Sweethomealabama, Since he did Life Science last year and physics/chem this year, are you sure you want to do life again in 7th? What about earth science? I've looked at the Plato Earth Science and it looks really good. Another option for you, might be to use BJU's earth & space w/lab materials from Home Science Tools. Then, for 8th, he could move on to Apologia Bio. There's so much memorization for bio; do you think he's ready for that? Just a thought; hope I didn't offend you... God bless, Jennifer

I realized this year that I needed to start this process for my dd. I was one of those kids who did not know what I wanted to do even through college. I graduated with a degree in marketing, worked in the field for 5 years and HATED IT! I'll bet if I had thought about shadowing opportunities then I might have changed majors in college. But honestly, I had no direction from parents or HS/college counselors. DH had a similar experience and we both returned to school in our 30's and obtained graduate degrees in completely different fields. So, in light of our experience, dh and I are encouraging dd to start career and college exploration now. She's interested in athletic training then physical therapy school. We've found a delightful young lady who completed this track and she has been a wealth of info. Dd has already shadowed her once and is going with her to a basketball game tomorrow for athletic training. I say the sooner the better to get kids out there looking at various careers. Homeschooling provides the perfect opportunity for this kind of exploration and I absolutely love that flexibility. Jennifer

Struggle for a Continent by Albert Marrin (covers Indians and all of the wars that are generally considered part of the French & Indian Wars--WARNING--This is graphic in its descriptions of how Indians scalped people and the conflicts/violence with the French.) George Washington and the Founding of a Nation by Albert Marrin In fact, any of Marrin's books are excellent. He's a fabulous storyteller and includes lots of primary sources from which he has obtained his info for writiing nonfiction books. Check your library; there should be many titles covering the areas you desire. HTH, Jennifer

We're using CPO Physical Science 1st edition copyright 2007. Yikes, have we had errors in the teacher's edition answers. I've just quit counting. I guess I'd say the student text is OK. Some concepts are explained very well and others incompletely. My dd has had some frustrations with it because of that. What we have finally found works well, is to read the text together, discuss it, and take notes. That way I can add detail to what's not mentioned in the text and give more examples. Honestly, I almost wish we'd done something like earth & space science this year and just moved on to a chemistry course for 9th. HTH, Jennifer

My dd used BJU DVD's last year and that included the World Studies course. She thought the text book was dry and boring, but she had come from a completely literature based approach to history for all her previous years of school. What she gained from this course, however, that was more important to me, was how to outline from a textbook. And I must say that BJU texts lend themselves well to building this skill. I had hoped that she would be able to add other literature to the history course, but her time was so filled with all the BJU courses and their assignments, that she never got to do that. HTH and if I can answer any other questions, let me know. Jennifer

creekland, I couldn't agree with you more. Wasted talent is just the tip of the iceberg. I see more far reaching ramifications in terms of a teen's confidence, self-worth, and hope for any future. With other pressures from society, how can this not set a depressing mood for these young people. Kids mature at different rates and the teen brain is still developing. There is so much scientific evidence to support this from the academic community, yet THEY overlook their own science. I just don't get that! OK, off my soapbox now.... Jennifer

:iagree:

Here are some things we've been doing since 5th grade: 1. I "lecture" on a topic (could be any school subject) and write notes on our whiteboard. These are words/phrases/diagrams/etc that help understanding, and hold student's attention. DD copies these. 2. Use DVD lectures in which student takes notes. This is a great way to introduce student to different teaching styles plus student may stop/start DVD (helps the beginner). Then go over notes together. 3. Take notes from textbook. I have done A LOT of hand-holding in this area to build these skills. If we're sitting together I may write down important points on a small (lap style) whiteboard. DD then copies. Like regentrude, I don't require "outlines", because some books IMHO, are difficult to outline, and lend themselves better to writing bullet points, phrases, definitions, etc. 4. Use notes or texts to make flashcards. This has been especially helpful in science because of all the vocabulary. Some of these may seem like YOU are doing much of the work and that is true. But I believe that the process of modeling "how" to do it along w/discussing "why" I chose what I did to write down is what's missing in much of our educational system. Modeling builds the skills gradually, until the student gains the confidence to do it on their own. This takes time and effort, but I can see how far my own dd has come in this area. HTH, Jennifer

Yes, I have considered using it in the future, but I'm not sure about next year. This is only my opinion, but for some kids physics concepts click and for others, understanding some of the abstract thoughts require more maturity. I think my dd might do better with physics as an older student, so I'll probably hold off. I know that many people feel that "physics first" is the "best approach", but I don't agree with that in all cases. I'm not making a decision until much later this year. I want to see how dd progresses through this entry level course and algebra. Then I'll make an assessment. HTH, Jennifer

Sweet home alabama, I thought I'd let you know that this is EXACTLY what my dd says, too! We started out the year with her reading a section and then discussing it together in a lecture style format where I draw/write on whiteboard. She was still not always getting it. So, she asked me if we could read the material together, discussing it, and taking notes at the same time. This has accomplished much more understanding on her part. Her improved comprehension has made a big difference on the section reviews and ch. assessments. Regentrude, I just had to say thanks for the additional assessment/test ideas. I've been making up my own tests with original questions and re-worked end of chapter problems, but I love these additional ideas. Dd will enjoy them as well. ;) Jennifer

The underlined part of your post is EXACTLY what dd is struggling with. She does not know where to begin. I love how you translated the word problem on your blog. I'll show this to dd tomorrow. Thank you so much! Jennifer

