Kolbe, Oak Meadow, ck12, which for biology? (open to other suggestions)

[Janeway]

I think I have narrowed down to these. I hope to pay once and use twice. Or not pay at all in the case of ck12. I would like my child to maybe enjoy the biology that he does not want to do. I think maybe..I get ignite some joy here!!! He thinks biology will be all about dissecting animals. I told him we would omit dissecting animals but there would be other things we can do..like dissect plants and grow things. He said he would be up for that. I can see he is skeptical.

 

He is the kind of person who loves Memoria Press style learning, so that would mean Kolbe. But, I think he might get fun from Oak Meadow and it would still accomplish the subject. And younger child is my creative child who must be having fun or it won't happen. To give an idea how they learn..we tried a variety of math programs and older had to have Horizon's and younger had to have Singapore Math. Both were bored with MUS. In foreign language, older loves First Form Latin and wants more MP products and younger prefers more artsy style learning. He learns from whatever native speaker I can find around town. Younger prefers to make art projects and stop motion videos to show what he learned. Older prefers to write a paper on it, preferably in Latin. I hope that explains their learning styles.

 

I am sort of leaning toward Oak Meadow because it looks like it might be more fun and it might be adaptable for the older child. I would like to get a smile out of him and the statement "hey, biology is not so bad after all." But I am unsure. 

 

edited to add: I am concerned that Kolbe's biology book for regular biology is 10 yrs old. Is this a problem? 

Edited March 15, 2016 by Janeway

[Mom22ns]

Kolbe keeps promising plans for the newer Miller/Levine Biology. They said they'd be our for the current year and then didn't have them last fall. I don't know if they are available or not. 

 

I'm a big fan of M/L Biology, so I'd go with Kolbe if they have the new book planned. I thought the changes were worthwhile. There are some reviews of CK-12 that are pretty negative due to errors. I considered it, but didn't read enough or thoroughly enough to know if I consider it an issue. I have never looked at OM Science much. The Holt book they used for Biology (not sure if they still do) is used for Middle School Honors Life Science in our public schools and that was a turn off for me, but that was a personal thing.

 

I've done M/L with just their web support which I'm not sure homeschoolers can get anymore and I've done it with DIVE. I think it is a wonderful on-level book. It was a great for my English lover and my Biology lover - a rare treasure.

[MamaSprout]

When do you need it? MP might have theirs done by fall.

[Dina in Oklahoma]

Guest hollow or Fascinating Education plus living books and labs from Home School Science Press perhaps. You could use virtual dissections or the "Uncover a ..."  books for a closer look.

 

http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/biology/biology_home.html

 

http://fascinatingeducation.com/sample-page/

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=uncover+books&sprefix=uncover+%2Caps%2C184

 

http://www.froguts.com/

 

http://www.homeschoolsciencepress.com/

 

Best Wishes

 

ETA: additional source

Edited March 16, 2016 by Dina in Oklahoma

[Haiku]

I have emailed Kolbe 3 times about the availability of course plans for the 2014 Miller Levine book. They sell the book but, as noted, the plans are for the 2006 version. Kolbe has responded to me exactly zero times. I might have given them my business before, but I won't now.

 

My plan for bio next year is Miller Levine paired with these videos. The guy is a California high school biology teacher of 30 years, and the videos correspond with the ML macaw book. There are also very good study guides here.

 

We are focusing on evolution, ecology, biochemistry, and genetics. I will add in a few extra stuff to cover the syllabus for the CLEP exam, but there will be no dissection here.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I think I have narrowed down to these. I hope to pay once and use twice. Or not pay at all in the case of ck12. I would like my child to maybe enjoy the biology that he does not want to do. I think maybe..I get ignite some joy here!!! He thinks biology will be all about dissecting animals. I told him we would omit dissecting animals but there would be other things we can do..like dissect plants and grow things. He said he would be up for that. I can see he is skeptical.

 

He is the kind of person who loves Memoria Press style learning, so that would mean Kolbe. But, I think he might get fun from Oak Meadow and it would still accomplish the subject. And younger child is my creative child who must be having fun or it won't happen. To give an idea how they learn..we tried a variety of math programs and older had to have Horizon's and younger had to have Singapore Math. Both were bored with MUS. In foreign language, older loves First Form Latin and wants more MP products and younger prefers more artsy style learning. He learns from whatever native speaker I can find around town. Younger prefers to make art projects and stop motion videos to show what he learned. Older prefers to write a paper on it, preferably in Latin. I hope that explains their learning styles.

 

I am sort of leaning toward Oak Meadow because it looks like it might be more fun and it might be adaptable for the older child. I would like to get a smile out of him and the statement "hey, biology is not so bad after all." But I am unsure. 

