One suggestion? I used Noeo science with my dd and her friend. We did chemistry and it was pretty good. Lots of good books on the list and a very well done, independent style schedule which was easy for them to follow. I did the science experiments with them one day a week but other than that, it was good. We did it when the girls were 11& 13. I like the look of the physics level III as well.

I'm so glad our discussion was useful for you!

Another hint: if you go to Librivox, you can downlaod a lot of good nature/science living books (I get my title suggestions from AO and Yesterday's Classics) for a variety of ages. You could listen to those during this time.

Hi Ladies!  I love this thread!  I have been up in the air about science next year, as well.  I have dd10, ds7, ds4 and the baby.  We had planned to do Apologia Anatomy, but honestly, it just seems way to "textbooky" to me.  106 Days of Creation Studies got me REALLY excited, but we are making a big move from Texas to Alaska in Sep/Oct, and I wanted something that could be done more "on the go."  SO, we found Lyrical Life Science 3!!  So excited about this.  I think it is going to be a lot of fun.  We plan to go through that, and whenever we finish, we will be settled in our new home and begin 106 Days.  We have been a more classical homeschool in the past and are gradually making the switch to a more CM style.  LOVING this lifestyle of learning!  Thank you for all of the links and suggestions above.  I am bookmarking them for future reference!

DawnD- you might look at Life of Fred for math.

Thank you, Christie. I hope you find what works for ya'll this next year. I, too have the requirement that it must be mostly independent. So probably only an occasional oral narration-mostly written. Then if I use the Tiner books or the J. Morris ones from Master Books starting in 2013/2014, there will be questions for her to answer in the books or, in the case of the Morris books-the study guides.

Rachel, Your plan looks solid and I'm glad you have peace about it. I'm still a bit up in the air over here. I may lay the options in front of dd11 and just let her pick. The one requirement is that she can do it mostly independently.

Thankfully my dd has never said she hates anything regarding school; that would be discouraging.

Good question about the Fabre books. I looked at the samples of both and the Fabre's Book of Insects seems less "technical" and more age appropriate for my dd. The other one, The Insect World was more wordy, general and more technical- at least it seemed to me.

I would get the Book of Insects for her.

What is the difference between "Fabre's Book of Insects" and "The Insect World of Jean H. Fabre" ?

My 11 yo daughter says she "hates science" too.  What is it with 11 yo girls and hating things?  Anyway, next year I am planning to do Queen's Discovering Nature Series which she declares "looks fun."  We will also read science type books - like The Storybook of Science and others.  I love science and I don't want her to hate it. 

.......now if I could only figure out a way to make her not "hate" math??????????

Rachel, thanks for posting that great list with links!

Wow, Lyrical Science is really neat.  I've never seen that before.  Thanks for sharing, Ladies!!

Well, I officially removed the Apologia Astronomy book and Journal from my SCM Organizer today. Last night, I lay there thinking and praying; then this morning I got up and started looking and gathered a ton of books for her to read, starting w/Astronomy first. My son had gone through several over these 3 years:both of the H.G. Rey books, Destination Moon and The AStronomy book by John Morris. Also, I already had the Christian LIb. readers 4 and 5 slated for her, plus It Couldn't Just Happen after she finishes The Storybook of Science.

Others I found:

 Taking Back AStronomy: The Heavens Declare Creation by JAson LIsle  

Nightwatch - Terence Dickenson

Exploring the Sky by Day - T. Dickenson

Along Came Galileo

The Sciences by Edward Holden

I also think I'm going to try the John Tiner's Exploring... books, too at some point, probably next year, after the Lyrical Life Science and just wait to start her in General Science till her 8th gr. year; and we'll probably use it over a 1 1/2 yr. to two-year schedule. I don't know if it will be necessary and if so, which Physics she'll take come her senior year. I'd already decided to try using Signs and Seasons w/the both of them in the next few years for high school credit.

BTW, here's the page that contains all of Jim Arnosky's books (I'd printed it out before, but  need to get back to checking them out at the library):http://www.jimarnosky.com/bookindex.html   I found several more for the other sciences: biology next (including the human body), geology, Chemistry and physics prior to her 8th gr. year. Sheloves the Burgess books so we'll continue with those, too.

Now, it's just a matter of checking the library, scheduling them and finally getting that Kindle to download the ones online!

I feel much better...Thanks all!

These are some awesome ideas. I'm glad I read this thread eventhough I thought I had science covered for the fall! ;) I knew we were going to need some more living book ideas and I hit the jackpot with this thread :)

We have used Real Science 4 Kids. It's appearance is cartoonish but I think the books are enjoyable for kids to read and understandable. She would not be able to do the experiments without you though. Real Science is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Apologia in terms of length though. Each volume is 10 not too long chapters. I think it gives a pretty good background for kids this age but you should be aware that it is brief. We have also used some of the living books recommended like the Storybook of Science. Maybe a combination of the two?

Nebby
http://www.lettersfromnebby.wordpress.com

My dd enjoyed the John Tiner book "Exploring the World of Biology" at that age. He has other books as well.

http://www.christianbook.com/exploring-world-biology-mushrooms-complex-forms/john-tiner/9780890515525/pd/515525

hi, i just wanted to say that i also have the auroa lipper program-i am doing the escience for the summer camp program and will start a few experiements tomorrow.  Her website is very confusing and took me a long time to figure it out-and even to figure out where to sign in!!LOL.  I did get a chance to look at the regular program since you get this free for the summer as well.  It looks really good-lesson plans and such laid out well.  If you have questions about the website, i might be able to help those that have questions-can't promise but .....just thought i would chime in!

pjean