Cynful Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Has anyone used any or, hopefully, all three of these and could compare them? I've looked at examples, but I'm not quite sure what the differences are between them. AGS seems pricier and Pacemaker seems.... simpler? I'm not sure. I'm particularly looking at Science right now but I'm considering some of their other subjects as well. So any reviews are welcomed. Thanks, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I am hoping someone responds. I am looking at all three, too. AGS seems very colorful. Power Basics is black and white get er done type material as I understand it. I don't know anything about Pacemaker. Looking that up right now. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 If you go to Wieser Educational's website, on the home page across the top, there is a tab called "Texbook Choices". There they explain the general differences between Pacemaker and AGS. They are both written at a 3-4th grade reading level, but Pacemaker seems to be geared toward kids in special ed who don't intend to attend college. AGS is for mainstreamed kids who need some assistance and may go on to college. Based on that description, and the fact that the AGS samples looked more colorful, I chose AGS. I foolishly bought mine full price, but there are sometimes used copies available quite reasonably. I actually have the General Science textbook, workbook and answer key for sale on the Classifieds board for $25. :) This was the only text we used, but dd was very happy with it. Feel free to ask any further questions about our experience with it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Thanks, that's great. I wish I knew how PowerBasics fits in with them. That does help though. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has used one or more of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Walch has samples of PowerBasics on their website. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Yeah, I've looked at all of the samples. Just was curious. I'm leaning towards PowerBasics or Pacemaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Lucidity, I was looking in more detail at AGS and found they have two different levels of textbooks. Did you see that? http://www.wiesereducational.com/spages/textbook-choices.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 I think the top level are the Pacemaker books and the bottom level are the AGS books. Am I reading it wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 As I am reading it, the selections are dealing with AGS specifically? Anything labeled Foundational is for students that are more behind, maybe have more profound issues/reading challenges than any of the selections labeled Alternative. There are AGS selections that fall into the first category and AGS selections that fall into the 2nd category. For instance, in the link below for AGS Biology and Life Sciences, you can see a Biology selection from AGS called Biology but it has a Foundational tag on it. There is another AGS Biology Textbook called Biology: Cycles of Life and it is labeled Alternative under the title. If you click on the sample pages from the two selections you can see that there IS a difference. The Alternative selection looks like it is more advanced. HTH. http://www.wiesereducational.com/products/i_science/38-i_life-science-biology/ But I could be wrong.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Yeah, but if you click on any of the books on the top row, it takes you to Pacemaker. I just tried. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Looking at this further, I think it depends on the book, the subject and how you access the info as to what the source selections will be. I don't know that the link I sent is set up correctly. Like if I don't use that link but just select Science, then Biology, I have access to the AGS Foundational book and the AGS Alternative book. They are different in presentation of the material, but both cover High School level Biology. But in other subjects it is Pacemaker for one selection and AGS for another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I went ahead and ordered the Teacher's Edition of AGS Biology: Cycles of Life since I was able to get it for about $12. If nothing else I can use it for reference when setting up whatever we end up using for Biology. If I do end up liking it, I can then go ahead and order the student text used as well (or at least that is the plan). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Sounds like a great plan. Lucky you to have scored a used TE! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 I see what you're saying now. I just assumed. I wish they'd be more clear on their website. Let us know what you think of the AGS teacher guide. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Sounds like a great plan. Lucky you to have scored a used TE! I was pumped when I saw it. I just keep trolling Amazon and Abe books until something I want turns up at a price I am willing to pay. I do wish I had a Half-Price Books where I live. Although I would probably go broke saving money on books. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I see what you're saying now. I just assumed. I wish they'd be more clear on their website. Let us know what you think of the AGS teacher guide. Yeah, I wish they were clearer, too. I will definitely post on this thread when it comes in. I don't exactly know when that will be, since the window is pretty broad but I will hop back on here once it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 on this page they define the alternative and foundational/pacemaker -- it looks like what AHASRADA said to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 O.k. my really cheap used copy of Teacher's Edition of AGS Biology Cycles of Life came in. I am reading through it to decide if this is what we will use next year. If anyone has questions, please post so I can hopefully help answer them. Observations so far: 1. Text is definitely written for students in a classroom setting and most activities assume there are multiple students. However, so far I haven't seen anything that couldn't be done by one student in a homeschool setting. 