FAQs About High School Sciences In Your Home
What is “Science for High School”?
Science for High School was developed by a homeschool mother of 5 to keep interest in science alive in high schoolers. Because a homeschooling mom wrote the program, it has a lot of features that she longed for in a program: all the answers necessary on one place!
The science manuals lead the student in exploring a particular topic of science, a search to discover on their own. They have a research topic/question. To answer it, they read a lot of material then process the information and put their answers into their own words. This part is important because this processing leads to understanding. Where understanding is, memorization is not necessary.
This program offers Physical Science, Biology, and Chemistry. Physics is in the works!
Benefits of using this program?
It is “SCIENCE-ONLY”!! The manuals are not “creation-based”, the manuals are not “evolution-based”, they are “science-based”. There are a lot of scientific facts the student must learn to prepare for college hence there is not enough time to have him/her study the philosophical. The weeks are designed for the parent to have a once a week discussion regarding the week’s topic. This can be used to discuss the personal beliefs of the family, to tie it in with the topic which is so important because you only have a few more years with your high schooler.
The students seek out their answers, read a lot of information and must process that information to answer the particular question. The information the student reads is usually written by a person who is passionate about the topic which comes through in the material, and can include fun visuals which help in understanding. This can be different than a textbook which can be dry and “just the facts”.
“I want the students to think for themselves, to be able to look scientifically and objectively at what is presented to them, to be able to discern if something is scientifically sound.”
About the author:
Bridget Ardoin homeschooled her 5 children since the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s, she began what was to become the guided research approach. Her children are now grown and graduated from various colleges. She taught for many years to homeschoolers in her area the high school sciences. She retired right before COVID hit.
“I love to see those students who are burned out on science come into my classes, and who after a few weeks, have their faces lit up with all the cool information they discovered about that week’s topic. To me, science is all about discovery learning. The more hands-on the student can be, the more the facts are understood and remembered.
I have several stories from former students. One of my favorites is from a young man who had been burned out by his old science books (read the chapter then answer the questions at the end), and had even begun to dread science. After the first few weeks of Biology, he changed his mind and has come to love science. He then took my Chemistry class and then my Physics, and is now majoring in Physics in college. Another is a young lady took my science classes, then in college wanted to CLEP out of her Biology requirement. She took the test and passed, after a 5 year break from taking my class!
I really believe, from experience, that the more the student researches and finds out for his own, the more he/she understands and remembers, and enjoys learning.