DIVE Biology and AURGH!!!!

[fairfarmhand]

My dd has been using DIVE biology this year. Yesterday she informed me that she's learned NOTHING since the beginning of the year. NOTHING. So if she wants to play it that way, we will sit together, start back at the beginning and watch them together.

 

(this is my child who wants everything to be spoon fed to her. if it requires mental effort, trying, failing and trying again she tunes out or just gives up.)

 

And yes, I have been checking her work and keeping up with what she's done. She says she doesn't know ANY of the answers when he gives her time to do the pages and just writes in the answers that he tells her at the end of the class.

[speedmom4]

Are you using the DIVE with Apologia?

 

We had to ditch Apologia for my younger dd. She wasn't learning anything. She is now taking a class with Landry Academy. My older dd loves Apologia and has done great with it.

 

It could be your dd has a different learning style.

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[fairfarmhand]

yes, with Apologia. I really don't have any choice now. The money is spent and there is no more to spend. I think if she gave a little more effort, it would be doable. That's my frustration.

 

Ironically, she says she wants to be a vet.

[Guest submarines]

Maybe the curriculum isn't a good fit for her. If she wants to be a vet, I'd try to find a biology program that she was excited about.

[BakersDozen]

Does Khan have Biology videos? Or anything else free online? Apologia has only been a good fit with my oldest dd; for my 13yo and 15yo it was a disaster.

[Jane Elliot]

yes, with Apologia. I really don't have any choice now. The money is spent and there is no more to spend. I think if she gave a little more effort, it would be doable. That's my frustration.

 

Ironically, she says she wants to be a vet.

 

I've never used the Dive CD, but I've had 6 kids use that Apologia text. Has your dd had previous experience with the upper level Apologia texts (General Science, Physical Science)? The biology text can be a hard one to jump in on if she hasn't been used to Apologia. Does she have previous experience using a textbook? If not, she might need you to sit down with her to show her how to interact with a textbook. She might need to outline key sections, write out definitions, hi-lite, underline, write summaries, read captions, etc. The Apologia texts are great for acclimating kids to meaty textbooks, so take advantage of this good opportunity to help her brush up on study skills.

 

If she has good reading skills, maybe she could drop the Dive CD and try using just the text. If she doesn't have good reading skills, that might be the problem.

 

Also, show her this web page and make sure she takes advantage of the online helps listed there.

 

As a heads-up, for a future biology (pre-vet) major, the crucial modules in that text are modules 6, 7, and 8. Make sure she understands those thoroughly, even if it means she ends up spending less time on the later modules which aren't as foundational as the first half.

[busymama7]

We hated DIVE. We used it with a regular hs textbook but my kids didn't get much out of it either. There is no where near enough lecture to consider it lecture based. Sorry :-(