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need HS science sequence advice
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We live in Canada, and I have a ds who will be entering grade 9 this year. In the past 4 years, we have covered really well the following topics: human biology, earth science, astronomy, chemistry, and physics . We are interested in using the Apologia Science courses for JR/HS.
I have researched this alot and am still unsure of what to do. If you would not mind answering the following questions I would be very grateful:
My understanding is that in order for our universities to accept a student into the sciences, they need to complete both the regular and advanced texts of Apologia’s High School courses. If someone from Canada can connfirm this or expound on this information, this would be great.
Considering my ds’s science background (as written above), does my son still need to complete one or both of Apologia’s Physical and General Science courses? Is one more necessary than the other? Is there any reason my son should do one or both of these courses? If he should do both, can he do both in one year?
Or can my son skip these courses and go straight into the regular science courses of Apologia (Bio, Chem, Physics). What course should he do first, second, and then third? Can a student do two of these courses per year?
Can a student do the regular course and the Advanced course together in one year?
I understand that a student needs to do certain maths before certain sciences, but I am unsure as to which. Could you please share which maths should precede which sciences?
Is there any other science programs that would be better suited or any otehr suggestions or advice that you could give me to make my decision easier?
Thank you.
OK. Warning: I know NOTHING about any rules in Canada. Never even been close to Canada. Unless you count southern Minnesota. 🙂 But I can’t think why they would expect you to do six years of science in 4 years. I think your son’s preparation sounds quite sufficient for high school level Apologia. There is NOTHING in general science that is not in the basic sequence except a little earth science. There is really nothing in physical science that wouldn’t be in physics, except the basic stuff you’d already have studied. I see no reason excepting of course whatever requirements you must deal with, to do anything other than 4 years of the high school level courses. I can see no reason to have your son do General or Physical. They are really best suited for junior high school students who haven’t done organized science study.
My personal preference of sequence, due to math requirements, is Biology, then Chem, then Physics, then your choice of the advanced classes. Math requirements: Pre-algebra for Biology, Algebra must be at least concurrent with Chemistry; I’d advise at least a little trigonometry before Physics. It’ll make your life easier.
I don’t think the advanced courses could possibly be done together with the others in one year. It’d require an awful lot of time per day—based on my kids’ experience, it’d take over 2 hours a day to keep a schedule like that. But unless you have some weird requirements, I can’t see any reason to do it.
“My understanding is that in order for our universities to accept a student into the sciences, they need to complete both the regular and advanced texts of Apologia’s High School courses. If someone from Canada can connfirm this or expound on this information, this would be great.”
Hi…I am in Ontario so not sure if you are hearing this as being particular to your province, or whether you are hearing it from other HS mom experiences in your province.
But I have NEVER heard this before. What I hear most is that each University has it’s own COMPLETELY unique admissions policy. It’s up to us to go, on a case by case basis, to each University website and figure out what they require. If your DS thinks he wants to take University level science, my suggestion would be to have him short list his University choices, and then study the admisission policy of each one.
Having said this, I would be shocked if any of them required jr high science or even LOOKED at any part of a junior high transcript! The transcript is really just about high school. The issue, then, is really less about what a U. “requires” and much more about whether YOU think your DS will do fine just jumping right into an Apologia High School level course.
On another note, you might also want follow up on learning about “Open Universities” which allow ANY person to enroll in a course at age 16. Of course, it’s up to you, the parent, to make sure your child is READY for it, and it’s in your interest to be sure about it because you’re going to fork over around $700 CDN for the course. But the course descriptions are extremely detailed online…it’s not too hard to see whether your child will survive in the course.
The open university option a great one, as there are no “formal requirements”. My favourite is Athabasca University, which has students from all over the world getting degrees via online courses. Many acquaintances of mine here in Ontario start their kids, at age 16 or 17, taking an Athabasca course or two. If the student is enjoying it and doing well, they keep it up until he/she has 4-6 credits.
At that point, the student can apply to ANY university as “mature student”, and in most cases ALL the credits are just transferred over. Bingo, your student is in their true school of choice – and no one ever asked him what high school courses he took! The bottom line here is that in second year University, nobody in Admissions cares what you took in high school. They just care which credits they’ll transfer over.
So, my advice is to:
a) figure out what school(s) you son wants most;
b) choose whatever Apologia courses YOU think your son needs to be ready.
And given the expertise that I know Bookworm has (above post), I’d strongly suggest you go with her suggestions to form your plan. I agree with her – I would go straight to regular, high school level courses. If he’s drowning in it, take it slow, or get a tutor until he catches up and gets used to this level of study. If science is his natural interest, he’ll be motivated, and it won’t take long before he’s used to these courses and just hammering out the work to get them done.
If you are in Ontario (or even if you are not, because many other schools are listed), I strongly suggest you check out http://www.rainsberger.ca
Sarah Rainsberger has done ALL the homeschool on homeschoolers/universities in Canada. The website is the best resource going for us.
Good luck!
Angie
We are in BC and if you want the Dogwood certificate you need to do the courses with the materials from a DL school and take the provincial exam. We’ve opted not to go that route (scares me but after careful consideration it makes the most sense for us). My son started Apologia Chemistry last year (grade 9) and will finish it up this year (we did half the book and then stopped and went back to the beginning to work on study habits and skills — test taking etc.). In Grade 11 he’ll do Physics and then perhaps a college science if he’s interested.
Thankyou for responding. I appreciate all your advice.
Bookworm — thankyou for clarifying the junior high courses. I too think it would be a waste to do the Physical science or the General science courses. I also appreicate you telling me the math requirements. I especially appreciate your comments on the difficulty in taking 2 courses at a time.
Angelina –I have looked at the University of Athabasca. That is an option as we live near it. I will have to think about this further.
Mayneisland — thankyou for sharing. Your story certainly opens up other ideas for us to look at.
Thanks again.
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