Concerned about attempting Apologia Chemistry

[Mommy7]

My dd is doing Apologia's Biology this year as well as Algebra I. So, I know she will have the math necessary to do Chemistry, but she is not what I would call mathy. We are pretty much average math folks around here. She did find Biology to be pretty challenging. She had a hard time keeping up with the schedule and will have work to do over the summer to finish up. (She has chronic health issues)

 

She would be taking a Chemistry coop lab and have access to someone who really knows science and could answer questions. So, that is a plus. Also, I have considered getting Apologia's DVD's for further explanation.

 

Bottom line question...does it look better on a transcript to have Chemistry on it? Meaning that would be a more rigorous academic path? But, then, what if she struggles in it? Not really sure what she wants to do at this point, though, so we are trying to have her prepared for anything.

 

I really think she is going to end up as a missionary in Uganda...but, who knows if she might use a nursing degree within that context.

[PeterPan]

Google for the Georgia PBS Chemistry. The entire thing (well not the tests, but the videos, worksheets, etc.) is available free online. It's charming, not offensive to my dd (she thought the guy was funny), and well it's what I plan to use. Someone else here called it chemistry in diapers and said it made her dd want to learn more. If you pair it with the labs at co-op, you might have a winner. Remember, you can always go back and do a 2nd year of chem later. Nothing says the first go-round has to be the hardest option.

 

And yes, she should do chemistry, no matter what. Try the GA PBS class though. Might bring it into reach for her.

[coffeegal]

Can she wait a year to do chemistry? I'm finding there is a world of difference between what a 9th grader can do and what a 10th, moving into 11th, grader can do. It would give her a year to mature before attempting chemistry. My 9th grader needs an extra year for different reasons, so he'll be doing Apologia Marine Biology before chemistry.

[Mommy7]

Thank you, OhElizabeth...as usual, you have great ideas! I'll check it out.

 

Coffeegal, because of health issues, we delayed beginning high school, so she is already an older student. I think the maturity level is probably okay...I think my hesitation may be because I have zero confidence in *my* abilities with chemistry...therefore, I am wondering how I would help her if she gets stuck. That is why I am interested in Apologia's DVD's.

 

Does anyone have experience with Chemistry 101 Dvd's?

[Mommy7]

I tried to watch the Georgia PBS Sample & I can't because my internet is on a MAC. Bummer, huh?

 

What do you think of Chemistry 101? I loved the samples!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think with the help of an occasional tutor (the sciencey friend) and a coop, she will do fine with the Apologia Chemistry.

[tvaleri]

We were in an academic co-op two years ago. The kids struggled so much with Apologia Chemistry, a tutor was hired for them. They spent at least 4 hours a week on chemistry alone. Personally, I wonder if the tutor made it more difficult :glare: Anyhow, the co-op science adviser said in her opinion, students should have algebra 2 under their belts before tackling apologia's chemistry course which is heavy on math.

 

Have you seen the Chemistry thread? It's got a myriad of suggestions for chemistry :hurray:

 

We are going to use Zumdahl's Intro to Chemistry + basic lab kit + Teaching Company dvd's, and a few fun things to boot.

 

FWIW, I found this last night; looks helpful: http://education-portal.com/academy/course/general-chemistry-course.html

 

 

 

Smiles,

Teresa

[mom31257]

:lurk5:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Anyhow, the co-op science adviser said in her opinion, students should have algebra 2 under their belts before tackling apologia's chemistry course which is heavy on math.

 

 

 

I asked ds15, who took it this year (10th). He said it sort of depended on what Algebra 1 she took. He took Jacob's Algebra, which he was told goes beyond some Algebra 1 texts. I do second looking at the chemistry book thread (pinned, I think) that is very helpful.

[mumto2]

 

I just visited this website. It is amazing.....even has a potentially great economics course. Thank you! :)

 

We were in an academic co-op two years ago. The kids struggled so much with Apologia Chemistry, a tutor was hired for them. They spent at least 4 hours a week on chemistry alone. Personally, I wonder if the tutor made it more difficult :glare: Anyhow, the co-op science adviser said in her opinion, students should have algebra 2 under their belts before tackling apologia's chemistry course which is heavy on math.

 

Have you seen the Chemistry thread? It's got a myriad of suggestions for chemistry :hurray:

 

We are going to use Zumdahl's Intro to Chemistry + basic lab kit + Teaching Company dvd's, and a few fun things to boot.

 

FWIW, I found this last night; looks helpful: http://education-portal.com/academy/course/general-chemistry-course.html

 

 

 

Smiles,

Teresa

[PeterPan]

I tried to watch the Georgia PBS Sample & I can't because my internet is on a MAC. Bummer, huh?

