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I need some science help, please.


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My DD12 is currently finishing Module #4 of Apologia General Science. She is not a really proficient reader, so she 'reads' the text along with the mp3(she will do this without complaint, but doesn't seem to retain much). I love the curriculum, but it doesn't seem to be engaging her. She struggles through the On Your Own questions, she will do the labs with dad, and seems to get them, but when we get to the review questions and the tests, I have nothing but a fight and tears. She claims she doesn't know the answers.

 

Right now she wants to be a Vet Tech., so she knows she needs at least two sciences, and she understands that she needs to start working hard now in 7th Grade, to get there. She is still a very immature 7th grader though(barely starting puberty), so I am not sure if she needs to mature a bit.

 

So, my questions are:

 

1. Do I just let her go through the text, 'reading' it, and doing the On Your Own questions, and call it good for this year? Accepting the fact that she is just getting a surface overview of it. Do I do the same next year with Physical Science year and then step it up in 9th Grade when she hits Biology?

 

2. Do I make her do them? I am finding it is killing her love of science, but I am feeling the pressure of high school coming.

 

3. Is there another creation-based science out there that is similar to Apologia, on maybe a little easier level, that could get her through this next couple of years? She is not a great scholar, but just an average kid. I do not want to debate the ease or toughness of Apologia, because I know that there are those that feel that it is light. We are not experiencing that here.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice,

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My DD12 is currently finishing Module #4 of Apologia General Science. She is not a really proficient reader, so she 'reads' the text along with the mp3(she will do this without complaint, but doesn't seem to retain much). I love the curriculum, but it doesn't seem to be engaging her. She struggles through the On Your Own questions, she will do the labs with dad, and seems to get them, but when we get to the review questions and the tests, I have nothing but a fight and tears. She claims she doesn't know the answers.

 

Right now she wants to be a Vet Tech., so she knows she needs at least two sciences, and she understands that she needs to start working hard now in 7th Grade, to get there. She is still a very immature 7th grader though(barely starting puberty), so I am not sure if she needs to mature a bit.

 

So, my questions are:

 

1. Do I just let her go through the text, 'reading' it, and doing the On Your Own questions, and call it good for this year? Accepting the fact that she is just getting a surface overview of it. Do I do the same next year with Physical Science year and then step it up in 9th Grade when she hits Biology?

 

2. Do I make her do them? I am finding it is killing her love of science, but I am feeling the pressure of high school coming.

 

3. Is there another creation-based science out there that is similar to Apologia, on maybe a little easier level, that could get her through this next couple of years? She is not a great scholar, but just an average kid. I do not want to debate the ease or toughness of Apologia, because I know that there are those that feel that it is light. We are not experiencing that here.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice,

 

I personally think Apologia's gs book is awful.......really, really awful. If it were my child, I would not form any assessment about ability based on the reaction to that text.

 

How a Plato Science? It includes lectures and constant questioning to test for understanding. https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=1024&c=1

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I personally think Apologia's gs book is awful.......really, really awful. If it were my child, I would not form any assessment about ability based on the reaction to that text.

 

How a Plato Science? It includes lectures and constant questioning to test for understanding. https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=1024&c=1

 

Thanks for the link, 8. I will check it out. At this point I am open to changing texts, because I want her to retain the information, while not squelching her love of science.

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Only have time for a quick answer, but wanted to mention we are having a few of the same issues with General Science but I'm sticking with it for now as I think my dd would complain about any science that expects her to think and write. We've not done much formal science previously, so this is a jump for her, but I know she can do it. Here are a few resources I want to suggest in case you are unaware.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Apologia_General_Science/ You have to join the group. There are notebooking pages in the files sections that I printed out to use. As my dd reads the module, she has to fill out the pages that contain scientific definitions, On Your Own questions, study guide questions and the module summary.

 

http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/p/general-science-fall-2011.html

My dd has enjoyed watching these supplemental videos that correspond to the module.

 

http://wikis.engrade.com/nctgs

I had dd use this to help her review for test, etc...

