Keniki Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Has anyone used this? CBD says it would work as a college class, but the samples don't look that difficult. What level did you use it for, and obvious question, did you like it? I'm curious about using it for an 8th grader. Would it take a whole year or could it be done in a semester? Please give me any pros and cons you know of. Here's a link if anyone else wants to look at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 My two oldest have done it/are doing it in 8th grade. I like the program and think with all the lab work, it's definitely a challenge. Our primary issue is that it is EXTREMELY difficult to schedule. If you have a child who can look ahead and plan projects, alter plans (due to cloudiness/bad weather) but still complete them at a later date, it would probably work fine, particularly if they are interested in the subject. The way it is working for us now is to read a chapter and choose 2 lab notebook projects each month to work on. Sometimes the projects are very small, and sometimes they are changed because of scheduling/weather issues. It is challenging, but I think a well done and fascinating curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keniki Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thank you. EXTREMELY difficult to schedule would be a challenge to me. Is the book itself hard to schedule or just juggling the projects with the book and looking for the right weather, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thank you. EXTREMELY difficult to schedule would be a challenge to me. Is the book itself hard to schedule or just juggling the projects with the book and looking for the right weather, etc.? The book itself is not difficult at all - very informative and worth studying. It's only the lab work (for high school credit) that is challenging - at least, it has been for us. There are certainly projects in there that can be done fairly easily - it's just a matter of keeping up with it on charts and things for periods of time - i.e. tracking the moon phases or a constellation. Also, we don't have a decent view of the horizon anywhere in our neighborhood (very hilly, lots of trees) and so some of the labs need a short trek "to the countryside" to complete. There are really fascinating projects too, like making a solar compass in your yard by charting shadows. We just pick and choose depending on the season and what appeals to my kids the most. I tend to think that doing even half the projects would be enough for a high school credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keniki Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thank you very much! I think this is at least worth showing him. We don't have any hills for at least a hundred miles, and we are in the country so we get wonderful views of the sky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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