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I am wondering about havihg my will-be 7th grader in RTR. I dont feel we need the extensions bc history and the assignments are deep enough as-is. Myquestion is for primarily science. She is hoping to go into marine biology and wants to use science to work up to Apologia advanced science marine biolog course in high school. Since 7th and 8th are extension range, is the scence enough for a kid with a science oriented degree goal? What will our scuence track look like doing HOD throug jr./sr. High being always in the extension range? Will we be able to do the marine biology course? If there is a need at some point to change the science, will we be losing other skills being taught through that box throug the follow up activities? (narrations, for example)
Additionally, my oldest son wants to be an RN like daddy but he is my will-be 4t grader. When you know you have a science career goal, does that change anything for the upper guides if they are in the regular age range?

My dd is in the same progression of guides (but one year along). She did RtR for 7th, and is now doing RevtoRev for 8th. She has her sights on vet school. I know it's a different field, but still science....so I just thought I'd share.... She did RtR science as written. This year in RevtoRev, she is doing the advanced version (which HOD recommends for 8th graders anyway), which is supposed to be high school credit worthy (although we won't count credits till 9th). DD has been volunteering at a local veterinary clinic for the last year, and the owner/vet has been impressed with her "science-mindedness". She has done HOD science exclusively (other than her own reading, research on internet about specific points of interest, etc). In addition, we have also spoken with many alumni and a couple of the professors at the (highly esteemed) vet school she hopes to attend. Although I haven't been able to discuss with them the specific high school choices for science, they have been very positive about the science she has done (she has shown them her notebooks and book lists).

So, even not knowing Carrie's specific plans, since dd has been encouraged by both those in the college and those in practice, I feel completely confident that the science will prepare her well. The geography guide and on up will be written as high school, so for those I have no question. The only thing I am not sure of (and will be looking into soon) is the science in the MtM. There is a post from Carrie on the sneak peaks thread about "upping" the science in that guide for hs. I haven't looked much at the recs yet, but I feel sure we will follow them.

Tamara,
Since you have asked for our opinion to help you make decision I think you should stay the course in CTC this year and continue on in RTR next year. The science in CTC is a great building block for biological science with Apologia Land Animals. That would also get your dd ready for (if you chose to) advanced Apologia courses. My dd did not use HOD but they both completed Apologia advanced science including Marine Biology. I had them involved in hands on nature classes until 7th grade and they still excelled in Apologia courses. They were non traditional in their sequence as they did not complete chemistry as the math bogged them down. They have completed all science college classes necessary to graduate with a BA (2013 & 2015) so this seemed adequate in what they desired to pursue-English.
My ds is very science minded and HOD science has been an excellent preparation for advanced science. He is in CTC right now so we could join togetherin the journey. My ds has used Carrie's notebooking to make his own science notebook in addition to CTC science notebook. I think this is a great tool as scientist must document their work. We studied inventors in our co op last year and found out that In order to get a patent your work must be dated and documented in a bound book-like a spiral notebook. HOD has taught my ds how to do this. If dd desires to be a nurse they must have excellent documentation skills so the HOD is preparing her for this skill every week. I love peeking in my ds notebook as he has diagrams, charts, notes pictures, ideas, and failures. He would not have learned this if I had used only Apologia as I would have wanted to skip what I perceived as busy work but now I see that his scientific mind needed to have the foundation laid for how to present his ideas and HOD has done such an excellent job.
I should mention that I have a BS but I was not taught the HOD way and I have come to appreciate and love it! Some things I thought were just "fluff" or busywork but now I see them for the gems they are, teaching so many more skills than I realized. The Bible verses teach us to go to scripture, the pictures/notebook page teach how to label, chart, organize, etc; the questions synthesize knowledge; the oral narration teaches how to summarize ideas; and the lab teaches how to hypothesize and test. Thank you Carrie for your wisdom and attention to detail.
I would stay the course in CTC and then continue with RTR but I will post to your other board messages. Tammy

Tamara,

The ladies are doing a wonderful job of helping you. It is a huge blessing to have such amazing women who are willing to share from their own experiences as as we travel this homeschool path together!

I'll just pop-in to share a bit of our thoughts as we are working on the high school path for science right now. At this point in time, our plan is to include a choice of science selections in each guide. We are thinking that the Geography guide will include a choice of either an integrated physics and chemistry course or a biology course. It will likely also include the option of doing the Exploration Education Advanced Version Physical Science (as a possible choice for those families who may not have used EE with Rev2Rev). So in this scenario, a family choosing to use the Geography guide can choose whether to do IPC, or Biology, or EE Physical Science. Of course, if families desire to use a different science in any of these areas than the one we schedule, they can easily do their own science instead.

As we move into the world history guide, the science selections would include a choice of biology (the same one from the Geography guide) or chemistry. I'm not sure if the Integrated physics and chemistry from the geography guide will also be a choice in this guide, but it may be a choice as well.

As we move into the American history guide, the science selections would include a choice of chemistry or physics.

As we move into the final guide, the science selection would be either physics or your own selection of an advanced science (i.e. advanced chemistry, advanced physics, marine biology, human anatomy, etc.) or your own selection of a science of personal interest (i.e. such as astronomy, geology, environmental science, herbal medicine, etc.). Keep in mind that students will cover human anatomy in our Biology selection, so a deeper course in human anatomy would only be for those interested in an anatomy related field.

This has been on our minds a lot lately, so you have asked a very timely question. Hopefully, this information coupled with the wise advice from the ladies in this thread will give you some peace as you move forward.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks for your replies!
I know I can trust Carrie's methods and choices. But as we enter a new territoey , Jr. High next fall, and being in the extension range with science goals in mind, it left me wondering if it was enough. I'm sire it is for kids within the age range of two guid...I only wondered with being out of the age range I'm encouraged by thw replies. And I am so happy to fwt a peek into your pkans , Carrie!!! That helps so much.

