How much teacher prep time for BJU Life Science?

[Chris in CA]

I m going to be taking 3 classes myself this year and won't have alot of time to plan and prepare, so I'm trying to streamline my hsing. My dd hated or rather despised the Apologia General Science book, so I am planning on BJU Life Science for this year, but how teacher intensive is BJU. I can't afford the DVD's this year, so it's all me :001_smile:

[Denise in PA]

Hi Chris:
I will take a stab at your question. My daughter will be learning science from BJU this fall (Space, Earth...) for ninth grade. She has not liked Apologia General Science at all and refused to continue with the series. SO, I searched and found that she and my older child both preferred BJU science texts. Two years ago my older teen studied BJU Biology. This very comprehensive course took him two years to complete (two text books with awesome labs), but well worth it. My children prefer these texts becuase they are colorful (an important point for them), interesting and easy to read text, and helpful review questions. They took chapter tests from the test booklet and scored very well. I appreciate that each test had not just the familiar multiple choice questions but also short essay questions. Now, regarding your question about teacher prep. I guess one could spend hours each week, but I do not have that luxury. Honestly, I spend no time with this course preparing. My son read his sections each week, answered the questions, completed some labs on his own (I find dissections rather gross), and then discussed with me about once a week. Discussion was in terms of verbally answering the text lessons with me. He understood the material well on his own. Once in awhile if he didn't answer the book questions well then I would assist in helping him reread some text to learn the material better. He much preferred learning science on his time while using me as a sounding board. Answering each question with me while I checked the correct answer with my teacher's book. For chapter tests - they are long and comprehensive- he studied from his lessons (the questions he had answered and discussed with me). Going forward, my daughter will no doubt follow the same read-on-her-own approach and then finding me to discuss several sections at a time. For us, the BJU texts have fun to learn and easy for indepedent learning. Bei ng accountable to me, as the teacher, once a week (usally a designated time) allowed me to help them in weak areas. Often my children would talk about an interesting facet they had learned that really interested them. Yes, I wish there was times I read the books with them, discussing on the spot, but they are also in high school and must learn to manage their time and to prepare for discussion time with mom. Wishing you every success!

[Michelle in AL]

One of my girls did this last yr. I read the entire section that she was to do the weekend before. That took maybe 45 minutes top (I skimmed it). Then I looked over their schedule and decided which student activities I wanted her to cover. Teaching on a daily basis took about 10 minutes of discussion and a weekly 1hr lab that we did with a group. I think it's very possible to do without DVD's. The teacher's manual will tell you what to emphasize.

[Chris in CA]

Amazong response Denise, thanks, that was very helpful. I feel more confident about this choice now, as I won't have tons of time to do this with dd.

[Chris in CA]

Thanks Michelle, I appreciate your post!

[Denise in PA]

You are welcome Chris.
I too have always appreciated the veteran home school parents' advice and support. Just one note: as your child progresses into higher science courses (chemistry and/or physics) he or she may need additional teacher instruction. This coming fall my eleventh grade son will be taking an outside of the home physics class. :001_smile:

[Chris in CA]

I think that chemistry and physics will be outsourced here as well, probably local cc. Thanks for all the help.