happypamama Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 DD likes her history lectures, so I thought perhaps a video/audio format for Chemistry for tenth grade might be good. This Great Course looks pretty good and comprehensive: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/high-school-level-chemistry-2nd-edition.html At 1-2 lectures a week, that would easily fit into a year. It comes with a workbook of problems. I want to look for an SAT prep book to go along with it. I need to find a lab manual/experiments book and supplies. What other supplemental materials might I want to go with this? I want it to be a good and reasonably comprehensive course, without being too weak or overly challenging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 All the reviews of it i found here on WTM were dismal so we decided not to use it. Like, people said it was the only grrat course they ever asked for their money back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 All the reviews of it i found here on WTM were dismal so we decided not to use it. Like, people said it was the only grrat course they ever asked for their money back on. Yikes!! That's really disappointing. Thank you for that heads up. I ordered it from our library so we can preview it; I'm glad I didn't buy it yet! Wow, what a bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Same here. We skipped them because of so many negative reviews here. You might look at BozemanScience.com or Crash Course (YouTube) instead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Same here. We skipped them because of so many negative reviews here. You might look at BozemanScience.com or Crash Course (YouTube) instead. Those sound like good recommendations too; thank you! Did you have a favorite textbook? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) We tried to use it because we are big Great Courses fans and own dozens of courses. This one is the only course I have ever returned for a refund. It is not a complete chemistry course. We felt treated like morons because it goes soo slowly and the problem solving seems to be addressing students who struggle with prealgebra. We did not make it through the course, and it flopped with my second student as well. It might be a good resource for a student who struggles with math. For a strong math student, it is insufferable. Edited January 21, 2017 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 (edited) We tried to use it because we are big Great Courses fans and own dozens of courses. This one is the only course I have ever returned for a refund. It is not a complete chemistry course. We felt treated like morons because it goes soo slowly and the problem solving seems to be addressing students who struggle with prealgebra. We did not make it through the course, and it flopped with my second student as well. It might be a good resource for a student who struggles with math. For a strong math student, it is insufferable. That is so disappointing to hear, but thank you for the review. This child does not especially struggle with math. I'm so bummed that it's not more of a complete course. Now I need a textbook that is maybe a lighter honors level. I want some reasonable rigor, but it doesn't need to have tons of reading or be AP level. I can do the math and should be able to follow a reasonably decent textbook, but it's not my strongest subject, so I was thinking that a good video component would complement me well, plus my student is much more of an audio person than I am. I will check out the ones that SilverMoon suggested, plus Khan Academy. Edited January 22, 2017 by happypamama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Okay, after reading through all of the posts on the Chemistry sticky, multiple times, I decided to go with Zumdahl's Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation, 5th edition. I liked the looks of it from the Amazon samples, although it didn't hurt that it's inexpensive. I think some reviews said it was introductory college level for non-majors, which is about the level I wanted. Then I discovered that the plans at Don't Burn the House Down that I had run across a few days ago were based on this book, and that sealed it. If we hate it, I'm not out much money. I love that DBtHD seems to have Khan Academy videos already correlated to it, so it will save me time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Those sound like good recommendations too; thank you! Did you have a favorite textbook? I see you've already decided. We own Zumdahl but I haven't put a kid through it yet. I looked at several options and decided on Zumdahl's Intro Chem, and then the kid went a different direction anyway. We're using the Bozeman and Crash Course videos for biology this year and my kids have consistently given them two thumbs up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 I see you've already decided. We own Zumdahl but I haven't put a kid through it yet. I looked at several options and decided on Zumdahl's Intro Chem, and then the kid went a different direction anyway. We're using the Bozeman and Crash Course videos for biology this year and my kids have consistently given them two thumbs up. Rainy Saturday, and I'm on limited activity for two more weeks, so it was a good day to research Chemistry, haha. I've liked other things you've suggested in the past, so I'll bet Zumdahl will work out well for us. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pronghorn Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 (edited) Just to balance the naysayers, we liked the Great Courses high school chemistry course. Those who are good at math may want to skip the first few lectures. The course is best for a student who is not a hot-shot science lover, e.g. my daughter. I think the course covered the majority of quantitative topics, but you might want to add something for the qualitative. And be sure you buy the workbook for extra practice. Edited January 22, 2017 by Pronghorn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Just to balance the naysayers, we liked the Great Courses high school chemistry course. Those who are good at math may want to skip the first few lectures. The course is best for a student who is not a hot-shot science lover, e.g. my daughter. I think the course covered the majority of quantitative topics, but you might want to add something for the qualitative. And be sure you buy the workbook for extra practice. Well, that's confusing. :). I ordered it from the library to preview; if she likes it, we can use it as a supplement. It won't likely hurt to have some extra explanations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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