Hello, Catherine, Have you ever heard of The Art of Problem Solving? This web site and company was started by some real math whizzes - the guys who win intermational math competitions. All their textbooks are designed to be self-instructional. My son is completing their Intro to Geometry now - I just wish I had found these people sooner! They have both an intro to Algebra and Inermediate Algebra (some of thse topics sound more like percal and beyond). As an added bonus, their books are reasonably priced! You might want to call them and ask what they would recommend for your daughter - the authors of the books were very helpful when I was making geometry decisions. One more thought - they offer classes; maybe one would be good for your dd. This should get to their website http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/ . Blessing and happy math hunting, April

Hello again! DS 1, who is taking the chem SAT II , is finishing up Apologia Advanced Chemistry - actually he will finish it after he takes this test - regular chemistry has been put on hold while he powers through a review book and 3 practice tests - taking one as i write. How's that for grammar! I suppose I could just chuck the search and have DS 2 do Apologia Bio, but he doesn't really like the wordy style. I think I might be creating a few waves here with my real-life friends, since I am the one who will be doing bio labs and we all have the Apologia book already. It will be an issue for some financially and perhaps philosophically, but I really feel I have to put the needs of my son first here. Sigh. If you find info on ornithology, please send it on - ds 2 would be grateful! Thanks mucho! April

How funny Ailaena! I got a laugh out of your description of your evening! Thank you for sharing your expeiences with various books. Which edition of the Glencoe book did you evaluate - 2004 or 2007? (my dates might be off here - just going from memory) I have a copy of the 2000 student edition) Blessings, April PS - I'm there with you on testing. I understand the need for testing, but how to balance that with love for learning is a puzzle, especially if what you love to lear is not on the test! Trying to find a high school level ornithology book for my son is a lost cause, I think... My older son is taking the Chem Sat II on Saturday - 85 questions in 60 minutes! should be interesting! Way back in the mists of time, I started college as a Bio major (before I hit the chem wall and changed majors to finance...) I loved bio and anatomy & phys is high school. after looking at current bio texts, it does seem that the emphasis has shifted way to the microbio side - maybe too much.. After all, we get interested in bio because of what we can see around us...just a thought! more blessings!

Thank you, Janice! I appreciate the link - one more book to add to the list of possibilities... Blessings, April (beginning to feel that picking a bio text is a full time job!)

Thank you Laurie and Ellie for sharing your CC to CSU experiences - I appreciate it! Blessings, April

Thanks, Laurie! We may well have the guys start at the local CC. AV College is just a few files from our house (older son has taken 3 computer classes there as a sophomore). It does make sense financially to go that route! Did your son find the transition from CC to SJS relatively smooth? Blessings and thanks for chiming in! April

Thanks, Kathleen! Thanks for the link as well. April

Thanks, Tammy! Blessings to you as you plan for this as well! What text are you using? April

Hello Kathleen, I enjoyed reading your review of Sign and Seasons.. I had heard of this, but didn't know much about it - it sounds intriguing! Are you planning to use this with high schoolers for credit or for family enjoyment? I am curious to know if it can be counted as a high school science or elective. The approach sounds refreshing! Thank you and blessings, April

Thank you for the correction, Trillium! In the case of biology textbooks, shorter does seem to be a relative term, doesn't it? I really like your signature! Maybe someday I'll figure out how to do things like that! Blessings, April

Thanky you Teachmom3! I appreciate the additional information regarding the UC system. What a waste that most of our publicly funded universities choose to turn up their noses at a vibrant homeschooling community! Congratulations to your daughter! I would love to know more about your decisoin making process regarding colleges - how did you and your daughter decide to look at UCR? Has she been happy there? We are a couple of hours north of Riverside, so we could go down for a visit to check out the campus. Did you find any other CA schools that were/are homeschool friendly? Thank you also for your insight into the science text controversy. We are part of an ISP (unacredited) run by a reasonably large, accredited Christian school, pursuing a college prep diploma. I don't know if my guys will seen as students of the accredited school or not. I suppose it depends on how closely admissions officers read applications! Looking forward to hearing from you, Blessings, April

Thank you, Ailaena! I am curious about what makes the new Glencoe biology book so much better - could you give your opinion? I wonder if it is available used... Did your dh use the CD or web resources available with Exploring LIfe? From what I understand, those activities are pretty foundational to the concept of the course (publisher's point of view) I can appreciate your biology background making you want more. However, do you find yourself concerned with depth vs breadth for an intro course? I look at these texts - some hovering around 1000 pages, and think, "what do we really need to know here?" I really want my sons to get the big ideas (and be able to pass the SAT II, I'll be honest!) and then focus on the topics that interest them most - that would be birds, for younger ds. Any and all thoughts appreciated! Thanks again and blessings, April

Thank you for the welcome, Beth! I would love to hear what you think about the Exploring Life goodies when you have had a chance to look them over. Congratulations on finding bits and pieces for reasonable prices! Blessings, April

Thank you , Maura, for the encouragement! I do feel as though I am on the search for the holy grail of biology texts! Could you please tell me how you decided on the text you chose? Thanks again! Blessings, April

Greeting from California! I have been a lurker for a bit and I thought I would take the plunge and join the forum in order to benefit from you collective wisdom! My husband and I have been homeschooling our two sons for six years now: older ds is finishing us 10th grade and will turn 16 on 6/2,and younger ds is going to graduate 8th grade on his 14th birthday (6/14). In CA, our public university systems apparently don't appreciate biology courses taught from books by BJU, Abeka, and Apologia, so in order to jump through the UC and CSU hoops I need to pick a secular text with good support materials. An added plus would be an affordable price!:) I have been able to pick up a few used bio textbooks (student versions) from library book sales (cant' beat 50 cents for a book!). Now I am trying to decide if I should use one of them or try to find a used copy of Exploring Life (is that what is sometimes called baby campbell?). Whatever I choose, I need to ba able to get teacher's materials like a teacher's text, lab manuals, tests and answers... Here is a list of the books I have: Glencoe: Biology, the Dynamics of Life 2000 edition Holt Rinehart and Winston: Biology Principles and Explorations 2001 edidtion Holt: Biology Visiualizing Life, 1998 edition In additon, I will most likely be folding in a couple of other students for labs and tests, so I need to be able to get books, etc, for them. Any thoughts from those of you who have used any of these texts of compared then to Exploring Life? Any and all ideas welcomed and appreciated! Thank you!!! Blessings to you all, April