Julie asked:
I was wondering how they were going to show that they had a lab science. Did you do this just for the ones you did at home, or for everything? Our Public Works department offers science lab workshops that I thought I’d take them to.
Hi Julie,
We wrote “Biology with Lab” on the transcript. I gave course descriptions for colleges, and the course descriptions was a paragraph long about how we taught biology. Much of the information I got from the catalog description of the textbook we used. I wrote a list of the labs that we did – I got the list from the book’s table of contents. I showed my grading criteria. It showed every chapter grade, and a grade for every lab write up they did. A good lab write up got 100%, but some of them “weren’t so good.” That gave the colleges a thorough explanation of exactly what our transcript meant when it said “Biology with Lab.”
We did all our work in all our sciences at home by ourselves. To be honest, I don’t know a thing about physics, so my kids were completely on their own with that one. I just graded tests and looked at the lab write ups. (If the lab write up made sense to me, they got 100% – if it didn’t make sense to me, they did NOT get 100%) Although I do understand biology and chemistry, they did most of that work on their own as well.
Many (even most) colleges will accept lab sciences done at home. There are some exceptions, however. For example, the University of Washington wants “proof” of science. That’s why they prefer the ACT test. The ACT covers more than reading, writing and math. It covers science as well. They accept the ACT test as “proof.” They also accept SAT 2, AP, and community college lab sciences as “proof.” But the University of Washington is in the minority, because most colleges don’t have additional requirements. The UW policies have also changed a lot over time. If your child is interested in ANY college, it’s a good idea to check their policies every year, because they can change dramatically.
I hope that helps!
Need more help preparing your homeschooler for college? Check out my Dig Deeper page.
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Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
Victor says:
I would like to suggest you a visit to an easy and simple website that teaches Biology through questions and answers. It seems to be a great help for homeschooling and an adjuvant to lab activities.
The address is: http://www.biology-questions-and-answers.com
November 25th, 2008 at 6:58 am
J W says:
Victor, that’s a great site for people who already know this stuff, but I found the question-and-answer format to be awkward for a gifted younger student who has just a passing interest. Do you know of any websites that give overviews in a different format?
November 25th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Julie says:
Unfortunately that site is biased toward evolution
. That’s too bad because the format seems one that would be good for students to learn independently. I can’t in good conscience send mine there, though, because of the bias.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
J W says:
Um… and we need to shelter our kids from evolution why? Students can be trained to spot bias. Students need to know what the world says, and how to counter it. They need to know what arguments for creation are worth using, and which aren’t – and why. Keeping our kids away from the debate means we’d be just as bad as the public schools! Spoonfeeding facts (and/or propaganda) is the one thing public schools are really good at, and that leads to one thing – apathy. A homeschool which simply leaves vital matters at “well, the Bible says this and that’s that” is not giving the student the tools he or she needs to take on the world. Homeschools ought to be good at wrestling with issues, not spoonfeeding pap. Thorough examination of contraversial issues leads to engagement, interest, and passion! Besides, I’d far rather my student explore evolution than most of the other things that are out in cyberspace. Just my two cents.
November 25th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Connie says:
Thanks for the biology questions site tip! I would much rather have my children come to explore and understand evolution and other controversial concepts (that they will face later in life) while they are under our roof. At least we can direct the conversation now in the formative years! MY QUESTION: Do you know of other comparable sites for the other areas of the sciences (ie physics, chemistry etc.)?? Thanks again!!
November 29th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Lee says:
Hi Connie,
My brother-in-law is a public school teacher. He loves this site: http://highschoolace.com/ace/ace.cfm
I looked at it a few times when we were homeschooling. Maybe it will be what you’re looking for!
I hope that helps!
Blessings,
Lee
November 29th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Lorrie says:
Thank you for the good information. I have been thinking I would put my son in a homeschool class when it comes time for the lab sciences (grades 10-12), but after reading this it seems possible that we could actually do it ourselves! Does it require a lot of equipment? What type microscope did you use?
November 30th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Lee says:
Hi Lorrie,
Great question! I’ll answer it in a new blog post, so that others can benefit from the question. Thanks!
Blessings,
Lee
November 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pm