OneStepAtATime Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 DD wants to do Chemistry or Integrated Chemistry/Physics for 9th grade, instead of Biology like we had planned. My problem is that she is not yet in even pre-Algebra. She is dyslexic and dyscalculic. Math is coming along but slowly. Reading is definitely coming along, too, but she struggles with retention of Science terms/concepts so we have to go pretty slowly with me reading the materials to her. She is bright, but STEM is in no way an option. She is a great outside the box thinker and problem solver. I am at a loss as to what resources to use. This is not my field of expertise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Take a look at Concepts in Action. Is it Prentice Hall? I am not home, so I can't check. You could skip the math bits and lose little. Kolbe Academy slots it for 8th or 9th. I have the text if you have specific questions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 This one? http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=cck&wcsuffix=0001 Let me look through and see if I have any questions. Thanks so much for the response, Penguin. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saja1029 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 PAC Integrated Physics and Chemistry? No math, if I recall correctly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 PAC Integrated Physics and Chemistry? No math, if I recall correctly. I was looking at it. Have you used it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Yes, that is it. Pearson Prentice Hall. I forget how to do it exactly, but I think you can make an account and preview the book for a limited time. IIRC, I did that...but all the science textbook research starts to run together in my mind sometimes :( 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Another idea: CPO Science You can see sample chapters. Foundations of Physical Science appears to be for high school. ETA: Probably too much math, though. I looked at the sample chapter, and it looks like more math than Concepts in Action. http://cposcience.com/home/ForEducators/FoundationsofPhysicalScience3rdEdition/tabid/270/Default.aspx BUT there is a Middle School version: http://cposcience.com/home/ForEducators/MiddleSchoolPhysicalScience/tabid/268/Default.aspx I think I have the middle school one if you want to know more about it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Another idea: CPO Science You can see sample chapters. Foundations of Physical Science appears to be for high school. ETA: Probably too much math, though. I looked at the sample chapter, and it looks like more math than Concepts in Action. http://cposcience.com/home/ForEducators/FoundationsofPhysicalScience3rdEdition/tabid/270/Default.aspx BUT there is a Middle School version: http://cposcience.com/home/ForEducators/MiddleSchoolPhysicalScience/tabid/268/Default.aspx I think I have the middle school one if you want to know more about it. So the difference primarily between the Middle School and High School version may be the math? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 OK, I am home now so I can fill in a few more details for you to think about. I looked at the sample chapter for the CPO Foundations (Chapter 23: Waves) and compared it to the content of the middle school book that I own (CPO Physical Science ISBN 158892498X). I am giving you the ISBN number b/c there are a multitude of CPO versions...some for particular states, some with chapters on space, etc. Much of the text (meaning the words)is the same. In fact, most of it is the same. Quickly looking over Foundations sample pages 554-556, the text seems identical to my book. Some of the graphics are different. The Solving Problems sections are NOT in the middle school version. The high school version uses so much of the same text, that I don't think there is much difference in reading level. However, Foundations does go deeper in some sections. For example, looking at page 568 (Wave Interactions) and comparing it to the middle school book, I see that the middle school treats Absorption in one sentence, and high school gives it a paragraph. Looking at the Table of Contents, Sound gets about twice as many pages in the high school book. My middle school CPO book has 462 pages. Foundations has 642+ pages. Neither cover space. As for Concepts in Action, the math is less integrated and there is less of it. In my opinion, it is easier to just skip over it and not lose much. Anything that requires math is clearly marked: Math Practice, Math Skills, Data Analysis. HTH, OneStep! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Thank you so much for the details. Truly, thanks! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Keep in mind that most publishers are following the standard sequence. Because biology is standard for 9th-grade, it is generally the easiest text within a series. