mhaddon Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 (edited) My daughter has completed all the Apologia elementary series books with many added hands on experiements. When she was little we did a lot with the handbook of nature study and added sheets. She turns 11 this summer and will be "6th" grade. I don't feel with her day program ballet program she is quite ready for apologia general scince this coming year. I would like to hold off on it for a year due to her maturity and age. While I know she could do it I want her love of science to remain. I need a very strong filler science program for this coming year. Does anyone have suggestions or maybe a junior high level science that maybe isn't as hardcore as apologia but still very solid that I may have overlooked? Edited April 25, 2019 by mhaddon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDL Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 I haven’t personally used it, but have you looked at Elemental Science? They have an earth science that could round out the Apologia swimming, creeping and flying creatures nicely. Did you ask her what she wants to study? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 (edited) Do you have to have a curriculum? What about interest-led? What does she want to do? Do you want more a book-based course with some labs or a mostly hands-on one with some reading? Do you want a textbook or living books? Middle school is a great time to let kids explore their interests! My 6th grader (not academically advanced, just a regular kid) will be doing robotics with Lego mindstorms, reading National Geographic and library books, and taking a class at the local science center for science next year. Some writing, but not lots. He loves the science center classes because they have are very hands-on and focus on a different topic each month, so he gets to dabble in many sciences instead of doing one thing all year. Apologia General is not particularly challenging or "hardcore", imo. (except to wade through the wordiness!) Edited April 25, 2019 by ScoutTN 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, mhaddon said: I don't feel with her day program ballet program she is quite ready for apologia general scince this coming year. I would like to hold off on it for a year due to her maturity and age. Which aspect of maturity? My DS13 who wasn’t able to deal with the workload at 6th grade did well with intensive science now at 8th grade. He has the maturity to read New Scientist (https://www.scientificamerican.com/), American Scientist (https://www.americanscientist.org/), Discover (http://discovermagazine.com/) from our public libraries when he was 10 (5th/6th grade). We like magazines because they are easy to carry around and have broad topics. He also loves hands on activities so we went to many science outreach events. 28 minutes ago, ScoutTN said: Do you have to have a curriculum? What about interest-led? What does she want to do? Do you want more a book-based course with some labs or a mostly hands-on one with some reading? Do you want a textbook or living books? Middle school is a great time to let kids explore their interests! Agree 🙂 Edited April 25, 2019 by Arcadia Grammar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 My DD never did Apologia General Science. For 6th grade she did a general science year using a Prentice Hall public school text and lots of hands on at co-op. Then for 7th grade she jumped into Apologia Physical science, then Apologia Biology in 8th and so on. I would have skipped the textbook altogether, but she liked doing science with her co-op. I much prefer Memoria Press studies and something like Thinking Tree journals with Usborne science encyclopedia. Oh, my other DD did the new Wile chronological science series one year of middle school: Science in the Age of Reason was the one we used. I much preferred it to Apologia. You could pick one of those for a year, in your history time period. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 I agree with @ScoutTN Unless you have a specific science textbook requirement, middle school is a great time to just let them explore a wide range of science topics of interest. She could read books on oceanography, meteorology, geology, marine life/insects/birds/horses/dogs, etc, husbandry, ecology, and the list goes on. There are innumerable science topics outside of traditional school textbooks. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Also zillions of amazing documentaries and videos. This year, Dd and I watched an interview with a man who works for NOAA, designing, building and deploying unmanned undersea min-subs for research. So many sciences involved in what he and his team do! i learned a ton! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 I really like John Hudson Tiner's series for this age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Does she like physical science? My 11yo DS is doing Exploration Education this year, the advanced level. He is thrilled with all the projects and loves what he is learning. I will say that this program would not be a good fit for my DD, who is not at all interested in physics concepts and building models. The online textbook format would not work for her, either. But for my DS it has been perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateCake Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 If your library connects to the Hoopla app, you can preview some of the Tiner books for free (on a tablet or computer). I'm planning to have my rising 7th grader read a couple next year to complement our studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 On 4/26/2019 at 6:48 PM, kristin0713 said: Does she like physical science? My 11yo DS is doing Exploration Education this year, the advanced level. He is thrilled with all the projects and loves what he is learning. I will say that this program would not be a good fit for my DD, who is not at all interested in physics concepts and building models. The online textbook format would not work for her, either. But for my DS it has been perfect. If I had just 1 year before middle school, Exploration Education is what I'd do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.