I know what it is like to get to your high school years with home education and become fearful of how you will teach the higher math and science subjects. Thankfully, I have many options available to let others more qualified than me do the teaching. We were able to take advantage of some wonderful teaching tools with our recent review of Chemistry 101 from the good folks at The 101 Series!
My daughter used this her Senior year, and Chemistry was one of the subjects she needed to finish to graduate on time and be ready for her pre-nursing studies at the private, 4-year schools she applied to. She really wasn't looking forward to the course. Her interest in anatomy and biology was high, but chemistry had a lot of math concepts that worried her a bit.
I told her about how we were going to try Chemistry 101, and -- while she wasn't eager to get started with a subject that scared her -- she was intrigued by the format. She's an independent learner by nature, doing most of her coursework in the form of self-paced online and offline study. The way the course was set up fit into her expectations for a higher level course.
What was included? Chemistry 101 came with 4 DVD discs that covered the following topics:
My daughter used this her Senior year, and Chemistry was one of the subjects she needed to finish to graduate on time and be ready for her pre-nursing studies at the private, 4-year schools she applied to. She really wasn't looking forward to the course. Her interest in anatomy and biology was high, but chemistry had a lot of math concepts that worried her a bit.
I told her about how we were going to try Chemistry 101, and -- while she wasn't eager to get started with a subject that scared her -- she was intrigued by the format. She's an independent learner by nature, doing most of her coursework in the form of self-paced online and offline study. The way the course was set up fit into her expectations for a higher level course.
What was included? Chemistry 101 came with 4 DVD discs that covered the following topics:
- The Road to the Periodic Table
- Chemistry Essentials
- Meet the Elements
- The Future
It also came with a guidebook with quizzes and a one-year high school course booklet. (These are contained on the 4th DVD.) You get everything you need for a full year of Chemistry, presented from a Christian worldview, in one DVD bundle. The discs contained almost 11 hours of instruction, lab demonstrations, and illustrations. The presenter was engaging, and the topics not boring at all!
The one thing I think that I loved the most about this course (and my daughter would agree) is all the "backstory" that is presented. You aren't just memorizing the periodic table. The course actually takes you through the Latin root words for each, what they mean, and how it relates to each. This would seem to not be that interesting except my daughter's choice of language in high school was Latin. It's also very, very fascinating. I couldn't help but want to learn along!
(Sample: Did you know that the element lead (Pb) comes from Plumbum -- the Latin word for lead? This is easy to remember, because lead is used in pipes, and the word "plumber" actually comes from this root word!)
To be completely honest, Chemistry was the hardest course for me in high school. I was not homeschooled, and I remember coming home and crying because I had a bad memory and none of the periodic table made sense. Learning things this way might have made things easier for me. It certainly would have kept my interest. This is so important when encouraging our kids (especially girls) to continue in STEM studies. Can you imagine if all girls had access to a course like this? The number of women in science and technology fields could make an impressive move upward!
The Chemistry 101 course is just one of three offered by The 101 Series. You can also check out their Biology 101 and Physics 101 products. All three are suitable for a full curriculum and would make a great addition to your student's education! Recommended for ages 15 and up, I let my 13-year-old sit in and learn. It's been amazing!
Learn more about all of these courses at The 101 Series website. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
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