titianmom Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Hi all, I've been hunting around on the web. Some of us have wondered about the 2007, etc CPO books called "Focus on ..." which are titled differently than those on the reg CPO website. Here's a link that will explain these books! Rgds and happy homeschooling! Kim http://www.cpo.com/ca/textbook.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Thanks for that! I've already gone and bought the 2007 "Focus on.." editions of Earth and Life science. There was some fairly minor re-ordering of chapters (most obviously the section on Ecology got moved from Earth to Life science, and at least from the table of contents, the chapter on Human Reproduction in Life science appears to be... gone in the new edition. I wonder if it's really still there but hiding?? Oh, and they added a unit on Astronomy in the new Earth science that mine is lacking). I've been wanting to buy the Physical Science as I liked the first two so much - from what you've linked, the re-ordering of chapters is a lot more significant there, and unless there's stuff really buried in sub-chapter headings somewhere, it looks like they've added significant sections on Newton's Laws, Electricity Sound & Light, and Energy and Machines - ie a lot more physics. They also moved physics to the front of the book and put chem at the back - the 2007 edition seems to be the other way around. Now I'm thinking I might wait a bit to see if I can get the 2009 edition of this particular text... I've got at least a year before I'd need to use it... I'm glad I got to see the TOC before I bought it. However, I'm perfectly happy with the 2007 edition of the other two books (and I'm sure I would have been with the Phys. science one if now I hadn't seen the newer one had more goodies!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bella_gitana Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Thanks for posting this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in PA Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Hi all, I've been hunting around on the web. Some of us have wondered about the 2007, etc CPO books called "Focus on ..." which are titled differently than those on the reg CPO website. Here's a link that will explain these books! Rgds and happy homeschooling! Kim http://www.cpo.com/ca/textbook.shtml You beat me to this. :001_smile: I had just found that link in my bookmarks last night and was going to post about it today. :tongue_smilie: Anyways, looking through that site has convinced me to get the newer books from the regular CPO site. I like the layout on those much better, especially in the Physical Science one. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 I'm curious. Does anyone how California standards compare to the rest of the country? I like what I see here. Just good to keep in mind in.. say five, six years when we get to this :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanier.1765 Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Definitely do NOT get the 2007 version of the physical science book. I made that mistake. Only about half of the material covered in the 2009 one is in the 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Definitely do NOT get the 2007 version of the physical science book. I made that mistake. Only about half of the material covered in the 2009 one is in the 2007. I am so glad this came up - I've actually hit the ebay button for those Phys. Science texts more than once and just not finished the sale. Now I'm glad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titianmom Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 (edited) I should be a sales rep. Just kidding. I like the books, but now my portfolio reviewer says I should stay away from textbooks and do DVDs. She says most Textbooks try to cover too much and are too shallow. Sigh... BUT, she hasn't seen these textbooks and is intrigued. When she reviews the material online in June while she's at my house, I'll pass on her opinion. Sorry you have to wait until early June, but she's a busy lady. (She's a licensed Science teacher; you can take her input however you wish ;) ) I spoke to Mr. Myers, CPO sales rep for my state, and he kindly explained some details on the textbooks, as follows: First, the books are designed for the students to try the labwork FIRST before reading the unit/topic (part of the integrated concept.) This could be a drawback since most of us can't afford the $1200+. equipment kit. However we could feasibly piecemeal something together with some of the labs, but it'll be work, probably. Just a warning. HS LEVEL: The High School Foundations of Phys Sci more or less replaced the older 2006/2007 Integrated Sci books (semi-Middle School/early HS level), and he felt the depth and order in the 2009 HS Foundation of PS is better/greater than the older Integrated Sci books. He likes the 2009 version best, of course, but he felt the 2007 version was also good and still in print and would be better for homeschoolers because of the lab equipment--easier to find. The 2009 version refs a type of equipment in several units that's expensive/hard to find for home people. (But if you don't use the labs that much? Hmmm....prob wouldn't matter.) He said a child who is strong in their math and motivated could probably handle this HS text while a Middler. There are thinner, topic-focused books for Earth and Space, and Physics and Chem that are just taken out of the main Foundations of Phys Sci that you can buy separately. NOTE: Out of the HS series of books, only the Physics books have a math requirement, although, again, you need to be fairly strong in math for CPO since they try to integrate math whenever they can these days. Their Physics A first course book req Alg 1, The Foundations of Physics req at least Alg II and I suspect the Integrated Physics and Chem prob doesn't req Alg, but I can't be sure. It was written for Texas schools. He didn't talk about that one and the