Has anyone used the Apologia Biology lab kits sold by Home Science Tools? I'm wondering if these would work well with the Exploring Life book, or if they are too different from the curriculum to be a good fit. They are less expensive than the labpaq kits, but I want something that will still give a good lab experience. Ideas appreciated!

We really like the understandable writing in Exploring Life, as well. Thank you for offering to help! :) I do have the student lab manual (and have considered getting the teachers' one, as well), and we have been doing most of the labs in it so far. However, looking ahead at the labs, at about the chapter 12 point the labs start requiring things I think will be difficult for homeschooling families to purchase. For instance, HeLa cancer cells, pGLO plasmid DNA, agar plates with ampicillin and E coli, a gel electrophoresis chamber, etc. I'm not saying it would be impossible to acquire these items. I do think the costs would be getting a bit high to buy these for single experiments, however, and I haven't found a supplier yet that will supply a few of these items (such as the HeLa cells) to homes (not to say there isn't one). I'm hoping that buying a packaged lab set would either make these types of experiments possible for us or else provide a substitute experiment that is more rigorous than some of the Exploring Life alternative experiments - such as looking at your earlobe and drawing a pedigree chart. If other families have been able to do the more-difficult labs in Exploring Life at home, I am definitely all ears! :bigear:

I'm in search of a good packaged lab for Biology that will work with Campbell's Exploring Biology. We're not following the AP route. DS definitely enjoys science more with plenty of hands-on work, and I'm hoping to find a package that will do a good job of illustrating basic Biology concepts while not costing a fortune. I've looked at Labpaq's BK-1 package and am still considering buying it, but $199 seems pretty steep. I'd like to hear from those who have used it or another basic Biology packaged lab. How rigorous were the labs? How well did you feel they illustrated the concepts? I know it's a little late in the year to be buying lab material, but we just recently switched (about a month ago) to Campbell's from Holt Biology in an attempt to find better explanations of the subject. I had the lab video for Holt, which was helpful in preparing the labs that went with that book. DS really seems to like Exploring Biology, and we've have been working through the labs so far with equipment I have on hand. However, upcoming labs go beyond what I feel like I can easily do at home without a lot of purchases of equipment and supplies, not to mention a good bit of research on my part in advance (make a chromosome spread using HeLa cells? really?) I know Campbell's has an easier lab for each chapter, as well, but these are much less rigorous (look at your earlobe; draw a pedigree chart is the easier one for the genetics chapter, for instance). I'm hoping to find a lab package that is somewhere between the two and would appreciate hearing what has worked for others.

My DS also has times in which he is just a bundle of complaints, and I don't find those times to be good ones for me to be involved with his teaching. I've found it useful to print up a daily list of assignments, with exact info on what he needs to do for each subject. That way, I can leave the assignments completely up to him (with the clock set for the time required for that class) when necessary. When he's in a better frame of mind, we spend time discussing readings and literature together. I've definitely found that a mixture of textbooks and great books works best for us. When the complaints set in, I assign the textbook work and go clean house, instead. I also find that a batch of muffins (chocolate chip, today) helps a lot when DS is moaning about how hard life is ;) I'm learning that teenage boys require a huge amount of both food and patience.

Cornell has an online text on legal citations that discusses that here. HTH

This story was in our local newspaper this past weekend, and I found it very disturbing. I've spent hundreds every year on textbooks from them, but I guess I'll be trying to find things on ebay or elsewhere now. http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/25/1838803/ambulances-wait-outside-amazon.html

I'd say it's time to let her type and not worry about the handwriting. If she has no desire to make it legible, you're fighting a losing battle. Since she has the ability to make it legible when she so chooses, I think you have done your work in that area and should work on increasing her typing speed, instead.

regentrude, I must have missed that part of the requirements. I saw only "rigorous yet user friendly. Something STRONG in science but understandable." Sorry - I certainly didn't mean to offend.

I can't say that I have a solution for science that will take you throughout all of high school. However, we are using Campbell's Biology: Exploring Life and really like it! Explanations are excellent, and the workbook and CD ROM with accompanying activities are quite helpful. I think it would be an excellent choice for an aspiring veterinarian.

matroyshka, the Poldark novels were much better than the miniseries! The miniseries ended when Ursula was born, but the books went on. Excellent series to read :)

In the Poldark novels by Winston Graham, Ursula Warleggan was an unlovely, cruel-minded daughter of a wealthy, cruel-minded man. Anyone familiar with that series would have a pretty negative bias toward the name.

Flashcards work well for us when the things to be remembered are specific enough. Get a big pack of 3 x 5 cards and give it a try! You could even have the kids make the cards themselves as a way of reviewing the material.

Ice cream sundaes sound good to me - that's a dessert that always goes over well when I make dinners for groups that include children. The kids love to add their own toppings! Also, the fat in the dairy products helps counteract the spiciness of the chili (if your chili is, in fact, spicy). Hope your dinner goes well! I'm heading to the store for ice cream after reading this thread . . . .

