For someone who made a "C" in high school chemistry, the term "Friendly Chemistry" is an oxymoron!  I was intrigued by the title and eagerly opened up the student and teacher's edition when I received them.

 What I love about this Chemistry program is that:

1.  It is easy for me to teach and explain the concepts.  Mr. Morford, my high school Chemistry teacher would be so proud.

2.  Games are included throughout the course making the learning fun and not just boring bookwork.  (I hate boring bookwork!)  

3.  The lesson plans are laid out so that all I have to do is gather basic supplies.  A HUGE PLUS! 

4.  My kids have the opportunity to enjoy Chemistry.  Whoo-hoo!

 The authors, Joey and Lisa Hajda, both have degrees in veterinary medicine and master's degrees in education.  Joey has his doctorate and Lisa is working towards hers.  In other words, these people are equipped to write curriculum!  AND, they are homeschooling parents of 10 children.

An introduction begins the teacher's edition with explanations of each component of the course.  Supplemental notes clearly indicate what parent is to do.  This is not a class for students to do on their own, but one the parents get involved with.  Some of the activities are better done with a co-op or can be modified.  Most are done just fine within the family setting.

The course contains 33 lessons beginning with a "Getting Started" lesson then moving on to "The Elements" and ending with "The Combined Gas Laws".  Figure on doing approximately one lesson per week over three to four days.  Some of the lessons will take longer doing ALL of the lab activities.  Each lesson begins with a review of the prior lesson's activities.  Afterwards, you read the text together with your students and do activities such as a lab, game, or worksheet.  Review pages and tests are also to be given.  The teacher's lesson very clearly states what you are to do throughout each activity.   

The Hajda's make it sooooo easy to understand because they use many demonstrations of basic chemistry principles to teach concepts.  The cooking examples are especially fun for the kids-yummy!  The Labs are far more fun and understandable than Chemistry labs I did.  The student's lessons are also well-written and many analogical examples are given.  See samples of teacher's and student's books here.  http://www.friendlychemistry.com/Text%20Samples.htm

I went through the teacher's notes and wrote "Day 1", "Day 2", etc.  throughout the sections to space out each lesson to fit my week.  It was simple to do.  That, reading over the information, and gathering supplies was the jist of my preparations.  Fantastic!

My kids loved the games and experiments.  I loved them because they cemented their learning . . . and mine.  They seem to be grasping the concepts well.

Because it has been soooo long since I went through a Chemistry course, I had a 12th grade parochial school student look over this program to give me a sense of how it compared to his chemistry class.   He placed 1st in Chemistry for a state competition  and 5th nationally of students in Christian schools.  (American Association of Christian Schools)  He felt that it was lacking a little if this Chemistry would be the only one someone planning a science career would take.  He did say that the program was good at explaining concepts and the information on notation was very good. 

That said, I feel most individuals would enjoy Friendly Chemistry curriculum and gain much from it.  I intend to complete this and use it as their only High School Chemistry.  If they want more then we will do some kind of advanced Chemistry.  

The web address is  www.friendlychemistry.com    You can also email them at info@friendlychemistry.com  

Friendly Chemistry Student Edition with Manipulative Set	$75
Friendly Chemistry Teacher's Edition	$60.00