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ACS Middle School Chemistry or Apologia Chemistry & Physics (elementary)??


ereks mom
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I have zero experience with Apologia and I'm not YEC so it's not something I'd personally use... but I think it would depend greatly on your goals. The ACS program is really neat - leads through experiments entirely so all the learning is done through hands on stuff - there's some short readings, but they're really short. However, it's really only a semester long program (you could stretch it out by adding readings or just by taking it slow) and there are a lot of topics in middle school chemistry it doesn't cover. On the other hand, it's middle school chemistry and the excitement you might generate with it and the enjoyment of the program (I thought it was pretty fun overall) could be more important. 

 

If you're looking for something more laid out and comprehensive of topics, my guess is Apologia would be better.

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The only thing about ACS being free is that we ended up spending a good bit on the supplies. Since it was free, I did buy things like the density cubes and the ball and ring apparatus from homesciencetools. Of course, there are a lot of things in there that you can do with household chemicals so you could pick and choose a bit to try it out.

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I loved the ACS program! I did go overboard buying the supplies bc it was my first year homeschooling and it was so much fun buying all this cool stuff. I liked that the readings were short and I really liked the videos too. true, its 'short' but that was ok for me, we didnt do science every day and we took breaks too. I might use it for a non-college bound high schooler and see where it takes you. its a nice foundation if your high schooler wants to go further.

I have no experience with apologia.

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The only thing about ACS being free is that we ended up spending a good bit on the supplies. Since it was free, I did buy things like the density cubes and the ball and ring apparatus from homesciencetools. Of course, there are a lot of things in there that you can do with household chemicals so you could pick and choose a bit to try it out.

 

Yes, the expense of the supplies is what makes me leery about it. On the other hand, I will l have 5 or 6 students, so if I divided up the expense 5-6 ways, it wouldn't be too bad, especially since the rest would be free--well, except for printing, but it's still cheaper than buying an entire kit (textbook & TE & supplies).

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I don't think the apologia chem and physics elementary would be deep enough. We used it in 3rd, and I'd say its target is 3rd-5th, it would be light, and the tone kind of childish for middle school.

 

The tone being too childish is also a big concern for me. My students are all struggling learners, and I have to simplify the approach with everything, but I really don't want to insult them!

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Yes, the expense of the supplies is what makes me leery about it. On the other hand, I will l have 5 or 6 students, so if I divided up the expense 5-6 ways, it wouldn't be too bad, especially since the rest would be free--well, except for printing, but it's still cheaper than buying an entire kit (textbook & TE & supplies).

 

I also had 6 students. It worked really well in a small group. And I didn't need to double up on any supplies - one set, one glass, etc. was plenty. IIRC, I think I spent about $80-$100 total, including the household and the homesciencetools order I had to make. And the equipment keeps so I still have it and can presumably use it again for high school.

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