Paper Treasures? Put it on Paper? I like PaperPerfect, too, though

Thanks. I will check into worldcat at our library. It looks like an interesting service. When I called our library to ask about worldcat, I was told to talk to the inter-library loan staff. I know that for inter-library loans, patrons pay up to $6 per item in shipping fees, and the loan may take several weeks to process. Are worldcat's policies similar? I can't tell from the website.

Can you recommend a service that will mail educational DVDs? We are Netflix subscribers for now (both the mail and the instant streaming service), but I am fed up with the number of DVDs that they have marked only as "save" (meaning they're not really available - and usually will not become available any time soon). Netflix's CEO announced yesterday that the company is splitting in two, with the DVD by mail service being renamed. I use the service mainly for documentaries that fit into our history curriculum, and I find it very lacking in actual availability of material now that we have seen most of the introductory-type DVDs and are ready for more in-depth documentaries on specific subjects. I see some of these listed on their website and have added them to my queue, but they never seem to become available. Is there another service that will mail DVDs to your home and that has a better selection of educational flicks that you can actually have delivered?

You might look at the books used in Kolbe Academy's literature sequence. They cover medieval lit in 11th grade. They sell the books, if you need them, and a course plan with tests, as well. Here's a link: Kolbe 11th grade lit The books they cover are Song of Roland, Beowulf, Dream of the Rood, Sir Gaiwan and the Green Knight, Dante's Divine Comedy, The Canterbury Tales, Milton's Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained, and several of Shakespeare's works. I bought their course plan and have found it very helpful, even though we have made a few substitutions of works. For instance, we're not planning to cover Dante and are adding in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Histories of the Kings of Britain.

Rebecca, I'm glad I'm not the only one having a tough time with 9th grade curricula! Having said that, though - you can do this! The fact that you are trying so hard to assess how things can improve means you really care about your son's education - far more than a teacher at a school would. So here's a big, encouraging hug for you! :grouphug: We're at week 6, and I've just kicked our science curriculum to the curb in favor of another book, lab manual, etc. and am using an e-book on a website (Scitable) until the new book gets here. That's one approach that you could try. We also had a terrible time with Analytical Grammar at first. Everyone here seemed to love it, but it wasn't working for us until I changed the way I taught it. Now, we're only doing every other problem, and I'm anticipating a two-year study of grammar instead of getting it over with in one. DS is actually enjoying AG now. That's another approach - just modify the material how ever you need to in order to suit the way your son learns best. I'm not familiar enough with MFW's approach to recommend specific changes, but I'm sure some of the other parents on this board can do so. If you can't make it work for you, don't be afraid to head to the used book store, the library or the internet for something different. Week 3 is a great time to assess what's working and to make changes. Teenagers have a way of deflating parental confidence with a few well-chosen words, and it sounds like that's what happened to you. Keep in mind that a teacher at a school would be much less able (or willing) to modify the curricula for one student. Your son has a huge advantage in having you as a teacher!

"Liberty! The American Revolution" would be my choice. I thought PBS did a great job with this documentary, and DS and I really enjoyed watching it. A companion site here also has a teacher's guide with discussion questions and additional info. I would not hesitate to show this one to those of a conservative persuasion - especially since I would expect 11th graders to be up to dealing with a wide variety of viewpoints. You might have some interesting discussions!

Yes, we have a CD-ROM of visual concepts from Holt that has been somewhat helpful. The main focus for Holt right now seems to be moving to online student editions of the text, which is not something in which I'm interested. I have looked at the Teaching Company's DVD set "Biology: The Science of Life" as a possible supplement. If anyone on the board has used that set, I'd be happy to hear your reviews (the reviews on the site are somewhat mixed).

Thanks! We have not gotten to that chapter yet, but it's coming up. I'll look for that series. Right now we're studying concepts such as cellular respiration, chromosomes and cell reproduction - sort of the basics, I guess.

Mignon Ballard wrote a series of murder mysteries featuring Augusta Goodnight, an angel. They are set in a small Southern town and generally have quite a few characters. Very little gore or violence, and I thought they were well written.

DS is a visual learner, and I'm looking for a set of DVDs to supplement high school Biology. The textbook we use is Holt Biology (by Johnson and Raven), and we're covering a chapter each week in order to finish the book in one year. The writing is fairly clear for most topics covered, but I think my son would be aided in his studies if we had additional visual material to supplement. Has anyone used the 6-DVD set "Elements of Biology" from Discovery? Any other ideas for DVDs for Biology?

How about just picking out some interesting books (not textbooks) about the period(s) you are studying and watching a few documentary movies that cover the time period(s)? Since you appear to be studying early American history, you might look at the illustrated edition of David McCullough's 1776, supplemented by the PBS series "Liberty! The American Revolution." You could also read some in-depth biographies of the central characters of the time period(s) you are studying. Having your son write a few essays about his readings might be even more effective than standard testing of the material covered.

With regard to 4-H and college, participation in 4-H in high school is a good way to win college scholarship money. A quick search online of the words "4-H" and "(your state) college scholarship" is evidence of that. Whether or not a few schools recognize the value of 4-H, many other universities and institutions certainly do - and are willing to pay for 4-H members to attend college.