Posts Tagged ‘biology chemistry’
Is it achievable for a homeschool to provide senior high school science
Is it possible for a homeschool to produce high school science that will be acceptable to colleges? My boys had biology, chemistry and physics at home, all with science labs, without any outside help from schools or co-ops. Not only did our chosen colleges accept our science records, they also offered us terrific scholarships, including two full-tuition scholarships at my sons’ first choice university!In our homeschool, we had “Biology with Lab” on the transcript. I gave course descriptions for colleges. The course description was a single paragraph in length, that detailed how we taught biology. Much of the material I got from the catalog description of the textbook we used. I wrote a record of the labs that we did, making use of the list from the book’s table of contents. I demonstrated my grading criteria, thoroughly showing every chapter grade, and a grade for every lab write-up my children completed. A good lab write up got 100%, but several of them “weren’t so good. ” That gave the colleges a detailed explanation of specifically what our transcript meant when it said “Biology with Lab. ” I saved all the tests and all the lab write-ups, in case a college would ask for a example of their work (some did! )#).We did most our work in all our sciences at home by ourselves. In all honesty, I don’t know a thing about physics, so my kids were utterly on their own with that one (with some help from a video tutorial. )#) I just graded tests and looked at the lab write ups. (If the lab write up made sense to me, they got 100% – if it didn’t make sense to me, they got something less. )#) Although I do understand biology and chemistry, they did most of that work on their own as well.A number of (even most) colleges will recognize lab sciences done at home. There are some exceptions, however. For example, the University of Washington wants “proof” of science training. That’s why they prefer the ACT test. The ACT covers more than reading, writing and math. It covers science as well. They allow the ACT test as “proof. ” They also accept SAT 2, AP, and community college lab sciences as “proof. ” Still the University of Washington is in the minority, because most colleges don’t have added requirements. The UW policies have also evolved very much over time. If your child is keen on ANY college, it’s a good idea to check their policies every year, because they can change enormously.Forgetting about record keeping is on of “The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School. ” If you are thinking about accreditation and transcripts, you are probably not going to make this mistake! Learn how to avoid all 5 mistakes in my free e-mail mini-course.My e-book, “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts” will show you how to how to package that great at-home education into an AMAZING transcript that will impress the colleges!
Is Apologia Science Rigorous Enough for the College-Bound
Are Apologia science textbooks rigorous enough for college-bound students? Sure, they are popular with homeschoolers, but how GOOD are they as science books?Apologia is a very rigorous college prep series. I do not usually recommend specific curriculum, because I know it is all about “fit” more than a textbook. When it comes to science, though, I had such success with the curriculum we used, that I really do recommend it – even to my clients that are not aChristian.I know it for a fact that Apologia is a great college preparation because Alex (my non-scientist son) was able to pass a CLEP in Biology 3 years after taking Apologia Biology at home. He earned a 4.0 in Engieering Physics in college after taking Apologia Physics. Remember, he is NOT my science major. I made him take that engineering physics at community college with his brother, because he was too young to take a class by himself. So he learned well from the books even though he did not “love” science. Apologia is GREAT stuff.I know for a fact that Apologia is great college preparation because my son Kevin is an electrical engineering major in college. He still refers to his Apologia Physics book now and then. He used Apologia chemistry over the summer, to review for a class he was taking. He has reviewed his physics book frequently. It is been one of my “best buys” for curriculum, because they have literally used them for 5 years. Kevin has a fabulous GPA in engineering, and I believe it is in part because he was so well prepared with Apologia Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.If you want to make Apologia even MORE rigorous, it is possible. You can go through a book in a semester instead of a year, and make it an AP course if you want, but it is not necessary at all, just an option. I have heard of some “college prep” AP classes, like through Pennsylvania Homeschoolers for example, that actually take a child 5 hours a day to complete. That would be so frustrating to spend 5 hours a day on one class! One mother was letting core subjects in reading, writing and math slide, just so her child could get an AP Chemistry credit. That is a lot of work for not a lot of benefit. It is easier to keep your subjects at the level of your children when they do it at home with a homeschool curriculum.Apologia is a self-teaching homeschool curriculum, so kids can learn it on their own, and moms do not have to know what they are doing in order to be successful. That is a big deal, because I did not have a clue about physics, and barely was able to keep up with the chemistry.Yes, absolutely Apologia is college prep. It is not perfect, because no curriculum is perfect. All textbooks have typos- ALL of them – and I am sure someone could find a flaw in these books like you can find a flaw in every book. Still it is great preparation, and I recommend it even for my clients that are not Christian.
