Biology

[momgineer]

Can you update on all the products MP has for Holt biology? I see the text and video lessons and a non related workbook. Are there or will there soon be lesson plans or quizzes and tests and student guide?
Novare will hopefully be releasing a beta of their biology this fall but it will be very rough. I love how Intro Physics is working for us so I’m debating between using their beta biology or Holt with MP support or my old dragonfly Prentice Hall book from Kolbe. I need a straightforward mastery book for my dyslexic who needs direct instruction on what to memorize and doesn’t do well with tests (like Kolbe) that pull out random facts that were briefly mentioned once in the text and never again discussed. She needs a clear visual of what to study. She catches onto concepts fairly easily but gets overwhelmed with lots of new vocabulary. She can remember most concepts but can’t remember what they are called.
If you have used Holt or Prentice Hall can you give me a pros/cons? Thanks.

[TheAttachedMama]

I am in the exact same boat and comparing the exact same books and resources....except I have the MacCaw Prentice Hall ibook. I did not know that Novare will have a beta biology though! That is exciting. I think I want to read it just to see how they approach the topic. Where did you hear about this news? I can't seem to find it online.

[pickandgrin]

You can sign up to receive Novare General Biology updates at the link below.
We are already using Novare for Earth, Physical, Introductory Physics, and Chemistry (adding next fall) at our cottage school and are hopeful to add this beta version next year. We are tremendous fans of the mastery/kingdom/integration focus. If you want to connect with other Novare teachers and parents, they have a Facebook group. Search " Novare Science & Math - Crushing the Cram Pass Forget Cycle." Not everyone is coming from a classical philosophy, but everyone is using the texts in homes or schools. I hope this is helpful!

[tanya]

Hello.

We have a complete student guide, teacher guide, tests booklet, and lesson plans coming soon. They have been through the editing process and are now on my desk for the final approval before going to the printer. So we should be releasing this spring. All of this along with the streaming dvds should make for a difficult, but thorough course in biology.

Tanya

[momgineer]

Hello.

We have a complete student guide, teacher guide, tests booklet, and lesson plans coming soon. They have been through the editing process and are now on my desk for the final approval before going to the printer. So we should be releasing this spring. All of this along with the streaming dvds should make for a difficult, but thorough course in biology.

Tanya

Well this is great news!!! But it makes for a very difficult decision. The MP guides seem to work so well for my daughter. Other workbooks for biology are busywork and mix important things in with random questions asked just to make sure you actually read the assignment. The MP guides actually guide the student toward the important concepts to master. I think the convenience of lesson plans, quizzes and test and a video will be enough to push me to the MP material. I LOVE how the Novare books are written and I love the mastery approach with important concepts being reviewed all year. I don’t like the lack of specific lesson plans or how my daughter usually gets quiz questions wrong the first time she sees them. She does master them for later quizzes but the lack of specific direction before it shows up on a quiz is challenging. It gets complicated for me to look ahead and prep her on what she needs to know. MP guides usually fix that problem.

[bean]

Hello.

We have a complete student guide, teacher guide, tests booklet, and lesson plans coming soon. They have been through the editing process and are now on my desk for the final approval before going to the printer. So we should be releasing this spring. All of this along with the streaming dvds should make for a difficult, but thorough course in biology.

Tanya

Good to know. We will be ready for it next year. We'll be ready for precalculus, too. Any guidance for scheduling the Larson book? I've put together tests and videos. ETA- I've looked at several biology scenarios, do I remember correctly that MPs plans will cover the material for the SAT Biology subject test?

[tanya]

Precalculus? I don't have any help for you there, and I'm sorry. I think I'm going to have to point you to the MPOA.

I'm not sure if what we are doing matches the SAT Biology subject test or not. This is the biology course our 9th graders take, and then they take Chemistry and Physics in succeeding years. So in 12th grade, our students have the option of taking AP biology, chemistry, or physics if they wish. I'll attach the TOC for our study guide so you can see what we cover.

Tanya
Biology TOC.pdf

[bean]

Precalculus? I don't have any help for you there, and I'm sorry. I think I'm going to have to point you to the MPOA.

I'm not sure if what we are doing matches the SAT Biology subject test or not. This is the biology course our 9th graders take, and then they take Chemistry and Physics in succeeding years. So in 12th grade, our students have the option of taking AP biology, chemistry, or physics if they wish. I'll attach the TOC for our study guide so you can see what we cover.

Tanya
[ATTACH]n108813[/ATTACH]

Thank you for the TOC- very helpful!

