shburks Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 I know, I know...it's the Well Trained Mind forum and it's classical, but classical science does NOT work in this house. We tried Apologia and Elemental Science both. Both are too boring for ds. He needs more meat. He just eats up science and has a terrific understanding; technically rising 6th grader but works well above grade level. Primarily looking for biology but could do something else with biology incorporated. I don't want him to read pages from a book and then write a summary/narrative/outline and then the rest of the chapter is "copy these dates" and "write down these definitions." I have looked at science curriculum online until my eyes have crossed! Elemental Science and Apologia are definitely out. Looked at Noeo science but it looks like Elemental Science. Looked at these: Real Science for Kids Biology Real Science Odyssey Biology Christian Kids Explore Science (saw this in person; meh--didn't love it) CPO (ouch...$$$) Rainbow Science (may be ok) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space station Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 I still really like Ellen McHenry's books for this age. There is a lot of meat there, fun activities, video links, etc. You can pick the things that really work for your child whether they are visual or kinesthetic learners. I like the size and flexibility of them. The ones that would cover some Life Science/Biology topics would be Botany, Cells, and The Brain, as well as Carbon Chemistry, but that one is often linked with The Elements instead. You would still need something separate that would cover evolution, and something to cover other human systems, but she also has an anatomy study guide too, I think. My 8th grader did The Brain book this quarter, in addition to her Biology class. My 6th grader is doing the Botany book right now. HTH! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 I believe that if you do some searching for CPO on this board, you can find some links to the books and lab sheets online for free. If you want a hardcopy book for an accelerated late elementary kid, you might look at some of the non-AP resources on the high school board. Aside from Ellen McHenry, we also like the Holt Science & Technology series, which can be bought inexpensively used on Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shburks Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 I believe that if you do some searching for CPO on this board, you can find some links to the books and lab sheets online for free. If you want a hardcopy book for an accelerated late elementary kid, you might look at some of the non-AP resources on the high school board. Aside from Ellen McHenry, we also like the Holt Science & Technology series, which can be bought inexpensively used on Amazon. Thanks. I do want a book of some sort, I think, but I'm not sure I want to tackle high school level yet! I did just see some posts about Holt yesterday, so I should check that out! :) I still really like Ellen McHenry's books for this age. There is a lot of meat there, fun activities, video links, etc. You can pick the things that really work for your child whether they are visual or kinesthetic learners. I like the size and flexibility of them. The ones that would cover some Life Science/Biology topics would be Botany, Cells, and The Brain, as well as Carbon Chemistry, but that one is often linked with The Elements instead. You would still need something separate that would cover evolution, and something to cover other human systems, but she also has an anatomy study guide too, I think. My 8th grader did The Brain book this quarter, in addition to her Biology class. My 6th grader is doing the Botany book right now. HTH! Thank you! Ellen McHenry's units were also on my list. I felt like it was on my back up list in case I couldn't find something else, but maybe I should really look at this more seriously. Am I doing anything detrimental by NOT doing something microscope-based? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space station Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Thanks. I do want a book of some sort, I think, but I'm not sure I want to tackle high school level yet! I did just see some posts about Holt yesterday, so I should check that out! :) Thank you! Ellen McHenry's units were also on my list. I felt like it was on my back up list in case I couldn't find something else, but maybe I should really look at this more seriously. Am I doing anything detrimental by NOT doing something microscope-based? I don't think you can do harm at this age (unless the work sucks out the enjoyment). There is a good, free middle school microscope unit here that you could do: https://gsoutreach.gs.washington.edu/files/amazingcellsbook.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 sounds like a text book. CK12 do free kindle texts for middle and high school science. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 I really like CK12 because they combine text with embedded videos. They're well done and complete if you choose a course that has a workbook and tests. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 (edited) . Edited April 21, 2023 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shburks Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 Elemental and Apologia do NOT have the market on "classical" science, fwiw. :p Have you considered Guesthollow's biology schedule? It sounds more up your alley than just following one particular program. This is new to me! I'm going to check it out. