Science for dd1- upcoming 7th grader- textbook

[Soror]

This year she is using Behold and See 6 and likes it for the most part but I do it with her younger sister and she finds that less overwhelming. I'm considering doing the same thing next year with their Life Science but am not 100%, looking at previews I think it might be a bit much for her.

Here are the things she likes:

- textbook but engaging style

-not overly long and doable in a year

-companion materials- I don't want to have to reinvent and create all of my own activities, tests, etc. but we both would like some assessments and assignments as we go along

- things without a bunch of parts

-no YE materials or anything too preachy

She likes to be more independent but gets overwhelmed easily. I plan on helping her but if she needs too much help she will be discouraged. 

So, I'm not looking for anything for advanced kids- no books that are actually used for college kids or even highschool kids but I'm not looking for the easiest thing out there either. 

So far considering Oak Meadow Grade 7 OR CHC's Life Science. 

A friend has suggested RSO bio- I'm afraid the text will be too much for her, although I like that each week is predictable.

I looked at Holt but there is just SOOOO much in the books, I know you don't have to do everything but I'd rather go a little deeper than so wide.

I've looked at Rainbow Science but I'm worried it is a bit TOO light from reviews and might be more experiments than we want to do. 

I looked at Shepard Science and Novare, meh, IDK. Shephard Science is a bit too religious and looks like the writing style would be too much. Some reviews of Novare put it as hard to implement as a homeschooler.

I'm not looking at just doing my own thing, unit studies or otherwise, that is not her preference and I am short on time and energy. 

Edited March 30, 2019 by soror

[Soror]

33 minutes ago, OKBud said:

Oak Meadow is probably a great choice, if she won't be overwhelmed by the number of choices given to pick from for assignments.

I love the Science Matters A textbook and structured questions. 

. It's nice because you can keep it low-key and just discuss together, or you can use the discussion questions to assign essays. The Practical books gives activities but I haven't used it and can't speak to it. 

 

Another option might be Hakim's Science? 

--I have no idea how to fix the formatting on this post, sorry. 

Thanks for your thoughts, I think Science Matters would not be a good fit but it looks really solid. I do have a couple of Hakim Science books but they are more history and less science than I am looking for.

I just had her look at Oak Meadow Science and she likes the look of it. She likes the ideas of doing some projects. I think she might be overwhelmed to start off picking her own projects but would be ok if I picked them out, which works for me. 

[PeachyDoodle]

We are using Novare's Introductory Physics this year, and I think Novare might fit most of your criteria. It is Christian, but not preachy (also a deal-breaker for me), although I am not sure if it is OE or YE. They do have a secular imprint called Centripetal Press that is essentially the same curriculum with the religious references removed, so that might be an option.

IP is high-school level, but I believe both Earth Science and Physical Science are geared for middle school. DD really likes the way the textbook is written and feels like she has gotten a ton out of it. 

[8filltheheart]

One of the PH Science Explorer series accompanied by their student guide book for whichever topic might fit your description. 

[Soror]

14 hours ago, PeachyDoodle said:

We are using Novare's Introductory Physics this year, and I think Novare might fit most of your criteria. It is Christian, but not preachy (also a deal-breaker for me), although I am not sure if it is OE or YE. They do have a secular imprint called Centripetal Press that is essentially the same curriculum with the religious references removed, so that might be an option.

IP is high-school level, but I believe both Earth Science and Physical Science are geared for middle school. DD really likes the way the textbook is written and feels like she has gotten a ton out of it. 

Thank you for the review, I'm going to keep that in mind for the future!

4 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

One of the PH Science Explorer series accompanied by their student guide book for whichever topic might fit your description. 

Hmm, I think it looks too textbooky. Perhaps I didn't describe what I wanted very well 🙂 LOL.

I ended up going with Oak Meadow 7 because she was excited about it and I found a pretty good deal on the brand new books. Fingers crossed, otherwise I'll be coming back to this thread!

[PeachyDoodle]

4 hours ago, soror said:

I ended up going with Oak Meadow 7 because she was excited about it and I found a pretty good deal on the brand new books. Fingers crossed, otherwise I'll be coming back to this thread!

IME, any curriculum the student is excited about it almost certain to be the best one! (And bonus points for a good deal on the materials!)

[Soror]

14 minutes ago, PeachyDoodle said:

IME, any curriculum the student is excited about it almost certain to be the best one! (And bonus points for a good deal on the materials!)

ITA, now we'll see if it works out!