Bula Mama Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Is there anything that helps in teaching Apologia Biology besides The Potter School? I had planned for my dd's to start Bio. in Jan. so that's not an option. There is a co-op that teaches it here but we're moving to New Zealand in Jan.! I'm wondering how the D.I.V.E. cd would work with this but, of course, no one's used it yet since it just came out. Are there other options out there that I don't know about? Thanks for any info.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtsmamtj Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 What kind of "teaching helps" are you looking for? Disection? T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 What kind of "teaching helps" are you looking for? Disection? T I've seen the kits for disection and Customs in New Zealand won't allow them through. :-( I'm actually thinking just of something that would help to actually teach the course to make up for my lack of experience in Science without spending lots of time that I don't have being involved in the process myself. Guess I'm just aware that courses like this really matter now as they head toward college in a few years and want to make SURE that they're done right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunchlady Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 If your son has used Apologia before without any teaching helps, I would think he could do the same with biology. The text is written directly to the student and the author writes in an explanatory way, assuming that there isn't a science teacher nearby. My ds did it without any problems. My dd did have a few areas in certain chapters that she didn't "get". It wasn't very often. So, she asked me to explain them. I just read through enough of the chapter to get an understanding and then explained it. ETA-- I have NOT learned the material along with my children. I basically give them their assignments and am available if there are questions (which there generally aren't). They've enjoyed the Apologia science and have done well on their tests (both average in high 90's on their tests) without instruction from me. And DS has taken a CLEP exam for science. So, I think Dr. Wile has done a good job of making the texts very user friendly for the student. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 If your son has used Apologia before without any teaching helps, I would think he could do the same with biology. The text is written directly to the student and the author writes in an explanatory way, assuming that there isn't a science teacher nearby. My ds did it without any problems. My dd did have a few areas in certain chapters that she didn't "get". It wasn't very often. So, she asked me to explain them. I just read through enough of the chapter to get an understanding and then explained it. ETA-- I have NOT learned the material along with my children. I basically give them their assignments and am available if there are questions (which there generally aren't). They've enjoyed the Apologia science and have done well on their tests (both average in high 90's on their tests) without instruction from me. And DS has taken a CLEP exam for science. So, I think Dr. Wile has done a good job of making the texts very user friendly for the student. Lisa This was very good to read! I've been wondering how much they're actually getting from Physical which they're doing now. Glad to hear that you've had success with the program even without much involvement from you. Thanks so much! Made me feel a lot better! I've never been stressed about the progress of my dc in school but this High School thing is a little more scary!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb in NZ Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Heather, Sarianna's had no trouble understanding Biology. We use the free schedules from DonnaYoung & she works independently. I check her Study Guide & go over any problem areas with her. She's scored 85-90% on most tests. How she studies is: 1---Listen to assigned readings on audio cd while refering to the text. Take notes on what she feels is important. 2---Do OYOs as they come up & refer to companion CD as noted in text. 3---Do labs as they come up & write up labs to be put in science notebook. 4---Do roots corresponding to module from Science Roots. 5---Check OYOs when finished reading chapter. 6---Complete Study Guide, using notes taken, but not the text. 7---Take test. We use the quater tests after every 4 modules. To review for the quarter tests I have her complete the module summaries found at the back of the text. This takes her a week-1 module a day + 1 day for the quarter test. I've found the Biology text easier to grade as the answers actually give how may points each problem is worth. We haven't reached the disection labs yet, but have had no problem with the microscope labs as we bought the prepared slides from SL. I probably didn't need the audio cd for Sarianna, but knew I would for the boys. It has been an unexpected help in teaching her to take notes from lectures, a very important skill in university. