hoosiermom
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Posts posted by hoosiermom
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We have views similar to yours and used Apologia Physical Science and then Biology. Physical Science didn't present nearly as much of a conflict w/ viewpoints as Biology did. We will be switching to Prentice Hall for chemistry. If I could do it over, I would not use Apologia Biology but might use the Physical Science.
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dd (14) is scheduled to have all 4 wisdom teeth extracted first week in Aug. We also got the warning about not using a straw, and she will be given a syringe to help w/ cleaning process. DH had his pulled in his 30's w/ only laughing gas for sedation and went to work after w/ no problems at all. My teenage niece said she napped and watched movies for first couple of days, drowsy from pain meds.
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I've also decided to use Spielvogel's Human Odyssey for early modern world history for next year. I purchased the TE as well--1999 ed. ISBN for TE is 0-538-43032-X. I had to pay more for TE than student ed, but plan to use it again the following year for modern world history so think it will be worth it.
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10 surgeries (mostly knees) in a span of 8 years plus fibromyalgia
I actually think hsing is a benefit to me. I'm more in control of our schedule (don't have to get up at 6 a.m. to get dd on bus). I only have 1 to homeschool and she is able to work independently--not sure how it would be otherwise. I'm definitely a planner, so I try to have things planned ahead of time so when I have a bad day, dd knows what she's supposed to do.
I, too, was afraid of not being able to handle it all when we took dd out of public school 4 years ago, but hsing has truly worked for our family!
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I was a public high school teacher before I was a homeschool mom. High school math and science textbooks used in public schools ALWAYS have more chapters than can realistically be covered in a school year. It was up to the teacher (or the school's curriculum director) to decide which chapters must be completed in order to meet the school's and/or state's learning objectives. I would say the situation is the same for other subjects as well--I've never been associated w/ a school as a teacher or student where an entire history book has been completed.
I have found, however, as a homeschool mom, that most books written specifically for homeschoolers are meant to be completed. My dd just finished high school biology (w/ a traditional homeschool text) and we did the entire textbook. However, we're using Dolciani for Alg 1, which is a textbook originally written for public schools, and we will not be doing the last chapter (because of time constraints and because I know that material will be covered in Alg 2). For world history for next year, we're focusing on Renaissance thru Age of Exploration, so I will choose the chapters in our history text accordingly.
There are some subjects where it seems more crucial to cover the entire book (foreign language, for example). I've learned not to stress out if we don't cover the last 1 or 2 chapters in spelling or if I leave out 1 novel in a list of 7 or 8 for a lit class.
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We used Lightning Lit 8th grade level this year and liked it. What about using one of their high school level courses?
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I added the first and third equations to eliminate y. This resulted in 8x + 4z = 2. I then used this new equation w/ the second equation of original three and again used elimination method. When you do this, you eliminate both x and z and get 0 = 0. This means there are an infinite number of solutions. This is a brief, simplifed explanation. HTH--if you need more details, let me know.
Cathy
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My science-oriented dd did Apologia Physical Science in 7th grade along w/ pre-algebra. She needed just a few pointers on some of the problems using alg skills. We did not do Apologia General Science (we did RS4K in 6th gr). She has con't w/ Apologia Biology as an 8th-grader w/ no problems at all.
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I also tutor math and am a former public high school math teacher. I currently tutor a student who is using the Glencoe geometry book, and I can assure you that there are proofs early in the book (and by that, I mean 2-column proofs). I don't have a copy of the book here, but I know proofs began at least by middle of first semester.
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OK . . . you asked!:D
First of all, I do not think Apologia is rigorous enough, at least for us. It's not so much the content as the review questions/tests/labs. The end-of-chapter review is actually better than the tests. Each chapter averages about 30 pages, but there are only 22-26 points on each test. There might be 20 or more vocab words in a chapter, yet the test will only ask for 4-6. Dd has easily made A's in both physical science and biology as a 7th and 8th-grader, but it only takes her 5-10 minutes to take a test. One of the things that I've done this semester as the biology teacher in co-op is to write my own portion of the test.
The labs are another weak point. With the exception of the dissection labs, the labs are fairly simplistic. The labs don't really use the scientific method, and students aren't given much instruction in writing lab reports. Some of the labs from physical science are repeated in biology.
I fully understand that every text comes w/ built-in author bias. To be clear, we are not YE people. We knew going into the course that we would not always agree w/ the author. I guess you could say we agreed to disagree. Dd complained all thru physical science about the author's "tone." Wise parent that I am, I told her to ignore it and focus on the content. Now that I'm reading the biology text cover-to-cover, I understand what she means!
