not impressed with Rainbow Science...drop or modify?

[caedmyn]

I don't understand why Rainbow Science got such good reviews here.  My 8th grader is doing the physics and chemistry part this year.  The way they word the text is such that the answer to the questions at the end are often not even in the text, or require drawing conclusions that are not really laid out in the text.  For example, today she read a chapter called "The Molecules of Life--Nucleic Acids".  The first question at the end is "What molecules are linked together to form nucleic acids?"  He answer is "nucleic acid bases".  Ok...the text has a paragraph on bases, but it is not at all clear from it that nucleic acid bases are what are linked together to form nucleic acids.  I'm a reasonably smart, logical adult who took high school chemistry and basic college chemistry, and I couldn't figure out the answer to that question.  Question two is "What do nucleic acids do?"  My answer based on the text would be something like, "Nucleic acids carry information in the form of codes that the body decodes and uses."  The answer they want is "They encode information that is used by the cell to direct its processes."  Which is more or less the same thing, but nowhere in the text does it even mention cells or processes, so why not pick an answer that is actually supported by the text?

DD had no clue what the answer to either question was.  I posted about this once before and people suggested using the questions as a spring-point for discussion, but I really don't have time to spend 10 or 15 minutes every day trying to figure out what the heck this is talking about and then re-explain all the information that was above DD's head in the first place.  Also, there's a lab scheduled every 3rd day, and she hates the labs and stalls and stalls on doing them.  

I'm wondering if I should drop the labs and the questions and just have her read the text and accept that she won't get much out of this program, or if I should drop it entirely and have her watch Chemistry 101 DVDs.

[8filltheheart]

I have not used the book you are mentioning, but I have used their Spectrum Chemistry.  It worked fine for my really strong, big picture thinkers who could make the leap from the brief information and labs to fill in all of the missing details on their own.  Ds actually really loved Spectrum.  I knew, however, that there was no way my weaker students could use it bc it doesn't spell everything out.  THe heavy reliance on labs (which I personally hate.....I really dislike labs, so a lab intensive program is just not one I am going to like in general) to teach concepts vs reinforcing concepts is definitely not for everyone.

If it isn't working, I would figure out a way to modify it with lots of supplementation or change to something else.

[Calm37]

We used the Rainbow specifically so that labs would get done, but I had two students working together, so it was fun for them. The first year was a great success so I paid all the money for the second year lab stuff. That did not go so well, but we had done so much biology previously. Many of the labs were similar to what I knew they would do in Apologia Biology, so we dropped it.

It was definitely the labs that were the high point. If your daughter hates them, yes, move on!

[RootAnn]

Huh. I taught year 1 myself several years ago. (We didn't use year 2.) I used it as a way to teach taking notes from lectures. I don't remember having had this problem. If the company wasn't so very bad about coming out with new products, I'd suspect they changed between editions. However, that is unlikely.

I took notes & answered all the questions myself before lecturing from the text, so perhaps I either included the info or just used my sample answers to 'grade' my kid's.

Many people talked about how their kids did this program on their own. That could not have happened here. I taught the material & either DH or I directly supervised all the labs. My eldest did Spectrum Chemistry but had an online teacher cover the material & supplement what was in the text. The class used different labs, too.

[klmama]

The labs are the best part of the program.  If it's pulling teeth to get her to do them, do you think a different program will be better?  Or will she resist labs with that, too?