kfeusse Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 We are using Friendly Chemistry and up until now, we have been moving through it fairly smoothly. But the further we get the more we struggle. I have contacted the writer and he has been nothing but amazing, but I am now to the point where I fear we are asking him for more help than he is able to help (meaning, he has his own life and very busy with other projects and his family that he can't give the time that we might need). So I am not sure what to do now. I am not sure how we are going to be able to finish without some additional help someplace. We did try Khan Academy for Balancing chemical reactions...and it was only barely helpful...probably because the process was quite different than what FC did...and of course the problems weren't exactly like the ones my kids were asked to do. The chapters we have left to cover are: Intro to Stoichiometry Prediciting Grams of Product Prediciting grams of product from grams of reactant Do I have enough reactant? Mixing compounds with Water to make solutions Incorporating Molarity into Stoichiometric Problems Determining the Needed Amount of a solution to perform a reaction Properties of Gases and How Gases can be measured in reactions How changing temperatures affect gases How changing Pressures affect gases The combined gas laws. Please, please, if anybody has a thought for me, I would be so grateful!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I have no experience with Friendly Chemistry, but would anything from the Georgia PBS Chem site help? Or something from CK 12 ? Or maybe Conceptual Academy ? (not free, but looks very nice). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 You might want to look into hiring a tutor for a bit, if your homeschooling budget allows for that. Chemistry is one of those subjects that sometimes needs some one-on-one work to really get things to click for the student. If you're in a place with a university or college, sometimes upper level chem students will tutor for very reasonable rates. Your local high school chem teacher might also be willing to do some tutoring on the side - but that might get awkward if he/she isn't a big fan of homeschooling. If your students have particular questions that they need help on, you can post them here and I (or other chem folks) can try to help. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 If you are getting hung up on this one thing maybe just keep going and work on that a bit here or there using other resources. I don't think you need that one concept to do the rest of them. KWIM? If you are just lost overall, you probably do need to get a tutor or consider something a bit more basic (Like Walch Chemistry maybe.). Would depend on future goals too I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Get yourself a good, basic high school chemistry text that has complete and clear explanations. Zumdahl's comes to mind. I have heard that the explanations in Friendly Chemistry are poor and the people I know who have used it have had to get a supplementary text. We are using Friendly Chemistry and up until now, we have been moving through it fairly smoothly. But the further we get the more we struggle. I have contacted the writer and he has been nothing but amazing, but I am now to the point where I fear we are asking him for more help than he is able to help (meaning, he has his own life and very busy with other projects and his family that he can't give the time that we might need). So I am not sure what to do now. I am not sure how we are going to be able to finish without some additional help someplace. We did try Khan Academy for Balancing chemical reactions...and it was only barely helpful...probably because the process was quite different than what FC did...and of course the problems weren't exactly like the ones my kids were asked to do. The chapters we have left to cover are: Intro to Stoichiometry Prediciting Grams of Product Prediciting grams of product from grams of reactant Do I have enough reactant? Mixing compounds with Water to make solutions Incorporating Molarity into Stoichiometric Problems Determining the Needed Amount of a solution to perform a reaction Properties of Gases and How Gases can be measured in reactions How changing temperatures affect gases How changing Pressures affect gases The combined gas laws. Please, please, if anybody has a thought for me, I would be so grateful!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkelement Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I second that. Zumdahl or Tro are excellent, clear textbooks. I would even prefer Tro for clarity of explanations. I am using 10 year old book and feel like it's completely adequate. We are doing Spectrum Chemistry this year and I just read few Tro or Zumdahl chapters ahead of time, so that I can guide my small group as they cover Spectrum textbook. If I feel Spectrum is not clear in their explanations (sometimes it is the case) or we need more practice, we just switch to the textbooks I mentioned. It's a little more work for me, but without it I think I would be in trouble too. Hope it helps. Irene in NYC My first post and I am so happy to contribute as I benefited so much from lurking here. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 When I taught high school chemistry (using Spectrum), I used these two resources to teach/review and/or practice concepts: https://www.amazon.com/Homework-Helpers-Chemistry-Career-Press/dp/1601631634/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488048166&sr=8-1&keywords=chemistry+homework+helper https://www.amazon.com/100-Chemistry-Joan-Distasio/dp/1568221878/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488048222&sr=8-1&keywords=chemistry+worksheets I used the worksheets a lot, and the homework helper book more as background to explain ideas. Hope these are helpful! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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