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 Thanks, Deb! :) I've copied what you wrote into a Word Doc. to refer back to later! I'm leaning back this way again instead of the Abeka thing and really like the audio CD part. Could be very useful like you said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne/Ankara Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 We have used the Hippocampus tutorials (free online) for help in various courses-- maybe they could help in biology! Sometimes just listening and looking at a visual makes all the difference in learning a topic. http://www.hippocampus.org/Biology;jsessionid=B22A3428692314F385F27A9E31C5C7E2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I'm happy to send along my syllabus for Apologia biology, 2nd ed. It's based on a Donna Young schedule. I've broken each module into 2 weeks/3 days per week and it has very detail for completing vocab, On Your Own questions, study guide and the experiments. Also, do you have a microscope available? If so, the prepared slide kit is excellent and do most of the work for you. I love the dissections, but if you feel weary about doing them at home, you could always opt for the on-line version OR pray for and elist the help of a science-minded friend. Perhaps even a retired teacher in your church. I've seen over and over that God can provide what we lack! HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I agree that Apologia does all the *teaching* itself. I never had any of this stuff in school, and I would have been a disservice to my children if I would have had to teach it. I just gave them the book and they did it all themselves. We just determine ahead of time how much needs to be accomplished .... 4 pages per day...that sort of thing, and allow for study days and test days. Everything is pretty much assigned in the text. Do the labs when you come to them and test fall after each chapter. There is one module in Biology that is VERY hard. Just allow your child to take his or her time on that one. I don't remember which one it is, but Dr Jay addresses this in the front of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 I'm happy to send along my syllabus for Apologia biology, 2nd ed. It's based on a Donna Young schedule. I've broken each module into 2 weeks/3 days per week and it has very detail for completing vocab, On Your Own questions, study guide and the experiments. Also, do you have a microscope available? If so, the prepared slide kit is excellent and do most of the work for you. I love the dissections, but if you feel weary about doing them at home, you could always opt for the on-line version OR pray for and elist the help of a science-minded friend. Perhaps even a retired teacher in your church. I've seen over and over that God can provide what we lack! HTH, Lisa Ok, the slides sound really good. You mentioned an online option for the dissections? It this through the Apologia site??? It's not that I don't want to do them, I've just seen on a couple of sites that New Zealand customs won't allow them in. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 Is this something that you can email? I'd love to have it! I tried PM'ing you but couldn't. I'm happy to send along my syllabus for Apologia biology, 2nd ed. It's based on a Donna Young schedule. I've broken each module into 2 weeks/3 days per week and it has very detail for completing vocab, On Your Own questions, study guide and the experiments. Also, do you have a microscope available? If so, the prepared slide kit is excellent and do most of the work for you. I love the dissections, but if you feel weary about doing them at home, you could always opt for the on-line version OR pray for and elist the help of a science-minded friend. Perhaps even a retired teacher in your church. I've seen over and over that God can provide what we lack! HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 Thanks so much for holding my hand ladies!!! Glad to hear that the Biology is so user friendly! Science is the one area that freaks me out a bit. :001_smile: I was looking at other sources but think we'll just stick with Apologia. Very nice to have your positive input. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I pm'd you my e-mail address. Sorry about that. I didn't realize I had options set like that. Here are some links to online dissections. If you google, you'll get a zillion; this is just what was in my favorites. And the prepared slide kit is available from Home Science Tools http://www.hometrainingtools.com/product_categories/45/products/5559-apologia-biology-slide-set. Site for lots of biology helps: http://www.101science.com/biology.htm#Monera edible cell: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/ATG/data/released/0251-NickHoffman/ frog dissection: http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/ crayfish dissection: http://biog-101-104.bio.cornell.edu/bioG101_104/tutorials/animals/crayfish.html Hope that gets you started! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtsmamtj Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Another option is at http://www.froguts.com/flash_content/index.html You can buy the DVD. HTH T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Wow, these sites look GREAT!!!! Thanks soooo much ladies!!! I'm feeling much more confident about this already. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonyartmom Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I put together a webpage that may have some help for you. We loved our year with Apologia Biology and I am looking forward to having my younger son complete it next year. Here you go: Apologia Science: Exploring Creation with Biology Hope you find something that helps you out. Barb-Harmony Art Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bula Mama Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 I put together a webpage that may have some help for you. We loved our year with Apologia Biology and I am looking forward to having my younger son complete it next year. Here you go: Apologia Science: Exploring Creation with Biology Hope you find something that helps you out. Barb-Harmony Art Mom Thanks! It looks like you have quite a bit on there! I'll have to sit down and have a good read tonight. Thanks a bunch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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