We are not currently doing CTC but we are doing apologia zoo 2 which covers marine animals for my oldest two. We want to come back o HOD and I thought the break would help mW merge my big two to combine the in HOD. It won't so we will come back at RTR next fall most likely.

Carrie: Do you think you'll be using Apologia for the high school classes or something else?

Carrie, as I ponder this more, I'm curious about how other skills will tie into science in future guides. I know science written narrations are taught in RTR so it makes me rethink how to tailor my kids' science educations since I also want those integrated skills to not be missed. I'm also curious if you intend to incorporate more apologia as you go into these upper guides.
I love that you are planning to give options for high school guides! Many are using them for various grades in high school and getting the right science for the right grade is importan at that stage.. And having it planned in will be fabulous!

I look forward to seeing the sneak peeks for the next guide! Such an exciting time even though we aren't that far yet.

So, I'm assuming you agree that science as is in RTR which foe the she range is 5/6th, is still totally on track for a 7th grade child with a desire to go into a science field. Yes? I didn't see science extensions for kids in 7/8th in that guide.

My dd seventh grader is doing this guide (RTR) as written for the science part. It is enough. There is an alternate option for students who have already used exploring planet earth--if you are wanting we or your dc want more you could require this optional title as well. It is from Answers in Genesis and would make the study much more in depth by requiring it alongside all the other science titles instead of optional.

Tamara,

We are still considering Apologia for high school, as we do not wish to be hasty in our decision. We are still pondering it as one possibility for Chemistry, but likely not for biology at this point in time.

I would say that the science in RTR would be well-suited for your child, but only you can know what will truly fit your goals. I believe I answered the topic of science in RTR more fully in your other thread about RTR running on the board right now.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie wrote:Tamara,

We are still considering Apologia for high school, as we do not wish to be hasty in our decision. We are still pondering it as one possibility for Chemistry, but likely not for biology at this point in time.

I would say that the science in RTR would be well-suited for your child, but only you can know what will truly fit your goals. I believe I answered the topic of science in RTR more fully in your other thread about RTR running on the board right now.

Blessings,
Carrie

I replied on the other thread you mentioned but thought I'd come here and post it too as it pertains more to this than it did the other original post, though fits with your replies on both.
"... I have questioned about the science simply because I am totally new to the jr. high world, and my daughter is in the extension age with goals to go into science. I wasn't thinking or questioning so much about level of the science coverage b/c as you stated , it is incredibly full and meaty. I agree. But more because I was thinking there were certain science disciplines they were supposed to cover at certain grades and I didn't know if the discipline covered in RTR was the right one for a jr. higher, as the intended audience in the normal age range is 5th-6th grade. I don't think the science level, depth, coverage is light in any level of HOD and I"ve used them all up to part of CTC so far! Simple to teach? Yes. Pleasure to learn? Yes. Lacking? Not one bit!! Just want you to know where I'm coming from. It's a new territory that scares me a bit, as we are 1-2 guides farther behind than "we should be" due to life, babies, and my own health, and I look into those other guides of where "she should be" and I feel like we aren't doing enough for her grade now that she is completely in the extension range and there aren't science extensions. I think you probably understand. Your guides are a pleasure, Carrie. Always have been and I can't wait to get into RTR (and I'm trying to forget we should be getting into MTMM )"

We'll be doing science as-is in RTR for 7th grade. The options you've laid out will make high school science easy to fit!

Tamara,

Thanks so much for your comments! I should have clarified that my second response on the other thread was to address concerns raised in the thread by another poster on a range of topics that did not directly apply to your original question. I apologize for the confusion.

Whenever concerns are raised I like to take the opportunity to explain our thinking behind what we do in the guides, and share our own experiences with using the guides too. In this case, it seemed like I was addressing you when I was really addressing the concerns in general.

Your questions are definitely valid as you have a child in the extension range of the guides.

To more specifically answer your question about science, if you have a child going into a science-related field, then the typical science high school sequence can vary based on what science-related field your child is looking at in the future. Often, science-related majors would do Biology in grade 9, chemistry in grade 10, physics in grade 11, and an advanced course in grade 12. If your child is headed into a medical field, then advanced biology or human anatomy would be likely choices for the advanced science.

If you prefer not to do physics, and your child is not going into a science field that is related to physics, then your child could instead do Integrated Physics and Chemistry in grade 9, biology in grade 10, chemistry in grade 11, and advanced biology or additional anatomy in grade 12. You would definitely want to check with any colleges your child is looking at attending to see what their science requirements are too to help guide your decisions. Most states high school requirements include a physical science requirement of some sort that they want to see during high school (along with biology and chemistry). This can be met through either the Integrated Chemistry and Physics course or a Physics only course (or through the Exploration Education Advanced Version in Rev2Rev).

So, working backward from the high school sequence, in middle school it is good if kiddos have been through the 4 branches of science (life, earth, physical, and intro. to chemistry). This is what we schedule in CTC, RTR, Rev2Rev, and MTMM. When your daughter becomes a freshman, you would definitely want to begin with the high school sciences. If your daughter will be in 7th grade doing RTR, it would make sense to do earth science, as she really won't get it again in high school. Then, in 8th grade, you could do either the physical science in Rev2Rev or the Intro. to Chemistry in MTMM (as you'd only get through one of these sciences prior to high school). Both the physical science and Chemistry will be covered in high school again in greater depth, so either would work. I would go with her interest in this area.

Blessings,
Carrie