freeindeed Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 I've tried several different ways to help my daughter with Apologia Biology. I'm beginning to think that Apologia is just not going to "click" with her. What curriculum do you use and why did you choose it? Tell me about it...please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 One of my dc used the dragonfly edition of Biology by Miller and Levine. The other chose to use Apologia. Different kids, different preferences. The one that used Apologia also used the at-your-own-pace class from www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.org. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Biology is where things went sour w/ Apologia. Guest Hollow (tweaked) saved the day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 We are using Miller Levine. It was between that and Campbell Concepts and Connections. I think the Campbell would have been too much for him, and M-L had some nice supplements to go with it. And it was available as an ipad version. We are on the road often, and lugging a bio book (any of them) would be a pain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 We are using Miller Levine. It was between that and Campbell Concepts and Connections. This was us too. We used Miller Levine. I put Campbell C&C side by side with Miller Levine and my kids both liked the style and readability of M/L better. When we used it, we were able to get all the online resources free with purchase of the MacCaw book. We used lots of those resources, including the online text which my kids preferred to the paper text. I had access to the TM and tests/answers which were very helpful. M/L had a pretty layout and was easy to read and understand. It hit a nice middle ground between some of the lighter texts (too light) and some of the heavier texts that seemed to difficult for my kids to understand. It was a great fit here. I'm not sure if I can recommend it as strongly since those who purchased this year were unable to get the online resources though. They really were excellent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 (edited) I found the Miller Levine book on Amazon. Do I need to buy lab materials? If so, where do I purchase those? Also, what additional materials, such as workbooks, tests, etc. do I need? Thanks! I also looked at Guest Hollow. I like the fact that the textbook is free online. What extras did you purchase for this? Is there an answer key for the chapter questions? Also, what about tests? Thanks! Edited November 22, 2015 by freeindeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Is she really not understanding what she reads, or is it that she's not getting good grades on the tests? I think there's definitely a learning curve to doing the tests for Apologia, and also a ton of vocabulary in biology. There are ways to adapt things to meet her needs though: One, let her find the correct answers in her book to questions she gets wrong. Or, let her do tests open-book. Two, use it as a learning opportunity to learn how to study for tests (rather than using the tests strictly as assessments). I always went back over things my kids got wrong, discussed them, asked them orally (sometimes they just misunderstood a question or they knew the info but forgot to write it all), and let them look up things they missed. I let them earn points back as they did this because I used the tests for a learning opportunity--I wanted them to be good test-takers by the end of high school, and these were helpful towards that goal. Three, if you don't have the Apologia notebook, you might find that has more tools for you and her that would be helpful. Anyway--I'm not saying don't switch, but you might assess what the trouble is and see if it's something to accommodate and work through. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 I've been debating the same things (though we are using a different text-Science Shepherd. What I have decided for now is to give more support and do whatever I can to help her learn. With SS that has meant writing out a study guide that guides her through the reading and occasionally using online videos and also giving simpler tests than came with the book. When I had the same issue with another child when we were using Apologia I helped him through the material. I also did all of the vocabulary multiple choice. Apologia is MUCH easier the second semester. One thing about switching is that each text covers things in a different order or sometimes different things all together. I decided it was going to be more work to change and that Biology might still not work well with any text. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Have you looked at the E.O. Wilson iBook, Life on Earth? Very well put together. There are also the free CK12 flexbooks - Biological Concepts is probably a good freshman/sophomore biology. There are many videos online to help with concept explanations. Check out Quarks and Quirk's biology syllabus https://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/biology-hs-level/ She uses Campbell's Concepts and Connections, a very thorough text, as well as others. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Have you looked at the E.O. Wilson iBook, Life on Earth? Very well put together. There are also the free CK12 flexbooks - Biological Concepts is probably a good freshman/sophomore biology. There are many videos online to help with concept explanations. Check out Quarks and Quirk's biology syllabus https://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/biology-hs-level/ She uses Campbell's Concepts and Connections, a very thorough text, as well as others. I just got the free CK12 book for my Kindle. I am going to let my daughter read through it and see if it's a better fit. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 We used a combination of PAC (Paradigm Accelerated) Biology and the Biology 101 DVD series. (Plus numerous other library books on topics my DD found interesting) I thought the combination worked well. She also took an outside lab-class offered through our homeschool co-op. The class followed the Apologia syllabus, but she was able to keep up just fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Both dds used Science Shepherd. It worked quite well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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