 

Hope that helps!

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Only have time for a quick answer, but wanted to mention we are having a few of the same issues with General Science but I'm sticking with it for now as I think my dd would complain about any science that expects her to think and write. We've not done much formal science previously, so this is a jump for her, but I know she can do it. Here are a few resources I want to suggest in case you are unaware.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Apologia_General_Science/ You have to join the group. There are notebooking pages in the files sections that I printed out to use. As my dd reads the module, she has to fill out the pages that contain scientific definitions, On Your Own questions, study guide questions and the module summary.

 

http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/p/general-science-fall-2011.html

My dd has enjoyed watching these supplemental videos that correspond to the module.

 

http://wikis.engrade.com/nctgs

I had dd use this to help her review for test, etc...

 

Hope that helps!

 

:iagree:with the above bolded part. My DD is the exact same way and we have done a lot of science in our household, but not anything formal.

 

Thank you so much for the links. I may be able to make this work after all.

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My 7th grader is doing Sonlight Science 5: Health, Medicine, and Human Anatomy. It's WONDERFUL.

 

I can't stand Apologia science. Blech!! I went to nursing school, so I've had a LOT of science. It doesn't have to be boring - and I think that's exactly what Apologia does to the exciting world of science!

 

The SL 5 can be used by a wide range of ages - don't let the #5 put you off. What I like about it is it uses real books from a variety of publishers (Christian and secular). The notes in the IG give you a heads-up when it comes to any information that may be objectionable or that you might want to discuss further. The activity sheets are ok and a good way to reinforce the information being read, but they're not on the same academic level as Apologia or BJU or ABeka. However, the more natural way of learning is helping my ds retain the information much better than he would using a dry textbook.

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How about Rainbow Science? It is a much more engaging text, IMO. Everything is there for experiments so is a bit more hands on.

 

Apologia in any form is death in our house, too.

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How about Rainbow Science? It is a much more engaging text, IMO. Everything is there for experiments so is a bit more hands on.

 

 

:iagree:

I thought I responded to this thread yesterday, but I guess I got interrupted. Apologia's verbose style seems a bad fit for a student that struggles with reading. Rainbow is much more hands on, but is still a challenging middle school program (as I understand it, I looked hard, but didn't use it myself).

 

I am not a fan of Apologia, but I don't think that is the issue. I think the issue is that it is the exact opposite of your daughter's learning style.

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Ds tried that same science last year at the same age and couldn't hack it. He's good at math and science, loves science, and was highly motivated to do well with a more advanced "real" science text! And he is a *very* strong reader. Nothing was sticking at all, even though I worked with him to teach him good study habits (vocabulary flash cards, note taking while reading, reviewing notes, etc.). Nothing helped. He had done so well with Sonlight Science 6 the year before, too! His older sister didn't do Gen Sci--she started Apologia with Physical Science and though that one was hard for her when she got to the math (she hates math but is decent at it, and is only slightly more than luke warm about science), she handled it fine, and then did very well in Bio. I think perhaps that book is just off or something. At least for my kids. We ended up dropping Gen Sci altogether and going with a different program last year (which we're continuing this year so ds has that Integrated Chem & Physics instead of Phys Sci which is apparently what's recommended now). I was so sure we weren't even going to *attempt* it again that I gave away the whole program!

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My 7th grader is doing Sonlight Science 5: Health, Medicine, and Human Anatomy. It's WONDERFUL.

 

I can't stand Apologia science. Blech!! I went to nursing school, so I've had a LOT of science. It doesn't have to be boring - and I think that's exactly what Apologia does to the exciting world of science!

 

The SL 5 can be used by a wide range of ages - don't let the #5 put you off. What I like about it is it uses real books from a variety of publishers (Christian and secular). The notes in the IG give you a heads-up when it comes to any information that may be objectionable or that you might want to discuss further. The activity sheets are ok and a good way to reinforce the information being read, but they're not on the same academic level as Apologia or BJU or ABeka. However, the more natural way of learning is helping my ds retain the information much better than he would using a dry textbook.

