Another biology question -- trying to design a course with SAT-II's in mind

[Gwen in VA]

I am weighing various options at this point. I know that I do not want an online course, but I am wondering if anyone has had any experience with --

1) Holt Bio, workbooks, and SAT-II prep books. Is that rigorous enough to do "well" on the SAT-II? (Any thoughts, Trillium?)

2) Singapore A-level bio + Cyber-Ed biology. (MaryM, have you done this? How did it work out?)

3) Campbell's Biology + study guide. I know that it would provide the strongest background, but I am a bit concerned -- my current 8th grader is not a great reader, and it is a THICK book. Has anyone used it with a very bright but non-honors 9th grader? (I really do not think that is the road to go...)

[TRILLIUM]

Well first you need to decide--What is? a good SAT subject test score?


My dd managed in the low 700 with a minimal amount of prep book work after the Holt book. I think that for the SAT your fine with a high school book and a prep book.

[Gwen in VA]

Thank you, Trillium. I will definitely explore the Holt approach further.

[MaryM]

Well, that SAT2 was more difficult than my ds expected having done the AP....but maybe it was a function of choosing the Molecular rather than the Ecology version.

Yes, we kinds did Singapore but we really only used it to browse through because it wouldn't prep for the AP. We did Miller and Levine, Thinkwell and some of the Campbell. The Thinkwell lectures are excellent, truly! If you can just buy the cds used, it's worth it! For what it is worth, Kolbe Academy (kolbe.org) has some excellent course plans and tests for Miller and Levine.

If I can answer anything in particular, let me know!

Mary

[TRILLIUM]

One more thing. The Holt online version of the text for 2006 includes the audio of nearly the whole book. Don't know if you think that would help with reading comprehension.

[Osmosis Mom]

Trillium,

WHich Holt book are you referring to and where can I find the audio?

TIA.

[Gwen in VA]

MaryM --Can you please tell me more about Thinkwell? It costs $239 for the whole thing, so I would love to hear some of the pro's and con's of it before I think about buying it!

[MaryM]

MaryM --Can you please tell me more about Thinkwell? It costs $239 for the whole thing, so I would love to hear some of the pro's and con's of it before I think about buying it!

Gwen, they just raised their prices significantly and that is outrageous. I was only suggesting buying the cds without the online testing component etc. These are often available at Ebay for around $25.

The pros are the lectures by George Wolfe - excellent. The cons would be that price just to access the online quizzes/problems and tests!

Feel free to email me privately with any other questions, if you'd like!

Mary

[TRILLIUM]

Trillium,

WHich Holt book are you referring to and where can I find the audio?

TIA.

Holt Biology 2006, If you get the premier online edition it includes the audio.
Here's a link to the components list. It's just 16.95.

http://www.hrw.com/c/product.web?nocache@13+s@5SdAwq5bZB0_c+record@344