@Mrs. K – don't keep me hanging…

Hi cherylramirez! For Chemistry this year, I chose Friendly Chemistry. Here’s the link:

http://friendlychemistry.com/homepage.htm

I am following the same approach that I did with Apologia. My daughter narrates after her reading assignment. I make the tests my self in a CM style. And I’ve added in some additional books. Also, this curriculum doesn’t have near the amount of vocabulary that Apologia typically has. Still, I pick and choose the ones for her to learn. What is a little different with Chemistry though, is that I am having my daughter memorize the elements on the periodic table.

The books I chose to go along with the curriculum are the following:

– “Crucibles” by Bernard Jaffe

– “Exploring the World of Chemistry” by John Hudson Tiner

– “The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe” by Theodore Gray and Nick Mann

With learning the elements, I’ve assigned a certain amount of elements to be learned each week. Usually it’s around three. At the beginning of the week, she makes an index card for each element she is learning that week. She puts the information from the periodic table for that element on the blank side of the card. On the side with the lines, she writes one or two things she learned about the element from her reading. That is her narration.

I also like that this curriculum includes a number of hands on activities to help learn concepts. If you have any questions, just let me know. 🙂

I think Sonya explains CM style exams very well in the following two blog posts:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2008/07/08/how-much-does-my-child-remember/

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2008/07/30/end-of-term-exams-in-the-charlotte-mason-method/

As far as where I get my test questions, I come up with open-ended questions based on what she is reading.

For example, if a student is learning about the atom, you might ask:

“Tell me all you know about the atom.”

Or you might ask something more specific about an atom by saying:

“Tell what you’ve learned about protons and neutrons.”

For history, if we have been studying the Industrial Revolution, on the term exam I might say: “Tell me all you learned about the Industrial Revolution.” Or I might ask “What did you learn about the impact of the Industrial Revolution?”

The key is asking open ended type questions (these are typically known as essay questions) that allows the student to demonstrate what he or she knows.

Hope that helps!

You’re very welcome!

Mrs.K – where is the info on how you did the Apologia Biology?  (I’m thinking that’s what you used.) 

Hi kerby,
As I mentioned above, we do our Chemistry in a similar way as we did the Apologia. Narrate the readings, add in some living books, do CM style tests. My daughter also keeps a science notebook. For Apologia, that notebook was simply a binder with tab dividers. One year we kept the binder by categories so she had sections for vocabulary, On-Your-Own Questions, tests, labs, and notebook (the notebook section was for drawings and extra projects).  For the Biology, the binder was divided by Modules. So each tab divider was for one module and all the work for that module went in that section. Occasionally I would pick a question here and there from the study guides for her to answer to help her review the material; but pretty much I had her read a section and narrate…either oral narration or written narration (or if the sections were really short she might read a couple of sections then narrate), write out all the vocabulary for the module and put it in her binder, pick and choose what On-Your-Own questions I wanted her to answer, do labs, and do a CM style test. 

In addition, for Biology, I added in some videos as well.

Hope that helps! 🙂

Thank you, Mrs. K.

TailorMade.  I think we would have to do the same thing.  I started asking my ds some questions about the book he’s reading.  (Free choice and just to start doing narration, w/out him even knowing.)  He needed some prompting overall but generally did start to do it.  I think w/ older dc and starting late, we may need to do what you did to help them.  It helps them “see” it.