By Crystal Hubbell
We hope this newsletter finds you all doing well and resting up
for our 2004-2005 school year. We are breaking for a few weeks,
but have been keeping up with math work. It has been fun just doing
small projects to keep the kids involved. This month’s project
includes putting together an aquarium and accessories to prepare
the perfect habitat for the baby snapping turtles that the kids
found in the creek. It has been quite an adventure. Their favorite
food is frog, so if you have a weak stomach, it isn’t the
pet for you.
So what are you doing this summer? Anything exciting? New projects,
new vacation or camping spots. Let us know how your summer is going,
and hey, you may even win a $15 gift certificate. We have been giving
$15 gift certificates for the story of the month for 24 months now.
That is $360 we have given for stories that are inspiring and minister
to the homeschool family. Thank you. If you have a story to tell,
visit our contest
form. We would love to hear yours!
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Hopefully many of you have already begun signing up in our new
online store. (Please note that even if you were a previous customer,
you will still need to sign up in the new store. We are sorry for
the inconvenience) Please continue to do so, as in a few months
we will no longer send our newsletter from the old list. I will
only send to those who have signed up in the new store. Please see
below for changes and updates.
We have decided to make a few changes that may affect our customers,
but hopefully in a positive way that will save you money that make
things easier to order. First, we will be lowering the regular prices
on our full line of Apologia titles.
Next, the minimum order that will receive free shipping is being
raised from $25 to $50 This move will hopefully help us recoup the
processing costs of small orders without affecting most of our customers
(all Apologia sets and DIVE CDs will still be shipped for free).
So don’t worry, if something rings out at $49.95, you won’t
be charged shipping, even though it says it does, we won’t
charge your card for that.
Finally, we upgraded our WEB Store. The “look” is similar,
but the action is much different. It is BETTER! We are so excited
to go live with this. There are a couple of things to look for in
the new store. In order to check out of the new store, you will
need to register. This registration is just the same questions that
are asked when you currently buy from us in our store. Name, phone,
address and CC or paypal options. When you register, it will remember
you when you visit next time. (Kind of like Amazon’s store).
Once you register, you can sign up for this newsletter. Even if
you are already signed up, you will need to re-sign up, because
it is a different system than the one we were previously using.
When I see that most of you have signed up again, the newsletter
format will also change and I will no longer send from the old database
any more. So please sign up when you visit the new store.
The web store will also have a place to give feedback on store
items and will have a history available to you to see what you last
purchased. You will really like the feel and look of it. We feel
it will make your shopping experience much more pleasing. Also this
will eliminate the current kinks that we now occasionally have with
the cart dumping items on certain IP’s.
We thank you for being our customers! We look forward to serving
you even better in the future.
God Bless
The Hubbells
View our current in-store special here!
- Mystery of History is on sale this month!!
Check it out!! Only $39.95
- Christian Kids Explore Biology on sale for
$24.95
- Sing Spell Read and Write Level 1 $159
- Sing Spell Read and Write K-1 Combo $219
- Sing Spell Read and Write Pre-K $59.99
- Annals of the World $48.95
- Further Up and Further In $33.50
 Introducing
Elementary Science from Apologia! We have ordered and when they
are finished being printed should arrive in late August for the
Botany and Astronomy is available now.
Exploring Creation With Botany
Exploring Creation With Astronomy
 Dr
Wyle says: “Well, it has finally happened! After years of
searching for an elementary science curriculum that is truly God
honoring, user friendly, and scientifically sound, we were introduced
to two books by Jeannie Fulbright. It’s no wonder that we
want to publish her books. As one of the parents who has already
used Mrs. Fulbright’s astronomy book says, "It reminds
me of Dr. Jay Wile's Apologia Science, only yours is on an elementary
level while his is written for high school age." We couldn’t
have said it better ourselves.
Mrs. Fulbright has written two books, one on astronomy and one
on Botany. She plans to develop more books, so we hope to be able
to publish even more work from this talented author.
Exploring Series by Master Books
 Exploring
Planet Earth
The first in a series of 4 books on science, geared toward the
home-school market, but broadly appealing for any elementary age
child. Tiner has written a textbook for 5th grade to junior high
level, similar in style to public school texts, but with a creationism
perspective of history. With definitions of terms and identification
of famous explorers, scientists, etc., this book gives students
an excellent initial knowledge of people and places, encouraging
them to continue their studies in depth. Supplemented with illustrations
and photographs.
By bringing to life the explorations of people like Marco Polo
and Christopher Columbus, the author gives students the opportunity
to read history that hasn’t been altered or erased altogether.
Exploring The History of Medicine
The highly-anticipated follow-up book to Exploring Planet Earth,
this Christian and homeschool hit takes a look at medical practices
from the ancient past to the present, including biographical sketches
of famous persons of medicine. Featuring study questions at the
end of each chapter, coupled with dozens of illustrations, this
book gives middle-school through junior-high students a strong introduction
into the study of medicine. Exploring the History of Medicine is
suitable for family study and discussion.
Exploring The History of Chemistry
The third in this popular series, with the same format (including
questions that teachers can use for checking comprehension) that
has driven the success of Exploring Planet Earth and Exploring the
History of Medicine. Home and Christian school teachers are clamoring
for these more specialized books and here Tiner delivers in a big
way.
