Switching up High School science order to enable combining

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farmfamily
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:20 pm

Switching up High School science order to enable combining

Post by farmfamily » Sun May 13, 2018 11:03 pm

Hello, with my oldest on the verge of starting high school, I am starting to get nervous about the amount of time it will take to teach high school science. I want to be present to help with labs, but my days are already SO full! I was wondering, since my kids are all about 2 guides apart and my oldest is the one the least interested in science, whether I could switch up her science and combine her with her younger sister who is more interested in science for some of the guides with the most time-consuming lab portions. I am not even sure how to begin figuring out how to do this, as I know the progression is carefully planned. I was wondering if my oldest could do a toned-down version of the AH2 Astronomy/Geology course (or some other science) as a freshman so that she could do IPC as a sophomore and combine with her then 8th grade sister (who would be in Algebra 1 at that point). Then the two of them could do science together for the rest of my oldest's high school time.

My kids are all college-bound, but my oldest is unlikely to study something science-oriented (though I would like to keep her options open). My second daughter counts science as one of her favorite subjects.

Would something like this work? Or should I not worry about time constraints of teaching two different lab sciences?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!
blessed to be married 17 yrs to my hardworking farmer dh, mom to:
daughter 13 MTMM
daughter 11 Rev to Rev
son 10 CTC

Enjoyed Little Hands, LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, Res to Ref, and Rev to Rev!!

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8125
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Switching up High School science order to enable combini

Post by Carrie » Wed May 16, 2018 11:26 am

I can see where some accountability in having two students in the same science would be a great option throughout high school! I do think you could have your older daughter do the Astronomy and Geology from the US2 guide this coming year so that she could be combined with your other daughter for the remaining years of science. The Astronomy and Geology is more flexible in the level of student that is able to complete it, simply due to to it being less math-based and more visual (with all of its DVDs and very visually appealing texts). If your older daughter is a strong reader, I think she could do Astronomy/Geology as a freshman; and then do IPC, Biology, and Chemistry after that. She will need the IPC, Biology, and Chemistry though; so you would not leave yourself much wiggle room by doing the Astronomy/Geology first. I do think this plan would work! :D

Blessings,
Carrie

farmfamily
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:20 pm

Re: Switching up High School science order to enable combini

Post by farmfamily » Fri May 18, 2018 8:01 am

Thank you Carrie! It is so helpful to get your input in making this kind of decision!

I had another thought since writing this post and that is that the Astronomy/Geology still has a lab that may require parent involvement whereas the Biology course looks very hands-off for the parent. I was now thinking that perhaps she could do biology first (as a 9th grader), just watching the labs and not actually doing any dissections, and then do IPC, Chemistry, Astronomy/Geology alongside her sister, who would be saving Biology for last. Would this work just as well?
blessed to be married 17 yrs to my hardworking farmer dh, mom to:
daughter 13 MTMM
daughter 11 Rev to Rev
son 10 CTC

Enjoyed Little Hands, LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, Res to Ref, and Rev to Rev!!

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8125
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Switching up High School science order to enable combini

Post by Carrie » Fri May 18, 2018 8:13 pm

In the second scenario, it wouldn't be great for your second daughter to get to Chemistry as a sophomore. Dr. Wile's chemistry is very math-based, so getting to it a year early would be pretty challenging. I'm not saying it could not be done, but it would require a very strong reader who is excellent at mathematics and also very science-minded. I wouldn't have wanted to get to Chemistry any sooner with my second son, and he was a great reader and very mathematically minded. :shock:

Also, in the second scenario, you would be juggling more guides on a daily basis. One guide for your older student's main subjects, a different guide for your second student's core subjects, and on some years a third guide for science. I am not a fan of juggling guides if it can be avoided.

I personally like the first scenario you shared better. In that scenario, your second student wouldn't be juggling guides at all. Your older student would only have a different guide for science, but for most years it would be the guide your younger student is using. Also, your second student would follow the planned sequence for science, and your older student would pretty much follow the planned sequence as well with just the freshman year as an exception. The less change the better! :D

Blessings,
Carrie

farmfamily
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:20 pm

Re: Switching up High School science order to enable combini

Post by farmfamily » Sun May 20, 2018 10:05 am

Thank you so much, Carrie, for helping me think this through. I know you must be really busy.

Actually I realize now my signature is somewhat confusing. It looks like my girls are only 1 guide apart. Actually the older one is in Unit 33 of MTMM while the younger is only in Unit 4 of Rev to Rev, so I consider them two guides apart. I will probably eventually slow the second one down a little so that she is on a normal school year, but I like having the wiggle room at the moment and the fact that I stagger starting them in new guides.

So actually even my first plan above has my second daughter doing Chemistry as a sophomore. She really likes science (except reading the biographies) and she is currently in POM 2 and so will start Algebra at the very end of her 7th grade year. She is good at math, but doesn't like it much.

What got me thinking about labs is that my middle is doing Exploration Education right now, and I have almost no time to be with her during the labs - though she is very eager for me to share these times with her. It was the same with her older sister. I think the labs look fascinating and I really wish I could spend more time on this with my kids. I realize that since mine are about two guides apart that when my youngest hits EE (if I follow the plans as written) my oldest will be doing Chemistry with labs and my middle would be doing IPC with labs and I doubt if I will have much more free time to be there for ANY of it :shock: I know this is thinking way ahead, but I can't help thinking there must be a better way to do this.

These are some possible scenarios:
1) Oldest does plans as written doing 9th IPC, 10th Bio, 11th Chem, and 12th Ast/Geo.
Second does 9th Bio with video while sis is doing Chem to avoid two labs for me to deal with, then combines with sis in Astronomy for 10th. For final two years she could do Chem and maybe Physics (I think I would have her skip IPC since she would be older)

2) Oldest does 9th Ast/Geo, 10th IPC, 11th Bio, and 12th Chem
Second does 8th IPC (with MTMM), 9th Bio, 10th Chem, 11th Physics or other advanced science, and 12th Ast/Geo (?)

I can come up with other combinations, but my second will always either skip IPC, or do it in 8th grade (Or my oldest could wait and do IPC and chem her last two years).

I have also thought about having my second drop EE right now (she has just started) and do the advanced version later as a 9th grader so she can combine with her younger brother who will be in Rev to Rev then.

I honestly don't know what to do. My husband worries that if I combine for science I will have to hold the older one back. I also realize it is much nicer not to have to juggle a different guide for science. But, I really do want to work through the labs alongside my kids, especially in high school. Has anyone done IPC at the same time as Chem with their kids (With EE in the mix!)? Maybe I am dreading this unnecessarily.
blessed to be married 17 yrs to my hardworking farmer dh, mom to:
daughter 13 MTMM
daughter 11 Rev to Rev
son 10 CTC

Enjoyed Little Hands, LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, Res to Ref, and Rev to Rev!!

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