Posted in Reviews

About the product/service:  The product I'm reviewing for the TOS Homeschool Crew today is Friendly Chemistry:  A Guide to Learning Basic Chemisty 3rd edition by Joey and Lisa Hajda.  In this book your student will learn about atomic theory, the periodic table of elements, quantum mechanics, ionization, the mole, the ideal gas laws, and more.  

This course is written for high school students but can be used with motivated junior high kids too.  It is suggested that your student understand at least some basic algebra before starting the course.   

What are the pros of this product?  This book takes all the basics of chemistry and puts it in very simple terms.  As simple as you can put chemistry!  There are 32 lessons in all, but each one is short and sweet, maybe five to ten pages.  Do one of these short lessons each week, along with the additional worksheets and activities, and you will have a very solid understanding of basic chemistry. 

This program can be used for a single student, several children in a family, or even in a classroom or co-op.  It is very flexible.

Joey and Lisa, who wrote the program, are real homeschool parents, just like you, so they know your needs.  Often you will find that many products you buy were never meant to be used by one student, but were created with a classroom in mind.  The Hajdas were able to create this program because they have taught their own children chemistry!

What's not to like?  I love the content of this product, but as far as the actual product itself, I have to say it's not the same quality of most other popular science texts.  You basically get two three ring binders (one for teacher, one for student) with copied pages.  This isn't that big of a deal really, as it makes it very easy to copy the pages (they allow that for family use) but if you are rough on things (yeah, yeah, I'm talking about us here) you might find that some of the pages will tear out.  You will probably need to buy some of those little circle thingies to reinforce your pages. 

 There are also some simple manipulatives as well as some flashcards, but there are no "chemistry kit" type items that come with the program.  The labs that you will do are not the usual labs that are done in a school setting.  Most of the labs are very simple and use household items.  No bubbling test tubes or explosions.  I suppose that could be a pro or a con depending on your personality!  :)

One more thing I have to mention.  There are several errors in the book.  Not serious errors, but things like typos, a few elements left off a list, and a test key incorrectly marked.  My kids noticed them right away, but it didn't seem to affect their learning.  I'm sure in the next edition they'll have them all fixed, but be aware, they are there. 

The Crazy Mom take:  I think this program is a real diamond in the rough.  I just love it.  Honestly they had me at "friendly."  Firstborn is graduating this year and we have tried several chemistry books.  He has studied chemistry quite a bit over the years, but I just didn't feel like he had the basics down.  The other books were so detailed that he got caught up in all the scientific jargon.  He is a very detail oriented and meticulous person, and he likes to know everything very thoroughly before moving on.  This meant he was taking forever to get through the other books.

We needed something that was written in very simple language that would give him what he needs to move right into college chemistry.  I knew he could always take  prepatory chemistry, but that meant an additional class as well as more money.  This program was the perfect fit.

I love this program so much I am using it with my two other high school boys.  The way I look at it, this is really all they need for chemistry.  If they finish it up and want to do another program, that's OK with me too. 

Again, I really like this program.  I highly recommend it!

What's the bottom line?  Retail cost for one student edition is $75.00 (330pp, ring-bound).  Retail cost for the teacher's edition is $60.00 (300pp, ring-bound).  Shipping to US addresses is FREE!

I am going to give Friendly Chemistry 4 out of 5 smileys!!!*

Check it out!  http://www.friendlychemistry.com/

See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/612194/

*The Smiley System: 

I can't really recommend this product.

 I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

 This is a good product, but isn't right for everyone.

 Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

 This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!