I have no problem w/ an author presenting both sides of an issue and then stating what side he/she is on. However, the Apologia test questions ask you to agree w/ the author on these controversial issues (not just evolution/creation, but others . . . global warming, for one) in order to get the "right" answer. I would much rather the student be asked to compare/contrast opposing viewpoints and then justify their support for either side. We've chosen to deal w/ this type of test question in this way: dd is allowed to respond "the author wants me to say . . . however, I believe . . . because . . . "
I know many who love Apologia, but I will definitely be switching to something else for chemistry. Honestly, I could ignore our differences of opinion on some topics if I felt the course was rigorous enough. While I don't think our 2 years of Apologia has been a complete waste of time, we need to make a change. Dd is a science-y kind of kid who contemplates a science career--she needs something more challenging.
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My dd did Apologia physical science in 7th and Apologia biology this year in 8th. She basically did physical science on her own w/ help from dh for labs. I was contemplating a switch this year for biology--however, we joined a co-op and they were using Apologia, so we went with it. Long story short--our co-op biology teacher left mid-year and I took over the class. Now I'M the one complaining about Apologia, and we are definitely switching to something else for chemistry. My plans are to use the Prentice-Hall chemistry text with Kolbe's syllabus and parent support materials along w/ the PH virtual labs and hands-on labs from Labpaq. In retrospect, I wish I had switched from Apologia earlier.
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Thank you for that link.
Could you give me an idea what the Kolbe parent material did contain?
Did it have answers for the assigned problems from textbook? And was it just answers or worked-out solutions?
There are on-line assessments on the Prentice-Hall web-site, so I thought I might use those to supplement the assessments from Kolbe.
Thanks for the info--all of this is very helpful.
Cathy
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When I first started teaching high school math 20+ years ago, the course after Alg 2 was called Senior Math, then Precalculus. Eventually that full-year course was divided into College Algebra/Trigonometry, each being taught for one semester. If you just have time for one semester, why not just do one of these? Either one would work after Alg 2. If she had a strong Alg 2 class, you might go w/ Trig. If she did a lot of Trig with Geometry, you might go with College Alg. Hope this helps.
Cathy
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Can anyone help w/ the level of Thinkwell's chem program?
When I go to the web-site, I can only access 4 demo videos. All are from the first chapter, so that makes it hard to judge the difficulty of the entire curriculum. The titles of the chapters indicate to me that it gets pretty deep.
My specialty is math, so I looked at their algebra--they call it "intermediate"--which they say is 8th/9th grade Alg I. However, the last 3 chapters are usually taught in Alg II, not Alg I.
For our first high school chem class, I do want rigorous--but not necessarily college level. I do like the presentation in the 4 demo videos, but I want to make sure we don't get in over our heads.
Cathy
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Hi All,
I'm new to the forums but have certainly learned a lot. I know chemistry has been discussed a lot and I've read thru many old posts. But I would appreciate any advice you could give me. I'm trying to choose a chem curriculum for my dd for next year (she'll be in 9th). We've hs'ed for 4 yrs and I don't think I've ever had this much trouble choosing a program.
Dd is a very science-y, tech type. She did Apologia physical science in 7th and Apologia biology in 8th and made A's fairly easily. We're looking for something other than Apologia for chem. She's finishing Dolciani Alg 1 as an 8th-grader. (I'm a math teacher so we've got the math part of chem covered).
I've already purchased The Teaching Company high school chem course as a supplement--I understand that this is more the math part of chem. After much research, I believe these are my three options (in no particular order):
1. Spectrum
2. Thinkwell--I would use the chem LabPaq as well; if I understand this program correctly, there's no additional text needed???
3. Prentice Hall (2005)--I would probably purchase the syllabus, answer key, and online access from Kolbe, as well as use the virtual lab CD and the chem LabPaq for hands-on labs
Thus far, dd's favorite science curriculum has been RS4K, esp. chem. She basically did Apologia physical science on her own (w/ help from dh for labs). Biology has been in a co-op where basically only labs were done (she did the rest on her own). I took gen chem in college . . . many years ago. . . and don't necessarily have the time to re-take chem w/ her given my other responsibilities, altho I will be available for grading and review.
I guess what I'm saying is I need something fairly rigorous in case she continues down the science path, and I need it to be "user-friendly" and not incredibly time-consuming for me. I expect her to take physics in 10th, followed by another chem class (possibly CC) in 11th.
