NatYoung17 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Hi, I'm looking for a secular biology course for my 12 yo dd. She would prefer to work on it on her own. We've used RSO Chemistry with her younger brother this past year and while I thought it was pretty good, she wasn't too crazy about it...so I'm not sure about RSO Biology 2, although she might like it better doing it on her own...but it's soo expensive!! Any other good secular courses that don't break the bank? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoKitty Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 I would look at Elemental Biology for the logic stage. We have successfully used Lyrical Life Science.... all three volumes. Additionally, we love Ellen McHenry... you could put together a year using her materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutterfish Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 (edited) We did rso biology 2. Some parts were great, some parts weren't relevant to us and some parts were just too difficult/detailed for the age range. I think, in principle it's a good programme, but the experiments are definitely better with more than one child and I did feel as if we were dragging ourselves through it towards the end. The genetics section was good I thought. Edited June 22, 2017 by stutterfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutheart Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 I bought a used Holt Life Science (2005 edition) for about $10, and spread it over 6th and 7th grade, adding in McHenry's Botany, Cell, and Protozoa units, as well as "The Way We Work". My kid loves to read and make art, so McHenry was a great fit for her. The Holt text gave her a broader understanding, and was easy to implement independently. We haven't done many labs, but that wasn't my priority for this time period. Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 We really enjoyed the Focus books from Real Science 4 Kids. Despite the goofy name of the curriculum, the text was really great at breaking down complex ideas into good explanations with the correct terminology (we used chemistry). Also, the experiments were mostly pretty good (a couple were boring), and the science note booking was very helpful in breaking down the scientific method and encouraging reflection. My favorite part was that each book was only ten chapters, which gave me time to expand on the topic or add a science kit on something else guilt free without trying to cram or feeling guilty if I was too busy to do a science experiment one day. I would say they would be appropriate for a semester on each topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strawberryjam Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 (edited) CPO Life Science!! We did the earth science this year, it was soooo good. You can buy the teacher and student textbooks secondhand. The worksheets are downloadable online. I love the literary selections and extra activities too. I add some videos to each chapter, and it's about as close to the ideal science as I could get (and it happens to be the one Susan Wise Bauer recommends in The Well Trained Mind too...) ETA: We've done RSO and RS4K and I think CPO far surpasses them both. Edited June 23, 2017 by strawberryjam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatYoung17 Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 I bought a used Holt Life Science (2005 edition) for about $10, and spread it over 6th and 7th grade, adding in McHenry's Botany, Cell, and Protozoa units, as well as "The Way We Work". My kid loves to read and make art, so McHenry was a great fit for her. The Holt text gave her a broader understanding, and was easy to implement independently. We haven't done many labs, but that wasn't my priority for this time period. Ruth Does Holt include evolution in their book? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 We like RSO, although I have not used their Biology level 2 yet. We've also used a number of units from Intellego Unit Studies. All three of my kids have enjoyed those quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutheart Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Yes, Chapter 7 (p164-190) is evolution. Chapter 8 (p192-218) is prehistoric life. Ruth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 We loved the book "The Way Life Works". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 CPO Life Science!! We did the earth science this year, it was soooo good. You can buy the teacher and student textbooks secondhand. The worksheets are downloadable online. I love the literary selections and extra activities too. I add some videos to each chapter, and it's about as close to the ideal science as I could get (and it happens to be the one Susan Wise Bauer recommends in The Well Trained Mind too...) ETA: We've done RSO and RS4K and I think CPO far surpasses them both. Had to go look at CPO because I had never heard of it. That looks awesome! I am writing that one down for when my kids get to that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 RSO Bio 2 is very well done, secular, and flexible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSinNS Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 We used E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth. It's free on iBooks, so you need a mac or iPad, but if you have one, the price is right. It was a nice book, lots of colour and great diagrams. It was a bit above the grade 6 level (when we used it) so he probably did 5 or 6 chapters. You could pick and choose the units you wanted. The whole book would be way too much for 1 year. There are some projects that are appropriate for middle school/high school age groups. Anyway, we really enjoyed it, and the chapters we did I thought were quite well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 We used E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth. It's free on iBooks, so you need a mac or iPad, but if you have one, the price is right. It was a nice book, lots of colour and great diagrams. It was a bit above the grade 6 level (when we used it) so he probably did 5 or 6 chapters. You could pick and choose the units you wanted. The whole book would be way too much for 1 year. There are some projects that are appropriate for middle school/high school age groups. Anyway, we really enjoyed it, and the chapters we did I thought were quite well done.This is an excellent choice for one year biology for 8th grade-high school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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