NittanyJen Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 I have to say I am a little disappointed. On the whole, I find the book a fun one for middle school level chemistry, or a fun supplement for high school chemistry, not quite on par with the neat Physics book he produced earlier. The adventuresome will find plenty of embedded labs and plenty of chemistry instruction therein. What disappoints me is that Schmidt's snarky tone has reached really new heights, and he makes some really incredible claims about what "you will not find in any other chemistry book." Well . . . he must have had really bad chem books, because all of the concepts he mentioned were in my chem books in high school. I think he needs to start working with a real editor, someone to can stand up to him and make him eliminate the disparaging remarks he makes about every book except his own. I love the asides about history, English, Latin, and everything else, but these disparaging asides about how brilliant he is and how awful everyone else is might be an attempt at humor, or something else, but I find them very distracting, because my brain pops right out of the book and thinks, "huh??" Throughout the book, there is a chemistry professor who is a complete dunce who doesn't know how to teach, and Fred saves the day, having never taught chemistry before a day in his life, because he knows all about how students really learn. This is pointed out explicitly time after time just in case the reader misses the point. It is pretty clear Stan Schmidt has a long standing grudge against some past chemistry professor in his student career, and it is sad he took it out on the kids reading this book, which otherwise held some serious promise. Now I have to figure out if I can sanitize it enough to teach it in my co-op... I am running out of time to put together yet something else new from scratch. (waiting for WTM'ers who know me to pass out cold on the floor that I just slammed a Fred book). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 I ordered it for DD, to go along with Uzinggo and Chemistry in the Community. I thought she'd enjoy the math side, which Chem-Com is light on, and I fully expect her to do at least one more year of high school chemistry before moving onto college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Oh Jen, I'm so lgad I read your review! I know you are a past Fred fan, so I take your comments very seriously. I had been toying with the idea of getting this book, but this would really frustrate me, too. You just saved me $30, so thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 (waiting for WTM'ers who know me to pass out cold on the floor that I just slammed a Fred book). :lol: Just getting up off the floor now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 I have two theories about this. 1. I think he's eccentric, probably has a really strange sense of humor IRL and it doesn't translate well in his writing. 2. As he's getting older, his writing and ideas are becoming stranger. Maybe it's both. LOL! I own a bunch of his books and I really think his older, more original stuff is the best. His high school series seems to be so much better than his newer books. Maybe he had a better editor back then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Glancing through LoF Chemistry when it arrived yesterday, I thought that stuff was pretty funny. But then I have a *very* strange sense of humor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 You all have seen this, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 OMG. Um, no I hadn't . . . what a bizarre mixture of really wise comments and complete off-the-wallness???? While I agree with - some - of the things he says, I mostly feel kind of creepy and gross after watching an episode, to tell the truth. Some weird costume changes. I could have lived without seeing him shirtless in bed. (episode 17, in case you want an image you will *never* get out of your mind). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 You all have seen this, right?I watched these a while ago. Between these videos and his latest books (for me it was his language art books that he claimed were high school level) I have decided to leave Fred behind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenslp Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 We glanced through the book too and I guess felt the same as Butter, it was pretty funny to us. My son liked the parts where Fred talked about why his students would do better than the other teacher's students, because he loves the way Fred is so smart at his young age...sort of an empowering thing I guess. Nothing in the book bothered us at all, we really like what we've read so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 You all have seen this, right? Oh, my goodness. That cracked me up. I watched a few of those about a year ago. :laugh: Stay far away from Episode 17. Far, far away. Look at the picture of Episode 42!! :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 OMG. I am cracking up at the videos. I actually think the are pretty funny, and they explain an awful lot about Fred . . . I think every college student should have to watch his diatribe about "How much have you learned" at the beginning of episode 17 during freshman orientation!! But yeah . . . maybe he should have rethought that costuming bit in the in bed sequence :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I have the Chemistry book sitting right beside my computer waiting for me to read it, but I haven't yet. Now I'm really wondering. Ds is planning on using it just as a supplement. He just enjoys the humor. He has already done Apologia Chemistry and will be doing Thinkwell this year as an advanced Chemistry class. Since Fred was just a fun aside, I'm not to concerned, but I am curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Let us know what you think. From some other comments on here, I am thinking I need to look again and maybe lighten up a bit. My husband has told me to not worry about it, reminding me I will be teaching the class, saying, "Remember, the textbook is only a small part of the class . . . it's how you teach it that will really count . . . " Ummm.... mimble wimble??? Have I mentioned I am nervous?? And somehow that didn't help? I'm not teaching a class to be a be-all and end-all for the kids; just a fun and hopefully helpful supplement every other week that may make some concepts seem doable and not dubious, and provide a supervised lab environment where the kids can work together to figure stuff out and maybe learn a bit there too. But it's still a responsibility and I haven't done it before . . . I'd no longer be just screwing up my own kids! Okay, back to Fred. Easier to talk about Fred being weird and fun :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.