Conceptual Academy for Homeschoolers

[Murrayshire]

I came across this website looking for resources to go with Conceptual Physics. It's amazing! It is useful with all the Conceptual Science books! Just sharing for those who don't know about it......

 

Here is a little blurb from their homeschool page:

 

"Conceptual Academy is a website created and maintained by the authors of the “conceptual†line of textbooks, including Conceptual Physics, Conceptual Chemistry, Conceptual Physical Science, and Conceptual Integrated Science, both college and high school editions. This site hosts hundreds of the author’s video lessons, which are organized by the table of contents of each of their written textbooks. Thus, students have a choice when directed to study a particular section within a chapter. They can read that section and then come to Conceptual Academy to watch the video lessons associated with that section. Ideally, the student does both with an emphasis on one or the other depending upon their needs and learning styles. Please keep in mind, our video lessons are not a replacement for the textbook, just as our textbook is not a replacement for our video lessons. They are both unique and valuable tools for helping the student to learn. Ideally, the student has access to both.

 

This site has been launched in its early stages so that it can grow based upon the feedback of instructors and students. Notably, the video lessons are free to everyone. However, with a $30 registration fee, students are provided access to a self-study course with additional resources, such as a personalized sequence of topics, assessment tools, worksheets, chapter summaries, unit exams, plus helpful and timely comments from the authors. Click here for a list of the currently available course descriptions.

 

We hope you find this more than affordable. Your financial support is greatly appreciated and essential for the further development of this website. Thank you!"

 

Here is the link to know all about it! I would suggest watching the "how it works" videos for students and instructors.

http://conceptualacademy.com

😉

[3 Only Children]

Thank you so much!   We are using Conceptual physics this year as well. 

[maize]

Thank you for sharing this resource!

[Murrayshire]

Not a problem!

[Suchocki]

Thank you Murrayshire for sharing this.

I’m John Suchocki, textbook author and founder of Conceptual Academy.

We’ve been working hard to make this site work well for home schools. In particular there are our self-study courses. Please check out our current course descriptions:

http://www.conceptualacademy.com/node/42251

The site has just recently been launched, so we have only 4 self-study courses now up and running. . . just in chemistry as my co-authors are still coming up to speed.

Each class within a self-study course has the means of allowing me to provide advice to the student, much like I do in my actual classes at St. Michael's College. I can also post documents, such as worksheets, chapter summaries, and unit exams. The system also generates automated quizzes based upon the content of each class. It’s really cool.

I’m now almost done with the first Unit of each course. So I have a healthy head start over any home school students who might join presently.

After all the effort of pulling this site together we are so hoping that we can get the word out to home schools. The self-study courses are most affordable (We built the site ourselves to keep it that way). And all our video lessons, outside of the self-study courses, are FREE.

This evening my wife and I just set up our Conceptual Academy Facebook page and Twitter accounts. I have to admit, I’m new to those mediums. Thank you for “liking†Conceptual Academy, if you may, and for letting others know this resources. All six of our conceptual titles are featured. We now have 470 video lessons posted, mostly in physics, chemistry, and astronomy. More to come. Oh, please check out my astronomy videos. I spent the past year developing them. So much fun, I almost wondered why I majored in chemistry. Here's a direct link. Good for students of all ages:

 

http://www.conceptualacademy.com/course/conceptual-physical-science/261-solar-system-and-its-formation

 

I intend to post regular “teaser science questions†at Facebook and Twitter.  I might as well post my very first one here:

“The Sun lights up everything. The Sun is yellow. Why then isn’t the sky also yellow?â€

Good science to you,
John

[MarkT]

 

This evening my wife and I just set up our Conceptual Academy Facebook page and Twitter accounts. I have to admit, I’m new to those mediums. Thank you for “liking†Conceptual Academy, if you may, and for letting others know this resources. All six of our conceptual titles are featured. We now have 470 video lessons posted, mostly in physics, chemistry, and astronomy. More to come. Oh, please check out my astronomy videos. I spent the past year developing them. So much fun, I almost wondered why I majored in chemistry. Here's a direct link. Good for students of all ages:

 

http://www.conceptualacademy.com/course/conceptual-physical-science/261-solar-system-and-its-formation

 

I intend to post regular “teaser science questions†at Facebook and Twitter.  I might as well post my very first one here:

“The Sun lights up everything. The Sun is yellow. Why then isn’t the sky also yellow?â€

Good science to you,

John

 

Please keep normal webpages available, some of us will never use Facebook and I very rarely use Twitter.

