Apologia General Science and independence...

[stephanie]

How independent is your dc in using this text? Ds13 is using it this year for science, but he likes to read it independently, kind of doing his own thing. After he reads he will come and talk to me about it, telling me, "Did you know that...
I'll go over some of the questions with him in the book, but I don't sit down and read everything with him. I'm schooling 3 younger dc in a separate science, and he enjoys doing his science on his own. Is this what should be expected of him or should I put more time into studying the text? He's only in the first chapter, and we plan on doing an experiment this weekend. He also will be doing the reviews at the end of the modules with the tests. He's a very disciplined boy,and I don't doubt that he will be doing the required work. So tell me what I should expect here! Thanks so much!

[Sandy in Indy]

My older kids did both the Gen Science and Physical Science books on their own and I was comfortable with that. The goal of learning is to become a self-learner...these are good texts to test the waters in that area. As long as he's able to complete the reviews and is doing the work, I see no problem at all with letting him forge ahead.

[Chelle in MO]

My ds13 is almost finished with General Science. He reads the assignments and does experiments on his own, then once per week or so dh will discuss with him. It has worked well for all of us--I have 3 youngers in separate science, too!

Chelle

[Cedarmom]

That is one of the joys of Apologia, in my opinion. As long as he is doing well on the test and lab write-ups, and as you say is talking about what he's learning then all is good! By the time he is doing chemistry you will really appreciate it!