Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Hi guys I am after science recommendations for DS14 What I am looking for is something that has mostly experiments. At least an experiment each week would be good. We are doing Biology this year and are halfway through Apologia Biology - this book has completely killed his love for the only subject he is good at. He has Profound Dyslexia and I have to read all the text to him. so something wordy like Apologia is not a good fit ( plus it has practically no hands on ). We already have a huge number of science kits etc.. but he finds them either childish or they are things he has already covered. In previous years we did all of the Readers Digest How the series - and they were a big hit. I am getting pretty desperate as he is I think depressed and losing/lost interest in everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Hi Melissa, I'm no help with biology, but I have two 14 year old boys -- and I read last year on TWTM about how awesome Jetta Seboldy's online physics class is. I mean, people were raving. But maybe it won't work with the time change. Let me know if you're interested. She opens up for the Sept. '18 to May '19 class at the end of Feb. And it goes crazy-fast. Kids apparently just love her and her teaching style. And it involves experiments. New subject: any chance your son would like to play remote videogames with my two on weekends? Again, I don't know the time difference. My two get to play on the weekends only and only w/ friends (so they're not ever playing with strangers). Just a thought! Alley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 Hi Melissa, I'm no help with biology, but I have two 14 year old boys -- and I read last year on TWTM about how awesome Jetta Seboldy's online physics class is. I mean, people were raving. But maybe it won't work with the time change. Let me know if you're interested. She opens up for the Sept. '18 to May '19 class at the end of Feb. And it goes crazy-fast. Kids apparently just love her and her teaching style. And it involves experiments. New subject: any chance your son would like to play remote videogames with my two on weekends? Again, I don't know the time difference. My two get to play on the weekends only and only w/ friends (so they're not ever playing with strangers). Just a thought! Alley what games? My DS does play with others through STEAM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 thanks for the suggestion of Jetta Seboldy's online physics class I Had a look and it says that the student has to have completed ALgebra 1 first. We are only half way through ALgebra 1/2 at the moment. Maybe in a year we might have enough math. Looks like it would be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Melissa, I want to encourage you to expand beyond regular textbooks for science. I like to outline the major topics covered in the textbook and then find a more interesting way to hit that topic. For us, it's a lot of colorful books. Videos would also be good, too. Additionally, Hometrainingtools.com has a number of science kits (if you don't already know about them :) ). Since you all liked the Reader's Digest books, perhaps you would like the DK books? For high school astronomy, we used DK Smithsonian Space, plus a Thames and Kosmos telescope, plus Janice Van Cleave's Astronomy for every Kid. It's a fun class. For physics, we will be using several DK books, like DK Eyewitness Force and Motion, plus some Usborne books (such as Usborne Light, Sound, and Electricity), plus a "Coloring Workbook" about Classical Mechanics. I am buying a Thames and Kosmos kit on Optical Science, a kit about Car Engines, and some snap circuits. For biology, we used Hoagland's The Science of Biology and the quarks and quirks website that has suggested experiments and videos. Maybe for you, you might pick up DK How the Body Works and go through that? Get some dissection kits or a blood typing kit? Or some animal track sets from Nature Watch? I would just try to restore the fun and only use the textbook for suggestions about topics to cover. Best wishes! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 thank yo very much for the ideas and suggestions. I will look at those books I think the DK how the body works etc are the same as The Readers Digest How the Body Works. We have done those books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 (edited) FYI, I posted a possible physics option on the IEW thread. It doesn't include labs but there are tons of demonstrations in the lectures. Since he loves hands-on, maybe you could craft your own sort of "lab" to go with a conceptual type physics. "Thrift store physics lab" type stuff--take different things apart and learn how they work. I am sure there are tons of you tube videos on this stuff if he is willing to pursue that. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Take-Things-Apart-Without-Killing-Yourself/ ETA: We did Teaching Physics with Toys at our co-op for younger kids, but it does have activities for grades 7-9, and I have read about teachers using it for older kids. The negative would be some of the toys are hard to come by used and I didn't want to spend a lot of money. It would definitely be a "supplement" or maybe a source of lab ideas for his age. Edited February 2, 2018 by cintinative 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhtwins Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 For physics, how about "Take-Home Physics: 65 High-Impact Low-Cost Labs" published by NSTA? https://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781935155058. They also have an ebook available. For STEM, the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy has an online curriculum that looks interesting. http://education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhtwins Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 One more to consider for biochemistry / chemistry: "Gourmet Lab: The Scientific Principles Behind Your Favorite Foods" also published by NSTA. https://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781936137084 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 they look great. thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Rainbow? Noeo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 We've used this Biology and my kids thoroughly enjoyed it. She also has Chemistry & Physics programs, but we haven't tried them yet. http://guesthollow.com/biology/ http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/chemistry_highschool/chemistry_home.html http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/highschool_physics/physics_home.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 (edited) thank you so much everyone. We have dropped Apologia immediately and are starting the Forensic science on Monday, followed by "Gourmet Lab: The Scientific Principles Behind Your Favorite Foods' We will then be doing some of the other suggestions from on here :thumbup1: Hoping to bring the joy of learning back to my son THANK YOU SO MUCH :001_wub: Edited February 5, 2018 by Melissa in Australia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhtwins Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 :hurray: Good to hear! Please let us know how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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