Friendly Chemistry for Homeschooled High Schoolers - Review and GIVEAWAY

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    How many of you took chemistry in high school?  (My hand is raised.)

    How many of you remember any of the chemistry you took in high school?  (My hand goes down...yours might stay up depending on how brainiac you are or if you are working in a science/math field!  My bachelors degree is in Elementary Education, and not much science was/is taught in the lower grades these days, so hard core science is not something I've used since college.)

    Many parents shy away from upper high school math and science courses.

    I took Biology, Chemistry, and Physics in high school, as well as Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Calculus (Calculus wasn't offered in my public high school back in the day).  While I generally received A's and B's in my high school classes, I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant to "teach" chemistry to my oldest last year.

    But that's crazy to be nervous about teaching chemistry!  I mean, technically, if I got decent grades in Chemistry class in high school, I should be able to teach it to my children - or at least relearn it right alongside them, right?  I finally remembered last August that really solid, good homeschool curriculum is written as if the parent and student are not familiar at all with the subject matter.  In most cases, students are taught to work independently and think and learn on their own.  This helps them to be excellent students in college.

    I had already purchased three other chemistry courses over several years' time (Apologia, Bob Jones, and RealScience4Kids Chemistry), but they weren't the best fit for my family at the high school level. 

    While I have loved RealScience4Kids' curriculum, their high school program was only a half credit of high school-level Chemistry, and the author hasn't finished writing the second half of the program. 

    The problem with Apologia and Bob Jones was that even though we've used quite a few of Apologia's science texts in the past (and they are extremely thorough and much more challenging than anything I ever had in high school and college), the chemistry books were written in a way that made it more difficult to understand the concepts.  I would have had to follow very closely and read the text myself to help my daughter when she had questions...and with three high schoolers at home right now, I just knew I wouldn't have the time to do that. 

    My dad, a mechanical engineer, also looked at Apologia's chemistry program and felt the same way - that most modern chemistry courses are written to make the subject much more difficult than necessary.

    So, I did more online research and learned a bit about Friendly Chemistry.  Sure enough, Friendly Chemistry was written to be nearly self-teaching if necessary.  I'm so glad I came across this amazing high school chemistry curriculum!

    Now that we've used Friendly Chemistry in our home for a full school year and will be using it with two more high schoolers this school year, I want to let you know what we thought of the program and then hold a GIVEAWAY for one set of Friendly Chemistry curriculum!

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About the authors:

    Dr. Hajda holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and a master’s degree in secondary and higher education curriculum and instruction. He has taught science courses at the middle and high school levels for more than 20 years as well as at the community college level. Co-author Lisa, his wife, has a bachelors degree in veterinary science, a masters degree in elementary curriculum and instruction, and has completed coursework toward her doctorate in education.

    If you're familiar with Friendly Chemistry at all, did you know this?  Three percent of each sale of Friendly Chemistry goes directly to support the "Water 4 Haiti" ministry.  How neat for the authors to bless others through the sales of their products. 

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How did Friendly Chemistry come to be?

    Dr. Hajda taught science courses at the jr. high and high school levels (public school) and thought students were retaining their knowledge of chemistry based on their test scores and assignments.  However, he began to hear that some of his graduated students weren't doing well in their freshman chemistry courses in a nearby community college. 

    After looking at the college chemistry course to determine what was going on, he determined which concepts were necessary for high school chemistry and for students to understand the "big picture" of chemistry.  He selected the basic concepts of chemistry and arranged them in a sequence that was more logical.  He also decided to provide students with many more opportunities to practice what they were learning...and Friendly Chemistry was born! 

    Dr. Hajda began developing classroom games—both running-around-the-room-type games and board games—that could allow for practice of the chemistry concepts his students were learning.  What happened?  The students began to truly learn the core chemistry concepts!  His students were no longer experiencing failure as they entered their freshman chemistry courses, whether at the local community college or at universities.      

