Intro and Chemistry recommendations

[Guest Maranatha]

Been a long time lurker, first time poster, but am turning to any and all for help with this. (Is there an emoticon for coming out from under my rock??)

 

I have two sons I want to teach Chemistry concurrently (ages 14, 16) We have used Apologia for many years, and own Expl.....Chemistry. My oldest (now in college) used it. Being a non-science type myself, I let him do it on his own. He did ok, not great. I'm looking for other recommendations for Chemistry that may be more conducive to working together. Something outside mainstream would be great.

[Brenda in MA]

We like Spectrum Chemistry from Beginnings Publishing.

 

There have been a lot of Chemistry discussion threads here lately. I'd suggest searching the board to hear about more options.

 

Brenda

[Guest Maranatha]

Is there a thread you would recommend? I had searched but didn't find much which is why I posted. There was the Mr Q 5th grade something or other, but I need high school recommendations

[MGK]

Is there a thread you would recommend? I had searched but didn't find much which is why I posted. There was the Mr Q 5th grade something or other, but I need high school recommendations

 

I'm watching this thread closely, because I'm hoping to do the same thing with my two oldest children. There have been quite a few threads about Chemistry recently, but nothing that addresses your question specifically. If you do an advanced search for chemistry and look only in the High School forums you'll find plenty of reading.

 

It is interesting that the pp mentioned Spectrum chemistry. That's the one I've been leaning towards based on the threads I've read. I'm just not sure how a course designed to be completed in 3 days per week equals a high school chemistry credit. Still searching the boards for an answer to that one :-)

 

Good luck to you in your curriculum search,

Melanie

[Melissa in CA]

I can only recommend one Chemistry because it is the only Chemistry we've used: BJU w/DVDs

 

I don't know if I'd call BJU mainstream or not, but it's a very good, solid high school Chemistry. I think a 14 yo who has had some algebra under his belt would be fine with it. My middle son used it and thought it was great. It was his very favorite high school class. He did Apologia Biology and BJU Chemistry both in his 10th grade. He had to force himself to do the Biology, he found it very dull and tedious, but looked forward to his Chemistry. It was like being in a classroom where you have a crazy unpredicatable teacher who keeps you, not only excited about your subject, but also about returning to class each day. ;)

 

The DVD teacher (Mr. Harmon) teaches the material, assigns and walks through the labs, etc. It IS Christian though, meaning that the teacher begins class each day in prayer, so that could be a problem if you're looking for something secular.

[April in CA]

Hi! If you already own Apologia Chem, you could do that together. Have your guys read the text at different times of the day (if you only have one copy), and you need to read it too - then you can all meet together in the afternoon or at lunch or whatever and discuss what you read and do all the problems (or you can check their work). Do the labs together at a set time each week or every two weeks. You can assign outside research on the labs if you want. You might also consider adding in the DIVE Chemistry cd and watch the lectures together and then discuss. If you go the DIVE route, you can cover most of both the Apologia texts in one year. My younger son did that last year - lots of work, but great prep for AP chemistry this year. My older son did both Apologia Chem books over 2 years (9th and 10th grades) We met with another young man for labs, which made things more fun. My older son is now a freshman in college; he is in his 2nd semester of chemistry (engineering major), and he says that most of what he is learning is review from his advanced chem in high school. So, all that to say, Apologia is a fine chemistry program! You can jazz it up, but I wouldn't dump it unless you fall in love with something else. I will say that Spectrum Chem looks like lots of fun to me as well - the author definitely has a more concise writing style than Wyle does, which many people appreciate.

Good luck finding what you want!

 

Blessings,

April

[Storm Bay]

My dd did Conceptual Chemistry. She did the text and lectures on her own, but I organized a group lab which we did with MicroChem to keep the costs and prep down somewhat for me from the labs that go with CC. The lectures were the ChemAlive! ones. It doesn't have the math, though, but the plan is for her to do honours or AP Chem later. Some say that CC doesn't do enough to prepare for AP Chem, but dd isn't listening to that one:glare:. She loved the course and really understands the concepts. She's good at math, so it's not likely to be a problem for her (not the math part, anyway, but she's going to get a bit of a surprise when she does her AP classes.)

[Kareni]

Been a long time lurker, first time poster ...

 

I have two sons I want to teach Chemistry concurrently (ages 14, 16) ... Something outside mainstream would be great.

 

Welcome, Maranatha!

 

You might find this thread of help: Out of the Box ideas for Chemistry and US Government?

 

And, if Caveman Chemistry interests you, there is a website and Forum available at:

 

Caveman Chemistry

 

Regards,

Kareni