With a flair for telling biographical sketches of famous scientists,
Tiner also provides students with a solid foundation for understanding
the crucial purposes of chemistry.
Each chapter ends with study questions and the answers, in the
back of the book, can easily be removed by teacher or parent.
Exploring the World Around You
- Another ground breaking book from a Christian Scientist; this
time, on the environment
- Loaded with good information and illustrations
- The author ’s love for God ’s creation informs the
book
- Reminds Christians to be stewards of the earth
Come explore the world. From the mountain heights where the air
is thin and breathing is difficult to the heated deserts where temperatures
can soar to well over 120 degrees, come explore the world. From
the sultry, wet rain forests where sunlight never brightens the
underneath to the dry, arctic tundra with its fragile ecosystem,
come explore the world. From the variable deciduous forests rich
with wildlife to the arid grasslands where animals roam in herds,
come explore the world.
Calling all Apologia users.
Visit www.donnayoung.org.
This a great site for many different kinds of printable sheets.
The best is the well-designed lesson plans that she has for many
of the Apologia science books. I used General Science this year
and it was a blessing. Best part about it, they are free. This also
is a great resource for record keeping for high school grades. Visit
soon, I am sure you will not be disappointed.
ENJOY!
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It’s pretty common to hear about people
having “paradigm-shifts” these days. What is usually
meant by this is that a person starts to see things in a new way.
While this is usage is OK as far as it goes, knowing the history
of the term can help us get a better appreciation of what is really
a profound concept.
In 1962 Thomas Kuhn published The Structure of Scientific Revolution.
This book about “paradigm-shifts” in science actually
caused a paradigm-shift in how Science and Truth are thought about.
Before this book, scientists and philosophers used to think that
Science and knowledge were constantly progressing. The old notion
(still held by naive scientists and lay-people) had Science moving
toward truth (or at least the “correct” view of things).
Science was thought to make progress as an old scientific theory
was replaced by a newer one. For example, I bet you think our modern
theories are in some way “more true” than those of 1850.
Surprise! Science is not about truth! A close look at Science shows
that neither the oldest nor the newest theory is really true. Every
theory has problems (technical term, “anomalies”) that
pretty much demonstrate that the theory is false. Scientists typically
work at trying to explain away these anomalies as long as they can.
Eventually (and this always happens) they must totally scrap the
old theory and find a new one. This process of changing one’s
entire paradigm or “world-view” is called a “paradigm-shift.”
As Kuhn’s book demonstrates, there is no way to prove or
show that the “Scientific Progress” gets you any closer
to the “real” truth! What drives the change from one
theory to another is not validity as much as how useful a theory
is for the particular problem one is working on. An example from
Physics would be helpful here: The popular ancient Greek Scientific
theories about Physics before Isaac Newton would today seem strange
and slightly “spooky”; they were also not very useful.
Newton’s Laws of Motion represented a true “revolution”
or paradigm shift away from the old Greek ideas. Newton’s
Laws were and are very, very useful; from building a bridge to launching
a rocket to the Moon, Newton’s equations are still used. The
problem is, of course, they are not true. Slowly at first, then
more and more, Physicists started to find examples that did not
seem to follow Newton’s Laws. The behavior of sub-atomic particles,
for example, made nonsense of Newton’s great Laws as universal
truths. After about 200 years “truth” changed and Physics
needed a new theory. Most scientists clung to the old theory as
“true” because that was what they were taught. Eventually,
the older supporters of Newton lost out because a new generation
of scientists and engineers were trying to do things that Newton
could not help them with. Strange, new theories became accepted.
Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity helped explain subtle
planetary motions and sub-atomic behavior. Quantum Mechanics soon
rivaled Einstein’s ideas; Quantum Mechanics helped make sense
of the sub-atomic world and is used in the design of the tiny switches
and circuits in computers. Several “String Theories”
are now in the running for the next scientific revolution. So, which
theory is true? None of them! All these theories all have serious
anomalies, i.e. problems. Well, at least we are getting closer to
the truth, right? Nope, in fact the new theories remind one of the
ancient, spooky theories that were tossed long ago. Science is driven
by practical problems, not a move toward the Truth.
Aside from a history lesson and a new reason to be skeptical of
anti-Christian theories such as Evolution, why is this important?
Well, these ideas help demonstrate the superiority of a Biblical
worldview over worldly Science. Science can no longer make a claim
on truth. Scientists don’t know the Ultimate Truth and have
no way to find it! This realization has lead to the “Post
Modern” syndrome where people act like Truth no longer exists
just because they can’t find it by the Scientific Method.
It seems obvious that truth still exists whether we can find it
on our own or not. This is exactly the situation that the Bible
describes: We are clueless without God. In Romans 1:20-23 we can
see our “wisdom” apart from God: “For since the
creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power
and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from
what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although
they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks
to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts
were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.”
So, I’ve tried to have a paradigm shift myself. I’m
not going to worry about the latest fad in Science. I’m going
to give the Bible preeminence instead of the advice of secular “experts’.
My only hope to know anything for sure is to rely on the source
of all truth. God alone is able to reveal the Truth to us, and in
his mercy and his love he has chosen to do so.
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~Saving Time and Money~
Please keep sending your great Frugal
Apple Tips and recipes. I would love to post them.
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