For all the science hating kids???

[Emma]

What do I do with her?? My dd, 13, 8th grade, generally like school and is pleasant about all of her assignments... except science. We have tried SO many different programs. She hates them all. So far this yr. we've tried Life Pacs, BJU, and now an online science called PLATO that we bought through homeschoolbuyerscoop.com. She hated K12 science last yr. It's not like she's defiant, she just truly hates science and doesn't put much effort into it. I just need something to get the job done. Something easy, minimal, and not requiring tons of time, experiments, or supplies. She's using Sonlight for her main studies. She is looking into art school for college. Any advice?

[April in CA]

Can you tie science in to her interest in art? For example, if she likes to draw, she should understand how a thorough understanding of human anatomy (or animal anatomy) will help her draw much more accurately and she will be more pleased with her work. She could also study Leonardo DaVinci - great artist, very interested in many branches of science. She might enjoy biology coloring books. The physical world is also amazingly beautiful, both at the macroscopic and microscopic level. If she has an artist's eye for beauty, she should be able to find ample beauty to inspire her in nature. Perhaps she would enjoy a nature study course that would involve sketching what she sees and making close observations? Just some thoughts - hope some of them are helpful!

Blessings,

April

[Susan C.]

Both of my kids love Apologia. It is affordable, pretty much runs itself, and my kids really like the conversational style. It is like reading the lecture. We get the text (which comes with tests and solutions), and the companion CD. You can also get MP3 to hear the text book if you like that. In 8th grade, we did General, 9th we did Physical, this year I am doing Biology with my 10th grade dd. My ds did Chemistry in 11th, and Physics in 12th.

[Emma]

Can you tie science in to her interest in art? For example, if she likes to draw, she should understand how a thorough understanding of human anatomy (or animal anatomy) will help her draw much more accurately and she will be more pleased with her work. She could also study Leonardo DaVinci - great artist, very interested in many branches of science. She might enjoy biology coloring books. The physical world is also amazingly beautiful, both at the macroscopic and microscopic level. If she has an artist's eye for beauty, she should be able to find ample beauty to inspire her in nature. Perhaps she would enjoy a nature study course that would involve sketching what she sees and making close observations? Just some thoughts - hope some of them are helpful!

Blessings,

April

 

 

April,

These are great suggestions. She would definitely prefer this method to most others. Do you have any curriculum suggestions? Anything that is already planned out that would include things like you mentioned?

[Emma]

Both of my kids love Apologia. It is affordable, pretty much runs itself, and my kids really like the conversational style. It is like reading the lecture. We get the text (which comes with tests and solutions), and the companion CD. You can also get MP3 to hear the text book if you like that. In 8th grade, we did General, 9th we did Physical, this year I am doing Biology with my 10th grade dd. My ds did Chemistry in 11th, and Physics in 12th.

 

Susan,

I have looked at the Apologia many times. It seemed like the general science course was a little dry and I didn't see any color pictures when I flipped through it. Could I start an 8th grader with the biology? How many labs are your dc required? Thanks for answering.

[Nan in Mass]

She can do natural history using MODG's syllabus. You read some books, real books, not textbooks, including one that teaches drawing, answer some questions about the books, keep a nature journal (which she could do lovely drawings for) and do a project. Definately light science but I think it would be perfect for her. Wouldn't she like to draw every day and read about what happens when you let geese into the living room? The syllabus divides the work up into three periods of science every week.

 

Some other ideas we've tried: We stretched natural history out another semester by doing some more reading and more natural history projects. My son tracked hurricanes, looked at lake water under the microscope, and did a lovely pen and ink drawing of a tidepool with everything labelled and read about the plants and animals in a nature guide, among other things. Then he did Human Anatomy the other semester with the Human Anatomy Colouring book and visits to the science museum and a few other projects. We have a great book called something like Anatomy for Artists (my mother has it at the moment so I can't check - sorry). Then he did Hewitt's Conceptual Physics. That got physics done fairly painlessly. And then he took Introductory Chemistry at community college (not the general chemistry for science majors). My youngest is drawing all the weeds in our yard, identifying them, and looking them up to find out something about them, like their traditional medicinal uses. Maybe she'd like to do herbal medicine, drawing and researching the plants to make a guide? Or something like that?

