I don't know if this will work for you for next semester, but maybe next year? I designed it for non-science type kids who need something different than the traditional high school science (or science crazy kids who want something as a core type curriculum to add more science to their day). There is NO math and it's totally practical. Much of the chemistry is learned via cooking rather than crazy labs (so you get to develop some cooking skills, too!), and I try to get everything to tie to "real" life rather than the abstract. There also isn't a lot of the type of work that bogs a lot of students down. I am making some study questions, but they are totally optional. The whole curriculum is very flexible and you can adapt it to be more or less, depending on how many activities your student does, etc. Here's a pic of most of the books used for the year as there is NO textbook. I think that keeps things fresh and interesting, and keeps students from being overwhelmed by a huge boring chemistry text, lol. It also ties in a bit of history and whatnot. Anyway, let me know if you have any questions. I'm finishing it up and it should be ready by January sometime (hopefully sooner rather than later). It's not going to be very expensive (compared to other curricula) and you can get most of the books via the library. Most of the videos are free on YouTube with a few exceptions. Again - not sure if it will help you now, but you could do half of it this semester and then half in the fall, as it's not tied to a textbook.

I'm so glad it was helpful!!

:001_wub: Aww thanks!! Let me know how it goes!! I hope you enjoy it.

There is religion woven throughout, but they are usually small statements with the exception of some paragraphs that are almost entirely Christian content (see below). It is MORE religious than SOTW. The book does not make it clear whether it comes from a Y.E. perspective or not (that I noticed). It doesn't mention millions of years, but also doesn't give the age of the earth as young (that I remember). I believe it stays neutral on the issue (though I'm not 100% positive, I don't remember anything one way or the other). I believe the science is pretty straight-forward. There are mentions of God and Christian material, but they are not tied to the science itself other than to say things like "God did this" and "Isn't it cool that God used that" and so on. If that doesn't make sense, see below. If you are doing the book as a read-aloud, it would be easy enough to skip the Christian content, for the most part (imo), just the same as I would skip some evolutionary content on the fly, when reading to my kids (especially books that are really heavy with it). I'll page through part of the book and give you some examples of things you'd have to skip... Each chapter has small sections to read so I'll mark the sections that have Christian content with an asterisk and bold text, as I skim through the material in a few chapters: Chapter 1 - 15 pages (I'm putting how many pages are in the chapter, so you can see how many mentions of God or Christian content occur throughout by looking below and put that in perspective.) Intro* - contains Christian content throughout In the Beginning* (talks about creation) Forming the World* - God mentioned throughout Everything Matters Matter Matters Turn Up the Volume Mass Matters Density Matters Buoyancy Basics More on Matter Luster Matters Color May Matter The Shape of Matter Hardness Matters* - a brief mention of how the Bible says the streets in heaven are paved in gold in the first paragraph Smell Matters More Properties Matter End of chapter material* - mention of how wonderful it is that God created different things, etc. in the first paragraph Chapter 2 - 13 pages Moving Matter Moving Atoms Solid Matter Liquid Matter Viscosity Values Gas Matter Expanding and Escaping Air Gas to Liquid to Solid to Liquid to Gas End of chapter material* - First paragraph gives God credit for creating matter (easily to skip the 1st to sentences that mention that) Chapter 3 - 19 pages Building Blocks of Creation* - mentions that God has a fave building block (atoms) - in the 1st paragraph Also mentions that when God created the earth, He made about 94 different elements in the 5th paragraph and other mentions about God (in that 5th paragraph) Variety of Atoms* - 1st sentence mentions God creating atoms and elements (easily skipped) Attaching Atoms* - 1st sentence mentions God knowing what elements to connect to make everything (easily skipped) Atom Anatomy Charged Up* - in 3rd paragraph it says, "There are so many things to discover about God's world and all He made." and the following sentence also mentions God. Primary Positives Neutral News Electric Electrons Electron Energy Clouds, Shells, and Orbitals Valence Valor* - in 3rd paragraph it says, "God created these to atoms to bond together..." (easily skipped) The Periodic Table of Elements Bonding Basics End of chapter material Chapter 4 - 20 pages Compound Chemistry Crystallized Creations* - Christian content in title: creations, in paragraph 8 mention of the verse "You are the salt of the earth" (3 sentences together that talk about that) Subsection in the above chapter: Pressure and Perseverance - the entire paragraph is Christian and talks about pressure as mentioned in the Bible (James 1) - not necessary to read that paragraph to teach the lesson as it's not science based but is about character. Putty, Plastics, and Pencil Erasers Acidic Acid* - in 3rd paragraph it says "Do you remember that most of the elements God created are metals? Acids can dissolve and corrode a lot of the elements God made." End of chapter material ************************************************ I hope this helps to show how Christian content is interspersed throughout the book. I personally think it's easy enough to skip most of that, if you are going to read the book out loud to your children. I'm good at skipping things on the fly though. Some people may not be. For those who'd like to avoid Christian content, I can see why you would not be comfortable using it. However, please note that I do schedule in so many other books (some that even mention evolution). I think someone who is not a Christian could still use the spine book as a read-aloud, explain to your kids that it's a Christian book, so you might come across some beliefs that don't match your own, and then just don't use the 1 other book that is Christian (and clearly marked in the resources). Of course it will be up to you as to what you are OK with and not...but I think overall the curriculum is so awesome (if I do say so myself :lol: ), that perhaps you can get past the Christian content in the one book to enjoy the activities and all of the other great books, etc. ;) Please let me know if I can answer any other questions, or if you'd like more chapter examples to make a better decision as to if the spine book is OK for you or not. I want my curricula to be a good fit for whomever uses it, and I recognize that the Christian content in the spine may be too much for some (as I would not use some things that are just too way off base for my family's Christian beliefs).