Conceptual Academy looks like a good site.  We are using the Conceptual Physics high school edition book now.

[Murrayshire]

Thank you John Suchocki for popping in here & giving us more information!!  I will continue to share your awesome resources!

We'll have to check out your Facebook page, too.

:thumbup1: 

[HootyTooty]

Is the $30 for lifetime membership or just for the year?

[Murrayshire]

Is the $30 for lifetime membership or just for the year?

I searched the website and couldn't find that out. I would assume yearly?

Maybe you could go in like you are purchasing it, without doing so yet, and it could possibly tell you more.

Contacting them through email may be the way to go though!

 

If you find out, could you please come back here and post your findings?

[Suchocki]

The $30 registration fee is for enrollment into one of our customized courses. There are two kinds. Those created by instructors using our curriculum at their school or college. And there are also the "self-study" courses where we authors serve the role of instructor. We believe these "self-study" courses may be of particular interest for the home school. Each course has about 30 classes. There are no dates so the student can set his or her own pace. Each class comes with ample comments about the content from us authors, automated quizzes, and study documents, such as worksheets and chapter summaries. The classes are segregated into 4 to 7 units (depending on the class) with each unit ending in a "pyramid format" exam in which the exam is as much as a learning experience (involving family and friends) as it is a form of assessment. The self-study course is basically my college class (minus the labs) all within an affordable container.

 

If we can get the support, we have plans for building social networking functionalities in which students can work together in study groups. Alot of what I do in my classes is "team based learning". It's a amazing way to help students learn, not only about the content but about themselves and how to work with others. I'm thinking this would be a valuable tool for home schools. I envision 3 - 4 students (not necessarily from the same area) working together online though one of these courses, organized through a homeschool instructor. Assuming broadband connections, there's much to this team-based learning that can also be developed for an online environment. We have our first module mapped out and hope to have it launched by next summer.

 

Again, thank you for your interest. We need to reach a fair number of people to make this work.

 

If the website, ConceptualAcademy.com, doesn't answer all your questions or concerns, or if you have suggestions, please write to me at John@ConceptualChemistry.com. I would look forward to hearing from you.

 

Good science to you,
John

 

 

 

 

[g1234]

I just wanted to say that last year my daughter used John Suchocki's Conceptual Chemistry Alive! videos.  I had to sign up and pay a (very reasonable) fee for access to the videos.  They turned out to be an excellent addition to her chemistry studies.  At the time we started she was also using his Conceptual Chemistry text.  I think it is well written and does exactly what it says it will do: provides a good course in conceptual chemistry.  She quickly realized that she wanted to go deeper, and wanted the math that goes with it, so she switched to Zumdahl (perfect choice for her), but for another student--or for her when she was younger--CC would have been perfect.

 

What I'm really wanting to say, though, is that even once she switced to Zumdahl's text, she continued using John S.'s videos.  She learned so much from them, and says she still remembers everything she learned because of they way he taught in them.  She and I were especially impressed that he did not seem to feel the need to doctor the videos up with lots of fast-paced graphics, music, and other whiz-bang features.  They just featured him, teaching a concept very well, and that's about it.  We were both so grateful for that!  We also found ourselves enjoying his humor, and humor is something that can be so easily done badly.  He deploys it at just the right moments, and doesn't hit you over the head with it, and doesn't seem overly pleased with himself or anything.  It's just little moments of delight where you can smile and then go on.  Best of all, the humor does not talk down to the student like we see so often.

