We have an opportunity to join a co-op for this book. My son will be in 7th grade. I have heard it is a good deal of work. I’m okay with that, but this will be our first co-op class, and I’m not sure I’m ready to go there yet… does anyone have any advice on either side of the decision? Thanks so much!
I’m a mom who is TERRIBLE w/getting experiments in. We don’t have an option to do General Science w/a co-op locally, but what I did to help w/labs this year was bought all the supplies I could at the beginning of the year and put them in a big tub. Whenever an experiment came up it was my 7th graders responsibility to grab supplies and get started, and just ask me for help when needed (some supplies are kitchen items she might not know where they were). This helped a lot….if experiments rely on ME they get dropped, unfortunately! The labs are SO simple in General Science I don’t know if I personally would join a co-op just for that. But I would think about joining if I wanted accountability to finish the book or friendships.
That said, I do hope to utilize the high school Apologia courses our homeschool group offers. Dissecting would never get done in this house…unless hubby and son were put in charge:) Blessings, Gina
I agree with Gina. If it’s just the lab work a co-op my not be necessary. But, if the labs may not get done, I’d do what Gina suggests (and I tried, but couldn’t find everything at a reasonable price, or whatever) so they can get done. If it’s to “get through” the book in a year, I’d do it, the co-op, I mean. And that is because my ds is not a fast/strong reader and it took us way too long to finish. By the time he was about to finish he’d grown so much that the book had lost its appeal (he’d learned a lot from other sources). He moved on to the human body and is happy with that part, but honestly, it should’ve/could’ve been done in a school year (but I didn’t want to rush him either, that would not have worked) but we had scheduling problems, etc. He is so ready for a more challenging year in science!
Hope that made sense.
I’d almost wait and do a co-op science that is more challenging (or disgusting, like dissecting) than General.
Personally I would skip the lab. Have you looked here for complete lab kits for the Apologia series? The kit for General Science is under $35.00 – you would only have to provide common household stuff.
My kids were going through Apologia Anatomy this past year and were given the opportunity to do a co op class. We LOVED it.
I am a very bookish teacher and have trouble following through with experiments/labs. The kids got to try new things, see things from a different perspective, and learn a little bit about how to conduct themselves in a class environment. They made new friends and learned a lot! And it was a tremendous relief to me to know that they were learning so much in class. It was very motivating for my kids who aren’t usually drawn to science.
A great deal depends on the teacher(s), and of course you should pray about it – but I would definitely consider it!
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