 

edited to add: I am concerned that Kolbe's biology book for regular biology is 10 yrs old. Is this a problem? 

 

Just a note on the dissections.  There are organizations out there who lend dissection alternatives for free.  The place I used was Animalearn (although I just tried to go to their site and I couldn't get on it so maybe they aren't in business anymore).  There are other organizations out there who do this though. 

 

They shipped the item to me for free.  I had to pay for return shipping and I had to insure it for the full value.  So not 100% free, but some of those items are hundreds of dollars so way cheaper than buying that stuff on my own. 

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I have emailed Kolbe 3 times about the availability of course plans for the 2014 Miller Levine book. They sell the book but, as noted, the plans are for the 2006 version. Kolbe has responded to me exactly zero times. I might have given them my business before, but I won't now.

 

My plan for bio next year is Miller Levine paired with these videos. The guy is a California high school biology teacher of 30 years, and the videos correspond with the ML macaw book. There are also very good study guides here.

 

We are focusing on evolution, ecology, biochemistry, and genetics. I will add in a few extra stuff to cover the syllabus for the CLEP exam, but there will be no dissection here.

You might have better luck calling and trying to speak to academic adviser or someone in the know about course development plans. They have actually called me back within a day or so of me calling them twice in the past week or so. They may be overwhelmed since the are adding to the online self-paced courses a lot.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

It looks like their self paced courses do use the 2014 Miller Levine:

 

http://www.kolbe.org/online-courses/course-offerings/selfpaced/high-school/online-science-courses/sps-bio-h/

[Saddlemomma]

I haven't looked at the other curricula you mentioned, nor have I read the other posts, but I will tell you what I love about CK12, other than the fact that it's free -- I can edit the text to add supplemental material or skip chapters that my dd is proficient in already. 

 

For instance, right now I'm using their middle-school Physical Science text to develop a flexbook that matches the contents of what will be our spine for next year,  Scientific Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy.  I've named the flexbook after my spine and am pulling in chapters which go along with the TOC of my spine.  I'm also adding YouTube clips and short documentaries directly into the flexbook. Since we lean towards OE Creationism, in addition to the original CK12 text, I also include articles which explain our differing views of a concept written by ID scientists. This way she gets to learn about both points of view.

 

In most cases, DD will have to do the CK12 practice exercises, review questions, and quizzes that go along with each chapter I include in my flexbook.  However, we also have a yearly subscription to BrainPop.  In some cases, I'm finding that BP flows better with our spine and will, therefore, incorporate the BP video/FYI articles/Activity/Quiz instead of CK12 or in addition to it.  Since I can't input the BP material directly into CK12, I just add instructions into the CK12 text, wherever applicable, to direct DD to do whichever video/quiz/activity I want her to do.

 

In short, I can tailor CK12 to be as rigorous and/or Christian friendly as I want and still know she is getting what she needs.  Yes, it's work, but then again, it's work for me to add OEC material into any YE or secular text I purchase or vice versa.  This way it's all in one spot - right in the textbook I make myself.

 

[Haiku]

You might have better luck calling and trying to speak to academic adviser or someone in the know about course development plans. 

 

Yeah ... I'm pretty picky about customer service. If you provide a contact email, and I contact you by email, I expect a response. If you don't respond, you don't have good customer service, imo, and I don't waste my time with you. I'm rather unforgiving that way.  :closedeyes:

Edited March 16, 2016 by TaraTheLiberator

[happypamama]

I haven't used it yet, but I was really impressed at the looks of the Miller Levine Biology (I have the dragonfly edition). DD likes science, while I do not, but there is just something visually appealing about the ML book. Pretty but not too cluttered. It makes ME interested. Plus I like the critical thinking, data analysis, and standardized test prep sections that are built in, as well as the study guide at the end of each chapter, because I feel that those will be helpful in guiding a student who has really never studied for a test before. (We haven't really done tests before high school, other than for math, and certainly not of the "review and study beforehand" variety. I need to transition her to more of that, but I also don't want to throw her in the deep end.)

 

DD is an animal lover, and the idea of dissecting them made her rather unhappy. Someone here said that they dissected flowers and mushrooms for the experience instead, and DD and I liked that idea better. We will look at photos and videos for the animal anatomy parts, and if she does decide to go into a biology-related field in college, we will do a frog dissection or something later, just so she has the experience. But there are LOTS (the ML book and supplemental materials have MANY) of suggestions for labs and exploration that do not involve dissecting animals.

 

I have the Kolbe plans, but I'm also not sure they're really necessary. The ML book has a weekly plan in it, at least in the teacher's edition (not sure about the student). But, the Kolbe plans have notes from the Church, which appeals to me so I have some assistance in discussing anything controversial.