 

I think MODG has an earth science syllabus that is pretty light, too, and doesn't use textbooks.

 

-Nan

[Susan C.]

Susan,

I have looked at the Apologia many times. It seemed like the general science course was a little dry and I didn't see any color pictures when I flipped through it. Could I start an 8th grader with the biology? How many labs are your dc required? Thanks for answering.

 

My dd actually likes plain texts, it is less distracting. The new editions have much more color and better illustrations (especially for the dissections in biology). There are plenty of labs, you can do all of them, or pick and choose. We purchased a microscope, slides, and a few more supplies (used Home Training Tools). As for diving straight into biology, well, it depends on what she has taken already. We did the sequence General, Physical, Biology, Chemistry, Physics. If your dd doesn't like science, I suggest starting her with General, there are many subjects covered. I recommended Biology for a friend for 9th grade, her dd didn't do very well with it, and my dd wouldn't have done well doing biology in 9th either. Hope this helps!

[JennW in SoCal]

I think the MODG course is a smart idea -- it ties in her artistic intersts with a pre-set course.

 

I kept thinking about all the drawings and sketches made by naturalists back before photography. Audobon is of course one of the most famous, but Darwin did some good sketches and I've seen some beautiful and detailed paintings of local flora at our Natural History Museum. A very successful artist I know recommends sketching the skeletons of animals that are on display at Natural History museums -- some even have small specimens you can check out.

 

Anatomy is another natural for artists. My dh is an artist, and back when he was in college, a bunch of his friends talked the Med School into letting them go draw cadavers just as like DaVinci and other Medieval artists did. My dh didn't join them, nor does your dd need to be so extreme, but artists know the names of bones and which muscles attach to which bones to make them move. That is what makes a good artist able to draw even monsters or super heroes and make them look "right" -- the basic anatomy is still there, it is just exaggerated. So, get a text or coloring book on anatomy, and there must be several anatomy for artists books out there, and have her get to work!

 

You could cover more than a year with botany, anatomy and natural history.

 

Chemistry is in paints. Light is of course physics. Have her research topics, perhaps as that is what real artists have to do. Our Natural History museum contracted an artist to paint these wonderful murals depicting life in our area during different epochs, and he had to do lots of research to make those paintings scientifically accurate as well as beautiful. He gave a talk about the process and it was fascinating.

 

Sounds like fun to me -- I would avoid text books like the plague myself, if I were you!

[Nan in Mass]

Audubon first, in case you don't want to read about cadavres. It is well worth looking at Audubon's prints. Once, when we couldn't find the bird book, my sister and I used her Audubon coffeetable book. Now we know why Audubon chose the poses he did - you can see all the different sides of the bird, making identification easier.

 

I recommend getting involved in your local Audubon nature reserve if you are doing natural history. Ours has many opportunities for volunteers to participate in research. It isn't just birds, either. They have people who go out and observe the beavers, too. It is a good opportunity to talk to scientists, ones who are easy to talk to because they are used to educating people about what they do. Ours has a group of astronomers who meet at night and will let you look through their telescopes, too. And there are lots of lectures and educational programs. It is a good educational resource, and a good place to volunteer.

 

Cadavres:

 

There was a man sculpting heads in the cadavre lab when my husband went in to do some work. He was there months later, too, so it must have been an extensive project.

 

My middle one, who did human anatomy, saw the science museum special exhibit with the plasticized human bodies. He also went with my husband one time when they were trying out an anchor on a shoulder. I hasten to add that this was a very, very optional. A coworker of my husband's knew he was homeschooling and suggested my husband bring him. My son thought it was very cool but I am very glad I didn't have to go. The body exhibit, as long as I avoided the animals and mothers (separated), was ok. I learned tons, in part because my mother took me (in case I couldn't deal with it) and she's a biologist. She is also an artist, so she pointed that sort of thing out to me, too.

 

-Nan

[Quiver0f10]

She can do natural history using MODG's syllabus.

 

Do you have a link for this? Thanks!