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 We're mashing up Ellen McHenry's Cells and maybe Carbon Chemistry with Biozone's work text and experiments from http://www.biologycorner.com/. We've done Elements and Botany already. Dd doesn't have interest in the Brain one, but we may end the year with McHenry's free anatomy note pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I think the "meat" level depends on which Apologia series you use. The high school series are denser and ideal for middle school aged kids who have the math background to do early high school sciences. The labs are empty, however. Thames and Kosmos do wonderful labs that we have paired with the math focused Apologia high school series. The elementary and middle school series are very religious and fairly fluffy. I have not used the Exploring Creation with Biology. We are not a religious science family. The 2nd edition Apologia books are very much not religious in Chemistry and Physics, but they are in Biology. Other than a tiny reference here or there, chem and physics are just conversational versions of lower level high school. E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth is a Biology curriculum iBook set which is free. These are embedded with movie, audio, and interactive diagrams as well as quick comprehension quizzes for each chapter. They can be combined with the entire high school level curriculum offered via iTunesU to fill out the labs, reports, data analysis, and research components. All of it is free, but you need to have access to an iPad. Campbell's is the ideal biology text, or you could use Miller-Levine. Either series has varying levels of density in content, but they are fairly dry. Ds opted for a more conversational tone. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ofus Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 We went with the Prentice Hall Science Explorers textbooks for middle school. This year we did Focus on Physical Science and both boys said they have learned so much. Next year we'll do Focus on Earth Science, & the last year will be Focus on Life Science. This is really NOT the way I envisioned science going in my homeschool, but after floundering around for something great in elementary this has been a breath of fresh air. We can all see where we're going & like I said, they have learned so much. Focus on Life Science would be for middle school biology. The books are really cheap used online, so it could be worth it to just order one to look at, even if you decide against it. Good luck! ETA: These books are decidedly middle-school, but I think they're good. If you're looking for above-middle-school-grade-level these would not fit your needs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shburks Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 We went with the Prentice Hall Science Explorers textbooks for middle school. This year we did Focus on Physical Science and both boys said they have learned so much. Next year we'll do Focus on Earth Science, & the last year will be Focus on Life Science. This is really NOT the way I envisioned science going in my homeschool, but after floundering around for something great in elementary this has been a breath of fresh air. We can all see where we're going & like I said, they have learned so much. Focus on Life Science would be for middle school biology. The books are really cheap used online, so it could be worth it to just order one to look at, even if you decide against it. Good luck! ETA: These books are decidedly middle-school, but I think they're good. If you're looking for above-middle-school-grade-level these would not fit your needs. Where did you order your book? I think the "meat" level depends on which Apologia series you use. The high school series are denser and ideal for middle school aged kids who have the math background to do early high school sciences. The labs are empty, however. Thames and Kosmos do wonderful labs that we have paired with the math focused Apologia high school series. The elementary and middle school series are very religious and fairly fluffy. I have not used the Exploring Creation with Biology. We are not a religious science family. The 2nd edition Apologia books are very much not religious in Chemistry and Physics, but they are in Biology. Other than a tiny reference here or there, chem and physics are just conversational versions of lower level high school. E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth is a Biology curriculum iBook set which is free. These are embedded with movie, audio, and interactive diagrams as well as quick comprehension quizzes for each chapter. They can be combined with the entire high school level curriculum offered via iTunesU to fill out the labs, reports, data analysis, and research components. All of it is free, but you need to have access to an iPad. Campbell's is the ideal biology text, or you could use Miller-Levine. Either series has varying levels of density in content, but they are fairly dry. Ds opted for a more conversational tone. Thanks...lots of great information in here. I do agree that there is more meat in the Apologia books higher up. We are a religious family but I don't want too much of it in my sciences. I appreciate the other ideas! I'm going to take a look at these. We're mashing up Ellen McHenry's Cells and maybe Carbon Chemistry with Biozone's work text and