 

I have not looked much at this web site, so I hope what I have just said still applies--otherwise I'm going to feel kind of silly!  I think "conceptual academy" is a wonderful idea.  If the Conceptual Chemistry Alive! videos are any indication, it will be done very well.  I will explore it more when I have time, and am considering using it with my younger. 

[ChemMommy]

I signed up for the Conceptual Physics self-study. We are actually using the Conceptual Physics (high school) text, so I'll have to a bit of matching to make it work. But, I love having the videos associated with the sections. I was slowly working my way through the text and finding videos for each section, so this helps.

 

I hope they get more assessment tools on the site soon.

 

I'm excited to try this...I'll post how it goes.

[Dina in Oklahoma]

This is what I would like to do; pair the videos with our curriculum. Is this still possible Mr. Suchocki ?

I just wanted to say that last year my daughter used John Suchocki's Conceptual Chemistry Alive! videos.  I had to sign up and pay a (very reasonable) fee for access to the videos.  They turned out to be an excellent addition to her chemistry studies.  At the time we started she was also using his Conceptual Chemistry text.  I think it is well written and does exactly what it says it will do: provides a good course in conceptual chemistry.  She quickly realized that she wanted to go deeper, and wanted the math that goes with it, so she switched to Zumdahl (perfect choice for her), but for another student--or for her when she was younger--CC would have been perfect.

 

What I'm really wanting to say, though, is that even once she switced to Zumdahl's text, she continued using John S.'s videos.  She learned so much from them, and says she still remembers everything she learned because of they way he taught in them.  She and I were especially impressed that he did not seem to feel the need to doctor the videos up with lots of fast-paced graphics, music, and other whiz-bang features.  They just featured him, teaching a concept very well, and that's about it.  We were both so grateful for that!  We also found ourselves enjoying his humor, and humor is something that can be so easily done badly.  He deploys it at just the right moments, and doesn't hit you over the head with it, and doesn't seem overly pleased with himself or anything.  It's just little moments of delight where you can smile and then go on.  Best of all, the humor does not talk down to the student like we see so often.

 

I have not looked much at this web site, so I hope what I have just said still applies--otherwise I'm going to feel kind of silly!  I think "conceptual academy" is a wonderful idea.  If the Conceptual Chemistry Alive! videos are any indication, it will be done very well.  I will explore it more when I have time, and am considering using it with my younger. 

 

[g1234]

This is what I would like to do; pair the videos with our curriculum. Is this still possible Mr. Suchocki ?

 

Not Mr. Suchocki, but it looks like the web site is still up: http://conceptualchemistry.com/

I'd just go there, register and enjoy!

 

 

[Dina in Oklahoma]

Thanks g1234!

 

[TarynB]

I came across this website looking for resources to go with Conceptual Physics. It's amazing! It is useful with all the Conceptual Science books! Just sharing for those who don't know about it......

 

Here is a little blurb from their homeschool page:

 

"Conceptual Academy is a website created and maintained by the authors of the “conceptual†line of textbooks, including Conceptual Physics, Conceptual Chemistry, Conceptual Physical Science, and Conceptual Integrated Science, both college and high school editions. This site hosts hundreds of the author’s video lessons, which are organized by the table of contents of each of their written textbooks. Thus, students have a choice when directed to study a particular section within a chapter. They can read that section and then come to Conceptual Academy to watch the video lessons associated with that section. Ideally, the student does both with an emphasis on one or the other depending upon their needs and learning styles. Please keep in mind, our video lessons are not a replacement for the textbook, just as our textbook is not a replacement for our video lessons. They are both unique and valuable tools for helping the student to learn. Ideally, the student has access to both.

 

This site has been launched in its early stages so that it can grow based upon the feedback of instructors and students. Notably, the video lessons are free to everyone. However, with a $30 registration fee, students are provided access to a self-study course with additional resources, such as a personalized sequence of topics, assessment tools, worksheets, chapter summaries, unit exams, plus helpful and timely comments from the authors. Click here for a list of the currently available course descriptions.