[Nan in Mass]

I don't happen to have one. Someone else kindly posted one the last time I recommended it, though. I'm dashing off at the moment, but I'll look when I get back.

[JennW in SoCal]

Here you go :)

 

http://www.motherofdivinegrace.org/curriculum/syllabus.cfm?id=36

[Quiver0f10]

Here you go :)

 

http://www.motherofdivinegrace.org/curriculum/syllabus.cfm?id=36

 

 

Thanks!

[Emma]

This looks really great! Has anyone used it all the way? Is a 10th grade science to intense for a non science 8th-9th grade?

 

Thanks for the link!

[Nan in Mass]

I don't think so. I'm using it with a 9th grader now, and my older son did the whole thing. It is helpful if you can draw but it doesn't assume you know lots of science already. It pretty much starts from scratch.

-Nan

[Emma]

Nan, would you mind telling me about the project that the syllabus mentions? It apparently makes up the last 1/2 of the yr. Are there clear daily directions for it, or is it a go at your own pace, but have it ready by the end of the course- type schedule? We need the daily hand holding, even for something as simple as drawing birds and plants to identify. It really sounds like something she'd LOVE though. Thanks!

[Nan in Mass]

The project is something doable. You get guidance on how to set it up and how to record it and are given time to work on it within the syllabus. My older one tested a number of toys on various pets to see if he could draw any conclusions about which ones liked which toys. The example in the book is about the different circumstances in which fighting fish raise their fins. My youngest wants to do something involving birds and birdfeeders. Yes, it is a matter of do it at your own pace and have it ready by the end of the year, but by the time you have set up your experiment, what to do each day if fairly obvious. My oldest spent a few weeks throwing or dragging toys for the pets and recording how they reacted in a table. Once the table was set up, it was pretty obvious what to do each day. There are suggestions in the book for experiments, if you can't come up with any ideas on your own.

-Nan

[Nan in Mass]

PS - As far as I can tell, their earth science curriculum is more of a reading/writing curriculum, also, with lots of hand holding. It might be worth further investigating for next year.

[Emma]

Thanks Nan. That helps a lot about the project. While they are working on the project are there other science topics or activities that they are required to work on? Or is the project the only thing they do in the last 1/2 of the yr.? And, I will check out the earth science. This may be exactly what she needs over the next few yrs. I appreciate all your help.:)

[Nan in Mass]

Most days they do two things: their nature journal and whatever the other assignment is, like work on the project or read a chapter and answer a question. (The chapter isn't like reading a regular science book's chapter. It is more like reading a chapter of a story about someone doing science.)

HTH

-Nan

[Emma]

Thank you Nan for answering my questions! THis looks perfect for her. I appreciate it! Big bouquet and chocolates to you!

[Nan in Mass]

No problem. Don't be discouraged if she needs help finding the answers to the questions at first. I have had to help both my sons with the first few in each book. After that, they caught on and learned to find the answers for themselves. Tell her to read the question first, before she reads the chapter, so she knows what to look for. She can put a sticky at the answer in the text (or a tick mark if you don't mind her writing in the book) and then go back and refer to it when she goes to write out the answer.

I've enjoyed looking at my sons's drawings so much. It is nice to see them doing something really well. You might try to find some real naturalists' journals for her to look at, also. I also highly recommend Stoke's Nature Guides. They are lots of fun because they have more than just a few sentences for each animal or plant or insect.

Have fun!

-Nan

[Emma]

Thanks again Nan. This looks absolutely perfect for her. I also really like the earth science curriculum. You may have just solved my high school science problem.

[Greta Lea]

Here's the website that I'm using...

 

http://charlottemason.tripod.com/hisci.html

 

My son is using the books in the biology section. For your dd, I'd use the books in the General Science section (the exact page linked).

 

My ds was using Apologia Biology, but I decided to give some of the books on this website a try instead. We've only been doing this for a week, but it's been the BEST week! He's wanted to start the day with his science reading this week instead of put it off to the end of the day!

 

My ds is also creative...writing for him.

 

HTH!

[Emma]

Thanks Greta. This does look very interesting and I think she'd enjoy it. I love having options. Thanks for taking the time to answer me.