:hurray: :D

Is she a strong math student? Are you looking for her to take honours science courses in high school? She'll need to have a solid Alg 1 under her belt before she tackles Chem or Physics.

Crud. Maybe Regentrude can help. I've never attached anything to a post so I don't know how to troubleshoot. In the meantime, folks can PM. Thanks so much for being willing to share! :)

Hmmm... Maybe if MyThreeSons is comfortable sharing publicly, she could try attaching again. If she doesn't want to share publicly (which I can completely understand!), maybe she'll be willing to share through PM. We'll have to wait and she when she comes back. :)

Not the one who posted a few years ago but maybe some of these links might prove helpful? AP Chem help from the NMSI: vimeoDOTcomBACKSLASHchannelsBACKSLASH164000BACKSLASHvideos (videos of AP Chem labs) (OK - no matter what I did, I couldn't get the Vimeo link to load properly so if you copy the above link and take out and replace the DOT with a period and the BACKSLASHes with actual backslashes, it should work) (ETA: Okaaaaaaaaaaaay... Apparently, you can just click on the above link and it takes you right to the page. Weird.) http://apchemistrynm...uctional videos STEM outreach from the NCSSM: http://www.dlt.ncssm.edu/core/ A TON of AP Chem resources: http://www.watertown...-resources-7089 AP Chem exam prep: http://jesuitnola.or...p_exam_prep.htm Two sites with virtual labs for AP Chem: http://group.chem.ia...oad/index4.html http://chemcollective.org/vlabs I used the first link above to run a few virtual labs with my AP Chem students when I taught. We did mostly wet labs but, in the interest of saving time, I had them run a few of the virtual labs at home and then write them up. I don't know if universities/colleges still require an AP Chem student to provide proof of labs (in addition to a 4 or 5 on the exam) in order to give credit but some of them used to. Might be a good alternative for homeschooled students who don't have a bunch of expensive, fancy lab equipment at home. :) If your student is hoping to get college credit for his/her AP Chem course, though, check with the college he/she plans on applying to in order to make sure virtual labs are acceptable. Don't know if any of this is helpful to the OP - just thought I'd toss out the links. :)

:iagree:

Thanks! :) It wasn't so much for me but I thought maybe other members might find it useful. I had forgotten that we couldn't attach documents to posts. :( Would it be alright for other members to request it of you if they're reading this thread?

I thought this book was well done: http://www.amazon.co...s=hungry ghosts In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Mate and Peter A. Levine From the Amazon description: Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with the severely addicted on Vancouver’s skid row, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts radically reenvisions this much misunderstood field by taking a holistic approach. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout (and perhaps underpins) our society; not a medical "condition" distinct from the lives it affects, rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional, and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs (and behaviors) of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and those impacted by it. The mix of personal stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his own "high-status" addictive tendencies—and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals. My husband is a pharmacist who works with patients in a Methadone program and he picked up this book to help him get a better sense of what those folks were going through. I read it when he was finished and thought it was very informative and well written.

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: You wouldn't perchance be willing to share a copy of that diagnostic test with the members of the Hive, would you? :D

I think that's the holy grail of homeschooling for secular homeschoolers. :D I don't know if it exists.

I get what they're saying but they wouldn't be able to "ramp up" the course in the last 6 sessions to the level of the AP exam if the rest of the year wasn't rigorous so even though the course (without the last 6 sessions) isn't being called "AP Chemistry", I would think (or hope) that the content would be almost the same. Whether it's worth waiting the extra year to avoid the change year... Hmmm... Well, as a PP said, it is only one more year but even if the CB doesn't release an exam, the prep book publishers will have an extra year to get more on top of things. I don't know if that would balance out having a heavier load of APs in Grade 12 - I guess it would depend on your student and whether it's more stressful for her to go into an exam a little bit more "blind" because it's a new exam or if it would be more stressful to have the heavier load in her Grade 12 year. Depends on personality, I suppose. :) If the Physics is Reg Physics and the Chem is sort of an Honours Chem Plus (more than Honours Chem but not quite AP Chem if they don't take the last 6 sessions) I still say that the Physics will be easier. Even if they were both at the same level (i.e. both Reg level), Physics tends to be more easily understood than Chem by most students at the high school level - Chem can be quite abstract whereas Physics is more concrete. But, as I say, others may not agree. :)

No. It would be an Industrial Arts credit.