 

We hope you find this more than affordable. Your financial support is greatly appreciated and essential for the further development of this website. Thank you!"

 

Here is the link to know all about it! I would suggest watching the "how it works" videos for students and instructors.

http://conceptualacademy.com

😉

 

Just wanted to bump this resource for others. Came across it while researching for next year. Thank you, Murrayshire, for sharing your find!

[Lakeside]

I signed up for the Conceptual Physics self-study. We are actually using the Conceptual Physics (high school) text, so I'll have to a bit of matching to make it work. But, I love having the videos associated with the sections. I was slowly working my way through the text and finding videos for each section, so this helps.

 

I hope they get more assessment tools on the site soon.

 

I'm excited to try this...I'll post how it goes.

Hi Pam,

I was wondering if you continued to use the self-study course for physics.  If so, what do you think of it?

Thanks!

[JoJosMom]

Here is the link to know all about it! I would suggest watching the "how it works" videos for students and instructors.

http://conceptualacademy.com

😉

 

You rock, OP! 

 

I have Conceptual Integrated Science, which is absolutely fabulous but was an epic fail because of implementation problems (i.e., Mom's an idiot.)  Implementation problems now solved.  Yay!

[Rosepetal]

I would like to know about homeschoolers Conceptual Science books.biology,Physics and Chemistry for Grade 7 & 8 students.Do we have to purchase the books?How to use this site?Are there any assessments or quizzes?I was planning for TPS Science courses but they are expensive for me so need to cover these Science series before High school?What is your recommendation?Guidance please!Thanks.

[Suchocki]

Hi Rosepetal,
Thank you for asking about Conceptual Academy.  Here are answers to your questions:

1) Yes, users of one of our self study courses need to buy the textbook separately. Our publisher doesn’t permit us to sell them on our own nor are we equipped to stock and supply them. They are easily found through places such as Amazon, new, used, or rented. As a follow-up, I should mention, the later the edition, the better. 

2) There are many automated quizzes within any self-study course. Student results are compiled in a grade book. There are also 2000+ homework questions in each of our textbooks. Within a Conceptual Academy self-study course, there is also a major exam after each unit. This is a pdf document that the homeschool teacher prints out. Answer key is on the last page. Directions are given for a collaborative “pyramid†format exam, which is as much of a learning experience as it is an assessment for what has been learned. 

3) Our physics and chemistry courses are primarily for grades 10+, though an enthusiastic 7th or 8th grader would also benefit. Perhaps I should mention that my “college†chemistry textbook was once assessed for reading level. The result was 8th grade, which made me smile. The language itself can be such a barrier. For my college students, the lower the reading level better. The concepts themselves, however, are where their mental powers should be focused. All this said, for 7th and 8th graders, I generally point folks to our “explorations†titles. Sadly, we don’t yet have our explorations self-study courses fully developed. The “explorations†textbooks, themselves are published. But the accompanying self-study courses still need our attention. That said, we do have the framework of these explorations courses good-to-go. Because people have been asking for them and because they have value (automated quizzes, for example, are running) we have them now offered at an “early release†price of $20. That’s for a full year of video lessons and quizzes. I hope to be beefing up these courses with FYI pages (From Your Instructor), worksheets, and unit exams over this fall semester.
Thank you every one for your interest in Conceptual Academy. Please let me know if you have any other questions. You can contact me directly through our support page. http://www.conceptualacademy.com/support

Good chemistry!

John

[OneStepAtATime]

Any feedback from those who have used this?

[Suchocki]

Dear Beekeeping Professor and others,

We're excited by the responses we've been getting to Conceptual Academy. The site has been progressing slowly but surely. For example, our physical science "explorations" course (grades 7 - 9) is now fully launched. In all we have 9 science courses up and running with two still in development. Importantly, we came to realize that we needed a support site dedicated to home schools using our resources. Conceptual Academy itself is a course management system, which means creating effective support pages is not a simple matter. Enter our new WordPress site: LearnScience.Academy. (I love WordPress!) Please think of LearnScience.Academy as the first step to learning about all the resources we now have available at Conceptual Academy. You'll find guidance on which courses to take and in what sequence, course descriptions, sample videos, testimonials, a detailed FAQ page, and a newsletter for hands-on science activities. I even started my own blog where so far I've been discussing learning strategies. I look forward to comments and suggestions for new blog topics. 

