school, and therefore made a decision [in August] to homeschool for that next schoolyear and jumped right in).  I wanted to explain that because we didn't spend years and years researching homeschool materials or plans, we kind of leapt right in.  Possibly due to that there are MANY great homeschool resources which I have not known about, even in the 7 schoolyears (maybe we're in a rut?)

I am very excited that this year I get to belong to an organization  whose members review various homeschool resources!  My very first review is for a wonderful online resource called SchoolhouseTeachers.com .  As a part of this year's Homeschool Review Crew I have the opportunity to tell you about the Yearly Membership for SchoolhouseTeachers.com .  I had never seen this online product before, but as I explored the options within it I began mentally planning the addition of so many classes for my children!  As a matter of fact, I let my children look it over and they made lists of so many classes they were interested in that I don't know if they'll have the time to take them all this schoolyear or if it'll spread into next schoolyear.

The website has a helpful "start here" button on the navigation bar on the top of the page to orient you to the options and how to use the site.  There is an easy way to see all the courses available, by clicking on the "quick links."  There are also other ways to navigate by grade level or subject.

We have tried online classes before and know what works for us.  If a lot of time is taken up searching for where you left off or where the actual class is, then we tend not to use it,  This website seems to be very easy to navigate, even for my children, who are in 7th, 9th, and 11th grades.  Lessons on SchoolhouseTeachers.com range in topic from your basic core classes to many different electives (arts, computers, languages, and more!)

My 7th grader took a different geology class first semester and was anxious to try the geology class offered here.  She jumped right in and has been filling in her journal, worksheets, and charts while watching the lessons.

She really enjoys the descriptive videos

The lesson plans and video give directions for her journal/worksheets

Besides geology, my 7th grader has also begun French, Middle School Health, and Keyboarding.  There are various formats for the different classes (some mostly audio, some with worksheets, some with interactive .pdf's, and more!

Wondering what my other kids will be using?  My oldest, who is very interested in computer science and design has been using the Image Editing and Creation (and loving the open source editing program GIMP which was introduced in this class -- she didn't know about that beforehand!).  She is also beginning Foundations for Teens, with Right Now Media videos and worksheets/essay questions.  She's using the French as a bit of a review and wants to try the SQL Server Beginner Course if she can fit it into her schedule.

(after)                                        (before)
Here's a sample of one of her edited photos

My 9th grade son has been learning about ancient history and will be using the Drive Thru History Ancient History.  Actually the whole family loves these videos, we used to watch them when they were on Netflix several  years ago, so we'll probably all watch them just for fun :) but hey, educational value too!  It definitely enhances his ancient history studies!  

We all enjoy the Drive Thru History videos!

Okay, so you probably get that I love the variety of options of classes in this website.  There are classes for so many different age groups, too; preschool options, elementary, middle school, high school, and even classes for parents!!

Besides all the classes, there are many other benefits to using this product.  There is a large resource section with items such as certificates, planners, free printable calendars, and a recordkeeping and transcript-generating product called applecore, which you receive access to with your Yearly Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  

Whew, that's a lot of info, isn't it?  Long story short...I love this product.  Where has this been all my homeschooling life? (well, it's been here, I just didn't know about it! :) )  I would very highly recommend this product to homeschooling parents with children of all ages.  It is very inexpensive for what all you get from it. I think it is well worth your money.  They even offer discounts to civil servants (military as well as police, firefighters, and such) as well as to small groups and co-ops. Until January 15, 2017 they have a sale going on for 50% off the regular annual cost!

We'll definitely be using this resource all year long.