experiments from http://www.biologycorner.com/. We've done Elements and Botany already. Dd doesn't have interest in the Brain one, but we may end the year with McHenry's free anatomy note pages. Thanks for that link. I'm going to take a good look at that. We haven't done any of Ellen McHenry's yet so maybe Cells and Botany? Taking a look at the anatomy notes pages, too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shburks Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 I think the "meat" level depends on which Apologia series you use. The high school series are denser and ideal for middle school aged kids who have the math background to do early high school sciences. The labs are empty, however. Thames and Kosmos do wonderful labs that we have paired with the math focused Apologia high school series. The elementary and middle school series are very religious and fairly fluffy. I have not used the Exploring Creation with Biology. We are not a religious science family. The 2nd edition Apologia books are very much not religious in Chemistry and Physics, but they are in Biology. Other than a tiny reference here or there, chem and physics are just conversational versions of lower level high school. E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth is a Biology curriculum iBook set which is free. These are embedded with movie, audio, and interactive diagrams as well as quick comprehension quizzes for each chapter. They can be combined with the entire high school level curriculum offered via iTunesU to fill out the labs, reports, data analysis, and research components. All of it is free, but you need to have access to an iPad. Campbell's is the ideal biology text, or you could use Miller-Levine. Either series has varying levels of density in content, but they are fairly dry. Ds opted for a more conversational tone. Life on Earth looks really nice. I'm looking over it now. What did your DS go with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ofus Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I have ordered Prentice Hill Science Explorer books from Alibris. You might find them on Amazon or a different used book site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Life on Earth looks really nice. I'm looking over it now. What did your DS go with? We are doing the Life on Earth. He chose not to do the whole accompanying curriculum through iTunesU. It felt really scattered to him, but I think this is mainly because Biology is his least favorite science. So we are doing E.O. Wilson first and then following up with Campbell's AP Bio in 10th grade. I figure this gives him the foundations now, and he will have the chemistry foundation as well. This way he can do AP Environmental Studies in 7th, AP Chem in 9th, AP Bio in 10th, and AP Physics in 11th. By doing two runs through most of the sciences, he can enjoy and experiment a bit with them in middle years. It allows for him to get geeked out on certain areas, back off if he needs to, and yet still really have dense information. Later, he can then kick it up a knotch with the AP level texts. We use Thames and Kosmos for all our labs. They are just fantastic (if a bit expensive). By middle school, Ds can do most of them independently as long as I am near-ish. The worktext/lab guide is pretty spectacular. It is like a discovery method text for science. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 My $0.02 Real Science for Kids Biology I haven't actually seen middle level biology, but middle level chemistry was a thumbs down - it covered some things way too superficially, it covered other things in unnecessary depth, and the page layout (not important to everyone) looked like it was done on an old version of MS Word. Real Science Odyssey Biology - we purchased this and I hope it will work out for me to teach 5th through 9th grade. Actually my 3rd grader will tag along, and it's mostly for the 5th grader, but I am teaching it in co-op for the 7th-9th range. The scope and sequence is well done, the activities/labs seem solid and easily done, and the whole thing is flexible, all of which appeals to my needs. I am using Life On Earth (E. O. Wilson free iBook) for additional readings and many things from Quark's biology syllabus for my older and advanced students. Christian Kids Explore Science (saw this in person; meh--didn't love it) - don't know anything about it really. CPO (ouch...$$$) - ya, pricey. They may be very good resources, but I don't have the money to find out. It is also very "schooly" in the sense of it's presentation and overload of resource options, and that doesn't always translate well into homeschool. Rainbow Science (may be ok) I did get to thumb through some Rainbow Science materials and there were actually gross scientific inaccuracies in the book I looked at (and I am not talking about creation vs evolution or anything else debatable). I would stay away from all of their materials based on what I saw. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strawberryjam Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 We really like R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, Ellen McHenry and Guesthollow's stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shburks Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 My $0.02 Real Science for Kids Biology I haven't actually seen middle level biology, but middle level chemistry was a thumbs down - it covered some things way too superficially, it covered other things in unnecessary depth, and the page layout (not important to everyone) looked like it was done on an old version of MS Word. Real Science Odyssey Biology - we purchased this and I hope it will work out for me to teach 5th through 9th grade. Actually my 3rd grader will tag along, and it's mostly for the 5th grader, but I am teaching it in co-op for the 7th-9th range. The scope and sequence is well done, the activities/labs seem solid and easily done, and the whole thing is flexible, all of which appeals to my needs. I am using Life On Earth (E. O. Wilson free iBook) for additional readings and many things from Quark's biology syllabus for my older and advanced students. Christian Kids Explore Science (saw this in person; meh--didn't love it) - don't know anything about it really. CPO (ouch...$$$) - ya, pricey. They may be very good resources, but I don't have the money to find out. It is also very "schooly" in the sense of it's presentation and overload of resource options, and that doesn't always translate well into homeschool. Rainbow Science (may be ok) I did get to thumb through some Rainbow Science materials and there were actually gross scientific inaccuracies in the book I looked at (and I am not talking about creation vs evolution or anything else debatable). I would stay away from all of their materials based on what I saw. Thank you! Great information!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosepetal Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I really like CK12 because they combine text with embedded videos. They're well done and complete if you choose a course that has a workbook and tests. link for CK12 videos,workbook and tests? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosepetal Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Are their answers to those tests? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportsmom Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 We are doing the Life on Earth. He chose not to do the whole accompanying curriculum through iTunesU. It felt really scattered to him, but I think this is mainly because Biology is his least favorite science. So we are doing E.O. Wilson first and then following up with Campbell's AP Bio in 10th grade. I figure this gives him the foundations now, and he will have the chemistry foundation as well. This way he can do AP Environmental Studies in 7th, AP Chem in 9th, AP Bio in 10th, and AP Physics in 11th. By doing two runs through most of the sciences, he can enjoy and experiment a bit with them in middle years. It allows for him to get geeked out on certain areas, back off if he needs to, and yet still really have dense information. Later, he can then kick it up a knotch with the AP level texts. We use Thames and Kosmos for all our labs. They are just fantastic (if a bit expensive). By middle school, Ds can do most of them independently as long as I am near-ish. The worktext/lab guide is pretty spectacular. It is like a discovery method text for science. This is sort of my plan as well, so I love that you posted your long term planning. My thought is to go through Apologia HS level books, and then something AP after. I'll have to look into E.O. Wilson and also Campbell's courses. Do they have test/solutions manuals that correspond to the lessons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strawberryjam Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 We are planning on RSO Biology 2 next year for Grade 5. Hopefully the "additional resource suggestions" will be current and deep enough. I love RSO level 1 science but most of the reading suggestions were not available at my library or no longer in print, so now I need to find replacements for those. But since RSO Biology 2 is newer I'm thinking the additional resources should be more current... Have you looked into Biology by Tiner? Thinking of doing that one this year for independent or read aloud reading. From the sample I read it seemed like it would work for an accelerated middle schooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 The additional resource suggestions in the teacher guide are mostly current videos, and I have been able to find most of the books so far for RSO Bio 2. I'm also adding in http://biologyclass101.com/resources/biology-video-resources/crash-course-biology-video-series/ for relevant chapters. ETA: Because the person who recommended it didn't tell me, the student guide is roughly 750 pages because it's a textbook, workbook, and lab book in one. Know that when considering whether to buy it in print or as a PDF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 The E.O. Wilson stuff has end of chapter "quizzes" which are self correcting. The point of them being that the student is checking for comprehension as they go. There are no specific tests, but a stack of assignments in the iTunesU course. One of the assignments are critical thinking questions for each chapter. Ds is going to have to write short answer responses for each of those and choose one to turn into an essay. So his tests will be done that way, with mini essays each chapter. It will require him finding at least two other outside sources, checking those sources for bias, and then compiling into some sort of coherent thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 link for CK12 videos,workbook and tests? Links in text from amazon kindle store. I have tried to post this four times so here goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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