I should also mention we are now working on a subscription model through which a family will have access to all of our courses for a low monthly fee. Further, we've been working with the folks at eScienceLab to build lab kits that are customized to our courses. This subscription model and the lab kits should be available by August 1st. We'll be posting info about this at LearnScience.Academy. Please let me know if you have any questions. I would look forward to hearing from you.

Good chemistry!

John@ConceptualChemistry.com.

[Haiku]

Please please PLEASE don't make the monthly subscription your only option. That ALWAYS ends up increasing the price.

[Suchocki]

Thank you for expressing your concern regarding the new subscription model we'll be implementing soon. Subscription will NOT be the only option. Rather, it's an alternative to the one time payment method, which we'll be keeping. Actually, there'll be three plans, which we're calling Gold, Platinum, and Iridium (all precious metals of increasing density). The Gold plan is our older model where you pay for a single course with a one time fee. The new Platinum and Iridium plans are both subscription. They each provide a full site license for access to ALL of our self study courses. The Platinum allows for up to two student accounts. The Iridium allows for up to five student accounts. This provides a savings to families with multiple students. . . they won't have to buy multiple courses. Furthermore, each subscription can be monthly or yearly. For Platinum it's $19.95/mo or $129/yr. For Iridium, it's $29.95/mo or $197/yr. You'll see the annual subscription is significantly discounted as it should be. Also, if your student is not ready for our curriculum or for whatever reason, we can provide a full refund up to month after signing up.

Even at these rates, however, we sense it's going to be some time before this site is self-sufficient. Please consider, our web developer charges us $135/hour. That's just the course management system. The actual content is another matter. Financially, it's not been easy building this resource. We appreciate everyone's support and understanding that what we're offering is college-level curriculum at a fraction of today's college tuition. As college professors ourselves, we are confident that our courses will provide a solid foundation in the content and nurture a level of enthusiasm that will help your student 1) enjoy learning science, 2 ) get into the college of their choice, and 3) do well in that college of their choice.

As of now we're awaiting the advanced SSL certificate so that all financial transactions happening over LearnScience.Academy are secure. We've learned obtaining such a certificate takes a bit of time because of all the verifications that have to happen. Once it's in place, you'll see the https url along with the green colored secure indicator in the url bar. We're hopeful this will be in place by mid next week. Meanwhile we're still holding our older discounted prices. 
Please let me know of any other questions you might have.  

 

[Haiku]

Thank you! We had to stop using two other websites that offered courses because the switch to subscription-based increased the cost so dramatically. We recently signed up for a course on your site, and my son is looking forward to it. If it goes well, we plan to use more!

[momtolgd]

A question about the textbook for the self directed study. We have the conceptual physics high school version of the textbook. Will that be compatible with the course on the website?

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[CinV]

A question about the textbook for the self directed study. We have the conceptual physics high school version of the textbook. Will that be compatible with the course on the website?

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

There are multiple courses on the site using the different textbooks, so you should be able to find one that matches.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Will an older version of the Integrated Science text work?  That's the one I have. 

[momtolgd]

There are multiple courses on the site using the different textbooks, so you should be able to find one that matches.

The physics book on the website is the 12th edition. We have the high school edition though. I can't find anything showing whether it will work with the course or not.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[SparklyUnicorn]

The physics book on the website is the 12th edition. We have the high school edition though. I can't find anything showing whether it will work with the course or not.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

Ah so we basically have a similar question.

 

I'm assuming it'll work out for our purposes.  If stuff doesn't line up perfectly it'll probably be fine.

