Galore Park questions....

[BatmansWife]

I am very interested in getting some of the Galore Park books. I'm considering these:

 

So You Really Want To Learn Junior Science

So You Really Want To Learn Science

So You Really Want To Learn Junior English

So You Really Want To Learn English

So You Really Want To Learn Junior History

 

My question is....do I need the answer books? I'm thinking that the Science and History would be easy enough for me to find the answers in the reading. But, for English....well, I'm not that great at it....and I don't think the answers would be in the reading. I'd like to hear from anyone using any of these books if you feel the answer books are necessary? Are the answer books just the answers, or do they contain more/other info? I'm kind of surprised that the answer books are so much smaller, yet almost the same price as the student books. Of course, I would really like to get each answer book.....but that will make the total cost much higher.

[StephanieZ]

I've used several GP books. . .(Latin 1, Spanish 1 & 2, Science 1 & 2). I *love* them for content & ease of use.

 

IME, I'd say, yes you want the answer books. They contribute *vastly* to ease of use for me.

 

The only one I've used that is on your list is Science, so I'll answer for that one. . . for that one, the benefit of the answer book is largely a matter of efficiency/time. I believe I could likely find the almost all the anwers easily enough in the student text (occasionally there are some outside-the-box questions that wouldn't be explicitly in the text), but really, there are a LOT of exercises. The extension exercises (of which there are many) involve analyzing/graphing data, interpreting your graphs, etc. If I didn't have the answer key, it'd take me 20-30 min or more to check many of the exercises. With the key, it is 20-30 seconds.

 

There are from a couple to several exercises per chapter (with typically 5-8 questions/assigments per exercise -- some of which have many subparts). Sometimes as many as 6 or more exercises for lengthy chapters. Each exercise might take my child 15-60 min. to complete. There are 25-30 chapters. So, 50-100 exercises? x 20 min saved in mommy-time (with no detriment to the teaching process). 20-30 hours of mommy time? How much is that worth to you? To me, it's a minimum of $20/hr, so it's a no brainer.

 

ETA: For other folks looking at GP. . . for Latin & Spanish, the answer books also have translations of the long reading passages as well as transcripts (and translations!) of the audio components, which have been essential for us! So, if you are doing a foreign language GP book, I believe that the Answer books are even more important than for the Science!

 

HTH

Edited October 13, 2010 by StephanieZ

[BatmansWife]

Thank you for replying Stephanie. This gives me something to ponder. I really would like the answer books for them all....it's just that it almost doubles the price for each one. Hmmm......something to think about today. I am trying to make this decision today, so I can mail a check tomorrow for an order (tomorrow is my one day I have a car this week to get to the p.o.).

 

If anyone else has something to add that would be appreciated. I would also love to hear from anyone using the Jr books and what they think.

[Laura Corin]

I didn't get the answers for the Junior English, but it was useful for the SY English: it gave me a clue as to how my student's answers should progress in depth and breadth. I haven't done the science and history, so can't comment. The answer books are usually just answers, with little extra comment - there's a little more in the Latin ones.

 

Laura