Campbell's Exploring Life

[annabanana1992]

We are thinking about using this for next year with DS. How do you use the text to teach? Do your DC outline? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

[Beth in SW WA]

We are thinking about using this for next year with DS. How do you use the text to teach? Do your DC outline? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

Ds reads the text, makes vocab cards, does the Student Guided Workbook, & takes the 2 tests which accompany each chapter. He takes notes during Thinkwell lectures that go along w/ the text.

I have not had him outline the text....yet :)

Ds is taking ch. 5 test tomorrow actually. He is enjoying it and learning a lot. No complaints (which is a bonus).

We are doing the Castle Heights lab book/kit.

I hope others chime in who have used it/are currently using it. Good stuff for a decent price.

[April in CA]

Hi Beth!
You may have mentioned this in another post, but I don't remember, so I will ask again! Are you using the Test Bank software (with the huge price tag!!!) for tests for your son, or are you using the chapter assessments in the text? I just couldn't swing the test bank CD ($200 just for tests for one class seemed a bit extravagant, even though I would have loved to have it!)

Also, how do you like the Castle Heights labs? We are using the Exploring Life labs - at least some of them. I like them, but some of the materials require lots of searching out. Something that is written to use with a small group (I do labs with 3 9th grade boys - and they are every bit as squirrelly as 8th graders!) might be better in some cases.
Blessings,
April

[Beth in SW WA]

Hi April,

I bought a used ExamView and test book w/answers for $25'ish from Amazon last spring. The test book has 2 tests per chapter (sweet!). I use one as a pre-test.

The CH lab kits should be called "lab kit for dummies". Its a no-brainer (even for me) because the kit has almost everything from the lab manual. No shopping around for random items. It was $40'ish for the chemical/microscope/slide kit & another $40'ish for the specimen kit.

I'm clueless so I needed to pay for the simplicity/ease of a kit.

I hope that helps. The irony of me answering science-related questions makes me laugh. I am so not an expert on any of this. :)