I used to teach this course at a Catholic high school, and when I transitioned to being a full-time mom, I thought I would take what I already had and turn it into a course for homeschoolers. Easy-peasy, right? Well, turns out it's a bit more complicated than that. I'm still learning the best ways to deliver this material, and am working on improving and updating the course based on your suggestions. That being said, the 2022 school year is my third time teaching biology for homeschoolers, so there are several questions that have come up repeatedly.
There's a lot of stuff to print after every lesson (notes, keywords, homework, etc.). That gets to be a lot of paper and ink. Do I really have to print all that?
No, you really don't. Some people like to have those things in hard copy so they don't need a screen to study, or so they can do their homework on actual paper. Others are just fine doing everything on the computer. Feel free to do whatever works for you. If you start out printing everything, and then find you don't use the printouts--just stop printing them. If you find it difficult to study on the computer, try printing the study materials. I just wanted to have everything available so you can use it in whatever way suits you best.
Could I just buy a hard copy of all the materials?
I love the idea of offering that for the future, but it kind of requires having everything finished before the course starts, so I can send it to a printer. And I'm still working on the materials, usually just a couple units ahead of the students. So unfortunately I can't offer a pre-printed notes/homework packet this year.
Could we have the information from the videos written out in textbook form as well?
I'm currently working on that. I started with videos, since the first students I had learned best that way, but I realize other students might also like written lessons. I will have textbook versions available for some of the lessons this year--hopefully several, but it depends how much time I get. When there is a textbook version of a lesson, you will find that in the downloadables section of the lesson.
We have to skip [X number of lessons] because [X reason]. Is that okay?
Yes! I trust you to know what are good reasons to skip school, and homeschooling is supposed to be flexible anyway. The lessons should be available on the website well in advance, so if it is a foreseen vacation, you may be able to work ahead. If that's not an option, or life just threw you a curveball, we can work around that as well. Just let me know, and I can give you some ideas to make the schedule work for you, rather than you being tied to the schedule.
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