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Kristie 4
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| Posted: April 15 2009 at 12:44pm | IP Logged
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Has anyone used the Physical Science text that is set for 8th or 9th with Kolbe?
I am looking at it for my non-sciency son for next year- he will be in 9th.
Thanks,
kristie
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BrendaPeter
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| Posted: April 15 2009 at 7:43pm | IP Logged
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Hi Kristie,
We used it and found it to be pretty intense. As a matter of fact, I'm selling it over at the Trading Post  .
We really like Concepts & Challenges which is what MODG uses. Emmanuel Books sells them as levels 1, 2 & 3 but they are also available used by subject. We purchased the Physical Science one recently for my ds to use in 8th grade. The 8th grade (I think!) MODG syllabi includes a lesson plan for that book. I just found a used copy on Amazon for 25 cents! I don't remember exactly what I paid but our copy came in today & we love it. If you haven't seen the C&C books before they have short 2-page lessons. It's so nice to get a hardcover in color vs. the b&w copies that Emmanuel sells. Laura Berquist only recommends the 2nd editions.
hth!
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Martha
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| Posted: April 15 2009 at 8:47pm | IP Logged
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yes I have PH physical science and it is very college prep level. Not a light page in it. Also, as an fyi, I'd highly recommend at least being midway through alg 1 or ideally to have completed alg 1 prior to taking PH physical science.
I knew going into it that it was like that, so decided we'd start it in 8th and finish it for 9th.
HTH
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: April 15 2009 at 10:25pm | IP Logged
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Hmmmmm....
We have done no textbook science here, but more science units and nature study. We are partway through Algebra and this particular child is not headed into the sciences as far as we know at this point! His sister may be though (and the rest on down!), so I thought I would do it with both of them. Maybe I should have a peek at the Concepts and Challenges instead though. On the other hand, I feel confident teaching science (is that why I haven't stressed about that like I have about writing (writing is the bane of my homeschooling existance!).....I wish I could look at the books side by side, but I don't know anyone here who uses anything but Apologia (and we won't go that route).
Thanks,
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: April 15 2009 at 10:42pm | IP Logged
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25 cents sure is cheap...but the shipping is $12 to Canada 
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BrendaPeter
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| Posted: April 16 2009 at 5:20am | IP Logged
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Kristie 4 wrote:
25 cents sure is cheap...but the shipping is $12 to Canada
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Yikes!
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Brenda (mom to 6)
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Martha
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| Posted: April 16 2009 at 9:25am | IP Logged
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Quote:
| I wish I could look at the books side by side, but I don't know anyone here who uses anything but Apologia (and we won't go that route). |
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I feel your pain.
Everyone here uses apologia and BJU, which we won't go to either.
So I have to bite the bullet, say a prayer, and just buy basic on online research and hope for the best. 
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: April 16 2009 at 1:46pm | IP Logged
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I think that is what I am going to do as well Martha. Hopefully (this is a big hope  )my university science will come in handy if I have to lighten the topics a bit for my non science guy....
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Martha
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| Posted: April 16 2009 at 1:52pm | IP Logged
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I will say I have Kolbe's course plans,which also give me access the the teachers lesson suppliment that PH has online and both are well worth having, imo.
I don't consider myself a "science" person and these are very helpful to me.
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Martha in VA
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| Posted: April 18 2009 at 8:32am | IP Logged
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I have been fretting about this thread ever since I read it. I was strongly considering Kolbe Physical Science for my rising 8th grader next year. She has been doing Apologia General this year in a local co-op and I'm finding the protestant undertones concerning. Now, I'm afraid she and I may drown in attempting the Kolbe. I'd love to hear from folks who have done the Kolbe science successfully.
Martha in VA
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Martha
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| Posted: April 18 2009 at 9:07am | IP Logged
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I don't know how successful I am at it yet.
but I'd be happy to answer your questions about the book, the plans, or whatever.
my kids are interested in it.
We had been rather light and mostly interests driven in science before 8th grade, so I knew this would be a big change for us. That's why I decided to make it a 2 year program. which you can do without feeling "behind" because this course is also considered on schedule for 9th graders.
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ALmom
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| Posted: April 21 2009 at 12:29am | IP Logged
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We're finishing up PH physical science. There are things I really like - and things I hate. It is full of detail and overall a pretty good text. I am relieved to be dealing with more technical science and less agenda and theology pushing like what I found in Apologia. It is very visually busy as well as wordy, but has some neat features. It was very, very helpful to have Kolbe plans to narrow done what you do cause there is no way to do the whole darn book - and who wants to tackle nuclear chemistry in 8th grade. The Kolbe plans help a lot in sorting through the drowning in detail - but still quite intense. We are taking 2 years and found a tutor who is very hands on and matches dd style. I think some children will need more math practice than is in the text - so we ended up ordering a math supplement workbook - this thing is getting expensive.
If you have a really strong background, you might be Ok. I'm glad I have someone helping me because honestly the text assumes a lot of prior knowledge - so they give 2 sentences and a few practice problems with significant figures. I knew there were a whole bunch of rules about that - but being into math myself, we never paid attention to such things and took things out to the nth degree except in science class. I ended up e-mailing back and forth with the Kolbe science counselor and ended up with a set of succinct rules which made that more comprehensible. We also bogged down in the chemistry side of the text - naming of polyatonic ions and such. Instead of a really good overview which connected the dots, you end up flipping back and forth trying to piece together that big picture. I'm sure that someone with a science background would be able to give the big picture. I could not from the text. I also had just basic problems grading things. Sometimes my son gave technically correct answers and I didn't recognize that they were correct because they didn't match the AK. A lot of times I got lost in the vocabulary weeds and had no idea if my children were answering the questions correctly or not.
OH, I often felt like I was going on a treasure hunt trying to figure things out. I had to do a lot of flipping back and forth following the vocabulary trail trying to piece together what the whole point was anyways - and often getting lost. There were a lot of memorize this chart stuff that I felt was kind of dumb - ie, if you want me to memorize the thing, then at least give me the rules for the naming, let me use the stuff over and over until it becomes second nature - or at least where I can name most of the elements without having to memorize (polyatonic ions I think was where I really got frustrated). Now evidently this knowledge to know how to name them doesn't occur until much higher level chemistry (ie chemistry major in upper level courses or something) so why sit and blindly memorize the darn things. It makes more sense to me to make a little chart, laminate it and use it for things until it becomes second nature or until you know how to derive the names. I didn't have the confidence to just say - skip it, just copy the chart and laminate it.
We were drowning in the text. I called a mom in desperation hoping that she could point me to a tutor. Turns out she has taken on my dd. They started back at the beginning loosely using the same book. My dd loves science now, understands the material and now wants to go into a field needing science - something we presumed closed to her until this year. This lady is very hands on and gives a big picture with lots of real life connections. My dd has blossomed.
The text can certainly be used and work. A lot depends on the child and teacher. I have a hard time using the text - but my science fan is fine. My dd is now fine. My older ds is bogging through until we get through the chemistry - almost done. The physics should be easier because dh uses that stuff all the time and can do all kinds of explaining, etc. He'll also know more about what is really needed and what is just verbiage and overkill for the age. He has already told me there are some things in the electrical section that he didn't get until upper level engineering courses in college. Don't think we are going to overstress on that.
In order to use the text, you really have to be able to present a good overview to begin with and kind of make connections between what seem like isolated and widely seperated vocabulary terms. My science friend is doing a great job of this. I didn't have the background to do it and the text would not have helped enough.
Janet
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Kolbe Physical Science
