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Yes, thank you, I appreciate your opinion.

 

I had originally discounted them for some reason, but went back to look again today. I think the chemistry and biology will fit for where my son is right now.

 

I was looking at the biology also--trying to decide if we wanted to do honors or not if we do use it next year.

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My son used Biology for 9th grade and it was awesome! The text was well laid out, easy to understand, interesting, and easy to follow. The teacher materials had all of the assessments, lessons and worksheets, links to activities, links to labs such as microscope and dissections. The people at CK12 were awesome with answering all of my questions and providing me with information and material promptly. I cannot say enough about how much we enjoyed their biology curriculum!!!! We will definitely use it again when we get to Chemistry.

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I was looking at the biology also--trying to decide if we wanted to do honors or not if we do use it next year.

 

My son wants to do a basic biology, so we'll stick with the non-honors option.

 

My son used Biology for 9th grade and it was awesome! The text was well laid out, easy to understand, interesting, and easy to follow. The teacher materials had all of the assessments, lessons and worksheets, links to activities, links to labs such as microscope and dissections. The people at CK12 were awesome with answering all of my questions and providing me with information and material promptly. I cannot say enough about how much we enjoyed their biology curriculum!!!! We will definitely use it again when we get to Chemistry.

 

Thank you.

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My son used Biology for 9th grade and it was awesome! The text was well laid out, easy to understand, interesting, and easy to follow. The teacher materials had all of the assessments, lessons and worksheets, links to activities, links to labs such as microscope and dissections. The people at CK12 were awesome with answering all of my questions and providing me with information and material promptly. I cannot say enough about how much we enjoyed their biology curriculum!!!! We will definitely use it again when we get to Chemistry.

 

So...was this the non-honors option?

 

TIA

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  • 1 month later...

The CK-12 books are a mixed bag, but what's in the bag is mostly good. I've looked at the Algebra, Trigonometry, Biology, and Calculus books.

 

The good:

-All the books are comprehensive and accurate. They don't skimp or skip topics.

-All of the math books are full of worked problems, and they are well-integrated into the texts.

-The math and science books are all science-based.

 

The (a little bit) bad:

-I think the writing is a little bit dry - these are textbooks in the old-school form, and are not going to do a lot of hand-holding. This isn't a terrible thing, but parents need to understand that to use these books properly, in my opinion, requires either a person who understands the topic guiding the study, or else a very self-motivated student.

-Not a lot of media/multimedia, so that can make it harder to engage some kids.

 

I think the CK-12 project is completely awesome. The best analogy I would give is that it's an extremely comprehensive tool-chest, but remember that most kids are going to need to be shown how to use the tools in it.

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My son used Biology for 9th grade and it was awesome! The text was well laid out, easy to understand, interesting, and easy to follow. The teacher materials had all of the assessments, lessons and worksheets, links to activities, links to labs such as microscope and dissections. The people at CK12 were awesome with answering all of my questions and providing me with information and material promptly. I cannot say enough about how much we enjoyed their biology curriculum!!!! We will definitely use it again when we get to Chemistry.

 

We are currently using Biology for ds, 9th grade! He LOVES it! Recently he actually said "Mom, i love this science book, it's SO easy to understand". We printed the student text, the teacher guide, the workbook...the whole she-bang! He really enjoys doing the workbook as well. We don't always get to all the links and media stuff, and I really want to. He's only on Chap 4 though, so we have time to work that into our schedule as we tweek how we use this.

 

I am considering using CK-12 sciences for my youngest once she hits 6th grade. They have 2 versions of most of the science, regular and honors. We are just using regular.

 

~coffee~

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I've been looking through the Chemistry book. I like the second edition better than the first (more multimedia and links). We will use the books on an iPad/computer, not printed, so it is easy to follow the links. I will be trying to figure out if the resources (TM & workbook) from the first edition will match closely enough to the second edition to make it all work. I've only gone through the first few chapters and it has been light so far, but I'm hoping there is enough there for my non-science guy. There does seem to be plenty of math.

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OK, so I am seeing this correctly? The whole thing is totally free and it's high quality?

Why are there not workbooks for earth science and life science? And no teacher's manual either. Are they still working on these?

I've never even seen these resources before.

I'm getting so excited...

 

Yep. CK-12 is one of the best-kept secrets out there. I've looked at only a few of their books, but those I've seen have been of professional quality, considerably better on average than most of the curricula designed for homeschoolers that I've seen. And you can't beat the price.

 

Like the Linux operating system, CK-12 is an example of an open-source collaborative project, where a lot of really talented people contribute without being paid a cent for their efforts.

 

I'm always surprised that CK-12 hasn't already become the "default" choice for homeschoolers. I'd think one would have to have serious objections to its secular content to make it worthwhile paying anything at all for alternative materials, let alone the very high prices of many curricula targeted at homeschoolers.

 

Like all open-source projects, CK-12 is eternally a work in progress. If something is missing at the moment, chances are someone will address that lack before long.

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We used the Earth Science resources from CK12. I was able to put the textbook on our Nook, so we didn't have to be sitting at the computer to look at the text. I didn't think the text was jaw-dropping exciting, but it got the job done and was an easier read than some of the standard textbooks we've used.

 

What I liked was that CK12 will gladly give the answer keys and teacher resources to homeschool families. You have to email and ask for the answer keys, but there were no extra "homeschool hoops" required before they would provide them.

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Did they have any teacher resources for earth science? I don't see a Teacher's Edition on the website.

Thanks!

 

I was able to get a Teacher's Edition for Earth Science that had the answers to the review exercises in the student text. I had to email and specifically request it. It's been a little over a year since I got my materials, so maybe they are revising some of their offerings. I see they have middle school, honors, and high school earth science now.

