Chemistry recommendations, please?!

[DPM43]

Hi~ Looking for Chemistry recommendations, with lab activities. We do not want to do Apologia, so any other recommendations would be welcome. I have been eyeing this for a while; has anyone here used it?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Guide-Home-Chemistry-Experiments/dp/0596514921/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

And the accompanying kit:

 

http://blog.makezine.com/2011/06/22/bob-thompsons-homeschooler-chemistry-set/

 

One of the Amazon reviewers recommends using a standard chemistry text w/ the lab book, as a way of explaining a bit more in depth the whys/hows of the experiments. Any recommendations there?

 

Thanks!

 

Desiree

[cshell]

We used & REALLY have enjoyed the DIVE Chemistry course!!!;)

 

http://www.diveintomath.com/chemistry-11th-grade/

 

The DIVE Chemistry course is complete all by itself.

You can actually use the course with Dr. Shoreman's list of websites that coordinate without buying any extra text!!

If you choose to use BJU or Apologia or any other book it simply is supplemental to his course.

He has tests on the DIVE CD that correspond to his lectures.

 

Basically, he teaches the course & the other books are used to expand on what he is teaching.

 

The grading excel worksheet on the DIVE CD is SUPER!

Enjoy!! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful course & teacher!

[tvaleri]

Last year, my daughter who graduated in December, used The Joy of Chemistry, The Elements book, and various videos. Though she enjoyed the course and performed lots of experiments, but I feel it wasn't rigorous enough. Alas, it worked for her. She preferred to have an introductory chem class at home with lots of experiments then take chemistry at college with a prof and complete lab =) FWIW, I looked at the Thompson materials last year. Be advised the book and kit are completely unrelated per Mr. Thompson. If you purchase a kit, you may download a pdf manual. Also be advised, there are additional items you will need to purchase to complete all the experiments: hot plate, funnels, flasks, etc.

 

The reason I wanted to talk with you is that the book and the kit are completely separate and not dependent on each other. That is, the book does not use the kit (the book requires much more lab equipment and chemicals), and the kit does not use the book (the kit includes a full manual of its own). I wrote the book back in 2008, and have had many emails over the years from people who wanted to do a homeschool chemistry lab course, but found it too expensive to buy all the equipment and materials required by the book, which can easily run several hundred dollars or more. My wife and I decided to put together a chemistry kit that would be as inexpensive as possible,

while still offering good scope and rigor. The kit is not quite as rigorous as the book, but it's a lot less expensive than buying what's needed to do the experiments in the book. In other words, if you want the most rigorous chemistry lab course, keep the book, and order the equipment and chemicals separately. If you'd like to do a chem lab course that's nearly as good and lot less expensive, order the kit and return the book. I should mention that we just went on backorder with the kits, which should be

back in stock on or around 25 August. We started the morning with only 6

kits in stock and sold five of them. I was keeping one back for an "emergency", but if you want the kit quickly I'll pencil in your name on it.

 

Let me know.

 

Best regards.

 

Bob

 

This gal has an entire high school chemistry course laid out with lesson plans, videos, labs, and tests incorporated. Zumdahl and Thompson's lab kit and book provide the basic outline of the course. Videos are from MIT OpenCourseWare, Khan, YouTube, and others. Looks great!

 

http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/

 

I am also noodling The Spectrum by Beginnings Publishing. However, I feel their durable lab kit is a bit overpriced.

 

HTH,

Teresa in NC

Edited May 22, 2012 by tvaleri

[hthnmamax2]

My son is using this kit with the Glencoe Chemistry book that's listed there. http://www.qualitysciencelabs.com/chemistry-labs/microchem-kit-standard-edition/

 

I got him the student workbook that goes with it and supplemented with videos from Kahn Academy. He really seems to enjoy it but he's a Sciency kid. :001_smile:

[AngieW in Texas]

We're using Tro's Introductory Chemistry, 3rd edition. I was going to use 2nd edition, but couldn't get solution manual for it, so I'm using the 3rd. I got my textbook for less than $10 on amazon and got the solution manual from Prentice Hall for $20.

 

I'm using Prentice Hall Small-scale Chemistry Labs for the labs, but that isn't feasible for a single student. I'm teaching it as a class, so buying and mixing all the chemicals was cheaper than buying individual microchem kits.

 

We did one lab from Thompson's book. That book is really good for a single family to use. I think it would actually be harder to do with a larger group, but I'm going to look into it for the next time I do chemistry. I already have a lot of the chemicals.

[mom4peace]

This gal has an entire high school chemistry course laid out with lesson plans, videos, labs, and tests incorporated. Zumdahl and Thompson's lab kit and book provide the basic outline of the course. Videos are from MIT OpenCourseWare, Khan, YouTube, and others. Looks great!

 

http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/

 

HTH,

Teresa in NC

 

That one is mine. Feel free to fire any questions my way via the comment section or email (found in the about section on my blog).

 

Physics is in the works next. Yikes!

 

Sarah

[regentrude]

We have used Chang's General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts

 

We used this older edition

http://www.amazon.com/General-Chemistry-The-Essential-Concepts/dp/007115115X/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337704990&sr=1-12

which we bought very inexpensively

 

together with the student workbook/solution manual

http://www.amazon.com/General-Chemistry-Essential-Concepts-Workbook/dp/0072410744/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1337704990&sr=1-12

 

 

and a lab kit from labpaq which came with detailed instructions, discussion questions etc. The titles and descriptions of the labs make it easy to schedule the experiments at appropriate times in the course.

[Julie in MN]

I am also noodling The Spectrum by Beginnings Publishing. However, I feel their durable lab kit is a bit overpriced.

 

This is what we plan to use. I've used their Rainbow twice, and the labs really, really get done.

 

As for the cost, you can skip the durable set and get it elsewhere. Their prices do include shipping, plus a carton where everything has its place :)

 

Julie

[Lizzie in Ma]

We are going with The Spectrum and Khan Academy videos.

[Mom22ns]

Hi~ Looking for Chemistry recommendations, with lab activities. We do not want to do Apologia, so any other recommendations would be welcome. I have been eyeing this for a while; has anyone here used it?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Guide-Home-Chemistry-Experiments/dp/0596514921/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

 

I have purchased this to use next year. I think it looks amazing! I didn't get the kit because I have a well stocked lab already. Our supply list for next year came in under $100. The author recommends the CK12 chemistry which is free. I was planning to use it, but have decided to go lighter and more fun for ds. He is a computer guy, not a science guy.

[DPM43]

Wow -- I'm overwhelmed ( in a good way) with the good advice and variety of suggestions for chemistry! Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out!

 

Desiree

[HollyDay]

We just finished up Chemistry last week. We used BJU Chemistry 2nd edition with MicroChem kit from homescience tools. There is a guide in MicroChem that tells you what experiment to do with which chapter