My bad. :) I misread Advanced Physics to be AP Physics - sorry! So it sounds like the Advanced Physics is Honours Physics. I would think AP Chem would be more difficult than Honours Physics but others may not agree. :D Even though the AP Chem teacher will make course adjustments, it'll still be more difficult to write the exam in the first year of a change. I think there are two facets to writing most standardized tests - knowing the content and knowing how to write that particular test. In the first year of a change to any test, there won't be any old tests to look at to figure out "how" to write that particular exam. There also won't be any study guides out that are based on years of statistical analysis of past tests so that the guide preps the student in the best way possible. The study guide publishers will simply be giving it their "best guess" until they have a few years of the new test to analyze. So... You could save AP Chem until Grade 12 and do Honours Physics in Grade 11. That way, she won't be writing AP Chem in the change year plus I think it's more difficult than Honours Physics. On the down side, she'd have 3 APs in her senior year. I don't know how much difference having a year gap between Intro Chem and AP Chem would make. If she's truly understanding the Chem and not just memorizing algorithms to get through, I don't think it will make much difference. If you feel like she would "forget" Intro Chem with a year's gap, then that might be something else to consider. Sorry - not much help, am I? :001_rolleyes: :)

By this year, do you mean that she would write AP Chem this May? As in May 2013? And AP Physics in May 2014? Or Chem in May 2014 and Physics in 2015? The reason I'm asking is because AP Chem will change for the 2013/2014 year and Physics (I believe) will change in the 2014/2015 year although I'm not sure if they plan on changing all the Physics at once (there are 3 AP Physics courses currently - Physics B and two Physics Cs) or even what they'll be changing to. It's always more difficult to write an AP exam in the year that the course has changed (difficult to find practice exams and to know what the new exams will be like) so you may want to take that into consideration when you're planning as well. :)

Hi Cleo, There's a text made for public schools in the States called "Human Legacy: Modern Era": http://www.amazon.com/Holt-World-History-Student-Edition/dp/003093883X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364493012&sr=8-1&keywords=holt+human+legacy+modern You can also get the "One Stop Teacher Planner" for the text: http://www.amazon.com/Holt-World-History-Teachers-One-Stop/dp/0030939054/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1364493012&sr=8-8&keywords=holt+human+legacy+modern This is a set of CD-ROMS that contain PDFs of worksheets, quizzes, tests, answer keys for everything, etc. There's "Modern History Through Canadian Eyes": http://homeschoolandmore.ca/catalogue_det.asp?id=4528 I think this would be more teacher intensive, though - it's just a book with rough lesson plans and lists of tons of resources that you can pick and choose from. There's "A History of the Twentieth Century" (Concise Edition) by Sir Martin Gilbert: http://www.amazon.ca/History-Twentieth-Century-Concise-Acclaimed/dp/006050594X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1364492466&sr=8-9 Sir Gilbert is a Brit so there might be more of a chance that the book wouldn't be as Americo-centric. The book also comes in the original 3 volume series: http://www.amazon.com/History-Twentieth-Century-Volume-1900-1933/dp/0380713934/ref=pd_sim_b_2 (Volume 1) http://www.amazon.com/History-Twentieth-Century-Volume-1933-1951/dp/0380713942/ref=pd_sim_b_1 (Volume 2) http://www.amazon.com/History-Twentieth-Century-1952-1999/dp/0380713950/ref=la_B000APBJVO_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364493843&sr=1-25 (Volume 3)

I don't know anything about AP Computer Science so I can't speak to how much math is needed - sorry! :) Conceptual Chem is equivalent to a Reg Chem course so he may find it a big jump to the level of AP Chem. (Although it'll depend on what they do with AP Chem after the change.) Grade 11 is probably a better age for trying AP Chem but YMMV. :) I feel for the folks having their students take APs in change years - it has to be stressful.

:) You might get more responses on the K-8 board. If I remember rightly, the rhetoric stage of classical education doesn't deal with much memorization. You could maybe get your older students to memorize long poems or speeches instead of lists. Just a thought. :)

What curriculum did your son use for Alg 1? Which one for Geometry? The reason I ask is because there are differences between math curricula that might make a difference in whether or not he would be ready for the math in AP Chem. It isn't that the math itself in the course is that difficult but that chemistry can be very abstract and difficult and it's best if the student isn't struggling with the chemistry AND the math. KWIM? Will the AP Chem be his first chemistry course? I agree with the PP - AP Physics will be changing soon as will AP Chem so my thoughts may change after I see the new AP Chem exam next year. Actually, that's another thought... AP Chem is changing for the next school year (2013-2014). Sometimes it can be difficult for the students writing an AP exam in the first year after a change - scores will sometimes be lower since the students don't have a ton of old exam questions to work through. Although I guess your son is doing that this year with the AP Bio - he'd end up having that same scenario with 2 out of his 4 APs. Could he possibly take the AP Computer Science next year instead of the Chem?

