hroughout our homeschooling years, we met with a small group of families on Fridays. During the kids’ elementary years, we would all read from one of the Exploring Creation texts by Jeannie Fulbright and do the projects together. We went on fun field trips based on the volume we studied, including NASA in Houston, Texas; the Fort Worth, Dallas, and Oklahoma zoos; the Dallas Arboretum, the Dallas Aquarium, and our local nature center. It was such an incredible experience for us all!

Coming from a seven-day creationist viewpoint, each book in the Exploring Creation series focuses on what was created on each of the seven days. They’ve been updated since we used them and now include some great resources like notebooking journals and an audio edition (perfect for your auditory learners or doing science “on-the-go”).

Here at Homeschooling Today, we have “a few of our favorite things” just like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. But ours are based on a natural learning philosophy: living books, hands-on activities, & notebooking.

Living Books. I’m not a big fan of textbooks in general, but the Exploring Creation series weren’t really textbooks, at least not the kind I grew up with. Written by one author—passionate about the subject—instead of a committee, they read like living books. And you will enjoy reading it as much as your children.

Hands-On Activities. These types of activities aren’t just for kinesthetic learners! All kids benefit when they can incorporate as many senses as possible while learning. Throughout each text you’ll find a wide variety of activities to enhance your children’s understanding of the material and to make it FUN! These activities are all doable, and really engage kids so you do not want to skip them!

Notebooking. Notebooking is a great way for children to interact with the text. They’ll write, draw, cut and paste, color, and more. Children like to share their notebooks with family and friends so it also serves as a great review for them, too. With notebooking, kids strengthen fine motor skills, learn to summarize and paraphrase, cultivate creativity, and enjoy the journey even more.

One of our favorite volumes was Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day. (Apologia has recently updated the text to its second edition and it is fabulous!) Land animals are so fascinating, and we live within just a few hours of three large zoos. I love that we could learn and observe so many of the animals personally.

Studying animals helps us connect with just how creative our God is! Their beauty, unique adaptations, instincts, and natural survival skills inspire young learners to worship the Maker.

Throughout the book, your kids will have the opportunity to work on an ongoing activity: The Giant Drive-Thru Animal Atlas. Combining geography with science, this project will be a keepsake for years to come along with the companion Notebooking Journal. It would work as the starting point for more interesting geography studies without adding another “subject” to your school days, too—another one of our favorite things!

The easy-to-use Notebooking Journal is spiral bound and you can purchase one for each of your children when buying the Zoology 3 Course Set.