joannqn Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I've tried helping my daughter with biology, but she is just not understanding it. No matter how much we talk it over with me rewording it, she's just not getting it despite being a really smart kid. We're using Science Shepherd. Looking at it, I do not remember the biology and AP biology I took in high school going into this kind of detail. I don't remember doing anything that remotely looked like chemistry and physics, but this book does. I chose Science Shepherd because it presents a majority of the material without a bias. Neither YEC nor evolution muddies the material. I don't know if any other curriculum does that, but it would be great if I could find something easier and without a bias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum This curriculum does cover evolution, albeit not very thoroughly. OP, today's biology is not the one we went through as students, lol. Much more focused on cellular biology... Can you pinpoint what the problem is? Most students I have had that have trouble in Biology do so because of the vocabulary (lots to memorize!) or because they are not used to reading for information. And sometimes it just is the book. Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 I know that memorizing and absorbing lots of information is something she isn't used to. She has never had to stuff before. But even when she does have the information and can tell it back to me, she doesn't understand what it means. For example, she can tell me that an endergonic reaction requires energy, usually in the form of heat, to start. She can tell me that the amount of heat required would kill the cell or organism. She can tell me that enzymes lower the activation energy of endergonic reactions so that they can occur without killing the organism. But it is just regurgitated information; she has no idea what it means. She correctly answered all of my questions about this information and then started crying because she's so confused and lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Whew! It is so nice to read someone else say this about today's biology courses. We decided to go a much milder route, as frankly, most of our kids are not going to a 4 year college and I found the level of biology being taught to be ridiculous for the standard student. We are teaching more toward the kind of education we received years ago, which served us quite well in the real world. What the textbooks are teaching today leaves me understanding why high school kids drop out. A large number of them are wise enough to know they are being forced to study something that has nothing to do with the life they will lead...and the sad part is they will miss out on the parts of biology that are important for the average adult to know. You might try the AGS textbooks from Weiser Educational, they are high school content but more along the lines of what we used to learn. Is it college prep? No. Is it solid information? Yes. You also might look at Starline Press and their worktexts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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