Holt Earth Science users ... my brain is going to implode

[plain jane]

I'm confused and hoping someone here can help clarify things for me.

 

I'm thinking about using Holt Earth Science for 6th grade next year but I have a ton of questions. :tongue_smilie:

 

1. Is the text enough on its own? Is it rigorous/challenging/interesting or will I need to supplement somehow? I don't want to piece together too much, if possible but I'm not opposed if it's simply things like adding in living books. The Astronomy end of things seems a bit light but I only see the TOC topics, not the actual text. Can any one comment on this? Will I need to beef up Astronomu? Will I have time in the year to do so? Also does the text cover enough of the earth science topics for middle school?

 

2. How accessible are the experiments? Is it hard to get the materials? Are the labs difficult?

 

3. I'm looking at the set at Rainbow and it appears to include the text, a TM and a CD resource. What does the teacher manual do/include? Do I want to have this??

 

4. Someone here recommended the materials from Kolbe Academy. I'd spring for the answer key but they sell the CD resource separately. Is this worth having? What do their course plans and tests entail? Does it lay out the course for the year? - Is it necessary/desirable to have it all laid out for me? What other info does it provide? Is it necessary? Very beneficial? Is it worth the money?

 

I'm pretty confused as to what the difference is between getting it from RR (which states that I can get lesson plans off the publisher's website) or purchasing it from Kolbe and using their plans.

 

Can someone please outline the biggest difference and recommend which way to go?

 

Neither seems especially cheap, so I may go the used route on Amazon :tongue_smilie: but OTOH, it would be nice to just order everything from one place and be done with this. I can't seem to find a science that I want to do for next year.

 

 

Or, am I simply crazy and should I simply do Classiquest (or Elemental) Earth & Space when it comes out? :001_huh: Would these programs be as thorough/rigorous as the Holt text? :confused:

 

My brain hurts.:glare:

[oraetstudia]

I think if you buy the lesson plans from Kolbe they actually come with the assignments and answer keys you need in the lesson plans, but they sell the extra stuff for those who want to add more. You can e-mail/call and ask them for details though.

 

Here are the free lesson plans, which are better than nothing, but I find them kind of confusing to read (or I may just be easily confused these days):

http://saxonhomeschool.hmhco.com/ha/Resources/saxonhomeschool/Holt_ST_Earth_LP.pdf

[txhomemom]

Feel free to PM me with any questions. We are currently using Holt's Earth Science online materials which include the text, teacher's notes, lessons, audio component of the text, and more. If you want the actual physical book then I would look into getting it off Amazon and save a bunch of money. I am not sure if you would absolutely need the teacher manual or not, kind of depends on how you are going to use it. I have been intrigued by the lesson plans by Kolbe as well, if you feel that you need a schedule of what to do when then that may be a good fit for you.

 

Anyway, I will have to dig up the old post where I gave the info on how to go to Holt's website and order the online version of the text if you are interested. It is only $16 per year. It might be a good way for you to try it out and see if it would work for you or not and then if you want an actual hard copy of the book you could order one on Amazon.

 

As far as the material in the text itself, it seems pretty meaty to me and I am picky when it comes to textbooks. We have not gotten that far in the text yet, so I am not sure if there are any sections that might be lacking or not. I don't think there are any serious science experiments that correlate with the Holt text so if you want more of a hands on component than you might want to add a rock kit, etc. I have thought about using an earth science activity book to get a few more ideas on experiments.

 

I have also considered Elemental Science Earth Science and as crazy as it seems have pondered combining Holt's book with Elemental Science. I like the schedule of Elemental Science and the fact that the activities, encyclopedia readings, are all coordinated for you. At the same time, I hate just using an encyclopedia for science because they can be kind of dull sometimes, so that is where I figured the Holt book would come in.

 

By the way, as far as the teacher's manual for Holt, most of it is overrated. There are a lot of worksheets, review sheets, some vocabulary, I cannot remember what all was there, but nothing significant. I have the online version of the Holt teacher's manual so I have not seen the hard copy in person.

 

I will post the link to Holt's website in a few minutes.

 

Here are the old threads:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325141&page=4

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325141&page=5

 

I think I posted about midway down the page and then on page 5 I gave instructions on how to order through Holt.

Edited April 4, 2012 by txhomemom