website doesn't say anything about Math reqs. MIDDLE SCHOOL: As some of you know, now, the Focus on books are for California; re-arranged with unit changes, but content is the same as the main CPO line. The main CPO line is simply a chopped up version of the HS books with less depth. I forgot to ask if the main CPO line books are divided by grade like the California series (Earth 6th, Life 7th, PS - 8th), but frankly, they look the same to me as the main CPO line books and the depth, language, etc of all three look the same across the board to me. I think Calif just decided to break up the series to cover their school requirements and you could use the 3 books any way you wanted to. Hope this helps everyone in HS as well as Middle School. Best wishes, Kim Edited May 8, 2009 by titianmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSDCY Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is very helpful. I won't use CPO next year but plan on using it for 6th-8th. Do come back in June and let us know what the reviewer says about CPO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Definitely do NOT get the 2007 version of the physical science book. I made that mistake. Only about half of the material covered in the 2009 one is in the 2007. The main difference between the California version of the Physical Science text (Focus on Physical Science) and the nonCalifornia version (the one on the website) is that the California version has three chapters on astronomy which are NOT included in the nonCalifornia version, and the nonCalifornia version includes three chapters on waves/sound/light/optics/etc. that are not in the California version. I actually prefer having the 3 chapters on astronomy, because they approach the topic in terms of physics & chemistry (nuclear fusion in the sun, chemical composition of stars, etc), which I think makes an important connection for kids: the laws of physics and chemistry are the same everywhere in the universe. The sound/waves/light/heat stuff I find very easy to supplement; we have several resources already and there are tons of books on those topics at the library. So, personally, I'd rather pay under $20 for the California version, complete with astronomy, and add a little extra reading for the other topics, than pay three times that for the nonCalifornia version and then find a middle-school-level supplement that covers astronomy from a physics/chemistry standpoint. But I can understand that other folks might prefer it the other way around. I just wanted to make the point that I wouldn't consider either of the versions "incomplete;" they just address different topics because of different state standards. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 The main difference between the California version of the Physical Science text (Focus on Physical Science) and the nonCalifornia version (the one on the website) is that the California version has three chapters on astronomy which are NOT included in the nonCalifornia version, and the nonCalifornia version includes three chapters on waves/sound/light/optics/etc. that are not in the California version. I actually prefer having the 3 chapters on astronomy, because they approach the topic in terms of physics & chemistry (nuclear fusion in the sun, chemical composition of stars, etc), which I think makes an important connection for kids: the laws of physics and chemistry are the same everywhere in the universe. The sound/waves/light/heat stuff I find very easy to supplement; we have several resources already and there are tons of books on those topics at the library. So, personally, I'd rather pay under $20 for the California version, complete with astronomy, and add a little extra reading for the other topics, than pay three times that for the nonCalifornia version and then find a middle-school-level supplement that covers astronomy from a physics/chemistry standpoint. But I can understand that other folks might prefer it the other way around. I just wanted to make the point that I wouldn't consider either of the versions "incomplete;" they just address different topics because of different state standards. Jackie Concerning the astronomy. In the non-Caliornia version, Astronomy is in the Earth Science text. I wish I had known it was still somehwere else in the California version. My daughter loves astronomy and she didn't wnat to miss those chapters, so after buying the "focus on Earth Science books" and finding out Astronomy was not there, I went ahead and bought the "Earth Science" one, I will just have to resell the focus one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titianmom Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 I'm just debating whether I want mine to tackle the Foundations of Physical Science with Earth and Space and skip the 8th grade text, since there's no math req and it's deeper than the middle grade stuff. Hmmm... Down side: Harder to find, esp cheap. Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titianmom Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hi, Well, the reviewer just glanced at it, but she felt it was a decent text. More importantly, Dr. Shormann from DIVE took a look at it and agreed to write a Syllabus for CPO (Foundations in Physical Sci, 9th grade level) to use with his CD for Physical Science, if anyone is interested. What makes me happy about this is his CDs include Labs to view and he sells kits to go with his programs. So you can do an Honors level course with the CPO text (or Apologia, BJU or PH or Internet links) should you choose. Kim Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is very helpful. I won't use CPO next year but plan on using it for 6th-8th. Do come back in June and let us know what the reviewer says about CPO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSDCY Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Thanks for the update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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