Most of the time, a teacher's edition is more just an annotated edition of the text. It gives tips on setting up the labs, teaching or lecturing tips, and sometimes it will give the answers to the chapter questions that the student text does not (for example - if the student text has answers for the odd numbered problems, often the teacher's edition will give answers to the even numbered ones). A teacher's edition will not (at least not the ones I've seen and worked with) give worked solutions to the chapter problems. Because it's meant to be used by a public school teacher of that subject (who, hopefully, has a solid background in the subject matter), it's assumed that the teacher already knows how to work the problems. :) A solutions manual is made to be used by the student so that they have fully worked solutions to the chapter problems to help them with any problems they are stuck on or to clarify how exactly to work a problem. So I guess it kind of depends what you're looking for. :)

If it's just called "Chemistry", then that's Zumdahl's AP Chem text. The chem content wouldn't be out of date but it probably won't be well aligned with the current AP Chem syllabus. And as of 2013-2014, AP Chem is being redesigned so it'll definitely be out of alignment then. If you're planning on using it as a first chem text for your highschooler, just be aware that it is meant for AP Chem and won't be an easy go for someone who hasn't had a previous chem course.

Are you looking for just a lab kit or a full program that comes with lab equipment? This is the list of some options for Honours Chem: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/453617-homeschool-high-school-chemistry/#entry4680556 I do know that a rare student is able to take AP Chem as their first and only high school chem course (which would certainly be rigorous!) but it's probably not recommended. Here's some options for AP Chem: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/453617-homeschool-high-school-chemistry/#entry4680560 My favourite text for AP Chem is Chemistry by Raymond Chang. I'm going to be using his honours chem text, General Chemistry, with my dd either next year or the year after. I have it here and I like it very much. It would certainly be rigorous! It's not a homeschool program, though, so doesn't come in a neat package with everything you would need. It's the first entry listed on the post for Honours Chem and if you go to the website listed under "Additional Materials", it will bring you to the webpage of a high school teacher that has posted assignments, labs, and practice tests to go along with the text. You would have to source all the lab equipment yourself, though. I listed all the equipment you would need here: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/453617-homeschool-high-school-chemistry/#entry4689653 I'm still working on lining up the labs from The Home Scientist's Honours Chem lab kit to line up with Chang and to give a lab experience that covers all the basic wet-lab techniques - I've just been very distracted lately. My bad. :) I'll put that task on a front burner. :D If you want a program that comes with everything you need, I'm afraid it won't come cheaply. I don't have any experience with any of the Christian programs but I have a used copy of the Prentice Hall Chem text coming along with the syllabus from Oak Meadow (I wanted to find out if it was a good secular option for those that might want a full package). I can let you know what I think when they arrive. I think all of the options that are listed at the above links to posts have websites you can visit to find out more about what's included and the costs. If you have questions about a specific curriculum, there's probably someone on the forum who has some experience to share with almost any curriculum listed. :) Honestly, the evolution/creation debate shouldn't have much bearing on a chem curriculum. The only place I can even think of where it might be a problem for someone with a strict young-earth viewpoint is in discussing half-lives and radioactive dating - I'm not sure how the young-earth chem curricula handle this. If you're OK with the earth being old, secular resources should be fine.

Bump! :)

I just wanted to say... I want to shop at Home Despot. :D (Not picking on you, justamouse! :) I know this was probably one of those auto-correct things - it just struck me as funny today.)

This is the AP Chem post from the chem thread: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/453617-homeschool-high-school-chemistry/#entry4680560 Thinkwell and Trivedi are both video-based and, I would think, fairly independent. Are you using the DIVE DVD with the Apologia course? That might be another option. There are also some online options listed. I think if you want an actual College Board audited AP Chem course, you may have to go with the online/enrolled option. PA Homeschoolers, The Potter's School, and Oak Meadow all offer AP Chem.

:sad: :grouphug: