Just a little boost, please, as I begin looking for biology.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Please get me started researching in the right direction. Given that I need biology on an 11th grade level, which ones are more homeschool/parent friendly??? I'm thinking on the lines of Apologia and Science Shepherd as far as ease of implementation.  I don't want to do Apologia. We used SS last year, and I think I want to do something different. I know about the Biology tag, but I wanted to begin through an ease-of-implementatin filter.  I'm not a science person, and I need something that I can handle along with ds.

We've used the Physics first approach to science.  Ds had Conceptual Physics in 9th grade, and he is outsourcing chemistry using Apologia this year in 10th grade. 
 

[almondbutterandjelly]

Thankfully my dh is handling Biology this year, but if I had to do it, I really like the looks of Timberdoodle's offerings on the subject.  They have a Pacworks biology set of workbooks and a Biology 101 dvd.  Here's the link:

 

http://www.timberdoodle.com/Principles_Theories_Precepts_of_Biology_p/570-biology.htm

 

http://www.timberdoodle.com/Biology_101_p/101-365.htm

[Mom22ns]

You could consider Miller Levine Biology with the Kolbe syllabus. 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Thanks, ladies!  I'm very grateful for your responses.

I guess I picked a bad day to ask a question because I was out for so much of the day.

 

I don't know anything about Pacworks/Timberdoodle, but I'll take a look at it.

 

Debbie, I've thought about ML with Kolbe.  What about the online parts?  Would those be required?  Seems like you have to jump through several hoops in order to secure that.  

 

For both of these, how much were you as the parent involved in teaching the material?  When my oldest used SS, I was much more a facilitator since there was a Parent Companion.  This worked for us.  I would make a poor "teacher".

[Sebastian (a lady)]

If you order from Kolbe you can buy the course plan and answer key. I think the online access was included with one of those.

 

I went through Kolbe and have the virtual lab access. I figured out how to get to the webcodes through the Miller Levine site.

 

We had mixed results with the Virtual Lab. There were parts that were a bit more trouble than they were worth. I prefer the biology labs from Byrn Mawr. I added a couple hands on labs to the tabletop exercises.

 

Be advised that with Kolbe the honors syllabus is intended to be enough to almost ready a student for the AP exam. Core is a solid high school level course. For my next kid I will just do the Core and add more cool labwork. He's really into plants so we may try a long cross pollination experiment.

 

Folks who struggle with access seem to be trying to get access directly from Pearson. I went through this a few years ago with physics. I got some good stuff, but it took weeks.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Sebastian, thanks for replying.

 

I should mention that we only have satellite internet, and we ALWAYS go over our monthly allowance of data.  This slows our internet down noticeably but not in a crippling way.  Is this something that would be a red flag if we went with the ML on-line virtual lab access?

[Mom22ns]

I haven't used the Kolbe syllabus, but in general, M/L could be done without any online access. The online component is bonus material, animations and explanations. You may not need many of these and those areas you really want further explanations, Youtube has it all these days.

 

I wouldn't go with all online labs if you want to give lab credit. I don't know if Kolbe gives lab info or not. You could pair in the Illustrated Guide to home Biology Experiments.

 

One year I used M/L with just their online access: TM, Lab manual, etc. From those who have posted this year, I'm not sure if you can still get that access as a homeschooler.

 

With kiddo #2 I used M/L with DIVE DVD. It worked well. DIVE gives labs that you can do or watch. I made my own syllabus. M/L covers more than DIVE and I just had dd read the additional material with no tests. She made it through the whole book that way with more focus on what DIVE covered and exposure to everything.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Oh yes, DIVE!  

Debbie, Dr. Shoreman provides such a great service, but if I were the student, I don't think I could enjoy a whole year of his DVDs.  He has a monotone voice. 

Did your younger one strugle at all with this?  DIVE may be a great way for us to get biology done, but I would certainly have to let my dc see a sample and agree to it first.