Derek Owens Physical Science

[teachermom2834]

I am thinking of using this for my dd who will be in 8th grade next year. She has not had much formal science and will probably do standard biology/chemistry/physics or another bio in high school. So she will be headed toward a standard science progression-nothing super advanced. I feel like a physical science course in 8th grade while not fully necessary, will be helpful for her in preparation for high school sciences but it doesn’t have to be anything super rigorous or exciting. She will be in Algebra 1 and she is a strong student overall.

The main draw for DO is the flexibility because I’m not sure how some of the rest of her studies are going to come together. 
 

If you have used this course recently can you give any indication of how you paced it to be done in a regular school year? Would a couple focused work sessions a week (of say 1-2 hours each) be adequate for a strong 8th grader or is it something that needs to be worked on almost every day? I realize we could take all summer to finish if we have to but that really is not how we like to do school and the intent would be to finish it in the traditional nine month school year.

I am sure this has been discussed here but I didn’t come up with much on searching.

[kiwik]

Following

 

[Kalypso]

My dd16 completed this course 4 years ago in 8th grade. I don't remember how much time it took, but I know she tried to work on it everyday.  She says it depended on the week and the material as to how much time she spent each day. It was not a heavy workload, and she finished it in the 9 month time period. I do know that she liked the course. Sorry I'm not much more help than that.

[fourisenough]

My DD16 did it in 8th alongside Algebra 1. IIRC, we followed his pacing guide. I think there were some days that the vids were short so DD would do two lessons in one day, but I think she mostly did 1 lesson per day. It wasn’t terribly time consuming, but was challenging for her to keep an A. She went on to do Physics (with Jetta) in 9th, Chem (with Connie) in 10th, Hon Bio (with Blue Tent) this year in 11th, and is going to take AP Bio and Intro to Organic & Biochem in 12th. [Just to give you an idea of her trajectory after finishing DO Physical Science.] 
 

Would she be open to beginning the course over the summer to ‘get ahead’?

Edited February 27, 2021 by fourisenough

[lmrich]

Your child needs to have strong Algebra 1 skills. I actually think this class would be better to start in October; let your kid get a good grasp of Algebra 1 concepts first and then start. The second semester is actually easier than the first so you could make up time then if you wanted. It is a great course with a strong tie to physics. It is a high school level science for sure. 

[teachermom2834]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:46 PM, lmrich said:

Your child needs to have strong Algebra 1 skills. I actually think this class would be better to start in October; let your kid get a good grasp of Algebra 1 concepts first and then start. The second semester is actually easier than the first so you could make up time then if you wanted. It is a great course with a strong tie to physics. It is a high school level science for sure. 

This is actually a great idea. I’m not positive how the rest of her workload is going to shake out so I was already thinking of waiting to add it. Might be good to let her get in a groove and get going in math before adding it in. And if she is struggling we will know not to add it at all.