Is it achievable for one homeschool to grant high school science
Is it feasible for a homeschool to provide high school science which will end up acceptable to the colleges? My boys had biology, chemistry and physics at home, all with science labs, without having any kind of outside assistance coming from schools or co-ops. Not only did the colleges recognize our science records, they also offered us excellent scholarships, including two full-tuition scholarships at my sons’ first choice university!In our homeschool, we had “Biology with Lab” on the transcript. I gave course descriptions for colleges. The course description was a paragraph long, and explained how we taught biology. A great deal of the information I found from the catalog description in the textbook we used. I wrote a list of the labs that we did, applying the list from the book’s table of contents. I demonstrated my grading requirements, carefully showing each chapter grade, in addition to a grade for every lab write-up my kids finished. A good lab write up got 100%, but several of them “weren’t so good. ” That offered the colleges a in depth explanation of specifically what our transcript meant when it stated “Biology with Lab. ” I was able to save all of the tests and every one of the lab write-ups, in case a college would request a sample of their work (a few did! )#).We did all our work in all our sciences at home by ourselves. To tell the truth, I really don’t understanda thing with regards to physics, which means my kids ended up thoroughly on their own with that one (with some help from a video tutorial. )#) I simply graded tests and looked over the lab write ups. (When the lab write up made sense to me, they got 100% – if perhaps it did not make sense to me, they got something less. )#) Even though I do fully understand biology and chemistry, they did the majority of of that work by themselves as well.Several (quite possibly most) colleges will approve lab sciences done at home. You will discover a number of exceptions, however. For instance, the University of Washington wants “proof” of science. That is the reason why they like the ACT test. The ACT includes more than reading, writing and math. It contains science as well. They recognize the ACT test as “proof. ” They also accept SAT 2, AP, and community college lab sciences as “proof. ” But the University of Washington is in the minority, since the majority of colleges do not have further requirements. The UW policies have also changed considerably over time. If your child is interested in ANY college, it’s a good idea to check out their policies every year, given that they can change significantly.
Is it practical for a homeschool to deliver senior high school science
Is it possible for a homeschool to provide high school science that will be satisfactory to colleges and universities? My boys had biology, chemistry and physics at home, all with science labs, without any outside assistance from schools or co-ops. Not only did our targeted schools accept our science records, they also supplied us great scholarships, including two full-tuition scholarships at my sons’ first choice university! In our homeschool, we had “Biology with Lab” on the transcript. I gave course descriptions for colleges and universities. The course description was a single paragraph in total, that described how we taught biology. Much of the material I got from the catalog description of the textbook we used. I wrote a list of the labs that we did, using the list from the book’s table of contents. I demonstrated my grading considerations, carefully showing every chapter grade, and a grade for every lab write-up my children completed. A good lab write up got 100%, but some of them “weren’t so good. ” That gave the colleges a thorough clarification of specifically what our transcript meant when it reported “Biology with Lab. ” I kept all the exams and all the lab write-ups, in case a college or university would ask for a sample of their work (several did! )#).
We did all our work in all our sciences in the home by ourselves. To be honest, I don’t know a thing about physics, so my kids were utterly on their own with that one (with some help from a video tutorial. )#) I just graded tests and looked at the lab write ups. (If the lab write up made sense to me, they got 100% – if it didn’t make sense to me, they got something less. )#) Although I do understand biology and chemistry, they did most of that work on their own as well. A number of (even most) colleges will accept lab sciences done in your house. There are several exceptions, however. As an example, the University of Washington wants “proof” of science instruction. That’s why they have a preference for the ACT test. The ACT covers more than reading, writing and math. It covers science at the same time. They allow the ACT test as “proof. ” They also recognize SAT 2, AP, and community college lab sciences as “proof. ” But the University of Washington is in the minority, because almost all colleges and universities don’t have additional conditions. The UW regulations have also changed very much as time passes. If your child is serious about ANY college, it’s a good idea to check their regulations every year, because they can change enormously. Forgetting about record keeping is on of “The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School. ” If you are thinking about accreditation and transcripts, you are probably not going to make this mistake! Learn how to avoid all 5 mistakes in my free e-mail mini-course. My e-book, “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts” will show you how to how to package that great at-home education into an AMAZING transcript that will impress the colleges! Comprehensiverecordsolutions.com offers in-depth information and recommendations on home school work, which can help homeschooling parents plan much better for their kids home schooling. They do also have a blog, in which they positively write educational content on college scholarships for high school seniors
High School Science For Homeschoolers