Not sure why this decision is stressing me out more so than others. I'm probably way over-thinking this, but I would very much appreciate advice and pros/cons from those of you who have used the programs on my list.
Many, many thanks for any advice!
Cathy
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Angie,
I'm new to the forum but have literally spent hours reading old posts regarding chem curriculum. I had just about decided on Spectrum Chemistry when I read your current post. I would be grateful if you could elaborate on what you meant when you said it "isn't enough." I'm trying to learn from those who have "been there, done that."
My dd is currently an 8th-grader taking Apologia Biology (we did Apologia Physical Science last year). She basically did physical science on her own w/ help from dh w/ labs. She complained that she didn't like the "attitude and tone" of the author. This year she's doing biology in a co-op. After our biology teacher had to leave the co-op, I took over the class this semester--now I know what she means because I also don't like the "tone" of the author (no disrespect intended!). She says she will do Apologia Chemistry if I ask her to, but I actually would prefer to use something else. I would prefer secular for science. I also do not think the Apologia labs are "enough." I would like to see labs where there is an actual variable involved--leading the student to hypothesize that if I change this . . . then what will happen?
Dd is a strong (if sometimes lazy) student who is very science and tech-oriented, so I feel some pressure to choose the right chemistry curriculum. She has always loved chem and physics. RS4K in 6th grade was probably our favorite science curriculum thus far.
My background is in math ed. I did not take chem in hs but took general chem in college and did well because of my math background. But it's been so long ago that I honestly don't know what to look for in a chem text. Spectrum seems to be student-directed, which would be a plus for us. Again, dh will be helping w/ labs and I'll be doing the grading and can certainly help w/ the math part, but I don't necessarily want to re-take chem myself (just not enough hours in the day).
I was planning on Spectrum Chem along with TC hs chem videos for more of the math part of chem. My plan was physics in 10th grade and then possibly Zumdahl's chem or CC chem class in 11th. But now I'm so confused!! Am I not going rigorous enough if I choose Spectrum?
Angie, I certainly didn't mean to hijack your thread, but any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Cathy
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my instincts tell me to go with BCM. I've encountered too many Alg 2 students who were still weak in their understanding of basic mathematical concepts. I do have plenty of algebra supplemental materials that I can use when the time comes.
Since you're familiar w/ BCM, may I ask a couple more questions? The mother one of my prospective students is hoping I choose a textbook which has a digital video tutor because she feels she can't adequately help her daughter w/ math homework. Altho I wasn't aware of this request until after I found BCM, I see that there is a DVT available. Have you ever used this, and do you think it's a valuable resource? Personally, I think the book itself has excellent explanations, but the DVT might provide a little extra support in this instance.
Also, are there any supplemental teacher resources that you consider a must-have?
Again, I appreciate the advice from someone who has used the book.
Thanks so much.
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I will be teaching pre-algebra in a co-op next fall and am trying to choose a textbook. I should have 5-6 students, ranging from 6th-8th grade and of varying abilities. I'll meet w/ the class once per week for 1 hr 15 min, plus be available thru e-mail and phone. I'm a homeschool mom who taught public school math for many years (Alg II, College Alg/Trig, Calculus . . . but not prealgebra). I've looked at many pre-algebra texts--Holt, Abeka, BJU, etc--and found Lial's BCM thru reading many posts on this forum. I fell in love w/ BCM. I guess I'm only second-guessing myself because some might consider it "light" on its actual algebra content.
At least a couple of my students have not yet mastered fractions, percents, word problems, etc. Abeka would be my second choice, but it gets into algebra fairly quickly. I feel confident in my ability to supplement whatever text I choose. But since I'll be teaching two co-op math classes, tutoring public school students, and homeschooling my daughter, I don't want to create unnecessary work for myself.
So I guess my question is--do I go w/ BCM and add some extra algebra, time permitting, after we've mastered the basics, or do I go w/ Abeka and supplement w/ extra review of the basics at the beginning of the course??
For those who have used BCM as your pre-alg text, did you have an easy transition to algebra?
Thanks!
Cathy
Where did all you newbies come from?
in General Education Discussion Board
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I taught math in a public high school for 16 years. DD went to public school thru 4th grade. We hs'ed on our own for 3 years and then joined a co-op this year where a couple of families use classical ed. The latest ed of WTM was in the new book section of local library. I picked it up, found this forum, and have become addicted!! So much good advice (and very entertaining at times)
Cathy