Elements, moles and equations, oh MY!

We've been working on Chemistry with fervor the last few days. It has been nice having time away from doctor's visits! We can put forth 100% of our energy toward school, well, after everyone got over the cold they shared, they have put forth about 95% effort into school! ~smile~

My favorite Chemistry curriculum is Friendly Chemistry, in case you're just dying to know.  We are not using it in high school, but used it in middle school as a foundation for high school chemistry.  It could certainly be used by high school students, though. It covers the topics very well and make it very easy to understand the concepts. In fact, we used it as a reference a few times the last few days. We also like the videos at Khan Academy - check them out!  They are free.  Their videos cover topics in all school subjects and we've found the biology and chemistry tutorial videos to be quite helpful. Of course, we love our chemistry set, too.

Yesterday, we were going over Avogadro's number and figuring out problems using it and I kept thinking of Avocados. The names sounds similar. I couldn't help it.   Today, we balanced more equations than I care to admit, just to be sure the oldest truly understood the concept.  I'll be dreaming of equations in my sleep.  Which brings me to my next point.

Each child is different.  My two youngest seem to remember chemistry from middle school, while my oldest seems to have dumped it all from his memory! How can it be that the two children in my house NOT taking chemistry are yelling out the answers and the one who IS currently enrolled in chemistry sits with a blank stare?  Followed by one of the other two saying, "Dude! Mom has gone over this with us every year since we were in fifth grade!"   I just have to laugh.  Ask my oldest about  politics, the US Presidents, the Catholic faith or the NFL and he seems to remember everything. He seems to do well in the things that interest him.  Isn't that true for us all to some degree? 

We'll wake up tomorrow, say a prayer and hope he's retained enough to pass the test! ~smile~  I'm sure he'll do just fine. I know he can balance equations!