Homeschooling High School: Biology With Apologia
As I reflect back on homeschooling high school with my oldest son, I realize how beneficial it’s been to individualize his learning. Here’s how we are doing it this year in biology.
It feels strange to say it, but it’s true.
My oldest son is graduating this year.
I won’t get into all the feelings. Suffice to say, after a decade of working side by side with one of my favorite people in the world, I am a little overwhelmed with the thought of it coming to an end.
The good news is, this year has been a breeze in terms of selecting curriculum choices for his interests and needs. It’s like all the worry and the struggle is finally paying off (just as it’s coming to an end – sigh).
One of the subjects he and I are both most excited about this year is biology.
My son and I began talking about his plan for this year a few months ago.
He stressed that he wanted to do science again this year, but I was not sure what to do with this.
He completed biology, chemistry and physics in the last few years (science is an area of intense interest for this child) and I struggled to come up with a good option that would really challenge him this year.
The answer came from my own senior year in high school.
I took an advanced AP Biology class my senior year that had an emphasis on molecular biology, DNA and genetics. I also took an anatomy and physiology class. We decided to complete another year of biology, with an increased focus on molecular biology in the fall and anatomy and physiology in the spring.
As this idea solidified, my son and I both grew increasingly enthusiastic about this approach.
I’m calling it Interest-Led Advanced Biology.
Please know, although I was compensated for my time in writing this post, I only share resources that work well for my family. This is our curriculum choice for this year and we are very happy with it!
Homeschooling High School: Biology With Apologia
Finding a curriculum program to support this concept was not difficult at all.
Apologia is known for it’s excellence in science, plus we’ve used Apologia for literature in the past.
I felt pretty confident it would meet our needs for this year.
The truth is, when the books arrived, I was blown away.
Apologia Biology is a comprehensive high school science course. It includes a beautifully done textbook, and student workbook that serves as a study guide, a place for notes and a lab book.
It provides detailed introduction to the methods and concepts of general biology including:
• A heavy emphasis on the vocabulary of biology so that students are properly prepared to have scientific discussions
• A strong background in the scientific method so that students are trained for laboratory sciences in other high school science courses, as well as university studies
• Labs that cover experimentation, field studies, microscopy, and dissection
• Introduction to classification, biochemistry, cellular biology, molecular and Mendelian genetics, evolution, ecosystems, and much more.
The materials themselves are truly stunning – even the student notebook is in color.
Even better, the course includes full, high school level labs and experiments throughout including microscope work, field studies of organisms in their natural habitats, and dissections.
Apologia Biology has been an excellent way to kick off my son’s last year homeschooling high school.
You can find out all the details for yourself HERE (and even take a peek at sample pages).
Or, even better, enter to win your own set below!
