How to Use this Program to Get the Best Results
by Bridget Ardoin
Welcome to a new way of learning for most of your students! This is a research based program and therefore a little different from the traditional approach of “read the book and answer the questions at the end of the chapter”. Here is a quick overview of how to use the program to get the best results!
We suggest that each week you give your student one set of questions. The student has one week to answer the questions. The number of questions varies weekly, depending on the topic covered. For example, the parent will tell the student on Monday to do the assignments for the week and to be prepared by Friday. (As in all home schools, we bend and fit all curricula to our home. Any day of the week that works for your school is fine to begin the program). In this example, Monday through Thursday, the student is researching, reading, sorting through information and writing the answers down to all the questions for the week.
The student can use the library, used textbooks or the internet as sources. The library is great because it is full of books that were written by authors excited about their subject which comes across in the writing. (It’s nice having excited authors teaching your students!) Also, if the book is written in such a way that is confusing to the student, it can be replaced by another that explains things in such a way that the student can understand. Textbooks can sometimes be limited in the information they present, but they also can be one helpful source for information. The internet has a plethora of sites! After a few weeks, the student will tend to have a favorite site or two that he will go to first get the information needed. You will be amazed to see how much he learns.
On the day you select, Friday in this example, the parent can sit with the student and ask the student to begin telling what he discovered during the week. As the student is explaining each question on the assignment, the parent is reading in the Parent Manual what should have been discovered. (Note: the Parent Manual contains the minimum information your student should have discovered in his research. Ideally the student will remember and describe in detail a LOT more than the basics and be enthusiastic about what he has learned.)
After your review of the homework, the lab can then be done. Again, the information for the lab is located in the Parent’s Manual. You can easily help your student see what he should be seeing in a dissection or an experiment because you have the details in your Manual.
There are also quizzes for each week and 2 “final exams” to be given twice a year. I usually recommend giving the quiz for the week before prior to discussing the information in this week’s homework. So the process would go:
If you are in Week 3, give the quiz for week 2 first. Your next step is to review the homework for week 3. Then comes the lab which reinforces the material your student has learned this week..
Benefits of this program include:
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The student will learn and demonstrate time management skills; if the student waits until the night before it is due, it may be overwhelming, and chances are he will not be able to finish the work.
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The student will learn research skills. His skills will increase as the year progresses on how and where to find the information needed to answer each assignment.
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[Regarding the High School Chemistry in Your Home program] This is truly an incredible curriculum that is presented in a concise and clear manner. The student is actively involved in learning, utilizing visual learning through independent research, audio learning through discussions with other students or the teacher, and kinesthetic learning through hands-on activities. [Kris Price, Assistant to the Publishers, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine ]
I sincerely believe that if you are ready for a biology curriculum, and want one that is comprehensive, fun, and engaging, this is the curriculum to use. Further, if the whole thought of biology makes you squeamish and you’re thinking that this area of study is one that might have to be skipped, check into this curriculum. You’ll not be disappointed and, more importantly, I believe your child will have a great time learning biology.
[Dr. Heather Allen, TOS Senior Analyst, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine ]These manuals allow you to go as deep as you want! This was the highlight of our academic year!
[Elizabeth Bischollf North Myrtle Beach, SC ]Hi Bridget:
[Bobbi ]
We’re having a blast with the Biology – we’re on week three this week – froggy here we come! Thank you for such a fun program – it’s a lifesaver to illiterate science parents like me! ha ha
Thanks againI have learned so much more with the manuals. I remember and understand so much, because I had to find the information.
[Katie ]My son has learned so much more because he had to pursue and find the answers, rather than reading a dry, boring textbook. I also liked the way the biology material starts with the study of life.
[Linda Stancil, Old Fort, NC ]I really looked with dread upon the task of teaching my daughter biology. Ms. Ardoin’s course makes it organized and complete! The teacher’s manual was a BIG help because all the questions were specifically answered. My daughter learned SO MUCH and was thrilled with her IOWA test that year because she knew ALL the science!
[Lynn Hogan, High Point, NC ]