You know, it took ME a long time to get word problems, too, so I should expect dd to have to work at this. OH and LONG DIVISION....now I've got that going on with my 4th grade ds and he's not getting it. Between the two of them, I think I'm going to go bonkers:willy_nilly: When dd opened his book to this today, I just said to myself "OH NO, not your math, too." UGH. Thanks, Jennifer

I hadn't thought about this, but I'll keep it tucked away, just in case! Thanks, Jennifer

Thank you, Jann, you've made me feel better. ;) We're just going to keep plugging along. Jennifer

wykidwrangler, thanks for the links. The algebra helper for word problems looks very good. I looked at the Elemental science, but the earth science (logic stage) won't be ready until spring 2012. A little late for us I think. Thanks, Jennifer

We used BJU pre-algebra last year and I feel it was good prep for Lial's. I'm not ready to jump ship yet, but I've got to get dd beyond this current section and feeling more confident about her skills. DH meant well in his comments. I think more than anything, he was trying to echo my sentiments about all the meltdowns over the past 2 weeks. Jann in TX gave me some great advice in my xpost, stating that ch 1 & 2 were really more for teacher assessment and that ch 3 is really where the algebra text begins. So, thank you for your words of wisdom. We'll keep plugging along and I'll continue to assess just what is at the root of our issue. Thanks, Jennifer

Ooh...thanks for the Plato suggestion. These courses look really fun and interesting. I'm a little bit confused about the "time-slot" deal. Please explain this and tell me how it worked at your house. Thanks, Jennifer

I have tirelessly come up with real life examples :tongue_smilie:. She seems to understand it at the time we're doing it, but when the book gives a problem that applies that info, she just looks at me with glazed eyes and says, "I don't get what their asking?" SIGHHHHHH.... Hands-on-Equations...I've never heard of this. Where did you get it? Are there samples available??? Thanks for the tip. Jennifer

8fillTheHeart, I bought Lial's based on the reviews about its explicit instruction. I've seen Foerster's cheap on amazon, so I may just buy it and compare the two, especially with regard to word problems. Jann in TX responded in my xpost saying that word problems are taught more thoroughly later in Lial's. She said the crux of the algebra concepts really begin in ch 3, which we haven't gotten to yet. We've been hung up in ch 2. I'm really wondering if she would benefit from a "live" teacher besides me. As far as science, I agree with you that 13 is too young to have a "meltdown" in science. I don't want her to hate or to be afraid of math or science. I took physical science in 8th grade and that was when I made my first C's, ever. It was like a foreign language to me; I didn't understand ANYTHING! That started my path in science on the wrong foot and I certainly don't want dd to have that same experience. It took me years to regain my confidence in it. She's already done life science (BJU-last year). She really loved studying about plants, but she wasn't crazy about the BJU text. We looked at BJU Earth for this year, but she just didn't want to use their text. We've never done much earth science, so I've thought about maybe pursuing some of those topics. I'm not sure what books/text to use if I go that direction. I suppose I could also just make the physics/chem more of an "exposure" course without all the math and just have fun with the experiments. So, if you have any other insights, I welcome them. Thanks, Jennifer

Keep me posted as you watch the videos and read the book. At this point, I'm not sure the "physics first" path is going to be the right one for us. Jennifer

Bless you for responding, Sweet Home Alabama! Jann responded to my post on the HS board, so that has helped. I appreciate the link you posted....I'm too tired and frustrated to look at it right now. LOL! I'll do that tomorrow. As far as CPO, yes, I am one of the ones who's found errors. Your suggestion for the khan videos is a good one. I have the DIVE CD, but I consider it only OK, because it has such limited info on each topic. How are those TC videos? Does your dd get it or are they at a level above Intro to Physics? Thanks for responding. I hope I've made sense. I'm beat. Gotta go to bed! Jennifer

Jann, thank goodness for your reply. Just to let you know, I have been working with her. She reads the text, then we work through all the examples and then the odd problems in the exercises. She's been fine with the basic algebra. It's the word problems that are baffling her. DH and I have both been helping her work through them and it turns into a crying session with her saying she doesn't know what the problem is asking. Those word problems are not easy, IMHO, and I don't feel like the book has done enough teaching in that area yet to justify them in ch. 2. I do understand from your post that word problems will be discussed later, so could we skip all the remaining word problems in ch 2 and just finish the other concepts? We would do your suggestion of coming back to them later. Thanks, Jennifer

See....I knew I wasn't the only one. ;) I've read other posts identifying that "on-off" thing. I'm just worried about how long the "off" thing will last. Thanks for your post!

The past 2 weeks have been excrutiatingly difficult in math/science with my 8th grade dd. She is using Lial's Intro Algebra and CPO Physical Science. We breezed through the 1st chapter of Lial's, but now in ch 2 with more application of algebra concepts to word problems, dd is completely shutting down. I've been telling dh how this has been, and today, HE experienced it first hand and came to tell me..."We've got to do something differently. Get a tutor, find another program, something. She is losing confidence and getting demoralized." She is also doing the same thing in science. She literally cries because she can't put into words an answer. She told me the other day, she just couldn't grasp the material. (We were discussing acceleration, speed, velocity, and graphs associated with them.) I am teaching the material in both subjects and she just isn't getting it. I don't know if we've jumped the gun on increasing difficulty in her subjects too soon. I'm so puzzled. She excelled in pre-algebra last year and I thought surely she was ready for algebra, and thereby ready to apply some algebraic math in science. I know I'm not the only one who has experienced this, so PLEASE, would you all help me out with some words of wisdom. Thank you so much,