[Suchocki]

Hi All,

 

Regarding the textbooks. . . Paul's high school Conceptual Physics textbook is not represented at Conceptual Academy. Our apologies. This arose as the site was originally built for colleges. It wasn't until later we realized that high schools would be using it too. For my chemistry book that was not so much an issue because it's already used in many high schools. Thus there is no high school edition of Conceptual Chemistry. We did have to scramble to get the physical science (CPSE) and integrated science (CISE) "explorations" editions represented. The CPSE course was completed just last month and the CISE is still not complete. 

 

That said, if you have one of the Conceptual Physics high school editions (with a roller coaster or Ferris wheel on the cover) I would be curious to know how that works? I think it might be worth a shot. The Conceptual Physics course at CA is organized by both chapter sections numbers and chapter section titles. The section numbers would do you no good as you try to follow the reading assignment. But you may be able to navigate well enough with just the chapter section titles. For example, Newton's second law. You'll find that in BOTH the college and high school edition. . . But keep in mind, that "high school" edition was targeted for the average 7th, 8th, 9th grader.

 

Regarding the Integrated Science textbook, the ones with the spiral shell on the cover, there are two editions. Either edition would work well. Though, for the second edition, I was happy with my updates to the astronomy chapters. . . there's sooooo much going on in astronomy today. It's so cool. The recent arrival of JUNO to Jupiter! New Horizons passing Pluto. The Dawn now in orbit around that whacky asteroid, Ceres. The rovers on Mars. The James Webb Space telescope launch in 2018. And, of course, the total solar eclipse passing right across the USA on Aug 21, 2017. :-)

 

Good chemistry,

 

John

[HootyTooty]

We used this the year (grade 8 with an accelerated student) we did Conceptual Physics. We used Paul's book with the ferris wheel with great success. I think there were about 3 chapters were there were no videos or support information that lined up with what we were doing but it was easily remedied with youtube videos on the same topic.

[Suchocki]

Oh, thank you for this comment. It's good to know. 

[JoJosMom]

Hi All,

 

Regarding the textbooks. . . Paul's high school Conceptual Physics textbook is not represented at Conceptual Academy. Our apologies. This arose as the site was originally built for colleges. It wasn't until later we realized that high schools would be using it too. For my chemistry book that was not so much an issue because it's already used in many high schools. Thus there is no high school edition of Conceptual Chemistry. We did have to scramble to get the physical science (CPSE) and integrated science (CISE) "explorations" editions represented. The CPSE course was completed just last month and the CISE is still not complete. 

 

That said, if you have one of the Conceptual Physics high school editions (with a roller coaster or Ferris wheel on the cover) I would be curious to know how that works? I think it might be worth a shot. The Conceptual Physics course at CA is organized by both chapter sections numbers and chapter section titles. The section numbers would do you no good as you try to follow the reading assignment. But you may be able to navigate well enough with just the chapter section titles. For example, Newton's second law. You'll find that in BOTH the college and high school edition. . . But keep in mind, that "high school" edition was targeted for the average 7th, 8th, 9th grader.

 

Regarding the Integrated Science textbook, the ones with the spiral shell on the cover, there are two editions. Either edition would work well. Though, for the second edition, I was happy with my updates to the astronomy chapters. . . there's sooooo much going on in astronomy today. It's so cool. The recent arrival of JUNO to Jupiter! New Horizons passing Pluto. The Dawn now in orbit around that whacky asteroid, Ceres. The rovers on Mars. The James Webb Space telescope launch in 2018. And, of course, the total solar eclipse passing right across the USA on Aug 21, 2017. :-)

 

Good chemistry,

 

John

 

Mr. Suchocki, thank you very much for contributing to this thread.  Having information straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak, is incredibly valuable.  We have Physics already planned next year (because we love Derek Owens), but I now suspect that I have a Chemistry class lined up for 10th.  Thanks again!

 

[Guest]

Bumping to see if anyone is using this for high school this year and how it's going. 

[Kassia]

Bumping to see if anyone is using this for high school this year and how it's going. 

 

We used it for Physical Science last year and were happy with it.