 

What do you think of Chemistry 101? I loved the samples!

 

 

That makes no sense. I'm on a mac and can watch it just fine. Figure out what's wrong on your end. You're gonna LOVE it. And then you can go to amazon and buy a toy mole (you know, avogadro's mol...) to sit by the computer while she does chem. :)

 

Ok, maybe you won't be impressed. It's not the hardest thing out there, but it's doable, adorable, and she can go on to an AP or 2nd year chem later.

 

As far as Zumdahl's Intro to Chem, it's great, but it's way harder than Apologia. Like curl your hair harder. (lots of math too) Nuts, I haven't even seen the Apologia. I got it, liked it (because I used Zumdahl myself when I was in school) and sold it. We're gonna do this PBS chem (free, easy, charming, gets done), and maybe reapproach with an AP chem course with Zumdahl or whatever her senior year.

[Alice]

I haven’t used the Apologia Chem DVDs but I have the Apologia Anatomy DVD for a co-op class I teach. I was not impressed with the DVD. I didn’t watch the whole thing but it’s essentially just reading the textbook to the student, there isn’t really anything more to it. It doesn’t explain anything in any more detail than is already in the text. I suppose someone who is very much an audio learner might prefer to listen/watch the DVD. I had one student with a significant reading learning disability and the DVD was helpful to her. Otherwise, I couldn’t figure out why you would want it.

 

The Chemistry one might be different, hopefully someone else with more experience with it can chime in.

[Mommy7]

Okay, I tried it again, OhElizabeth, & it says Windows Media Player is not installed. Windows doesn't work on a MAC, does it? Or am I completely confused? My technologically challenged side is showing again!!! Humbling, ain't it? :lol:

[swimmermom3]

We were in an academic co-op two years ago. The kids struggled so much with Apologia Chemistry, a tutor was hired for them. They spent at least 4 hours a week on chemistry alone. Personally, I wonder if the tutor made it more difficult :glare: Anyhow, the co-op science adviser said in her opinion, students should have algebra 2 under their belts before tackling apologia's chemistry course which is heavy on math.

 

Have you seen the Chemistry thread? It's got a myriad of suggestions for chemistry :hurray:

 

We are going to use Zumdahl's Intro to Chemistry + basic lab kit + Teaching Company dvd's, and a few fun things to boot.

 

FWIW, I found this last night; looks helpful: http://education-por...try-course.html

 

 

 

Smiles,

Teresa

 

 

Teresa,

 

Thanks for linking this resource. It would be very easy to plug in the individual videos where a student needed extra help.

[Dicentra]

I just have to say...

(I hope this doesn't sound weird or arrogant or strange. :))

I really wish that I could somehow gather everyone's dc together who plan on taking high school chem and teach them all chemistry. :D And please understand - I'm not saying this because I think anyone here will do a bad job and you need rescuing! Far from it - I think everyone will do a wonderful job. :) It just hurts my heart to see the anxiety that folks have over chemistry. :( I love teaching chemistry - I mean I LOVE it. I have taught everything from very basic reg chem to AP chem and I could teach each and every course over and over without getting tired of them. There's just something about chemistry that I find amazing, eternally interesting, and fun. You'd be amazed at how much of high school chemistry can be taught by using cookie analogies. :D

 

Plus it would be great if some of you could then take my dd and teach her writing because the dang writing fairy still hasn't shown up and I'm beginning to get worried...

 

(Sorry OP - I didn't help much with your question, did I? :) I don't know much about Apologia Chemistry but I tried to list all the options I could find in that pinned Chemistry thread so there might be something there that can help. I do think that if she's going to pursue nursing, she does need chemistry. At least here in Ontario you do. Not sure about the States.)

[Renaissance Mom]

And then you can go to amazon and buy a toy mole (you know, avogadro's mol...) to sit by the computer ...

I have to do this just to see my dd roll her eyes and laugh at her mom's sense of humor. I think I'll try and make some of these and give them to her friends who are taking chemistry, too. (I know ... Of all the things in this encouraging thread to inspire me ...)

 

Grins,

[Cindy in FL.]

We like the Chemistry 101 series, but you would have to add a lot to it to make it a complete course. We watched it along with doing the Apologia Chemistry course through the Potter's School. My ds had only completed Algebra1 and did not have a problem with the math.

[PeterPan]

I have to do this just to see my dd roll her eyes and laugh at her mom's sense of humor. I think I'll try and make some of these and give them to her friends who are taking chemistry, too. (I know ... Of all the things in this encouraging thread to inspire me ...)