I recommend Khan Academy. It's the only thing that has worked for my son as it's entirely self paced and he can jump around to different math modules (or whatever you want to call them). It's improved so much over the years and has plenty of material that helps teach and practice the concepts. He even started statistics and probability on his own, just to earn more badges, etc.

I did both and liked both for different reasons. If I could only choose ONE, I think I'd go with Miquon because it allows children to discover different paths to the same right answer. it also encourages math exploration. The only downside is that it's not scripted. You have to wade through the teacher's book and figure out how to teach the lessons, or just "play" to work on building a true understanding of the math concepts. My fave math program, though is Singapore. I know it wasn't on your list...but I had to mention it anyway. ;-)

I have a botany curriculum here: http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/botany/botany_curriculum.html :-) I plan on making one about animals, but that will be another year out, probably.

Now I'm curious.... ;-) and thanks again for the puffy heart love, lol. :001_wub:

That totally makes my day! :001_wub:

Thanks for the feedback (and the friend request)...I've gone ahead and made a business page! :-)

Ack. That would be awful! Thank you!!

Thanks so much!!! It will probably serve me better in the long run anyway. :-)

Thanks for the recommendation!! I'll take a look at them. I really like the preview on Amazon!

There is a printable version here: http://guesthollow.com/store/shop/knowledge-of-nature-curriculum/ Basically when you purchase the curriculum you get the following: 3 printable schedules in 3 different formats (PDF, Microsoft Word, Open Office) A login and password to the online version of the schedule (which makes it easy to use via a tablet, etc.). I try to provide as many options as possible so that customers can edit, print, or just view the schedule online. :-)

Ok, I will go ahead and make a business page right now...Thanks for sharing this. I really appreciate it. :-)

Thanks for the info!! I'll have to think about that, as there are reasons I'm doing it this way... I really appreciate the heads up, though. Well, if I have to change it, I'll let all my "new" friends know, lol...

Thank you!! :blush: I would love your feedback on the American history. I'm getting ready to redo it soon with a complete overhaul, so any suggestions or comments you might have would be really appreciated. I'll leave the old version up, too. The new one will be in my store. I'm trying to find a good spine book for the new version and am pulling my hair out over that, as I can't find anything that is "just right". Once I get that settled, I can work on the rest.

Thanks everyone for the friend requests!! :-) I feel all warm and fuzzy now, lol... :001_wub:

I finally am on there as Guest Hollow. It's not really a personal FB page, but is more for my website/business (although it's set up as a personal page for various reasons). I need some wtm "friends", lol... XXXXXXXXXX (edited) XXXXXXXXXXX :-) Edit: I created a business page instead! Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Guest-Hollow/886446198087884?fref=ts Now that I've received over 25 likes, I was able to change the link to this: https://www.facebook.com/guesthollow :-)

My son was behind in language arts, for awhile, due to some processing issues he has since outgrown. MCT was the only thing I found that he actually enjoyed AND retained during that difficult time. It totally engaged him with the stories and unique approach. You can tell that MCT loves language, and it comes through in his books. They OOZE that love. MCT doesn't dumb anything down, but treats the student / subject with respect. He lets kids know they are capable of understanding the material in a way that seems so intelligent and inspirational. It hit a chord with my son, and he was quite successful with it. Yes, this. Caesar's English is one of the best vocab programs I've ever used. It worked and didn't require any busy work. I loved how the words were showcased in real and classic literature. I also appreciated the word roots. It's rich, deep, and was learned mainly sitting together and discussing the pages (vs. filling out a bunch of workbook pages as in other programs). This too! My son and I have such great memories of using MCT. It's NOT just for gifted children. It also appeals to a kid who thinks outside the box and needs something a little different. I was SO happy to have found and used it. It's not really traditional, but it's so lovely. It's one of my absolute favorite L.A. programs.

Cuisenaire rods Play money Toy clock Abacus Colored tiles Fraction tiles or circles Pattern blocks Unifix cubes Geo board Dice Number line I loved math manipulatives. I just gave away our huge box of them several months ago, as my youngest son has long outgrown them. *sniff*

I just posted my new curriculum! The topics of study are chemistry, physics, animals, scientists, some history, art, and even ice cream! http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/knowledge/knowledge_of_nature.html Now it's back to work to make the next curriculum...lol. Thanks for letting me share. :-)

Thanks for the compliment!! :-) I think I'm blushing as no one has ever used the word rapture when talking about my curricula, lol. I'm so glad you liked the book!! I'm looking forward to using my new A & P with my son this year. I'm happy to see you are excited about the updated resources, too! Thanks again - you totally made my day. :001_wub:

I just finished updating another curriculum on my website. It's not really an update. It's actually more of a totally new creation: http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/anatomy_little_otters/littleotters_anatomy.html It's a gentle human body and health topics curriculum for preschoolers through about 2nd grade. The topics follow my jr. anatomy curriculum (and high school level, too) for multi-age teaching. You can also mix-and-match books from different levels to get the right fit. I've scheduled in lots of books (many that were my own children's favorites), as well as various activities and so on, to build retention and add an element of fun. Now I'm off to get started on the next one, lol...