 

I was considering Sonlight at one time, maybe I will have to go back to it.

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How about Rainbow Science? It is a much more engaging text, IMO. Everything is there for experiments so is a bit more hands on.

 

Apologia in any form is death in our house, too.

 

:iagree:

I thought I responded to this thread yesterday, but I guess I got interrupted. Apologia's verbose style seems a bad fit for a student that struggles with reading. Rainbow is much more hands on, but is still a challenging middle school program (as I understand it, I looked hard, but didn't use it myself).

 

I am not a fan of Apologia, but I don't think that is the issue. I think the issue is that it is the exact opposite of your daughter's learning style.

 

I visited the Rainbow site yesterday and it does look good. The bolded above is exactly what I am wondering. One of my twins will love and devour the GS text, but that is who he is and reading lots of information is his style. My DD's is more just get to the point and tell me what I need to know and I will learn it.

 

Is Rainbow Science (Year 1 and 2) sufficient preparation for starting Biology in 9th Grade?

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Ds tried that same science last year at the same age and couldn't hack it. He's good at math and science, loves science, and was highly motivated to do well with a more advanced "real" science text! And he is a *very* strong reader. Nothing was sticking at all, even though I worked with him to teach him good study habits (vocabulary flash cards, note taking while reading, reviewing notes, etc.). Nothing helped. He had done so well with Sonlight Science 6 the year before, too! His older sister didn't do Gen Sci--she started Apologia with Physical Science and though that one was hard for her when she got to the math (she hates math but is decent at it, and is only slightly more than luke warm about science), she handled it fine, and then did very well in Bio. I think perhaps that book is just off or something. At least for my kids. We ended up dropping Gen Sci altogether and going with a different program last year (which we're continuing this year so ds has that Integrated Chem & Physics instead of Phys Sci which is apparently what's recommended now). I was so sure we weren't even going to *attempt* it again that I gave away the whole program!

 

This is good to know. Thank you!

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I visited the Rainbow site yesterday and it does look good. The bolded above is exactly what I am wondering. One of my twins will love and devour the GS text, but that is who he is and reading lots of information is his style. My DD's is more just get to the point and tell me what I need to know and I will learn it.

 

Is Rainbow Science (Year 1 and 2) sufficient preparation for starting Biology in 9th Grade?

 

I have a science degree and I'm picky about my science. I haven't used Rainbow, but from everything I've seen, I would. I think it would be adequate prep for high school science. I have seen some people say they do the whole thing in a year. Coming in a little late in the year, it might work out perfectly to last a year and a half for you.

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I don't have any suggestions but just wanted to add that dd13 has tried using General Science twice since 6th grade and has only made it to module 4 before being ready to burn it. She is very science minded (wants to be a vet). We ended up spending the past couple of years with project based learning for her. This year(8th) I told her we were going to give Apologia Physical Science a try since next year she will take Apologia Biology at a tutorial and I wanted her to have some text book experience. She was less than enthusiastic. However, she is on module 3 now and it is going soooo much better. She's actually talking to me outside of school time about things she's learned from it, something she ONLY does with material she is enjoying. I agree that there is just something about that General Science book that doesn't sit right.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that when she is ready for the Physical Science (recommended for 8th) she may do much better with it. Good Luck finding something more enjoyable for her this year! (Elemental Science does look good...I'm considering it for my other dd.)

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I wanted to give a bit of an update.

 

My DD and I had a talk. I explained to her that there are other options out there, like Rainbow Science. I also explained that they do not have the MP3s, which she really likes. So she would have to read the text on her own, and take responsibility for it herself. I told her that I am willing to purchase them, if she really honestly feels like she can not do Apologia. Her response was that she is going to be a Vet Tech, and she will use Apologia. She said that she really likes that she hears the scientific words pronounced properly. I explained to her that she was going to have to 'step-it-up', and take more responsibility. I even offered to have her omit the tests for this year, and she said no, she told me she will learn to study for them and she wants to take them. So...we will continue through Apologia for this year.

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