    I don't know about you, but I would deem that a success.  ☺  

Friendly Chemistry covers:

• Atomic Theory
• Trends of the Periodic Table of Elements
• Quantum Mechanics
• Ion Formation
• Compound Formation
• Avogadro's Number and the Mole
• Formula Weights
• Percent Composition
• Empirical Formulas
• Chemical Reactions
• Balancing Chemical Equations
• Stoichiometry (Predicting Quantity of Product from a Reaction)
• Ideal Gas Laws 
        

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What did we think of Friendly Chemistry as a high school science curriculum?

    Friendly Chemistry arrived in the mail last August.  It only took a quick glance for me to see that this would be a great fit for our family!  Here's why:

• All of the major high school chemistry topics are included in Friendly Chemistry, so I knew my daughter wouldn't be missing out on key chemistry concepts.
• The chapters are much shorter in length than Bob Jones or Apologia, meaning that instead of 25-30 pages of material needing to be memorized and regurgitated for a chapter test, the material focuses on the particular concepts being taught instead of just using memorization.  Especially for non-STEM students (those not planning on going into careers including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), this makes so much sense!  But it even makes sense for STEM majors.
  
• Worksheets, hands-on activities, and games follow chapter reading assignments, making Friendly Chemistry a visual and hands-on curriculum - basically, multi-sensory, which is great!
• The two-volume teacher's guides contain complete lesson plans as well as the student text, so I could follow along if needed. 
  
• Instead of lecturing to my teen about chemistry, I only needed to get involved 1-2 times per week for some of the games and activities.
• The games are optional; the worksheets cover the same concepts in a different manner in case a student doesn't learn well with games and hands-on activities, or in case you only have one student taking the course at a time.
  
• The labs use household items that are easy to find locally, and they are less expensive than purchasing full-fledged high school chemistry kits.

    In addition to my initial scanning of the materials, I decided to select one chapter and compare it to the Apologia, Bob Jones, and RealScience4Kids textbooks I already owned. 

    Guess which chapter I selected? 

    Quantum Mechanics!  (Dad, you would be proud!)  ☺

    First, I read through Friendly Chemistry's chapter on Quantum Mechanics.  Um, okay.  That seemed pretty straightforward and easily understandable. 

    Next, I read through Apologia's chapter on Quantum Mechanics.  Say what?  Oh my goodness!  It was explained in such a confusing, complicated manner that I wouldn't have really had a clue what was going on if I hadn't first read Friendly Chemistry's explanation. 

    Well, surely Bob Jones' Chemistry book would be easier to understand Quantum Mechanics, right?  No way!  I couldn't believe how complicated both high school chemistry texts were and how they made the concept of Quantum Mechanics so difficult to understand!

    I was sold on Friendly Chemistry.

Is Friendly Chemistry the right choice for my family?

    We all have neighbors and even relatives who’ve utilized the school systems, both public and private. These students have obviously taken courses in science that were taught using traditional texts. Some have done well. Others have floundered. They all got credit whether they understood and could implement the material into their daily lives, or not. I’d rather my children understand the material presented in an alternative way and be capable of using it in the future than to receive a "barely scraping by" grade (which is basically a waste of time), or a good grade but not retain the concepts, detest the subject, and choose not to pursue learning more about it based on teaching methods or resources.

    For my family, Friendly Chemistry was absolutely, 100% worth it!  We also included the DVD set, "Chemistry 101" alongside our Friendly Chemistry lessons.  It was a great combination.

    If one of my teens plans to be a STEM major in college or pursue STEM-type careers, I will probably have them also read 4-6 additional chapters from the Bob Jones and Apologia Chemistry texts for exposure to the more traditional method of learning chemistry concepts, although I don't feel this is absolutely necessary to do.  Most high school chemistry textbooks include several additional chapters not covered in Friendly Chemistry, but this is because those additional chapters are often not covered in regular classrooms due to time constraints, or they are covered in second year chemistry courses instead.

How does Friendly Chemistry "work"?

