Apologia Textbooks

 Let’s open a can of worms and discuss textbooks.  First, I’m sticking with Apologia’s science textbooks.  The next time I teach Biology we’ll use the Biology Textbook, third edition and any of the Young Explorer’s Elementary Homeschool Science series with the younger kiddos.  However, based on Dr.Wile’s Physical Science and Chemistry reviews for the third editions, I sticking with the second editions in Chemistry and Physical Science.  What about General Science?  I’m concerned about redundancy between General Science and Physical Science.  

Physical Science textbooks are a sensitive topic for me. When I first taught Physical Science I was essentially teaching myself.  I kept stumbling on to errors.  I ran across this article.  Many, many physical science textbooks are still riddled with errors in content, answers, etc.  I recall too vividly how distressing it was to parse through material and correct it.  When I learned about Dr.Wile’s reviews, I decided to post-pone any changes in Physical Science or Chemistry.  If you want to use the third editions, buy them new.  The latest editions will have the most corrections. Here and here are the errata pages.  For now, I’m using the second editions, authored by Dr.Wile, for Physical Science and Chemistry.