Apologia's Young Explorer Series is truly an answer to our prayers. The Exploring Creation with Botany volume dives deep into botany. It is a 175-page, hardcover book that features full-color photos and graphics, an index, and even answers in the back to the posed narrative questions in each lesson. A beautiful book!

Exploring Creation with Botany starts off with an introduction that explains the book, what it's about, and the author's goals in writing the book. Jeannie has a very down-to-earth, simple approach to teaching, making it fun for the whole family. I love the easy-to-read style of Jeannie's writing. I also so appreciated her breakdown in the Introduction of how each chapter is laid out, the purpose of the notebook, the use of Latin words in creation, etc.--the complete overview was a huge help to me. There's even a website that gives additional helps and tons of extras related to the book!

There are 13 lessons in this book. To complete them you will need a notebook, blank paper, lined paper, and some colored pencils. Lessons can span a week or a few weeks, depending on your family's preference. Each lesson is broken down into smaller sections, assignments, and "Hands-On" projects. The projects are really neat and actually use things normal folks have in their home on a regular basis. We enjoy this "Charlotte Mason-esque" approach to learning. Jeannie even includes a supplies list that is broken down by lesson. I love that!

The lessons cover such topics as seeds, flowers, pollination, gymnosperms, vascular and nonvascular plants, and nature journaling. Each lesson dives deep--no scratching the surface here! For example, "Lesson 3: Flowers" includes a study of angiosperms, the purposes of various types of flowers, how flowers make seeds, a hands-on flower dissection, and flower families (did you know botanists list over 300 flower families?)! This is just one of the lessons in the book, and I just described a portion of it.

We have really enjoyed using Exploring Creation with Botany. As is usually the case with home educating, we've all learned a lot. If you are looking for a rigid textbook approach, this will not be for you. Exploring Creation with Botany is well-rounded and fun, and it involves the whole family. We love it! I absolutely recommend the Young Explorers Series from Jeannie Fulbright and Apologia. Look for more reviews on this series!

Product review by Lisa Barthuly, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May 2006