ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 (edited) We were doing pretty ok...until Module 6. There are something like 40 vocab words to memorize for the test...and my daughter is frustrated. Most of the other modules so far have a dozen give or take...sometimes up to 20. So, my question is how important is it really that she memorize all 40 words and definitions? I don't remember my high school biology class being this tough...my college level class, yes...but not high school. So what are your thoughts? are the remaining modules this hard? Edited February 2, 2016 by NEprairiemom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I won't slam you. And it looks like you have a TON of homeschooling experience, so I for sure won't slam you because of that alone. SO....in this case...what you would do...just have her ignore the definition part...and as long as she was able to do the rest of the test...call it good? that sounds good to me. I think she has a pretty decent handle on the concepts and ideas. thanks for being bold and sharing your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 (edited) Could you just create a matching quiz for the vocab for that module? Vocab words on one side of the paper & definitions on the other - using the process of elimination, but being given the definitions? Makes things a lot easier. Here's one I generated quickly - https://quizlet.com/2103499/test?matching=on&prompt-with=0&limit=45 Edited February 2, 2016 by clementine 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 you did that? how? I love it. I didn't know that this existed. thanks. I don't know if this will help...however, because I copied her written out study sheet with the words and definitions...had her cut them apart and try to match them up. She was able to do a little over half...but the rest...they were really hard. but maybe I could change the list to only include those she didn't know. thanks again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 you did that? how? I love it. I didn't know that this existed. thanks. I don't know if this will help...however, because I copied her written out study sheet with the words and definitions...had her cut them apart and try to match them up. She was able to do a little over half...but the rest...they were really hard. but maybe I could change the list to only include those she didn't know. thanks again. On the right side of the page you can choose your question types, how many questions you want, etc. Makes things easy peasy. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyOwn Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 My son is using this book in a coop class. The teacher gives them about 5-10 words that she wants them to know the definition of by heart (I'm guessing these are the ones on the apologia module tests) and, for the rest, she gives them a matching vocab test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 cool. so now my next question...do they ask other types of questions besides questions that revolve around words and definitions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have thought about making the definitions into a matching quiz, similar to the quizlet idea above. I will maybe do that for dd13 when she gets to biology later this year. Ds15 has no interest in science. I let him take the tests open notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 by letting them take an open note test, do you adjust anything for his final grade then? I mean, do you mention that on his transcript, add extra questions, expect more of an answer etc...is it ok to do that? I guess it is...but I just didn't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 cool. so now my next question...do they ask other types of questions besides questions that revolve around words and definitions? Here's a couple of tests from their site: https://quizlet.com/7589788/test https://quizlet.com/89498619/test Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 by letting them take an open note test, do you adjust anything for his final grade then? I mean, do you mention that on his transcript, add extra questions, expect more of an answer etc...is it ok to do that? I guess it is...but I just didn't know. Nope. Teachers in b&m schools do all sorts of things like give open note tests, take home tests, no tests, and allow test corrections for full credit and no one makes note of it on the transcript. Do what you think is right for your student and is in line with your teaching philosophy. You are the one granting the credit and the book is just a resource. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 so maybe I can print off a couple of these tests, and let her take them all open book or open note. If I want to print off the tests, where can I find the answers? Sorry for all of the questions...but this is exciting for me and I want to do this tomorrow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Let me suggest an additional thing that might help. A lot of biology is being able to decipher those words, and they typically have Latin or Greek roots. Vocabulary Vine is an inexpensive classical roots program, and their second group of words, I think it's called Science Vine or Science Roots is specifically intended to help students with Apologia Biology. I'd recommend using that on the side. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 so maybe I can print off a couple of these tests, and let her take them all open book or open note. If I want to print off the tests, where can I find the answers? Sorry for all of the questions...but this is exciting for me and I want to do this tomorrow. At the way bottom of the tests, you can click on 'check answers' - and they'll show up. You probably have to write them down yourself on paper in order to correct her test. Unless someone else has other advice for that? I just google "quizlet, apologia, module (whichever), test" and browse. It's handy and a time-saver when I want to create a test other than what is given. I've used that site for several other subjects/curriculums. I don't have a subscription, I just browse what is already there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 by letting them take an open note test, do you adjust anything for his final grade then? I mean, do you mention that on his transcript, add extra questions, expect more of an answer etc...is it ok to do that? I guess it is...but I just didn't know. Nope. Teachers in b&m schools do all sorts of things like give open note tests, take home tests, no tests, and allow test corrections for full credit and no one makes note of it on the transcript. Do what you think is right for your student and is in line with your teaching philosophy. You are the one granting the credit and the book is just a resource. Exactly what EKS said. I went to public high school and there were all sorts of helps given by various teachers. Truthfully, I think that memorizing those long definitions word for word is borderline insane. Like I said above, I may do something different for dd13 because it is possible that she would major in biology in college. I would want to maker her high school biology a bit more rigorous to prepare her. But for my ds15 who has no interest in science, I allow him to use notes for science tests. Last year he took the tests open book, so I am requiring more of him this year. It has actually been a really good learning experience for him, as he is learning to take good notes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 by letting them take an open note test, do you adjust anything for his final grade then? I mean, do you mention that on his transcript, add extra questions, expect more of an answer etc...is it ok to do that? I guess it is...but I just didn't know. The transcript does not mention anything about the way in which a grade was determined, other than perhaps a grading scale. You do not need to give any tests at all and can choose completely different methods of assessment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Truthfully, I think that memorizing those long definitions word for word is borderline insane. And the mark of a science resource prepared by a person who doesn't understand what is truly important in science. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFwife Claire Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 And the mark of a science resource prepared by a person who doesn't understand what is truly important in science. You know, I really agree with this, and it is one of my pet peeves with Apologia biology. One of my students just had to drop my AP biology class for the second semester. He simply could not synthesize or retain the knowledge, even though he had always done "very well" on his previous Apologia science courses, including biology. I just don't think the class teaches scientific thinking when all it focuses on is making sure the student can parrot back exactly a definition, and not so much about the actual concepts. And for the record, just because a course requires a student to parrot back a ton of definitions exactly does not make it rigorous. A lot of difficult busy work, yes, and a total pain in the rear, but it says nothing about the actual level of the concepts being taught. Apologia isn't actually a difficult biology course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 You know, I really agree with this, and it is one of my pet peeves with Apologia biology. One of my students just had to drop my AP biology class for the second semester. He simply could not synthesize or retain the knowledge, even though he had always done "very well" on his previous Apologia science courses, including biology. I just don't think the class teaches scientific thinking when all it focuses on is making sure the student can parrot back exactly a definition, and not so much about the actual concepts. And for the record, just because a course requires a student to parrot back a ton of definitions exactly does not make it rigorous. A lot of difficult busy work, yes, and a total pain in the rear, but it says nothing about the actual level of the concepts being taught. Apologia isn't actually a difficult biology course. I wasn't clear in my earlier post, but I do not plan to make dd13 memorize all of those definitions either. However, she probably will end up with multiple choice or matching for the definitions. I plan to make her course more rigorous by having her take the tests without the book or notes available and by requiring more experiment work than what ds15 is doing and perhaps a research paper. I taught English before I had kids. The Abeka vocabulary curriculum that I had to use was ridiculous. The students were expected to memorize each definition word for word. Some of the kids memorized the definition and still didn't understand what the word really meant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I so agree with you all. But, now this is my situation. Here we are, Feb. 2nd, over half way through the school year (we try not to school during the summer because it simply doesn't work for us)...this is her 9th grade year. So what do I do? Do I keep plowing through this. I am quite certain her retention is pretty much nothing. A few stray facts here and there. Do I stop and do something different? And if so, what?? I am looking at a program for her chemistry called Friendly Chemistry...and he is working on a Biology program and it MIGHT be done by fall... I also have an 8th grader this year and so I need to figure out what to do with him next year. Neither one of these kids will probably go into any sort of Science field (daughter for sure), and I don't think it would work well to combine the 2 in the same science. But, my bigger question now is what do I do now? What would you do?