dirty ethel rackham Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I am looking into secular biology options for an advanced 8th grader. I have an instructor lined up for biology labs at a local community college, but am looking for the course material. I want a high school level course, but I am wary of going with just a textbook since he will be self-studying most of the course material and meeting with a class once a month for the labs. If I were to choose a textbook, I would probably go with Cambell's Exploring Life. I was wondering about Thinkwell (since Homeschool Buyer's Co op has it for 45% off.) What level is Thinkwell Biology? Is it a complete course? Would I need to supplement with something else? tia, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Okay, so I looked at the Thinkwell sample video and all I could think was "This is high school biology?" It looked a lot more like chemistry to me. So, is this supposed to be more of an advanced topics class rather than an introductory biology? My son is very advanced in science, but this seemed to require a high school knowledge of chemistry in order to understand it. For those who have used it, is that your conclusion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 We used the Campbell text. It was a very good, very thorough course. We did our labs at home, with microscope and dissection kit, and lots of biology drawings (but then, my girls are artsy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 In The Well Trained Mind , SWB suggested the Wiley self teaching guides. They are secular , straightforward and very much for an accelerated learner. In terms of biology, we used this and supplemented with well written science books aimed at our favourite topics. The Ghost Map by Johnsonis a great analysis of scientific paradigm as being determinitive within the practice of epidemiology. Furthermore it helps make biology real and adds a bit of history and anthropology to the mix. Preston's The Hot Zone is another fine popular book to supplement a dry textbook. We have read most of Bernd Heinrich's books as well for learning about the environment and zoology http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Bernd%20Heinrich&page=1. Naturally, there are a million topics that can be seen as exploring a topic deeply in biology depending on personal interest. For this non mathy mom it has worked to meet dd passionate interest in science without leaving me in the dust. I am delighted with her interest in the natural world but jeepers the DK book The Universe, The Visual Guide is a tome weighing in at what feels like 5 lbs and ran a cool 50.00. That has been a succesful approach here a secular text with lots of popular science books thrown in the mix and it works nicely for our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Okay, so I looked at the Thinkwell sample video and all I could think was "This is high school biology?" It looked a lot more like chemistry to me. So, is this supposed to be more of an advanced topics class rather than an introductory biology? My son is very advanced in science, but this seemed to require a high school knowledge of chemistry in order to understand it. For those who have used it, is that your conclusion? High school biology has an amazing amount of biochem in it these days. It comes as quite a shock to those of us who were educated in the days of systematics. No comment on the Thinkwell lectures since we didn't use them, but in general I have heard great things about Thinkwell. Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Honey, I really do hate to break this to you, but every science from high school up looks just like chemistry used to look when we were in school (especially if you're rilly, rilly old, like me). With my older son, I used a college text for non-majors by Hoagland, et al in eighth grade, and it had quite a bit of chemistry, too. My son returned to a private school as a sophomore and I let him take it over again, because I wanted him to have more of a lab experience. Silly me. Lots of schools don't include much lab work any more until you take honors, AP, or some other upper level of bio, such as an anatomy course. What he did get was lots of chem. I fail to understand why they don't just teach chem first (there is a move on to do this) - since all the other sciences depend on it so much.... By the way, his ninth grade year he took a dual credit course: Geology for non-majors. It had quite a bit of chem, also.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moira Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 My son and I both really loved the CyberEd Biology Program. You can get it at the Homeschool Buyers Coop rather inexpensively. If you want details regarding its value the Center for Talented Youth at John Hopkins has many details about it. They call it an honors Biology Program and credit it as such. I would not sign up for the class with them as it is so more expensive than the 30 dollars it cost on the Homeschool Buyers Coop site. It is a great program but challenging. We listen the course one day then my son takes notes for a few days and then he does the applications and tests. I also create a written essay test at the end of each unit. Best of Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 situation-it was a bit less biochemically-oriented than current, American texts, and was, like Singapore math, heavy on the critical thinking. We both loved it. I'm afraid they don't make this curriculum any more though. If you do choose Singapore, be sure to use the student worktexts-they were very useful. Wish I could be of more help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 he had the kids read The Hot Zone and discuss and write about it. Like I said, great teacher. Your approach sounds excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra in NC Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Keep in mind college admissions requirements. In NC, students must have a "Life Science" credit on their high school transcript. (Many courses are accepted, but they must fall under the broad "Biology" heading.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 Thanks, Sandra. In IL, it is very common for highly tracked 8th graders to take Biology and then take Chem in high school. Since my son is planning on a science major, he will take 4 years of science in high school and will likely take Biology dual credit at a local college his junior or senior year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 Thanks to everyone for all your help. You have given me much to think about. My older son took high school biology in 8th grade from our state's virtual academy and he had NO biochemistry. I didn't want to go that route because it was expensive and the class was not as rigorous as I would have hoped. The more I look at Thinkwell, the more I am thinking that this is NOT freshman biology. It seems that this is more an AP prep or an advanced topics class. Some reviews I have seen recommend it for AP or college biology, which would make sense. I had my 15yos look at the sample lecture and he said that he would not have had a CLUE what this guy was talking about without his honors chemistry course that he is taking now. I am off to the library to check out the Campbell books (they are used at our local high schools.) I will need to keep thinking about this because I really don't want to go the textbook route. If we do, I may want to supplement with some video help, plus books like Elizabeth recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 It was explained to me that the reason why they don't teach chemistry first is the math. In order to do chemistry well, one needs to have a very good understanding of algebra. I had toyed with the idea of doing chemistry first (my son is strong in math), but he loves biology and we have access to a college prof who is going to do excellent biology labs for us. I am surprised that so many high schools are dropping labs. The only way I could get my older son into his honors chem class through CTD Gifted Learning Links was to have proof of high school labs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Hi Ellen, You might want to look at ScholarsOnline. They use one of the Campbell's textbooks. My dd is taking the non-AP version this yr. I am a much tougher teacher than the course. However, she gives lots of slides, videos, etc to supplement. My dd is doing it simultaneously with the Cyber Ed videos......unfortunately, unless things have changed the last few weeks, Cyber Ed is not currently available for homeschooling prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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