I was very excited to receive Science for High School since my kiddos are rapidly approaching those high school years and I hadn't yet determined what science curriculum to use. I first received Bridget Ardoin's Physical Science program and was very intrigued by the fact that it is NOT a textbook approach at all. High School Physical Science in the Home is a guide that the student follows to discover everything he needs to know that encompasses high school physical science.
This curriculum is written by Bridget Ardoin who is a homeschooling mom to 5 children and has over 12 years of experience homeschooling. She also has a degree in microbiology from Louisiana State University. She has spent many years helping homeschooling parents teach biology to their children in their homes. This curriculum is an accumulation of those years of experience where she focused on putting together a quality high school science curriculum with a user-friendly approach for the teacher. She offers Biology and Chemistry, as well as Physical Science.
The Student Manual contains a list of questions for each week of study. The students spends four days researching the answers to these questions, using any resources available including the library, internet and other science books. Then on the fifth day, the student reviews the answers they obtained with the teacher/parent to ensure that they covered the necessary material in their research. There is also a lab for each week in order to give a hands-on experience tied in with the material they have been researching that week.
The Parent Manual contains all the information that the parent needs to help the student, including the information that the student should have discovered in their research. Detailed explanations of the labs are also included, as well as quizzes and end-of-semester exams (and their answers).
You can also purchase the Physical Science Lab Kit which contains the harder to find items in order to make your homeschooling experience more enjoyable.
I really like this approach to science because I am a very untraditional homeschooler and really avoid textbooks. I have been planning to use unit studies for my kids for their highschool years, but you have to supplement the curriculum with science programs as they are encountered in the unit study. I feel that this Science for High School curriculum will work very well and will encourage my children to really dig deep to find the answers and learn all about science in a way they wouldn't if we used another more traditional method. By researching, especially on the internet, they can find many more interesting things than if it is fed to them in a textbook. We find this all the time in our current unit studies and I am excited to find a curriculum that will continue to encourage their curiosity and love of learning!
I have already shared about this curriculum with many of my friends who already have high school students and several have purchased it and are using it already. I have received very good reviews and comments about how their children are responding to the curriculum and learning their own time management skills, as well as how to really research materials on the internet and in the library.
Bridget has sample pages on her website so you can get a feel for the actual layout of the curriculum. The High School Physical Science in Your Home is $79.99 (which includes the Student Manual and Parent Manual) or you can purchase the whole kit which includes items you need for your experiments for $110.00. If you are looking for something different than the traditional textbook approach to High School Science, or want something that your children will really learn and retain as they study Physical Science, I would like to encourage you to take a look at Bridget Ardoin's Science for High School. This may be just what you need to get your child to really dig into their high school science!
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