Within each lesson of the Teacher's Editions, you will find:

• A lesson overview
• Detailed lesson plans
• Lesson worksheets
• Lesson test
• An embedded copy of the student text

    The course is divided into 32 lessons.  In the Teacher's Edition, each lesson begins with teaching tips which include a lesson plan (the "game plan") and detailed instructions and explanations for each component of the lesson.   The teaching tips are followed by the text portion of the lesson and then by opportunities for students to practice the concepts presented (worksheet-type pages). 

    Because Friendly Chemistry strongly encourages practice in understanding the concepts through a variety of means other than strictly pencil and paper, many card games, board games, and active play-type games are included in each lesson.  A lesson test concludes each lesson.  All worksheets are included in the student editions, eliminating the need for you to make copies.  Each practice page and test is accompanied by keys with correct answers.   The answer keys are found in Volume 2 of the Teacher's Edition.

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Can I get an idea of what the labs and activities are like?

Sure!  Click here to see videos of all labs and activities.

    Want to know more?  View this short presentation in which co-author, Joey Hajda, discusses the most frequently asked questions about Friendly Chemistry.

   
Are there DVDs available to help teach the lessons?

Yes!  A DVD version of Friendly Chemistry is now available. There are six DVDs in the series which directly follow the textbook.  My family didn't use them, but we could have.

• Your child(ren) can be taught by Dr. Hajda, himself.

• If you would like to learn chemistry along with your child, viewing the DVD together can be a wonderful approach.

•  In a co-op setting, the DVD series is a great way to introduce the week's lesson.

Watch Lesson 1, Lesson 2 or Lesson 3 now!

Can Friendly Chemistry be used with a Co-op or group?

    Friendly Chemistry is ideal for co-op groups of learners!  In fact, from my experience, it is easier to implement and teach when there are at least 3-5 students.  Many games and activities are utilized throughout Friendly Chemistry to allow students to practice the concepts presented.  Playing games together which are tightly correlated to the concept being presented makes the learning easy and fun. 

    There are 32 lessons which correlate well with 30-32 weeks of instruction.  Friendly Chemistry recommends meeting one day per week for approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours.




Examples of the games and activities include:

• The Stinky Atom Game (players remove shoes and dash in relay fashion to assemble atoms according to atomic number called)
• Atom Smasher (players run from chair to chair according to ion formation method called)
• Chemistry Kingdom Play (play based upon reactivity trends of families of the periodic table)
• Building a Charge Balance (learning calculation of net charge using K'nex toys)
• Compound Instensity Board Game
• Compound Football (a variation of rock, paper, scissors using a playbook of anions and cations)
• Radius Cakes (using cakes or playdough to learn trends of atom size)
• Plus many more activities!

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What kind of support can I expect from the authors as I teach Friendly Chemistry?

    The authors are available by email to provide you with support as you study or teach Friendly Chemistry.  It is their goal to answer all email requests within 24 hours of receipt.  They are also happy to assist you by telephone between the hours of 8am-1pm Central time, Monday-Saturday.  (308) 870-4686.

GIVEAWAY: Joey and Lisa have kindly offered a complete set of Friendly Chemistry (a $120 value) to one of my readers in the United States.  Read on to find out all the ways you can enter to win!

NOTE:  Entrants must be 18 years or older;
only U.S. residents are eligible
to enter this giveaway.

I will select the winner of this prize using Random.org (via this Rafflecopter entry form).

Enter the Friendly Chemistry GIVEAWAY!

Enter below, using the Rafflecopter form, for your chance (or several chances) to get a complete set of Friendly Chemistry! This set includes:

• 1 Student Textbook
• 1 Volume 1 Teacher’s Edition
• 1 Volume 2 Teacher’s Edition
• 1 Manipulative Set
• 1 Annotated Solutions Manual

(Note:  Giveaway set does not include the DVD-version of Friendly Chemistry.) 
Total Retail Value: $120.00.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid.  In the past several months, multiple winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription.  

     An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive.  That will validate your entry.  Thank you!  

This post was originally posted on http://www.JoyInOurJourney.com

 

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