danybug Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I know there are an abundance of threads on Biology and I have read them all. I feel like I still need my hand held ;) Maybe it would be easiest to help me if I give you some background info and what I have been pondering. -I want us to actually do the labs at home -I would like it to be rigorous and able to educate us to possibly be able to test for it -We are YE Christians, but I would like my children to understand all sides of issues -I am on the fence but I might not mind picking say the Miller/Levine or Campbell text and then balancing evolution with material on our viewpoints -I want to be able to gather all of the material and have it all planned and laid out for me (besides what I may supplement) -At this point I am feeling like I do not want an online class -Dive Science may be a consideration Oh, and if you have any suggestions for a nice yet economical microscope they would be much appreciated too :) Thanks for any and all help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat in MI Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Oh, I hope you get responses. I am having the same dilemma. :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 For Labs, The Home Scientist has a kit, the lab manual is free to download so you can see if it's doable for you. We have this microscope and we love it. As for the text, doesn't the Kolbe syllabus use the Dragonfly soon to be Macaw book? Kolbe is religious isn't it? You might see how they handle evolution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Miller-Levine has a nice interactive component to it that shows life in motion -such as mitosis and chromosomal movements. I personally favor Campbell, but I do think the Miller-Levine animations are terrific. As far as a microscope goes, I think you get the best bang for your buck with AmScope, and their slide sets are also competitively priced. For about $300 you can get a decent binocular microscope; time it right (around the holidays) and you can probably get free shipping, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 My younger one just took her last test with DIVE Biology on Friday. We used the BJUP book. This is my second kid with DIVE Biology. I love DIVE because it's all figured out for me. I felt like it was a very rigorous class, but we aren't going to do a CLEP or SAT II. It was certainly well above what the local high school teaches and includes AP labs. The labs we could do, we did. The others we watched. He does some labs that are just not doable at home. Microscopes are expensive, but you don't want a cheap one, trust me. I sold mine earlier this year locally and got back 2/3 of what I paid, so consider that option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddysmom26 Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 We used Power basics Biology. To the point and does have lots of activities and labs. I have a labpaq microscope and complete lab set that I used a few years back for my college biology and so it was barely used and still in the packaging with everything included. I think it was $300 new. I would sell it for $100 if your interested let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 We used Miller Levine Biology for one and added DIVE to M/L for the other. I really love the M/L book. It is a solid high school level text, but still clear and understandable. It sets up a great foundation. Dd does better with a homeschool curriculum rather than just a textbook and discussion. DIVE filled in the gaps for her. I sent someone else my syllabus where I aligned M/L reading with DIVE lessons. Let me know if you go that way and need it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 We used Science Shepherd Biology. http://www.scienceshepherd.com/biology/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Thanks for the responses everyone! It is great to hear different perspectives and new ideas to research. Keep them coming I am all ears ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 We used Miller Levine Biology for one and added DIVE to M/L for the other. I really love the M/L book. It is a solid high school level text, but still clear and understandable. It sets up a great foundation. Dd does better with a homeschool curriculum rather than just a textbook and discussion. DIVE filled in the gaps for her. I sent someone else my syllabus where I aligned M/L reading with DIVE lessons. Let me know if you go that way and need it. When you use the Miller Levine Biology with Dive how do the labs work. Is there a lab manual? Do you just follow the Dive labs and no labs specifically from the Miller Levine? If you have time I would love to see your syllabus if you wouldn't mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 My younger one just took her last test with DIVE Biology on Friday. We used the BJUP book. This is my second kid with DIVE Biology. I love DIVE because it's all figured out for me. I felt like it was a very rigorous class, but we aren't going to do a CLEP or SAT II. It was certainly well above what the local high school teaches and includes AP labs. The labs we could do, we did. The others we watched. He does some labs that are just not doable at home. Microscopes are expensive, but you don't want a cheap one, trust me. I sold mine earlier this year locally and got back 2/3 of what I paid, so consider that option. If we go the BJU route, I was trying to figure what books we would need. Do I still need to get all the BJU materials (teacher edition, lab manual, tests)? Or do I just buy the BJU student text, and then all the Dive materials? And did your kids do an actual lab write up? And also, did you feel the BJU seemed like a classroom text or where you happy with your kids just doing their reading and then watching the Dive? My thoughts are I would like my son to do his reading and watch the Dive and then we would have a discussion and then we would do the labs together. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 We used Science Shepherd Biology. http://www.scienceshepherd.com/biology/ We haven't finished up our Science Shepherd Life science books for this year. I am not sure why I am not more heavily considering the Biology. I guess because I think it might be dry and I feel Biology should be more colorful and "full of life". I do not necessarily think there needs to be a crazy amount of jazzed up pages, just a balance. I also got the feeling that the labs were not as strong. Can you speak to either of these ideas I got in my head? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Miller-Levine has a nice interactive component to it that shows life in motion -such as mitosis and chromosomal movements. I personally favor Campbell, but I do think the Miller-Levine animations are terrific. As far as a microscope goes, I think you get the best bang for your buck with AmScope, and their slide sets are also competitively priced. For about $300 you can get a decent binocular microscope; time it right (around the holidays) and you can probably get free shipping, as well. I have read there are a lot of great interactive online components to the Miller Levine text, which I think is cool. Why do you favor the Campbell text? I think I am probably the least familiar with Campbell. Thanks for the microscope suggestion I will take a look at them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 When you use the Miller Levine Biology with Dive how do the labs work. Is there a lab manual? Do you just follow the Dive labs and no labs specifically from the Miller Levine? If you have time I would love to see your syllabus if you wouldn't mind. We did the DIVE labs and I general like DIVE's labs. We did M/L labs the first time. There was a lot of overlap. I'll pm you the reading syllabus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 We haven't finished up our Science Shepherd Life science books for this year. I am not sure why I am not more heavily considering the Biology. I guess because I think it might be dry and I feel Biology should be more colorful and "full of life". I do not necessarily think there needs to be a crazy amount of jazzed up pages, just a balance. I also got the feeling that the labs were not as strong. Can you speak to either of these ideas I got in my head? ;) We used the original edition not the newer one and we did labs outside of the program. The text was IMHO quite good. It was not as chatty as Apologia and not as fast paced as BJU. I would have preferred more color to the book. The images, charts, etc. were very interesting and detailed enough to explain but not overly detailed to confuse. But, I would have preferred more color in the text. I used BJU text for more color and more examples, details, etc. when I felt it was necessary. The lack of color would not stop me from chosing SS. I liked the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 If we go the BJU route, I was trying to figure what books we would need. Do I still need to get all the BJU materials (teacher edition, lab manual, tests)? Or do I just buy the BJU student text, and then all the Dive materials? And did your kids do an actual lab write up? And also, did you feel the BJU seemed like a classroom text or where you happy with your kids just doing their reading and then watching the Dive? My thoughts are I would like my son to do his reading and watch the Dive and then we would have a discussion and then we would do the labs together. Thanks! A lot more detail is on his website. Basically his CD or website is your "spine." The pages guide you what lecture to watch, when to read, give you an exercises, and provide some labs. For reading, you can use the web links he provides, a BJUP text, or any of the others. Don't buy the other BJUP materials because you're going to use his lectures, his labs, and his tests. The tests and labs are based on the lecture (make sure your student takes notes!) but the reading fills in details. I didn't see that there was any need to discuss the material with them. Mine found the materials clear enough to work through on their own, and I just answered questions and made sure to check what they had done once a week. When they came to a quarterly test, they studied for a few days and then I gave them the test. At the beginning of the year I marked which labs we'd do at home, and I had them get me when that time came because I'm more familiar with how my science equipment is organized, and they usually needed help. DIVE is very solid. No regrets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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