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High School Chemistry
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What have you used for high school chemistry?
We are currently using Apologia for biology and trying to decide if we should stick with it for chemistry.
I saw a former post regarding Chemistry 101. Has anyone tried this? Is it considered strong enough for high school credit as a stand alone? I realize it depends on each family. Our dd is leaning toward nursing. Would this be suitable for that?
Also, I’m interested in the AIG God’s Design series. It says it’s geared for elementary and middle school. Has anyone used this for high school credit?
My degree is in the business field, so I’ve never had chemistry and I’m feeling a little intimidated by it.
Thanks so much,
Melissa
If she wants to think about nursing, you MUST HAVE a lab component to your chemistry course. And I would strongly recommend a course strong in math instruction and equations. She will need all of that in her college courses. I do not know if Chemistry 101 has that or not. I’d check carefully. God’s Design is completely inappropriate as a college-prep high school course. Most of the experiments in the chemistry section are food-related.
I recommend Apologia Chemistry plus the Microchem lab from Quality Science Labs for a student going to a science field in college.
FWIW, I am a nurse.
You need a chemistry course that is strong in math and has a lab component. Only consider programs that require completion of Algebra 1 has a prerequisite.
Apologia Chemistry would work…..especially if you aim to complete Advance Chemistry as well. I would place Advanced Chemistry before completing a highschool level Anatomy and Physiology course.
HTH
I would definitely agree with Wendy. I THOUGHT my high school chemistry class had me well-prepared–it sure seemed immensely difficult to me and I was a good student. I did OK in college chemistry but biochemistry had me in tears, and running right out of the nursing school and back to the nice safe liberal arts department. I’m not sure there is such a thing as too much chemistry prep for nurses, doctors or PA’s. The more the better. The more, the less likely you’ll fold during Organic Chem later.
She can learn the A&P later.I went to the Chemistry 101 site and it appears to me that it is just 19 45-minute vdeos. I can’t imagine how that could begin to cover the necessary material; it might be ok as PART of a course but I think you’re going to need a serious lab component plus a book with the equation work. You could add the Microchem lab, it’s excellent, but I don’t know what you’d use for the equations. That’s why we went with Apologia; they have the work, the parent book with the answers, etc.
Chemistry 101 is an introduction and overview of chemistry. It has virtually no math component per Wes Olsen, the producer of Chemistry 101…I’ve already asked!
I’m no where near close to using it with my children but Queen Homeschool has a new book that is due back from the printers in a few weeks.
The latest volume in their”Discovering Nature” series, “Further Investigation: A Charlotte Mason Style High School Chemistry Curriculum,” by Lindsey Narmour!
Having seen the biology version of the Queen’s course by Lindsey Narmour, I think it would be fine for a kid who is not going for serious science study in college, however I do not believe it would meet the standard for someone going into the science field at college – not on a par with Apologia at all imho. Thanks for sharing though – for those not planning on serious science study later on I think these would be interesting.
I am excited to be using the Queen’s Biology text this fall with my 8th and 9th graders. I know that the text is delightful, and written with the possibility of multi-level teaching in mind. Our oldest daughter is currently a Ph.D. student in Biology, but she loathed the Apologia texts I had her do, so I was determined to find something that would actually encourage my younger girls to enjoy science lol. We’re thrilled to have upper level science choices, a la Charlotte Mason style! Blessings~
I have a daughter wanting to do med school. What about Queens with MicroChem or has anyone checked the rigors of the RS4k high school level text. Could it be combined with one of these to make a complete course but yet has some CM style to it?
What little I’ve seen of it, binky, it would NOT have the necessary equation work. If she is thinking med school, she needs to be very, very well prepared with math-heavy science courses. I’d definitely contact Queens and ask, but my gut instinct is that you are going to need major, major supplementation. I see NO hint at all of math equations in this preview. It appears to be a story supplemented with simple experiments, many of which we’ve done with elementary kids. I have to say it again–if you want a science field, YOU NEED REAL SERIOUS SCIENCE. Stories are not going to cut it here. I’m CM pretty much all the way through, but I’ve been in nursing school and through college and into grad school and stories aren’t going to cut it. They might make an interesting add-on, but a high school chemistry text should really be about half equation work. A physics will be MORE. There’s an old truism–biology is really just chemistry. Chemistry is really just physics. And physics is really just math. Math, math, math. There’s no getting around it. If you can’t solve the problems at the college level, then you can’t pass the course and won’t be getting into med school. It’s tough enough to get into med school!
@MunroePalms, is that link you posted about the Discovering Nature series? If so, is there another way to get to their site? When I click on the link in your post, it just asks me to login to Facebook, and I don’t have (nor want at this point) a Facebook account.
Thanks.
Oh, I just found it at Queen’s Homeschool.
Thanks again.
Bookworm,
in your opinion, Is Apologia the best high school homeschool science curriculum? seems like if you want serious science this is what everyone recommends. What would be other options? Have you seen what Robinson Curriculum says about science? He recommends no formal science until after kids have had upper level math and he recommends doing physics first.
Yes, binky, I’ve heard of him doing this. We recently discussed this in another thread. There are SERIOUS problems with this
for example, he wants you to take calculus-based physics first, then the other two. To do this in high school, your kid is going to have needed to have had CALCULUS by age 14 or 15. That’s a huge amount of math very early! Serious problem!There are tons of texts out there. I like Apologia because they are homeschooler friendly. But most of the homeschoolers on a college-bound list I am on simply use the main texts used in high schools and colleges. I can get you lists of recommended ones if you like, or the WTM boards often take this up, too. Some of the teacher manuals are pricier, which is why I like Apologia–it is at least as well written as most, and the TM is not expensive.
The issue with the very different, non-texty formats out there is that there is really no consideration of what the student is going to need to know when he wanders into that freshman intro class in college. I don’t like textbooks much. I’ll cross a lot of streets to avoid them. But I won’t send my kids off to college not being able to balance a reaction equation or calculate moles or terminal velocity. If we have to swallow a text to get that, then we swallow a text. They will be LOST in college if they go “Oh, what’s a mole, and how do I calculate it???” Science profs at college are very possibly going to NOT be interested in remediating what your kid ought to have had in high school. They have NEW stuff to teach and only so much time to do it in.
She can learn the A&P later.
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