 

On their home page, right-hand side under the heading "Teacher's Editions", there is a note that says: "If you are a parent or a teacher, we can send you the Assessment and Solution Key Teacher's Edition of the FlexBook you're using." Then there's a button right below it to "request it now." I suggest contacting them through that link and seeing if they have any teacher materials/assessments/answer keys available for whatever text you want to use.

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We are currently using Biology for ds, 9th grade! He LOVES it! Recently he actually said "Mom, i love this science book, it's SO easy to understand". We printed the student text, the teacher guide, the workbook...the whole she-bang! He really enjoys doing the workbook as well. We don't always get to all the links and media stuff, and I really want to. He's only on Chap 4 though, so we have time to work that into our schedule as we tweek how we use this.

 

I am considering using CK-12 sciences for my youngest once she hits 6th grade. They have 2 versions of most of the science, regular and honors. We are just using regular.

 

~coffee~

 

My ds loved reading directly from the computer so that he could instantly click on links. The links and media stuff add so much to the lessons and makes it not so boring. You really should fit them in! I also found Netflix documentaries to match the lessons.

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My ds loved reading directly from the computer so that he could instantly click on links. The links and media stuff add so much to the lessons and makes it not so boring. You really should fit them in! I also found Netflix documentaries to match the lessons.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, don't know why I hadn't thought about it before. It may just come down to that. I am not sure if he is more like me though, wanting to handle a paper book. We will try reading right from the computer so that he can click right on the links.

 

~coffee~

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I was able to get a Teacher's Edition for Earth Science that had the answers to the review exercises in the student text. I had to email and specifically request it. It's been a little over a year since I got my materials, so maybe they are revising some of their offerings. I see they have middle school, honors, and high school earth science now.

 

On their home page, right-hand side under the heading "Teacher's Editions", there is a note that says: "If you are a parent or a teacher, we can send you the Assessment and Solution Key Teacher's Edition of the FlexBook you're using." Then there's a button right below it to "request it now." I suggest contacting them through that link and seeing if they have any teacher materials/assessments/answer keys available for whatever text you want to use.

 

How long did it take to get a response? I used this link Sunday and haven't heard anything yet.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'm sorry that I didn't see this sooner. Ds used the Honors Biology materials.

 

Did your son go through the entire book or did you pick and choose topics? Did he need a lot of hand-holding through the process or was he able to manage it mostly on his own?

 

Thanks for your help. I'm seriously considering using this for my son next year, so any insight will be useful for me ;)

 

L

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Did your son go through the entire book or did you pick and choose topics? Did he need a lot of hand-holding through the process or was he able to manage it mostly on his own?

 

Thanks for your help. I'm seriously considering using this for my son next year, so any insight will be useful for me ;)

 

L

 

Not the OP, but I will answer for us: DS does this entirely on his own. He reads, makes vocabulary study lists, follows the links in the on-line book (he has switched to the online version now). He he self paces, and between ALL readings, all questions in the text, and all workbook pages & section quizzes he finishes a chapter in about 2 weeks. I have the teacher materials and it actually gives guidelines on how much "class" time to spend on each section. There are activities and extra stuff in the teacher materials, but he is doing fine without that stuff (unless I see something that seems amazingly interesting). He is doing really well, and he still loves it! He lets me know when he is taking quizzes and tests, and we grade them together and discuss any incorrect answers.

 

I should remind: we are doing regular, not Honors.

 

~coffee~

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Did your son go through the entire book or did you pick and choose topics? Did he need a lot of hand-holding through the process or was he able to manage it mostly on his own?

 

Thanks for your help. I'm seriously considering using this for my son next year, so any insight will be useful for me ;)

 

L

For the fall semester of 9th grade ds was enrolled in Connections Academy so we figured out where he left off and started the spring semester finishing all remaining chapters except human anatomy which is being studied this 10th grade year.

 

Ds did the work on his own but I did the planning and grading. There is a lot to chose from as far as websites, projects, labs, and writing assignments. So I chose what I wanted him to do and found the Netflix videos I wanted him to watch. He read, filled out worksheets, completed assignments and labs, and took quizzes, tests, and unit exams at his own pace. He would come to me for any discussions I asked for when he was ready. He received an A in the course and enjoyed it a great deal.

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Not the OP, but I will answer for us: DS does this entirely on his own. He reads, makes vocabulary study lists, follows the links in the on-line book (he has switched to the online version now). He he self paces, and between ALL readings, all questions in the text, and all workbook pages & section quizzes he finishes a chapter in about 2 weeks. I have the teacher materials and it actually gives guidelines on how much "class" time to spend on each section. There are activities and extra stuff in the teacher materials, but he is doing fine without that stuff (unless I see something that seems amazingly interesting). He is doing really well, and he still loves it! He lets me know when he is taking quizzes and tests, and we grade them together and discuss any incorrect answers.

 

I should remind: we are doing regular, not Honors.

 

~coffee~

 

For the fall semester of 9th grade ds was enrolled in Connections Academy so we figured out where he left off and started the spring semester finishing all remaining chapters except human anatomy which is being studied this 10th grade year.

 

Ds did the work on his own but I did the planning and grading. There is a lot to chose from as far as websites, projects, labs, and writing assignments. So I chose what I wanted him to do and found the Netflix videos I wanted him to watch. He read, filled out worksheets, completed assignments and labs, and took quizzes, tests, and unit exams at his own pace. He would come to me for any discussions I asked for when he was ready. He received an A in the course and enjoyed it a great deal.

 

Thanks to both of you! This helps a lot!

L

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