I need help deciding which science to use

[Love2Smile]

I have 2 daughters going into 5th and 8th grade

The younger one really loves science and read through Abekas 4th grade book this year and loved it.
My older one "tried" Apologia General Science this year, but most of it was too over her head and we both thought the textbook was dry and kinda boring to be honest. The tests and questions were so analytical neither of us could do them! However I keep hearing that Apologia is the "best" for homeschoolers. Well does it get better after Gen. Sci??

How is BJU? Is it easy to implement without the DVD's??

What do YOU think is the BEST science curriculum out there for kinda non sciency math people? Something colorful, lots of pictures and easy to comprehend??

Hope im not asking for too much! LOL

[JFS in IL]

I am used MFH 6th grade and it is great. All that you ask. I have not used the Singapore science for an older kid yet - judging by the website it is also good and (as one would expect) more difficult/thorough than the lower grade materials.

http://www.singaporemath.com/Science_s/2.htm

[Brindee]

Christian Kids Explore Science Series from Bright Ideas Press seems good. We only did the Chemistry with my 6th grade dd. She LOVED it!

http://www.brightideaspress.com/

[mcconnellboys]

Apologia's elementary series books are very colorful and look fun to me. There are three for biology: sea creatures, birds, and mammals. And then I think there's one on astronomy, as well.

[Melissa in CA]

However I keep hearing that Apologia is the "best" for homeschoolers.

Yeah, you hear that. You'll also hear that Saxon math is the best as well. I guess me and mine don't like "the best" though, because neither Apologia nor Saxon worked in THIS homeschool family.

I don't really know what to suggest to you. I do love BJU, but teaching two seperate BJU sciences without the videos might be a bit much. BJU is made to be taught. I would recommend putting both in the same science, but it would be hard to do that with BJU, I think. Your 5th grader will struggle with the 7th or 8th grade levels, and the 6th grade would probably be too young for your oldest. Hmmm. How about teach one and get the older the DVD's?

I was also thinking of maybe Sonlight's Science 5, but adding in the Lyrical Life, Vol 3: The Human Body, to your older daughter's schedule. Science 5 is used by a variety of ages from 9-12, with the Lyrical Life set I think it would bring it up a year. This would have them both doing the same science, focusing on Nutrition, the Human Body, the History of Medicine, and even word processing. You could also add in Body by Design and Gray's Anatomy (an extremely detailed coloring book) for your oldest. I'm sure there are plenty of great books you could add to ramp it up a bit for 8th grade. Though if your dd is just not sciency, she may be perfectly happy with SL as is, though I believe the Activity Sheets might be on the young side for her. Just a thought.

My middle son wanted a break from formal science in 7th grade (or was it 8th? I can't recall off hand) and I let him do Sonlight's Science 4 because he liked the topics. Yes, it was a bit on the easy side, but he did all the reading, worksheets, and TOPS experiments on his own. He then jumped back into heavy duty science the next year and is now taking Physics with BJU. It didn't hurt him a bit to have an 'easy' year, and even though it seemed easy, he learned quite a bit. :D

Well, those are my initial thoughts. I hope you find the right fit for your situation. ;)

[KH_]

We really enjoy these books - we started on the first zoology one this year, but have gone through Exploring Creation with Astronomy and Exploring Creation with Botany. I will be purchasing the other zoology books at some point. They're written to be able to be used with kids of various ages - mine are still pretty young and we may even revisit part/all of these books later, as I know they will better understand some of the concepts as they get older.

[Love2Smile]

What is MFH????