2. Each Chapter is broken into 3-7 lessons. The lessons are pretty short (sometimes no more than 2 pages and the pages include pictures/diagrams so it is not very text dense.) 3. Text is easy to read and definitely simplified compared to a standard Biology text for High School. Much easier to find the pertinent information/vocabulary/concepts. It is also broken up into small chunks so not overwhelming. 4. Lots of emphasis seems to be placed on helping the student establish good study and organizational habits and instructions are broken down into fairly simple pieces. 5. The TE refers to lots of additional resources, some of which appear to be quite pricey to obtain, such as the Life skills curriculum/software set. I think this program can still be successfully used without those resources, though. In fact, I am not sure the TE is all that necessary for a homeschooling parent, either. 6. The labs I have read about so far seem possible to do at home, although you will need some lab equipment. Safety goggles and a lab coat are asked for but I know that at least safety goggles aren't that hard to obtain. Never had to buy a lab coat... I am digging through and making a list of needed materials. (Although some of the more intense labs we may just watch a video of if we can locate one on youtube and just wait for the Landry Academy Science Intensive weekend DD and I are planning for her to take for some of the more complex lab work). 7. My one big saddness with the TE so far is that the print is small for my bad eyesight. The student text is shrunken down and copied into the TE. It takes up a large portion of the center of the book, leaving the Teacher instructions/suggestions sitting in the margins on the sides. While the Teacher stuff is a bit larger than the Student text, it is still pretty small for me. I may have to resort to a magnifying glass to reduce eye strain. On the other hand, I am thinking the Student Text itself may have fairly large print when not shrunken into the TE. I may not need the TE for much so perhaps this is a none issue. Anyway, let me know if anyone has questions. Best wishes... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I went ahead and ordered a like new copy of the student text for $12 on Amazon. I will see what DD thinks of the text and report back here just in case it helps someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks for the review. :) I'm anxious to hear how the student text is too. I'd love to know how the text is there also. DS has dyslexia and wears glasses and really likes his font larger. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I have some questions that may seem stupid but I am trying to puzzle out the pacing of the AGS Biology text and I'm hoping someone can assist me. This textbook is for a traditional classroom in the U.S.. That would assume about 36 weeks of instruction, right? There are 19 Chapters with between 3 and 8 lessons in each chapter so that would work out to less than two weeks for every chapter? It looks like the shorter chapters have about 3-4 lessons, then there are 1-2 experiments, plus a series of reviews in prep for a test, then the test. Those might be completed in one week but I think it would be challenging in a standard classroom. Longer chapters have 8 lessons plus experiments plus the review and the test. I assume each lesson would be for a different day? Experiments would be on separate days, too? Then the review and then the test on another day? It seems it would be challenging, assuming a 50 minute time slot in a classroom, to complete all of that in less than two weeks for the longer chapters, right? As a homeschooler, obviously we can shift things around, but in a classroom I have serious doubts that they could get through all of this material in one school year. Also, some of the experiments, even in the shorter chapters, can last days or even weeks. Some of the experiments start towards the end of the chapter. I'm trying to wrap my brain around this. Do they start an experiment towards the end of each chapter and have several going on at the same time? With daily observations and recording what is happening every day with multiple experiments? Seems that would be virtually impossible for a classroom teacher to keep track of with several classes of students. And where would they get the space? They must skip some experiments, maybe pick and choose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 O.k. the student manual and the Lab Manual came in. I found used/like new copies on line for very little so I went ahead and ordered them. They came really quickly. The student text has not yet arrived. OP, if you have questions regarding the manuals, please let me know and I will try to answer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 In case anyone cares, the AGS Biology Cycles of Life student text came in. The format of the book is smaller than a standard size text. It is shorter and narrower, but still thick depth-wise. It looks good from the standpoint that it is not too text dense, it seems well laid out, the print is larger than a normal textbook, etc. I have a Biology text from McGraw Hill that I bought for less than a dollar at a library a couple of years ago. I had forgotten about it but pulled it back out today. I had DD look through both books to see which one might appeal to her more. She said she thought the AGS book was more doable but the other book looked a lot more interesting. I agree. I am concerned that the AGS text is too basic to hold her interest. At the same time, she can barely get through Middle School level science materials and only with a lot of help from me. Not sure which way we are going to leap, yet... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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