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saja1029 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I was looking at it. Have you used it? Yes. My son has completed half so far. We also added a lab kit from Quality Science Labs. He finds it interesting and doesn't mind it at all :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 My 8th grade daughter is working through the PH Physical Science book now. We'll finish it hopefully before Christmas next year. She isn't a science person so it is rough going for her. We've got the Kolbe curriculum for it. We are moving slowly at her speed. She's really learning the stuff, however. The thing that saves it are doing the labs. She's hands on and loves them. We also got the workbook even though that is not part of Kolbe's plan. We haven't used it much but it is a good way to review orally and sometimes she does a page or two. http://www.kolbe.org/homeschool/courses/high-school/science-curriculum/ I am planning on calling this a lab science and hopefully she'll also do Biology when she's in 10th grade. That way we'll get science out of the way. She is not a STEM person! So that might be it for science for her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 This one? http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=cck&wcsuffix=0001 Let me look through and see if I have any questions. Thanks so much for the response, Penguin. :) My kids both did this book in 8th grade (it is a 9th grade book). Ds who was still doing pre-algebra that year really struggled with it. Dd who did algebra consecutively with it was able to concentrate on the science instead of spending all her time trying to learn the math. This is not a math light Physical Science text, although I do really like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Ugh...reading through all the samples is making my head spin. Having the kids enthusiastic about the subject is great, but goodness I am nervous about tackling this before more math and reading skills are in place for DD. Thanks for all the responses everyone. Still trying to figure out how to handle this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Just another thought for you. Feel free to ignore it :) How about a semester of Chemsitry and a semester of Physics? Ideas for chemistry without math or difficult reading: Ellen McHenry's Elements followed by Carbon Chemistry. Add in the Periodic Table of Videos, the Mystery of the Periodic Table, and Molymods. For physics, look through Ruth's Physics for Poets thread. Choose some labs if you are so inclined. Some of the textbooks that call themselves Integrated Chemistry and Physics oversell their integrated aspect :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Thanks, Penguin. That sounds like a distinct possibility. I have found that when we know we are finishing something right before Christmas and starting something new right after Christmas there is more enthusiasm when we return from our brief Christmas break. Interestingly, the kids were mentioning today that they really like the Apologia Student Notebooks and the conversational style of the Apologia text we've been using. They also like the layout. Not a ton of side material and the text goes all the way across the page. Pretty large font, colorful, lots of white space, useful pictures, headings are easy to spot. I really wish it had a glossary, though. We are using the Zoology 2 book for Marine Science and the Notebooking activities and experiments have gone over well. I REALLY wish the Young Explorers series was not YE and was robust enough for 9th grade. The integrated Chemistry and Physics book looked interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I'm not a fan of Apologia Physical Science because it doesn't include the math necessary to make it a strong course and it doesn't build a strong Chemistry foundation for high school Biology (not needed for Apologia Biology, but it is for some Biology courses). For your dd, the math part of that could make it a perfect fit. It does have more Earth Science than Chemistry though, so she may be unhappy with it if what she really wants is Chemistry. If she likes Apologia though, I would definitely use it if she is willing. It sounds like it would be a good level. If she'll do Biology after that, then in a couple of years, maybe she'll have the math skills to hit a full Chemistry course. I understand Dr. Wile is writing a new one, so you'll have another choice in the market by then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I'm not a fan of Apologia Physical Science because it doesn't include the math necessary to make it a strong course and it doesn't build a strong Chemistry foundation for high school Biology (not needed for Apologia Biology, but it is for some Biology courses). For your dd, the math part of that could make it a perfect fit. It does have more Earth Science than Chemistry though, so she may be unhappy with it if what she really wants is Chemistry. If she likes Apologia though, I would definitely use it if she is willing. It sounds like it would be a good level. If she'll do Biology after that, then in a couple of years, maybe she'll have the math skills to hit a full Chemistry course. I understand Dr. Wile is writing a new one, so you'll have another choice in the market by then. Actually, I was looking at the pretty new Young Explorers Chemistry and Physics text since it is a similar format to the book we are currently using but it is for 6th grade and under. Wish they had a beefier version of that. The High School level materials don't seem to get very good reviews..and I am trying to avoid YE (no offense to anyone who is YE). And the Physical Science text seems to get pretty poor reviews, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 Still mulling and researching. Bumping in case anyone has further thoughts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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