Perry Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Am I understanding this correctly? My guess is that they take earth science in 6th, life science in 7th, and physical science in 8th, choosing either the regular or advanced class each year? Or do they just take all 6 of those classes at some point? Course Descriptions by Grade Science K Science 1 Science 2 Science 3 Science 4 Science 5 Earth Science Life Science Physical Science Advanced Earth Science Advanced Life Science Advanced Physical Science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genie Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Am I understanding this correctly? My guess is that they take earth science in 6th, life science in 7th, and physical science in 8th, choosing either the regular or advanced class each year? Or do they just take all 6 of those classes at some point? The short answer? They can take Earth, Life, or Physical in any order, but you would choose either the regular or the advanced. The long answer involves a little history of K12's science programs. The courses that are now listed as Advanced are revisions of their original middle school science program. So many people came new to K12 in middle school, and had not had their K-5 science background, and the students simply couldn't handle the rigor. There were also some experiments that didn't work properly, and some lessons that were too long and needed to be reworked. So K12 made easier versions of their middle school science courses, and those are the ones that are not labeled advanced. They were the only courses available to independent K12 users for a few years. They revised the original courses to fix some of the problems but keep the rigor. They offered them only to virtual academy students, using them as guinea pigs, since they did have access to a real-life teacher. They used them for a year or two, working out the bugs. My assumption is that they are now offering them to independent users since they are listed on the website like that. I haven't been on any K12 boards in a couple months, so I haven't read any reactions. But I do know that the advanced ones, as they were before, resembled high school level, easily. The Life Science was far more rigorous than my Biology class in college! But once they changed them, some longtime independent users of K12 had to change to a different curriculum because the regular classes were "dumbed down" compared to what they were used to in previous years. The regular science courses are great for students who don't have a lot of science background. For the science-nut kind of kid or one who has completed K12's K-5 science, the advanced is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 My dd is doing life in seventh, so far the cell portion is pretty intense. I think their science courses and math courses are pretty good. Btw, we do independent, so I dont know what is offered for virtual. Jet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willowcreek Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 My son did K12 life science for seventh, and he enjoyed it. For me, it covered the material and he could handle all the experiments with my review of his observations. SInce this was our first k12 class, I wasn't sure about the levels. Next year, we'll do advanced physical science. He could have handled more rigor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 You are correct. I highly recommend the *advanced* courses. The regular courses were very watered down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlockOfSillies Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 How watered down? If a kid has done WTM science in the grammar stage, would the advanced be too difficult, or just about right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I haven't done science the WTM way, but you can call K12 and get a demo account. You will be able to access all the lessons for all the courses and that way you could compare the regular and the advanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacalm Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Ds is using K12 Life Science Adv. and from what I hear ds comments all the time, must be interesting enough to captivate his attention. We get K12 science and history through our charter school since we can pick and choose. Stumbling across and sticking with K12 middle science and history saved me the ardous task of choosing what to do for science and history. I'm very impress with K12's middle school offering for these two subjects and won't hesitate to do it with my girls when the time comes. Unless, of course, another curriculum eclipses K12. Solid, rigourous, and thorough. Sure satisfies my "rigor" scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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