General Biology and The Apprentice's Companion for General Biology
by Heather Ayala and Katie Rogstad
For First Son, I tried Sabbath Mood Homeschool's biology for Form 3, but found it insufficient for a high school credit. (Mater Amabilis now schedules it in
Level 3 Year 1, middle school.) I added an anatomy coloring book and a bunch of other resources and activities (like growing a garden) and made it work for him and First Daughter.
But Second Daughter wants to study ecology in college, so I knew we'd want something different. After our pleasant experience with
Novare's Introductory Physics (which we did for ninth grade science), I read about this one on their website and decided to order it for tenth grade science.
The set consists of the student's textbook, the companion (a student lab book), and lots of teacher resources (all digital) like an answer key, teacher's notes for the labs, quizzes, tests, and semester exams.
I studied biology in college, so am quite comfortable with the content. I selected a lab exercise for each week from the ample number provided. Many of them are quite easy to do for anyone. A microscope and set of slides and a number of organisms to dissect will get you very far for a biology lab. Some of them are ambitious, and the notes provided plenty of help in successfully completing them. (I have the first edition; I would expect the second edition to be even better.) I ordered everything I needed (that I couldn't get at the grocery store) from
HomeScienceTools.com.
All of Novare's texts are written from the perspective of wonder and a delight in God's creation. This book present the biological information in a text that meets my high Charlotte Mason standards. The authors discuss issues like the theory of evolution and climate change clearly, describing arguments from different perspectives. There are full color photos and diagrams on basically every spread.
My daughter read the entire book and completed a lab activity every week. I awarded her an honors credit for the course.
Second Son will be following the same plans next year, and we have invited a friend to join us. I'm excited! (And only a little sad that this will be my last biology course.)
I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Novare, Classical Academic Press, and HomeScienceTools are not affiliate links.
