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Marty

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  1. Chiming in late, but one of mine did General after Physical. :001_smile:

    It is different material, so it isn't the same as doing a lower grade of math, etc.

     

    My three kids and the kids who came to do science with us seemed to enjoy it.

    Naturally, each did like some modules more than others, and it was different kids who liked different things.

     

    The first module is nothing like the rest of the book. It has more history of scientists in it.

  2. OHhh, I see there is an audio of the course. My son is an audiotory learner and that might be enough to boost him along. By having it to read to him while he follows along in the text book.

     

    The Red Wagon Tutorials look neat but at a $100 probably out of my price range by the time I purchase the book!

     

    My son uses the audio CD. It has been a great help.

    I know what you mean about the price! At the time, I was actually able to buy the previous year's version for $50. Meaning, the classes he had done for the previous year. Same version of text; different year of class lectures.

  3. For those of us who have children who will be doing this at home and don't have the inclination to work hard to develop extra labs would this be the best science course for an 8th grader? Is there a DVD that I could purchase with a teacher to supplement?

     

    I think it would be great for a busy mom. The experiments are pretty simple, and most use common household items. (Just check ahead to be sure you have them on hand, lol. Ask me how I know!)

    A few items are not as common, but not too difficult to find.

     

    And I believe there was a DVD for General, but I don't see one on the Apologia website now.

    http://shop.apologia...general-science

     

    The DVD I got was from Red Wagon Tutorials. (A former teacher at Apologia)

    He sells them on flash drives now. (So be careful w/ them, and back them up! He advises installing them on your hard drive.)

    And I see he still has some DVDs on ebay.

    (They say Our Father's Design since he isn't able to put Apologia on them.)

     

    They aren't really teaching per se, but more like a great review, imo. It is good to use halfway through the module, then again at the end. There is a lecture page to fill in as the child watches it, and he gives all answers after letting them think a minute.

    When I was first "testing" these w/ the samples online, I really thought I had learned the chapter pretty good, but when I did the lecture, it brought to mind things I didn't realize I had forgotten. :)

     

    We started out using ours then dropped it since we were also having classes every week. That meant a total of 4 days not getting to do bookwork. Add in 2 days for Study Guide and 1 for test, and that meant only 3 days for actually doing the text. (out of 2 weeks)

     

    So now I post videos on my blog for the kids to watch a little each day at home. I usually find them from youtube.

    They might be something you would like. Link is in my siggy. :)

  4. I kept my General book too! One of the kids in my "class" last year enjoyed it more than Physical this year. But one is enjoying Physical more, and I knew he would. One girl looked through my Biology book and said she thinks she will really like it next year. It depends on the child and their interests.

     

    General has 4 different "sections" (4 modules each) that deal with different areas of science. I myself enjoyed some more than others. But one of the best things is that right from the beginning, it gets the kids thinking of how to form a hypothesis, what to do if your hypothesis isn't correct, different methods of testing a hypothesis and which would be better for certain situations, only to change one variable at a time, how to write a lab report, and probably more that I can't think of right off hand.

    I'm glad we didn't skip it. :001_smile:

  5. I have the audio CDs, and use them for my dyslexic ds. There are a couple more kids I know use them who are poor readers.

    Does your ds sit still when listening to audio? If so, that might help him stay concentrated. :)

     

    There are several kinds of "CDs."

    --One is the audio CD.

    --One is the multi-media CD that has short video clips to be viewed now and then throughout the book. I have a couple of those. They're okay.

    --Another is the Full Course CD-Rom (has the whole book to be read on the computer screen, PLUS the video clips from the multi-media CD.)

     

    For more explanation and for other components that are available for Apologia, you can look here where I described each of them.

    http://martysahm.blogspot.com/2010/09/apologia-science-books-cds-etc-what-are.html

    (Also on that blog are posts that tell what experiments we've done for Apologia.)

     

    We don't really use the multi-media CD's much because several years ago, I had started looking online for videos to fill in and enhance for my own kids and 2 cousins. So I posted them on a blog so they could all view them at home...

    Then more kids came to my "class" and my blog posts just grew.

     

    Here is the link if you're interested.

     

    http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/

  6. My son works through the Apologia books on his own. He is an average student and is doing fine. He is doing Biology this year.

     

    He read in one of the Apologia books that global warming isn't happening / doesn't exist. But then got frustrated becuase he says everywhere else he reads about global warming - economist, time, popular mechanics.

     

    How have other families dealt with this issue?

     

    I understand. There is a lot out there and if we're not scientists ourselves, how can we know? But we know the majority isn't always right. Science is constantly changing, and/or at least opinions are changing. Doctors used to bleed people because they thought they had bad blood. Doctors used to get angry if they were told they needed to wash their hands between patients.

     

    On the global warming issue, there is a lot coming out now that says it is not happening. In fact, back in the 70's they were worried about global cooling. It is a cycle, and it hasn't warmed much more than half a degree anyway. Global warming, if it exists, would be global. Not just on parts of the continent at different times.