I was able to answer my own question (or rather Michael answered it previously and I found the thread (post 37): https://forum.memoriapress.com/forum...-biology/page3

I was hoping there might be a precalculus lesson plan in the works for the book HLS uses... doesn't sound like it. I think right now we plan to do every other odd on everything in the book, anyhow.

Hope you are all warmer than we are. Thanks again!

[KF2000]

Thanks for asking this question, Debbie. I was just going through plans last week and realized I have another potential Bio student next year and I am so ready to ditch Apologia. (No offense to anyone who likes it) Our second is going through it right now, and I would really relish not having to go through it again! I was thinking we would try the Novare one since it is coming out, but child #3 just revealed to me yesterday, as we were doing her Physical Science work, that Mr. Mays' writing drives her nuts. She actually said, "I wish he wrote like a normal textbook instead of like we are little children." (insert eye-roll emoji here!) Geesh. So this is a timely post for me! I am so excited that the MP materials WILL be ready...yay!

But a question on that...I see the TOC in the post above...which is great...I see that in MP fashion you have zeroed in on the most important material rather than trying to cover the entire book. How much time would you allot to the course per week over the course of the year? And how long are each of the video lessons?

AMDG,
Sarah

[tanya]

Hi, Sarah.

We don't cover the entire text. We use this text again for Anatomy & Physiology for those students not interested in doing an AP science as seniors. So we are conducting this course in our usual way of less material, but studied well. I honestly don't think anyone could get through this text In a year. At HLS, we have 3 1/2 hrs. a week in class, and I bet our students spend another 1-2 hrs a week at home on it, especially test weeks. So I think an average of 4 hrs a week is probably right for home.

Tanya

[KF2000]

Thanks, Tanya! That is helpful to know. And an interesting point about using it again for Anatomy/Physiology. That is what our senior is doing this year - but with another textbook. I foresee that most of our girls will probably repeat this same order of classes, and it would be nice to have your guides for it and make use of the same textbook again. Do you think you guys will put together plans/guides to direct us how to do A/P at home?

AMDG,
Sarah

[bean]

We will probably cover anatomy in a health course here, so that is another option for those chapters.

[jen1134]

Thanks for asking this question, Debbie. I was just going through plans last week and realized I have another potential Bio student next year and I am so ready to ditch Apologia. (No offense to anyone who likes it) Our second is going through it right now, and I would really relish not having to go through it again! I was thinking we would try the Novare one since it is coming out, but child #3 just revealed to me yesterday, as we were doing her Physical Science work, that Mr. Mays' writing drives her nuts. She actually said, "I wish he wrote like a normal textbook instead of like we are little children." (insert eye-roll emoji here!) Geesh. So this is a timely post for me! I am so excited that the MP materials WILL be ready...yay!

But a question on that...I see the TOC in the post above...which is great...I see that in MP fashion you have zeroed in on the most important material rather than trying to cover the entire book. How much time would you allot to the course per week over the course of the year? And how long are each of the video lessons?

AMDG,
Sarah

If it’s any consolation to her, Physical Science seems to be the only book with that style. I was just looking at the samples yesterday and was struck by the difference between it and his other books, Earth Science and Intro to Physics. But then, I think you’ve used those for siblings (?) so maybe she already knows this...

For anyone else following, the sample I saw yesterday made me think Physical Science might actually be an option for my middle school son (depending on math). I had pretty much written it off as a too-hard option since I only had Mays’ other work to go on.

[KF2000]

Yes, Jennifer, this is true. We do have the Chem book also, and it is better. Not sure if it is because of higher age expectation of the students using it, or just because he wrote it later and his style had improved. But also - just the kid factor of personal preference playing into that as well. They each have their likes/dislikes of various authors - not that that changes whether we use them or not!

The difference with the Apologia is more about actual content. We know we are using it because it is manageable to do here at home, but it’s not the best content-wise. I am looking forward to a more scholarly (? not sure that is the word I am wanting here but others are not coming at the moment) book that is more thorough, more substantial, etc, which I think this choice of MP’s will be.

AMDG,
Sarah

[momgineer]

Well Physical Science was geared toward 6-7th graders according to the website while Intro Physics (and Advanced Concepts in Physics and Chemistry) as well as Chemistry are written for high schoolers. There is a big difference in his tone of voice (funny and maybe trying to be hip) with the 7th grade book verses the more professional approach to the 9th grade book. The 9th grade book is more mature all around- language, layout of chapters, expectations. He explains things in a way my daughter gets- much more so than standard textbook format.