IS this supposed to be so difficult? She is using the Apologia science, she is doing the look at the picture then classify on a chart all the animals. She started out looking forward to it, felt important that she had homework over the weekend and everything. (lol) Then she could not figure which animal was what, and how much classification she needed to do... is a swan a shelled being? Internal, external etc... IS this really important to learn? IF so why? Remember I am not into science I chose this one because it sounded so interesting, but this much detail is killing me! Lol, I have a head ache and I sent dd to her room in tears over trying to move on to the next step. She wants to do the details but they are so intense, and what do all these words mean anyway? Okay, When I over viewed, read ahead breifly to see where she would be and what she would be studying it did not seem this intense... Not sure what I am looking for, some advice or encouragement something? I do have to say dd is doing this very methodicaly and all that, and has been totaly enjoying it as much as a girl can enjoy biology. ds loves his science too! Considering Creation through Science. Can't get enough of it. So I am not totally freaking out here, but I am wondering if this is goign to be a whole year of making charts that are useless to daily life of a clothing or interior designer or what? SO I can be encoruaging to her and tell her yes it is important to learn because yada yada yada ... you know? OOP sorry this was so long. Thanks for input!
TMom, maybe it's just to hard for her.. is it her level, maybe you need to step back a little and give her time to work up too... I hope you both can work it out.. (((((( Big Hugs for you two..))))))))
Could you handle some of the classification stuff as a discussion? Might help to diffuse some of the frustration if you left the texts behind and simply talked it out or started googling classification together. I have a link to a site I use and it IS an evolution resource but the lesson plan may be fun and take some of the stress out of the situation for your daughter. You may be able to adapt it to your needs...It's All Relative
I called in hubby, he talked with her a bit, we found out the hard part wasnt the curriculum but the tiredness of dd and the fact she is such a perfectionist! Yep, she wants to be right the first time, she developed a system of going down the list and marking or doing, the ones she knew for certain first, then go back to the more confusing worded classifications. I think part of it is the way it is worded is confusing... I got confused trying to follow her and she has always been someone who expects people to read her mind and not give you the whole story, or any story unless you pry it out of her. At this point I made her wait a day to work on it, and she fussed that she would be behind, I told her not to worry because thats one of the joys of Home school! we took her wiht us to send off party and then to Bible study tonight and gave her special time with Mom and Dad, that was helpful too! She is at 'that age' when everything is overly emotional anyway so this should be a fun year! Wee! ANy more encouragement and such is great ! I will check out any links to classifications of animals, the details in these is far more than any I have heard before, read before or have knowledge so .... I need to read further ahead than I have been able to do this week! I know the more I know the more I can teach, so she may have to help her little brother out so I can catch up with her! Be blessed and thanks again for all help encouragemetn etc!
dawnins, I checked the web site out you posted, though it was very informatiive its does not have the type of classifications that she is doing....is anyone here doing Biology with Apolagia and 2nd edition> I think this is actually considered lab work... and am going into the Teacher cd and solutions information to find out more about this in a bit here. I think when I took Biology it was simplistic approach where as this is very deep study, as my ds did with his bio. last year some of the details I wonder why we need to teach it because when I know why, then it is easier to encourage the student to do the work.
I have always felt that unless you're going into a biology related field, classifications in depth are useless to daily life. Some of the more broad classifications are definitely useful, don't get me wrong, but any of the in depth stuff is only taught to the test, imo. That being said... the ability TO classify the animals is a different story. Being able to think through the logic and questions and problem solving of classification charts is a valuable skill that will be useful day in day out.
k, cause this is so deep , dd is actually finding it do able, she had a better brain today and worked it like it was nothing... looked it on Google and that helped. her brother said he just went and looked everythign up online last year and wrote in the answeres that it gave straight away. SO she is goign step by step because she considers getting all the answers on one page cheeting, her own idea not mine, but she is really enjoying the research too! She asked me questions as she needed help, that was new! We went over a bit of it, I read through the teacher CD thing too, so I am feeling like a better teacher LOL!
DS is doing the Apologia Biology also. It took us a bit to figure that one out too, but once we hit on the pattern it went pretty good. Right now I am looking for a Microscope(cheap,lol) to do the more advanced experiments with. The book says he can do with out it, but he would get the most out of the class with one.
TMom and RN, Do you guys have the companion cd? It came in very helpful. We just used it today for the classification thing, and ds said okay, I get it, and did the assignment! It's worth the $11 I paid for it new!
No, we didn't buy the companion CD(we had a tight budget this school year, so I had to cut some of the not so essential) I would love to have it, and may in a month or so buy it. I have alot of Biology background from Nursing school, so I have kind of depended on that, but I am seeing that I too need refreshing on this,lol!
Mine is all the cd, we got the CDROM version of the whole thing, .... it is very helpful as I can look the things up and find out what to do, plus with the googling the animals and what she was looking for research became easier! Thats what the problem was, like following the keys? Some of the questions it was hard to decide which one some of the animals fit into... What exactly is on the compainon CD, would it be included in my CDrom version? It claimed it was the whole package....?
We found cheap one at Toys R us in the IMAGINARIUM section ? but we are also watching Ebay for a better one, after all there is more excitment in a big one! What Module are you at ? Dd is finishing up 1 this week, tomorrow I believe if we are on schedule we may have missed one day because of our stress attacks hehe, since we refocused and looked at the internet for more deeper research on it , we are okay with that section now too! It is actually kind of fun, like a whole world I never knew about! Change is good change is good change is good...
Do you have the 2nd edition? That's the one that has the "Multimedia Companion CD" that goes along with the book. Really, it cost $11 brand new, and, as I've already said, is worth it! It has pronunciation of words, as well as a great explanation of things they go over---such as the classification thing. They show it on line and explain it very simply, which makes it so clear---like it should be! They also have clips from the microscope slide work (I haven't seen them yet), that are supposed to be good if you don't have a microscope. Buying this cd is way cheaper than getting a microscope! We'll see how good it is when it comes to that part.
ooo so it has more than just the cd? I will check it out! Thanks! Does CBD carry it? I ahd a couple things I wanted through them ....
Oops, no. I meant that on that cd it has those explanations and diagrams of things and a voice that explains things, like the classification thing.
ok i think that came with the other one it has what it calls videos, shorts mostly about the things she is doing, as one comes up she clicks and it goes for it, it is website related though so she has to be online for it, so thats kinda cool too I guess..
