Sue G in PA Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 I'm planning out the next several years. Now that I've finally decided to call my dd11 a 6th grader instead of a 7th grader for next year...it puts her only one grade ahead of my ds10. It would be nice to combine them in Apol. Gen when she is in 8th grade and he in 7th (I don't think he'd be ready for it in 6th b/c of all the writing/ exp. write-ups etc.). If I do that...I have a few options. Have her do Phys. in 7th and then Gen. in 8th when her brother is in 7th (doing it together). Skip Phys. OR Gen. all together and move to Apol. Bio. in 9th as planned. This child is NOT science-minded. It is NOT likely she will be pursuing a career in ANY type of science field. One exception...she does have a real interest in Geology right now. Loves rocks and minerals. So, any thoughts on skipping one or the other and if so...which one? Does it really make a difference in the long run? TIA...I know I am overthinking this way too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy from WT Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 OK - let me preface this by saying I am NOT. A. SCIENTIST! Please, please, please - anyone else that has more experience with Apologia, or a better opinion in this realm, jump in and correct me!!! My son did General last year and Physical this year. He will do Biology next year, and my daughter did Biology four years ago. If you need to skip any of these, I would recommend skipping Physical, and going straight from General to Biology (HERE is where you need to JUMP in if you have a different opinion ... got it?? I'll take it!). But here is why I think so. Physical was difficult this year for my son; we are NOT necessarily a science-minded family, and while the material in here was interesting and good to know, it was also very math-oriented, and we struggled quite a bit with it. If you're looking for rocks, trees, nature, that sort of thing - stick with General and Biology! You can easily catch up with this material later in highschool with a Physics course. Now please realize that I am NOT recommending a younger student do this, and thus reach Biology in 8th grade. I also remember Biology being a challenging course. But if you have someone starting the Apologia courses on an older level, and thus you need to skip one to catch up or to stay on course with the rest of the family, perhaps skipping Physical could work. My VERY humble opinion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Sue, One other factor to consider is the math level of your student. On the Apologia website it says that "8th grade" Physical science has completion of 7th grade math as a prerequisite. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 This is the first time that I've realized that you are THE Amy from WT! Duh! First, thanks for your email replies to me re: my questions about WT and my dd11 who struggles with writing! :D And, now, thanks for your suggestions for Apol. Gen. and Phys.! It gives me something to go on knowing that Phys. is so much more challenging and demanding of the student. While my dd does NOT struggle in math at all...I do think she would enjoy General more than Phys. AND, not being science-minded...I don't want her to grow to "hate" science, KWIM? I'm going to have to think some more on this...my entire 8 yr. plan has crashed and burned b/c we've decided to call my dd11 a 6th grader next year b/c age-wise...she really is (even though she started school early). Oh ugh. Decisions, decisions. At least we have writing figured out for her! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in Central TX Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 FWIW, I plan to skip both in our homeschool and go straight into Biology in 9th grade. Next year my 7th grader will work through Zoology III informally. I'll also have him read more science-related books during his daily free reading time. We have many of the Jancie Van Cleave science books, and I think I'll add in some family experiments during the year. Dad likes doing these, and he asks great questions to make them think. Here's my reason for down playing science in the logic stage from TWTM pg. 383: "Middle-grade students have more maturity and better reading and writing skills than elementary students, but they still can't be stuffed with an exhaustive knowledge of science...In the middle grades, your goal is to teach the young student to think critically about doing science." [sic] I know the SWB still intended for science to be covered, but after much thought about the goals and priority of the junior high years in our homeschool, we felt that it was best to go light in science now and focus on our higher priority subjects (English grammar, Latin, & Greek). Of course, science and history will be the higher priority subjects in high school because by that time, grammar, Latin, & Greek will be well-grounded, so we will be reading literature in all 3 languages tied to science & history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 Oh Beth. More food for thought. :) Here I'm thinking she'll somehow "miss" something by not doing higher level science before high school, but you have done much to calm my fears! Thanks. More to consider now, but a "good" more, KWIM? She really enjoys doing science with the rest of the crew and was not looking forward to going it "alone" so to speak w/ Apol. Gen in 7th. AND, as she is probably NOT going to pursue a career in the science field...perhaps going "light" with science is the way to go. Hmmm...do you think using the Apologia Elem. series is too light? My plan is to do some Zoo. 1, 2 in the next year, then Astronomy with CKE Earth and Space and then...? Not sure. Okay, back to the old drawing board! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy from WT Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 This is the first time that I've realized that you are THE Amy from WT! Duh! First, thanks for your email replies to me re: my questions about WT and my dd11 who struggles with writing! :D And, now, thanks for your suggestions for Apol. Gen. and Phys.! It gives me something to go on knowing that Phys. is so much more challenging and demanding of the student. While my dd does NOT struggle in math at all...I do think she would enjoy General more than Phys. AND, not being science-minded...I don't want her to grow to "hate" science, KWIM? I'm going to have to think some more on this...my entire 8 yr. plan has crashed and burned b/c we've decided to call my dd11 a 6th grader next year b/c age-wise...she really is (even though she started school early). Oh ugh. Decisions, decisions. At least we have writing figured out for her! Thanks. Ha ha, and I thought I was too obvious! Well, my goodness, you're welcome for the e-mails; that's just fun for me! As far as the math, even if she doesn't struggle math-wise, unless she's ahead, and really up to the grade -level they suggest for Physical, I wouldn't do it. My son doesn't struggle with math either, he IS up to grade level in the math they suggest, and the trouble we've had this year....oh my! If walls could talk!! My straight-A student...well, is no more! I agree with going light on the science for a jr. high student, but I still really love the Apologia General course. Don't think I'd skip that one. What about spreading it out over two years? Or doing one of their elementary courses first, and then going into General? Just a thought! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 I agree with going light on the science for a jr. high student, but I still really love the Apologia General course. Don't think I'd skip that one. What about spreading it out over two years? Or doing one of their elementary courses first, and then going into General? Just a thought! :001_smile: Two years? Hmmm...now that might work. She could have a lighter schedule and still do some of the Elem. Science with her younger brothers! See, I didn't want her to miss Astronomy which I have planned for 2009/10. She could, in a sense, do Astronomy with us AND General...just at a much slower pace and since we school year round...that's more time too! I'm getting a much clearer picture now! I just love this board. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in Central TX Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Hi Sue, Well, we'll be using the Zoology III book next year in 7th grade. The Chemistry book is scheduled to come out in 2009, and I think I will use it as our informal study for 8th grade. I think this series is well written and engaging. I also think that it can be used by older students. My older boys are required to pronounce and spell the binomial nomenclature that they encounter in the zoology series. They are also required to do all of the notebooking activities and most of the experiments. I'm backing off of these requirements in 7th grade and taking the informal approach because of the additional work I'm including for Wheelock's Latin, New Testament Greek for Beginners, and Omnibus I. I think my oldest son will go the engineering route like his father, but I still don't feel a need to do a full blown science course for him the next 2 years. DS #1 does a lot of reading and building on his own. A friend of ours just gave us a complete Lego Mindstorms set (the older version). My son has been building the robot, and now he's programming it to move forward and backward. Personally, I think he's learning much more math and science with this kit than any textbook I can buy. Of course, our homeschool has different goals and expectations than others, but I do know other homeschoolers who have taken the same route and still have success in science in high school. The beauty of homeschooling is the flexibility we have in determining the structure of our studies. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Sue, I just saw another post where you talked about your dd, and I posted how my dd is the same age and we're deciding whether to go ahead with her in 7th or keep her in 6th again next year, like you're doing. Anyway, You mentioned here that your dd is interested in geology---so is my dd!!! I got her NOEO Science--Chemistry 2 for next year. She loves Chemistry, and this one has a section on geology and she's excited to start it! Just thought I would mention that, since you have this extra year to throw things in. It might be worth a look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 This is general science has some geology type topics and then the 8th grade year has a lot more and physics and stuff she might like. It might be best to just go ahead and let her do the Gen science this next year, or, have her do it the next year and let the younger one do it a year early. I think 8th grade is about the best year, but 7th grade is good too because it is an overview and will allow her to see if there is anything that she might like in areas of science she might not have covered much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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