Hi Kim,
There are a few other threads on here that talk about this a bit. Also, if you go to the Curriculum Guide on the home page you will find that there is a link to another HS curriculum – there is even a comparrison chart to boot so you know what the similarities and differences are.
Another idea that I found somewhere is that, as long as you have a student who is not going to *need* a lot of science for college purposes, is to use a curriculum written for a younger level and living books to it – see below. This gives the overview of the information, often in a more engaging style, and yet is not so heavy and intense for those who simply will not need to have a deep knowledge in a given area of high school science.
Hre is a suggestion to help enhance your student’s experience with Apologia if the other curriculum doesn’t appeal either. My 14 yo dd will be using Biology this year and 17 yo will be using Biology 2. However, I have begun to ask the girls to write a narration for each section that they do – not just complete the OYO questions. I have also added in living books that correspond to the information in their science books. It takes a bit of doing sometimes, but it is was worth it this last year – my 17 yo who is not excited by science in any way enjoyed it much more.
HTH,
~jacqleene