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what is your opinion about BJU science?


bethben
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I've used the grade 3 books (3rd edition). As far as textbooks go, I think it's one of the better ones. The material seems thorough, and while it is a young earth Christian curriculum, they didn't spend the whole time talking about that. They mentioned it where it truly fit in, which I appreciated (I'm young earth, but I want to read about other parts of science too).

 

The experiments are straightforward, and they're not every week, but there is one per chapter.

 

We got a bit bored with the textbook nature, but we've had a hard time with any curriculum, so I don't fault BJU for that. In fact, recently, my son pulled the textbook off the shelf and took it in the van to read. :)

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My oldest used their 6th grade text last year and is currently using 7th grade Life Science this year. My dd is very much into science, and she LOVES it. Like the pp said, it's young earth, but they don't shove it down your throat. We just skip that part (we aren't hard core young or old earth). I think it is very thorough and challenging. All in all, we're very happy with it and plan to continue using it next year.

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We're doing 2nd and 5th - w/ DVD. Finally we've found a science that gets done around here. Although we still don't do many of the activities. Neither kid loves it, despite my hopes that they'd love science. My older doesn't particullary care for the DVD. He'd rather just get it done and have it over w/ rahter than watch the 30 min video. We're going to go for 6 next year and start out w/o the video and see if I can cover enough w/ the teacher's manual. We won't finish in May b/c we also get a load of books from the library and Usborne Science Ency. to read more about various topics.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My oldest used their 6th grade text last year and is currently using 7th grade Life Science this year. My dd is very much into science, and she LOVES it. Like the pp said, it's young earth, but they don't shove it down your throat. We just skip that part (we aren't hard core young or old earth). I think it is very thorough and challenging. All in all, we're very happy with it and plan to continue using it next year.

 

Does your student do this independently or do you "teach" it. If you teach it what do you do exactly? Just read it with them? I need something that is not too much time for me. I'm trying to pick something for him to do next year...he will be 8th.

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We've used 3rd and 4th grade. Last year I did all the experiments, and this year I didn't bother. I hate experiments and don't want to go back to them until DD is older. YMMV, obviously. DD just reads a section in the text and fills out a corresponding worksheet. It's a very straightforward program, and DD finds the text interesting.

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We use BJU Science DVD's, and if you can get Mrs. Vick as a teacher, don't pass her by... she is a wonderful teacher! She teaches middle school science and I think is not to be missed. We started with 3rd grade science with Miss Liston, and we thought that she also was a great teacher. I strongly recommend getting the DVD's (or online version) for science class, if possible. You can go to the BJU website and view samples of the class you are interested in.

 

:)

Brenda

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We've used 5th-7th grade. We really liked it. It is heavy handed YE creationist. However, it is really solid science. The books alone are probably ok in younger grades. If you can't teach it, I would strongly recommend the dvd or online options by 7th grade. There is a lot of material, added information, demonstrations, ideas, assignments in the TM only. If they are reading the student book and doing labs they are missing a full 1/3 of the course which has to come from a teacher. It was open and go in 5-6th though. A little less so in the 7-8th books. We switched to secular materials for high school.

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We are using 2nd and 6th grade via online and I am very happy with them. Dd12 loves science and I love that it is getting done now. The videos are very well made, including skits and video snippets. I also love that they have students doing the labs so if we can't get them done she is at least watching them.

 

I plan to continue with BJU science.

 

beck

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There are lots of good things to say about BJU science, and most of it has been said already. On the other hand, it can feel like TOO much. It is designed for classroom, so if you like using TEs designed for that situation you'd be fine. We never tried the online/DVD option.... just watching the "sample" intro lessons for grade 7 life science was more than *I* had patience for. The thing we have liked about Apologia is that it can be used without me pretending to be a classroom teacher wading through a lot of TE stuff or trying to lecture him about my least favorite subject or watching a dvd with lots of unnecessary verbage. (So, yes, I'm predisposed to dislike most science curricula. I admit it, LOL).

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd throw out a different point of view since no one else had.

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Does your student do this independently or do you "teach" it. If you teach it what do you do exactly? Just read it with them? I need something that is not too much time for me. I'm trying to pick something for him to do next year...he will be 8th.

 

I love life science, and so does Anna so we always go over things together because it's fun. I write out her lessons for the week. She reads and does any worksheets/notes/outlines, and we go over each section together. Then there's experiments and projects of course.

 

Next year might look different because "space and earth science" isn't my favorite. We'll have to see how things go. :)

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