High school Biology reccommendations

[Suzybearybake]

My ds is dyslexic and I am looking ahead at possible Biology choices. I have looked at Paradigm Press Principles, Theories, and Precepts of Biology, but thought it might be too simplistic.I want an actual science class with labs, not a history of science class. Power Basics seems to cover the info, but it is secular and doesn't have labs. Apologia, BJU, and Abeka all have too much detail. I was hoping to find a happy medium between the two extremes. I was looking at Christian Liberty Press Biology: Search for Order in Complexity, but have not been able to find any reviews on it. Is any one familiar with this program? What has been a good fit for your child?

[HeidiD]

My ds is dyslexic and I am looking ahead at possible Biology choices. I have looked at Paradigm Press Principles, Theories, and Precepts of Biology, but thought it might be too simplistic.I want an actual science class with labs, not a history of science class. Power Basics seems to cover the info, but it is secular and doesn't have labs. Apologia, BJU, and Abeka all have too much detail. I was hoping to find a happy medium between the two extremes. I was looking at Christian Liberty Press Biology: Search for Order in Complexity, but have not been able to find any reviews on it. Is any one familiar with this program? What has been a good fit for your child?

 

 

Are you open to considering a secular program? If so, maybe check out Prentice Hall for biology. One of my kids used their chemistry text (got it from Kolbe, along with an answer key), and I think it has a nice balance between text and visuals (and also a virtual lab cd :)).

 

Also check out Globe Fearon, Pearson LG for biology. Another poster, VinNY, recommended their Concepts and Challenges science texts, and the Earth Science we've recently begun using is very well laid out, with a similarly nice balance between text and grahics.

 

We have many of the Apologia texts, and also BJU physics, and like you, I don't regard their particular formats as the best match for someone with any significant degree of dyslexia.

 

I haven't looked at Christian Liberty Press or Power Basics, but we did try Paradigm Press and I agree with you - the approach is too simplistic. I actually gave it to one of my kids in 5th grade to cover his science requirement. :)

[Mom22ns]

There have been a couple of Biology threads on the high school boar in the last week. One of them was mine. Many of us with 8th graders are puzzling over this choice right now. I don't have a dyslexic kid, quite the opposite, I have a very strong reader who can't focus on anything verbal. So, the programs that absolutely won't work for me, are probably the ones you are interested in ;).

 

Some options, Thinkwell is video based and uses no textbook. You can buy a copy of the notes already taken from the lectures to go with it. They have both AP and standard Biology (I think).

 

DIVE Biology uses a combination of the science book of your choice and video lectures and labs.

 

Hippocampus has video based Biology. They give syllabuses to work with a variety of textbooks - this whole program is free.

 

Khan Academy are the best free videos we have found for Chemistry, I would be surprised if I didn't love their Biology too. You can use the book of your choice and use Khan Academy to help with understanding or supplement depth.

 

Christian Biology programs range from Apologia at the easy easy end all the way up to BJU at the top. There are plenty I know nothing about like ACE & LifePac that are also probably on the easy end.

 

Secular Texts run the same gambit. If you go to pearsonschool.com for example, there are at least 5 Biology text books to choose from. Each one has a different level of difficulty and style. Pick the level and the design of the whichever book will work best for your ds.

[EKS]

My son is also dyslexic and will be doing high school biology next year. I have chosen BSCS Biology because it takes a more conceptual approach. To further help him, my plan is to actually teach the material (I have a degree in biochemistry so this is actually feasible) and I will write my own tests that focus on concepts rather than vocabulary. If I didn't feel comfortable teaching, I would read the book aloud and discuss it with him instead. Finally, I will be using one of the biology LabPaqs for labs.

 

I don't know anything about non-secular choices. I also considered Miller and Levine. You can see extensive samples online at Pearson. If you need it, you can get a version with a lower reading level. You can also get an audio version of the text.