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I see learning how to study as a skill my ds needed to learn and Biology is a means to learn a skill. He is thinking about a possible medical field for a career and will eventually need to learn how to memorize great quantities of material. Even if he isn't going to a medical field, learning how to study and memorize terms is a skill I want him to have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 We used Vocabulary Vine (before Biology) and Science Roots (half the year before Biology, the rest the same year) to build knowledge of roots. This really helps with memorizing the vocabulary because you understand many of the root meanings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I see learning how to study as a skill my ds needed to learn and Biology is a means to learn a skill. He is thinking about a possible medical field for a career and will eventually need to learn how to memorize great quantities of material. Even if he isn't going to a medical field, learning how to study and memorize terms is a skill I want him to have. We used BJUP with DIVE, and I made mine do the memorization. Is it a pain? Yes, but that's biology. If memory serves me, Dr. Schormann does fill-in-the blank with a word bank and matching, so they didn't have to know it word-for-word but well enough to get it. That's OK. Being able to write out a definition word-for-word? Too much. My oldest is majoring in accounting in college, and he's thanked me repeatedly for making him memorize because that field has a lot of memorization at the level he's at. He's also taking biology as his science credit because the chemistry has very poor professors and the physics is oriented towards engineering. And yes, lots of memorization there. But he's says it's easy after what he did in high school. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyOwn Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 (edited) You know, I really agree with this, and it is one of my pet peeves with Apologia biology. One of my students just had to drop my AP biology class for the second semester. He simply could not synthesize or retain the knowledge, even though he had always done "very well" on his previous Apologia science courses, including biology. I just don't think the class teaches scientific thinking when all it focuses on is making sure the student can parrot back exactly a definition, and not so much about the actual concepts. And for the record, just because a course requires a student to parrot back a ton of definitions exactly does not make it rigorous. A lot of difficult busy work, yes, and a total pain in the rear, but it says nothing about the actual level of the concepts being taught. Apologia isn't actually a difficult biology course. But does Apologia require the students to parrot back every definition? My son is taking this class through a coop, and I don't have the tests here at home, so I am not totally on top of it. I thought the test only had the kids write out about 5 definitions and then the rest was more conceptual? I'm not saying Apologia is the best, but my son enjoys it, he seems to be learning and he does lots of labs and write ups. One thing that I can see that makes it weaker is that the tests are very much based on the study guide. If you do the study guide and know what's on it, you will do well on the test. That doesn't seem to be giving much practice for studying for college, imo. ETA: The coop teacher does have him do a matching vocab test with all the words so he does kearn them, but that seems a lot different than having to write out each definition word for word. Oh, and that teacher allows them to do the quarterly tests open book, but not the end of module tests. Edited February 2, 2016 by OnMyOwn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I remember having to memorize everything for biology back in the 70's. Gosh, I don't know if I remember any of it! Some of my own kids did biology at home, and some did it at a local ps. At the local ps, they were allowed a big index card with as many notes that they could squeeze on it for their tests. Sometimes, their tests were open book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I so agree with you all. But, now this is my situation. Here we are, Feb. 2nd, over half way through the school year (we try not to school during the summer because it simply doesn't work for us)...this is her 9th grade year. So what do I do? Do I keep plowing through this. I am quite certain her retention is pretty much nothing. A few stray facts here and there. Do I stop and do something different? And if so, what?? I am looking at a program for her chemistry called Friendly Chemistry...and he is working on a Biology program and it MIGHT be done by fall... I also have an 8th grader this year and so I need to figure out what to do with him next year. Neither one of these kids will probably go into any sort of Science field (daughter for sure), and I don't think it would work well to combine the 2 in the same science. But, my bigger question now is what do I do now? What would you do?? I would use the Apologia book that you have already started and finish the year. I would talk to her about the vocabulary section and give her some kind of help with it, either open book/open notes or make the vocabulary part of the test matching or multiple choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 (edited) I've mentioned it before: www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.org ETA: It's FREE. You can register for the at-your-own-pace option for biology, watch lessons, take online quizzes, take online exams. Use the resources you like, leave the rest. If you register yourself AND your child, you can peruse it all on your own account before she does it herself. The quizzes and tests may turn out to be different, though, because questions are taken from a bank of test questions. Edited February 2, 2016 by klmama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 (edited) Are you using the Donna Young schedules? I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but if you use her schedule, she'll tell you which words are needed to be memorized for the upcoming tests. The online practice is helpful but I find my dd retains better when she's memorizing off paper. She just took a few definitions at a time and then added to them. Right now, she's doing Apologia Chemistry and definitions that she memorized for Physical Science are coming back to her. I know it's work but the practice of memorization can be valuable when your dd hits university. My dd is taking her first university course this semester and is realizing that being exposed to work at a higher level in hs, has really helped to make her university experience much easier. I hope you find a balance that works for you both. We've been frustrated too with certain courses and know what it feels like! :cursing: ;) Edited February 3, 2016 by Cleopatra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.