With those who used Rulebook of Arguments and The New Oxford Guide to Writing (or similar), how did you plan the lessons? Some chapters are longer than others, so did you break it down by pages....? And, how long did it take for your student to complete the books? Thanks! Gina

Wow! This is fabulous! Thank you! Can you direct me to some addition copywork too?:D

I've been struggling ALL MY LIFE to rise early. My dad says, to this day, that he had to peel the sheets off of me every morning to get me to school on time. In college, I didn't sleep for 36 hours to finish my thesis! Talk about procrastination. (love the perfectionist part, by the way - heehhehe) I am more of a night owl. This is probably because all the distractions of the day are in bed! :) The trouble is, my kids are morning risers and do their best early in the morning (like a lot of people!)and my husband is the type who doesn't need as much sleep. Ugh! So, I continue to struggle. I make checklists for my older students so they can get started before I have my morning coffee. I also use HomeSchool Tracker Online - I just started using it. It has helped quite a bit, but I'm still a newbie at it. If I can't get down the stairs at the same time the older kids do because the baby woke up a few times at night, the kids can use their lists to smoothly get their work done. From one struggling scheduler (and early riser) to another: cheers! :cheers2:

Very close. She is editing and rewriting material this year. I think she needs another year of review and then she probably could use the Warriner's Complete Course as a reference and handbook. Thanks for the suggestions!:001_smile:

Thanks so much! Wow! Everyone is so helpful.

:iagree:Yes! I just started venturing out again to the thrift stores because it was hard to think my own thoughts and concentrate while looking through shelves and tables of books when I had my little ones around. It was not fun for anyone, including the clerk! I have a teenager now who can babysit a bit while I go to the Library thrift store once in a while. It is so nice!

Stencils!!! I'm a big fan of Melissa and Doug. So are my kids! :D Very Cool! Love it! You did awesome!

Thank you, thank you!

I bought a study guide for Zumdahl's Chem on Alibris.com for 99 cents + shipping. I can't tell you off hand how much I saw the texts for, but I did see several editions for sale.

Yes, but we have a digital scale and a digital multimeter. We don't have a hot plate or burner though. What is the shelf life of the kits? If I buy the kit and use it for one student, can I save the kit for a couple of years for the next child to use?:) Yes! Thank you for providing the lab manual on the site. It has been wonderful to view the procedures for the lab experiments. (Remembering my college years in junior and senior level chem and micro labs :)) The manual is thorough and straight forward. I have not found other kits sold to have a manual that I can download and compare though. Can you direct me? :D Thanks for your suggestions and help!

I am currently looking online for a lab kit to go with my dd's chem course. I found CK01 by the Home Scientist (http://www.thehomescientist.com/kits/CK01/ck01-main.html) produced by Robert Bruce Thompson, author of the best-selling Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture. It looks pretty good and the price isn't too bad. . :bigear: Another kit I was looking at is http://curriculumexpress.com/chemistry-lab-kit.html Labpaq is another neat one I am looking at and some on this forum have highly recommended it. I'm not sure which kit would be a good choice for the Chem book I have though. I was looking at this one: http://lab.labpaq.com/ck-s, but it's a bit pricey.

This is very interesting. Hmmmm... something to really think about if it might work for us. Thanks!

oops

Landmark Alexander the Great 25 cents Elements of Style for 25 cents Zumdahl's Chemistry Study Guide 5th ed for 99 cents + 3.50 S&H (alibris) Raven's and Burke's Biology Study Guide 4th ed 99 cents + 3.50 S+H (alibris) Lots of books for history bought at a Library sale for $2.25! I have swapped many books at Paperback swap too for my dd's great books course! Free and near free are great blessings! Gina

:iagree: I found this same problem with the Apologia Bio text. But, I bought the 1st edition. I'm using Raven and Johnson's college bio text to supplement now. My dd felt she needed more, so I pulled it out from my shelf. So far, the info is not much different, I think, because I have the 1st edition of Apologia Bio and my college text is not much older.

Woohoo! Thanks so much!

[quote Zumdahl does a great job (better than apologia) preparing kids for college chemistry and a good job for an AP exam. Chang could easily be overwhelming. Yes, both texts are LONG. It will be a lot of work to get through them. Don't worry about the chapters toward the end with descriptive chemistry of the main and transition elements. You might consider getting a more recent version of Zumdahl and its answer key. Good luck to you!! Thank you so much! Do you have suggestions for labs? I have been researching Labpaq and I am overwhelmed with the choices. How many labs do you recommend for the year?

Do you use the textbook or do you use Labpaq as your spine? In other words, does your child do the experiments and then use the textbook to reinforce the concepts experienced? Oh! How do you assess your student? Do you just use the questions/problems at the end of the chapter to assess? I apologize for all my questions. I am new to classical education and I am very eager to learn how to mentor my children with this approach. Thank you for your time in helping a newbie! :bigear:

I own Steven Zumdahl's 2nd edition "Chemistry" I kept from my college days. This text was my first introduction to chemistry. I am currently looking at different texts for my dd's hs course. I thought I could use my old text, since I already own it, but it is thick- a whopping 1091 pages, not counting the appendixes. We have used Apologia and I regret not using my old college Biology text. Not to say anything bad about Apologia, but my college bio text was more substantial in explaining concepts. My daughter was scolding me for that. ;) She liked my old college Biology text by Raven and Johnson. I have also looked a little bit at Chang's Chemistry, which looks great from what I have seen on the sample pages on Amazon, but if it is similar to Zumdahl, then I will stick with what I have. Does anyone have more experience with these texts that can help me discern a whole year of chem for my dd? My other dilemma? Apologia is organized with labs and lessonplans are available. I stink at producing my own lessonplans. Can anyone help me with some suggestions with this too? Thanks so much in advance for all your help!:001_smile:

How do you test your students using college texts? I am very interested in learning your approach. Do your children outline, write essays, answer study questions using the text? Thanks! Gina

Do you think I should use the 4th course of Warriner's for high school and then drop grammar? My daughter does have a strong background in grammar. I like the idea of alternating texts throughout the school year. Thanks so much, ladies, for your advice and the warm welcome! Gina G.

My husband has old high school 1982 Warriner's English Grammar and Composition Complete Course (12th grade) and 4th course (10th grade) texts on the shelf. I am thinking of using them for my high school daughter. I also have The New Oxford Guide to Writing and Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, along with A Rulebook for Arguments and Elements of Style. Do you think I would still need to have my daughter use the Grammar book if she uses the Oxford Guide to Writing and the others? Is that overkill? Second, has anyone used these references for high school, and if so, how did you "grade" for transcripts? Thanks for your input and insights.