     

    I agree w/ the pp. Let him do a little research. Just google 'global warming hoax' and there is plenty now that says it isn't happening.

    Also if you type in 'Al Gore sued' you'll find that 30,000 scientists do not agree with Al Gore.

  7. Hi! There is a little math in Apologia Physical, but not as much as in some other curricula. Mostly the first 2 modules, and then again in M9 and 10 I believe.

    I found some videos that help with the math they learn (one had a great simple explanation!), :):) and I post videos at a blog for my "class" to view that go along w/ each module.

    You can check here and see if it's what you need. (Science tabs are at the top)

    http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/

     

     

    Apologia Biology may a little hard if your kiddos have never learned much in other sciences about Biology... it was hard for me when doing it w/ my oldest and her friends. The first 4 modules are about things many kids have never heard of (the names of specific organisms in the kingdom, phylum, class, etc divisions), but next year when we do it again, I may re-type portions of the test so they are matching.

    I will say the second half of the year is much easier! :)

  8. Hello all. This year my oldest is doing the Apologia Biology (2nd edition) anyways, I'm wondering what a good schedule , if anyone has one , would be to get this done in a timely manner. Its a HUGE book. :tongue_smilie:

    How did you schedule the modules?

     

    Trying to figure this out so she has a good experience with it. I wish they had a DVD like they do for their physics. Can't afford their online classes right now either. No coops in our area either.

     

    If you're not able to find what you need/like, I just made up our schedule we went.

    Using 2 weeks per module (except for chapter 6 - I allowed three weeks), I allowed 1 day for test, 2 for the Study Guide, depending (occasionally 3 days). Then divided up the remaining chapter by however many days I had left out of the 2 weeks. I counted up the pages, and estimated how many per day, and tried to find good stopping points that covered about that many pages. Some days might be mostly doing an experiment unless you are doing them all in one day w/ friends or something.

    We don't have a co-op, but a couple of cousins and a few friends come do experiments with us here once every 2 weeks. So I allow a day for that also and divide the module up by 6 days.

     

    I have found some videos on youtube to go along w/ Biology, and I posted them for the kids in my "class" to view at home. Hope you might be able to use them. :)

    The tabs are at the top.

    http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/

  9. mom@shiloh, here is a post with my explanation about the different media used with Apologia.

    http://martysahm.blogspot.com/2010/09/apologia-science-books-cds-etc-what-are.html

    There's also a link at the bottom to where I have videos posted.

     

    We are just finishing General Science, and used the 1st edition.

    If you want to see what kinds of experiments we did, you can look here:

    (Scroll down and click on What We Did for the different modules.)

    http://martysahm.blogspot.com/p/apologia-general-science.html

     

    I've never looked at Virtual Homeschool Group! Going to look now. Thanks, SilverMoon. =)

  10. I kind of do one. It's not "co" though -- just me.

    It's my kids, their cousins, and a few friends.

     

    We only meet every 2 weeks, or once per module.

    I have a 2 hour class, and occasionally I ask the parents for 2½ hours if, as I am studying and prepping, I see that the experiments might take longer.

    I do the class before they begin the module, so that I can do an overview of the module. I had already done Physical and Biology w/ my older daughter, and this has proven to work best for us. I get to explain any difficult concepts ahead of time. There's not many in GS, imo, but some of the kids haven't had much background in certain areas, and I have 2 mildly LD kids.

     

    I'm not sure how I plan to do Physical next year for my other kids - whether I'll do one or two days, but either way, I will cover upcoming material rather than doing experiments after they have read about them.

     

    I scheduled out the year, and gave them a calendar w/ the class dates, but I plan the actual lesson plans as I go, and at each class, I hand them the schedule for the next 2 weeks. (I don't always know until I get into it what pages or home experiments might need more time, etc, and divide it out accordingly.)

    I plan 1 day for class, 1 day for test, 2 days for study guide, and that leaves 6 days to do the module.

     

    Videos are posted here:

    http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/

     

    Hope this helps. =)

  11. That's the site I used also, cbollin. :)

     

    I also put the alcohol in the fridge to get it really cold. I used 91% isopropyl alcohol as I read somewhere that a higher percentage would work better, and that it would also do better if the alcohol was cold.

     

    We had instant results,

     

    DSCN9908.JPG

     

     

    but this is what it looked like about 20 - 30 minutes later.

     

    DSCN9921.JPG

  12. If you can't find anything different that fits, or just don't have the money for it, maybe you can add a little to the Apologia General. I occasionally add things to make it more fun as I find ideas online.

    We also do the experiments with other kids, which makes it even more fun for all of them. :)

     

    Here is what we have been doing:

    http://martysahm.blogspot.com/search/label/*Apologia%20General%20Science

    (posting M8 soon - Love the "Try a bit of trilobite" that a fellow hs'er suggested!)

    In each post is a link to the videos we watch.

     

    The GS tab is at the top with links to other resources, some of which you may already know.

     

    ETA: I just realized there was a second page to this thread, and that you'd already decided on something. lol.

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