 

Grins,

 

Here's a link if you wanna see it. I thought about making one, but this one is nicely detailed.

 

Mole 9" by Hansa

[PeterPan]

Okay, I tried it again, OhElizabeth, & it says Windows Media Player is not installed. Windows doesn't work on a MAC, does it? Or am I completely confused? My technologically challenged side is showing again!!! Humbling, ain't it? :lol:

 

When you go to this link http://www.gpb.org/c...emistry/503 what happens? When I go there, I see the start of the video and can click play and it goes. What do you get? No you shouldn't need a windows media player, lol. Is your mac updated? Maybe go to your little apple pulldown menu (upper right) and update? Apple took off flash for a while, but I think it's back on. Maybe if you update whatever your machine wants to update, it will work? Literally all I do is go to the lesson page like that, and there the video is. This WILL WORK when you get your machine talking to you nicely. It's on there. Ask a teenager, lol. :)

[Mommy7]

It came right up! What is the deal with that? Thanks for the link!

[PeterPan]

Well that's awesome! So that's a link to one lesson. Did you find the index with the rest of the lessons?

 

http://www.gpb.org/chemistry-physics/students/chemistry

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I wrestled with what to use for chemistry for ds all winter long. Even looked into him actually needing it on his transcript (turns out he did not according to Iowa HS I called) but I felt he needed Chemistry. He is an average science student and had a hard time with Apologia Biology. Anyway, long story short, he will do Chemistry but he is using the ACE Paces and the Chemistry 101 DVD (he really enjoyed the Biology 101), for experiments he is going to work through the Micro Chem kit, plus read several books about Chemists and Chemistry. This way he will get the basics of Chemistry under his belt (for general knowledge and testing purposes), and it will be on his transcript. I looked over the Paces and was quite pleased.

 

As far as the math, my oldest used Apologia's Chemistry and was doing Algebra 2 at the same time. He never felt like he had to learn math for the book. They actually show you how to do the formulas in the Apologia book and basic info on Algebra is all that was really needed.

[wingedradical]

As a person with chronic illness who is homeschooling a person with health issues (rising 11th), I concidered putting her in a chemistry co-op in the fall and decided against it. Chemisty, like math, is one of those subjects where things can get disasterous quickly if you miss out a class or even get sick home for a couple of days while the rest of the class is getting homework done

 

In my situation, I decided that even though I am not a science person, I would tackle it at home so that it was more under my control. She wants a coop class so she's doing sign language.

 

We are going to use The Spectrum Chemisty. I ordered early just in case I took one look and panicked. It got here a few days ago andI didin't panic! I loved the convenience (they furnish everything except a gallon of distilled water - I mean every thing including pencils, matches, and cards to make flash cards out of as well at 60 chemicals, and small, but effective, glassware.

 

I have looked throug the teacher's manual, student text and lab books and believe I can do this. They really assume the parent doesn't know anything. What's nice, too, for anyone with an unpredictable schedule is that each week, you work on it only 3 days (like in uni). One day is lab. I plan to do that in the evening, perhaps a Sunday night, as someone on this site said she did and then on T&Th. It will be easy to make up by switching around if necessary.

 

At first, I was worried about the tone of the student text - when he started saying "some folks" I thought I must be in Kentucky with him. But as I've read on, he is just very informal. And, low and behold, I am understanding it. My husband was a math and physics major who also took a lot of chemistry. He rolled his eyes at the chapter titles (they try to make them funny) but when he looked at the content, he thought it looked very good.

 

Re: her not being mathy: I've discovered another advantage to The Scectrum. It is the Bridge Math. Laugh at me here - I ordered the Bridge Math for me, not her. She just finished up pre-calc. She did that by using Lial with no help from me and an occasional question for my husband. But I decided I wanted to do chemistry with her and I haven't done algebra since my last son graduated in 2002. The thing about me is, I always get A's in math -- but I don't like math so as soon as the class is over, I forget it instantly. This has happened through my own education, and both my sons. So I am now reading Bridge Math and wow, I like the way he does it although a lot is about what he expects in The Spectrum, so I don't know whether it would be helpful for your daughter in another currculum.

 

Bottom line - go with the program she'll be abe to get through even if there is an interuption. Great teachere are nice if she's there to take advantage of it.

 

If not, you could do it with Spectrum. I don't know about Apologia. I used their biology with my son the first year it came out (first edition). I knew something about biology, but I barely made it through. But unless they improved things greatly, I'd say the instructions for parents make The Spectrum much more manageable for a clueless parent.

 

Also, you can go join the chemisty 2013-14 in the groups area. There are several of us in the same boat, several of us using various curriculums and planning to help each other out.