Homeschool Lab Science for Your High Schooler: Apologia Self-Paced Biology
Today I’m excited to share Apologia Biology self-paced course for high school and how this curriculum is helping me get that big box of “lab science” checked off the list with my sophomore this year! Apologia reached out to see if I could check out and review their self-paced biology course and having had used their high school courses in the past, I knew this would be a good fit.
My kids have thrived using Apologia’s science over the last couple of years. I have written reviews on their Physical Science for high school, their Earth Science I used with my middle and elementary kids, and most recently, their Health and Nutrition course with my high schoolers. We loved all of these courses! I am really excited to share about Biology as well.
Note: I was compensated by Apologia for my time and provided the curriculum to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Below you will find my thoughts on planning our homeschool year with Apologia Biology, what the highlights are so far, and why this curriculum can help the science-challenged homeschool mom 🙂
Here we go!
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What is Apologia Self-Paced Biology?
Apologia Biology is a course full of experiments, a notebook for your student to follow, and a text. It covers lots of topics including:
- Ecology
- the Cell Cycle
- DNA
- Genetics
- Evolution
- Plant Structure
- Animals
The course is not only designed to teach your child a thorough base of biology concepts like the ones listed above, but also gain confidence in their abilities to structure their schedule, take notes, and study.
The full, self-paced course includes:
- Digital Version of the Textbook (I recommend having the physical copy as well to highlight and make notes in.
- Audiobook
- Video Lessons
- Hands-on Experiments (Easy-to-do, at-home…videos walk students through.)
- Review Questions and Answers
- Automatically Graded Tests
To Purchase Separately:
- Student Notebook: (I love this!!) includes
- a very clearly laid-out weekly plan for students based on a 4-day school week
- experiments for each module
- notetaking tips and spaces
- lab sheets + questions
- grading guide for parents
Who Is Apologia Self-Paced Biology Science For?
Apologia gives the basic example scope for using their curricula as follows:
- 7th grade: General Science
- 8th: Physical Science
- 9th: Biology
- 10th: Chemistry
- 11th: Physics
Although Apologia Biology is generally used for 9th-grade studies, we are using it for 10th and it is fine for that age too. Because I will also have a 12th grader in the fall, I like to combine my high schoolers where I can. Last year, my 9th and 11th grader both did Physics together. You can read about our curriculum line up HERE.
Another thing that makes this course really simple on Mom and teens is the auto-graded tests. These tests give feedback and students are even allowed to take the tests multiple times.
The best thing you can do if you have kids around the same general age group is combine them to use the same course. This is so helpful for moms teaching multiples ages in their homeschool!
How We’re Using Apologia Self-Paced Biology This Year
Apologia makes it so incredibly simple for parents and students to check off lab science for the year. My daughter will be logging into her course daily, watching the videos and following along with the syllabus.
The Student Notebook especially lays things out so clearly and so simply, they are all but physically holding your hand to get you started. We will be using the suggested guide and doing a 5-day work week for science. The Student Notebook clearly lays out what my daughter will be covering each day and she can check it off as he goes to stay organized.
I love that this curriculum not only teaches science, but it is teaching the student so many great life skills too:
- organization
- how to take proper notes
- tips on studying
- test-taking skills
- and planning out your week
As for the experiments, the textbook includes a full list of every supply needed for each module’s experiment. That means I can plan ahead, gather everything my daughter will need, put the supplies together in baggies or container, mark it and she will have everything he needs when the time comes.