I recently had an interesting conversation with a few homeschool parents of middle school age children who are in the process of making plans for high school. In the process, they raised quite a few questions that I think many other parents also wonder about.Since these parents know me as their children’s science teacher, our conversation naturally centered on science education. Fundamentally, we were discussing two things. First, what does a good, high school science education consist of? And second, what do colleges want to see?Science is such a broad topic that it isn’t at all obvious what subjects high school students should study. Of course, a year each of biology, chemistry, and physics is traditional, but why? Why isn’t Earth science, which deals with some of the most important issues of our day, such as climate, part of that core curriculum? Is it ok to substitute more specialized classes such as astronomy, botany, or forensics for the more traditional classes? Should students study only the branches of science that they most enjoy?There is no clear answer to these questions; the conclusions that people come to will have as much to do with opinions and preferences as they will with facts. Personally, I think that while biology, chemistry, and physics are all great, Earth science is just as good and ought to be in the spotlight more than it is. I suspect it gets short shrift because of the far-reaching influence of medical schools, which all require applicants to take biology, chemistry, and physics, but not Earth science. In my opinion, relatively broad survey courses should make up the greater portion of high school science, but adding in one or two specialized classes can be wonderful, particularly if they are in addition to the more general classes. If specialized classes replace too many broad survey classes, my concern is that students will not get enough background information to formulate an accurate picture of the way the world works.Even though it is undoubtedly possible for students to get a great high school science education in very non-traditional ways, that strategy is risky. Some colleges, especially small liberal arts colleges, would undoubtedly look on unusual courses of study kindly, but most colleges will want to see SAT Subject Tests and AP Exams. In New York State, Regents exams may also be important. Notably, many of the schools most likely to de-emphasize standardized tests are very expensive, so unless money is not an issue, it makes a lot of sense to work hard to get some strong test scores. This is especially important for homeschoolers, who probably need to take at least 5 SAT Subject tests if they plan to apply to selective colleges. Therefore, it is necessary to include, and probably emphasize, classes that will let students shine on these tests. The only three SAT Subject tests in science are biology, chemistry, and physics. Doing well on AP exams is also a reliable way to impress colleges, so these tests should be taken into account as well. There are AP exams in biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental science. Regents, which can be important in New York State (and especially for SUNY and CUNY schools), offer tests in biology (called Living Environment), chemistry, physics, and Earth science.The parents that I had my recent conversation with have daughters who are strongly biased towards the humanities. They like science, but they like English and history more. They do well in math, but they don’t get much enjoyment out of it. With this in mind, they’re currently considering a two-year program of Earth science for 8th and 9th grades that will allow the girls to take the Earth science regents at the end of 9th grade, a two-year biology course that will allow the girls to take the SAT Subject Test in Biology at the end of 11th grade (and the Living Environment Regents Exam, for those of them who will be applying to SUNY or CUNY schools), and a one year conceptual physics class in 12th grade which will not be linked with any standardized test. Chemistry is notably absent from this regimen because it isn’t safe to do high school chemistry in the home. Hopefully, at least some of the kids will take a chemistry class in community college or at a school that allows homeschoolers to take classes a la carte.This plan should work reasonable well for this group of kids. They will go off to college with some holes in their science education, but they have four full years of exposure to data analysis, experimental design, and critical thinking. Hopefully, they will have all the skills they need to be scientifically literate and all the tests they need to get into colleges that will satisfy their needs.
Homeschool Transcripts – Strange College Requests
Homeschoolers sometime receive strange requests from colleges. As you start to apply to colleges you will more than likely start collecting some of your own strange college requests.One of the strange things that I have been asked for was a graded English paper. That was pretty easy because I went to the computer and I printed their English paper and then I wrote a big A on it and then submitted it. When they asked me for a math paper in my child’s handwriting, I was pretty glad I kept their tests as work samples.One of the colleges wanted a lab report from one of their labs and they did not specify biology, chemistry or physics. I did not give them the lab write up in yellow pencil that you could hardly read. I chose the best lab report and I gave it to them.So how do you know what homeschool records to keep since you don’t know what colleges will ask for? Think about how many colleges you will apply to and if you have will enough to give a sample to all the colleges that you apply to on each subject area. It will help you to keep something for every class. That can be a goal for you to have for your record keeping. The chances of all 4 or 6 colleges asking for the same thing are pretty slim. Remember that when you apply, you are actually in the middle of senior year so if they all ask you for a graded math paper and you only had one; it would only take you a week to get the other five.One of the most important things I taught my children was how to write a one-page essay.We varied the subject area of that essay. Each time they wrote it we changed the topic. Sometimes it would be about their delight directed learning, sometimes for English, sometimes for history, and sometimes for PE. I even made them write something about a foreign language or something about a foreign country. That is one idea of something you can do to have essays to give to them.Keeping a wide variety of work samples will help you in the long run when you come across some of those crazy requests. Be creative in keeping those records as you homeschool through high school and you should be fine.