Showing posts with label biology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biology. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Experience Biology: Upper Level from Journey Homeschool Academy: A TOS Crew Review




Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way

Experience Biology: Upper Level from Journey Homeschool Academy




High school science doesn't have to be scary!  We are enjoying a new program -Experience Biology: Upper Level from Journey Homeschool Academy.



Experience Biology: Upper Level is a comprehensive, online subscription for your high school student's high school biology credit.  Designed for your student to work independently and at their own pace, this college prep program comes complete with video-based teaching, reading assignments, online tests & quizzes, and lab & research assignments.

Parents have access to the Parent Dashboard, where they can track progress & download the 21 page Parent Curriculum Guide, which gives you all the information you need.  The handy guide gives you reading schedules, scope & sequence outlines, lab supply lists, and a very helpful rubric for grading your student's lab reports.

Students login to their own dashboard to access their lessons. The year long program is broken into 34 weekly lessons.




Each lesson has 2 Video Lessons.  Each lesson is approximately 20-30 minutes long, filled with beautiful images and engaging lecture style teaching.  Your student is encouraged to follow along with printable Outline & Note Taking sheets included in the downloadable 320 page PDF - Student Guidebook.






After the videos comes an optional reading assignment from additional textbook The Riot and the Dance.  We did not have the text, so we didn't complete that section.  In order to earn high school credit, students need to complete all the coursework - lectures, reading, labs and exams.

Research questions are included to help students make connections to what they are learning, and are graded by the parent.



Hands-on Labs are a key part of this program.  Students are encouraged to complete 15 labs, and upload them to the online classroom, parents do all of the grading.

A downloadable 200 page PDF - Student Lab Guide contains all the instructions, as well as, plenty of space for detailed notes and sketches.




The Online Quizzes & Exams are instantly graded.  Students need at least 70% to complete a module, and they can re-take as needed.



Right away, we were impressed!  This program is very easy-to-use.  The program tracks progress, and checks off boxes as each assignment is completed (silly, we know...but, we LOVE checking off boxes!) The student cannot advance until the assignments are completed.

Here's what impressed us:

  • The Videos are very professional.  The images, outlines, and teaching are all very engaging and concise.
  • The Printable Guides are also nicely done, with plenty of spaces for notes.  We are keeping ours in a separate binder, but they are easy to spiral-bound as well.
  • The quizzes are a great way to test for recall and prepare for CLEP Biology tests.
  • The labs are comprehensive and easy to complete. The Lab Guide has detailed descriptions, and walks the student through each lab, step-by-step and each includes a video to accompany the lab.  
  • The labs highlight high level science skills and even get the student using microscopes (we love our digital microscope  and completing dissections.  Discussion questions are included too. 


 

I have taught high school biology a few times in our Coop.  I love this new approach that is not a textbook!  It's very comprehensive, but completely engaging.  The multi-layered approach combining video, reading, and hands-on is sure to fit all learning styles.


Be sure to check out:

Experience Biology: Elementary & Experience Astronomy: Elementary


Find Journey Homeschool Academy on Social Media:

Facebook: facebook.com/intoxicatedonlife
Instagram: @intoxicatedonlifeblog

Hashtags:#hsreviews #ExperienceAstronomy or #ExperienceBiology


Wednesday, February 26, 2020

I love my Day Job!

Really... I love that I get to homeschool my children (and other children too!)

This year I get the honor of teaching Biology in our homeschool co-op.  It's such a gift to get to introduce these highschoolers to God's amazing creation.

It was Crayfish dissection day - I may be a tad more excited than them... it's my FAVORITE!

Here are the future, world-changing, biologists:




 I can't resist showing you our handiwork (actually, God's handiwork) Simple creatures that are anything but simple... Isn't it amazing??







Seriously, homeschooling has been such a blast... who gets to spend their day doing this??