Anyone do Apologia General Science in a co-op?

[nutmeg]

Some families from our support group are trying to put together a once/week co-op for this text. Anyone BTDT? Suggestions? Schedules? Thank you!

[Hillary in KS]

You know, I looked at doing this, but it didn't fit with our co-op's schedule.

Our co-op meets once a week, for 26 weeks during the year. The classes are an hour in length.

I couldn't figure out a way to fit Apologia into our time constraints. So we ended up not doing it.

My thinking was sort of along these lines:
1. Students would read an assigned number of pages at home.
2. Students would keep a notebook and write *short summnaries* of what they read.
3. In class, we'd discuss the material, share some of their writings and do the experiments, tests, quizzes, etc.

It would have been an AWFUL lot of reading at home, though. Parents would have had to really be on board with the amount of homework. It was clear that, if we could do it, this wasn't a "drop your child off at class, have fun for an hour, and forget about it until next week" sort of thing. parents would have to make sure their dc did the reading, etc., at home.

Maybe if you have more weeks and/or longer hours?

[nutmeg]

Hillary - Thank you for your response! I'm sorry I did not get back to this thread sooner. My homeschool group is still contemplating doing this sort of co-op, and your 1-2-3 fits with what we are thinking. At this point, we are needing someone to step forward to organize and put things in motion, and we don't seem to have a volunteer. Isn't that just the way it is? lol

Frankly, I'm a little worried about committing ourselves to a group schedule. We have grown so accustomed to doing our own thing, following rabbit trails, etc. But should that be something we limit or rein in during the teen years? Do we NEED to learn to follow a group schedule? Ah, probably questions for another thread.

Thanks for your help!

[Sandy in Indy]

I haven't done that particular course, but they're all set up somewhat similarly and we have done Bio, Chem and Adv. Chem as part of a group.

In those classes, the kids met once a week and completed half the module in that time. My ds was responsible for reading the assigned material, doing any vocabulary and answering the "on your own" questions. Experiments were completed in class time as well as discussion of the material. Lab reports were done at home--after completing the first one together. After the second week of the module, parents were responsible for administering the module test and returning it to the teacher. (In one class, tests weren't returned to the teacher, but I found it better for the teacher to get them and be more aware of how the students were really doing.) All of these classes were at least 2 hours a week and some times ran to 2.5 hours.

[choirfarm]

Our co-op meets 3 weeks on, then one week off: 9 times in the fall, 9 times in the spring. The co-op is for experiments only. We do all the written work at home and the parents decide if they want formal lab write-ups (mine did a half-hearted job there on them and needed to re-copy), tests, etc. It was perfect for me as he could do the material at home and I didn't have to set up the experiments. The children were supposed to have read the material before they did the experiments for that chapter. They gave us a schedule. I know that they spent several weeks on a chapter or two and depending on the science didn't have any experiments in certain chapters. This class lasted an hour, but next year they have allowed an hour and a half for Biology. I hope that helps. I generally started early in the summer having him read the material and do the tests as it would take my son 2 weeks to do a chapter. A different chapter each week was too fast, so this way we were way ahead at first, but on time at the end. If it wasn't tied into the rest of the co-op and just a science co-op, meeting every other week for an hour and a half to two hours to do the experiments would work well. The first week the children would work at home reading the material and doing the study guide. Then the next week meet at co-op and do the experiments, write up the labs at home and study and take a test. That would work really well. The last week of each semester I think they played jeopardy games with the vocabulary games.


Christine

Christine

[Carol in Cal.]

I looked at a coop for next year that followed that model. The parents gave all the tests, and the kids had to do the reading and written homework in advance of class. The class was about 1 hour and 20 minutes long, once per week, during which the teacher quickly reviewed the key concepts of the material, did the experiments, and that was about it.

One of the things that made this work was that the class was for money--$50/month IIRC; so parents had an investment in making sure that their children were on track. Also, the administration of all of the coop classes clearly told the parents repeatedly that THEY are still the homeschoolers, and that their children's learning and progress are their own responsibility. They charge extra for evaluations.

This seemed to be a pretty workable model. The teacher has a tech background so she really understands the material well. She also teaches a class covering the Physical Science curriculum.

[Brindee]

I haven't done that particular course, but they're all set up somewhat similarly and we have done Bio, Chem and Adv. Chem as part of a group.

In those classes, the kids met once a week and completed half the module in that time. My ds was responsible for reading the assigned material, doing any vocabulary and answering the "on your own" questions. Experiments were completed in class time as well as discussion of the material. Lab reports were done at home--after completing the first one together. After the second week of the module, parents were responsible for administering the module test and returning it to the teacher. (In one class, tests weren't returned to the teacher, but I found it better for the teacher to get them and be more aware of how the students were really doing.) All of these classes were at least 2 hours a week and some times ran to 2.5 hours.There's a lady here that does Apologia Biology and Chemistry classes. I don't think she does others, she just alternates these two. This year she's doing the Biology. It costs $350 for the class, plus you pay for the book and some other stuff. It meets once a week for about 2 1/2 hours each time I think. I know they do the experiments during class, I'm not sure exactly what else. I'm thinking it's like what I quoted above that Sandy said.

People whose kids have been through the classes LOVE it! They say their kid has to put in work and do assignments and things, but if they keep up with the class, it's been GREAT for them.

I'd love to do that for my ds, but we can't afford over $500 (by the time you get everything) for the one class!

[choirfarm]

[quote=Carol in Cal.;216902]

One of the things that made this work was that the class was for money--$50/month IIRC; so parents had an investment in making sure that their children were on track. quote]


Gulp.. wow. Our is/was 15 dollars for each semester. I think the co-op already owns the microscopes and such, though.

Christine