Don’t you hate it when you perform an experiment and it fails? My first two years of teaching 6th grade science were a horrible failure when it came to doing them [experiments]. I didn’t have the necessary equipment to perform the activities and when I did, they failed. Eventually, we just read about what the experiments were supposed to do and discussed the process. How interesting is that? 😦
I had much better success when I began homeschooling my sons. I used Janice Van Cleave‘s books and I was thankful that not only did the experiments work, but they were fun and the explanations that were written in the book made sense! Oh, happy day! I heartily recommend that series of books because we used them for several years and had very little failure.(I created links to each of the products- just click on them.)
Science For Kids is a website that has experiments and lesson plans. It is FREE and has games to play too!
If you are looking for a more traditional curriculum I have some suggestions listed here.
NOEO Science has a terrific Chemistry curriculum with the trade books that you need included. I have used the Chemistry Level 1 for 1-3rd grade and enjoyed the books and experiments. Although at first glance it appears to be a bit pricey, you have the convenience of all the books being at your disposal and there is no time spent on finding the books that you will need for the class. The science kits are included, which is a huge time-saver! If you have several students you will be instructing, you may want to purchase an additional kit. There are several levels so it will go all the way through high school.
Are you in need of Chemistry for your senior high student? I just finished looking at a video series called Chemistry 101. It also has workbooks and tests. I didn’t see any actual labs for your student to do, but that isn’t such a bad thing because of housing chemicals in your home. Weird things happen to them after a period of time… After watching the video and reading the reviews, this would be worth checking into for your student.
I have heard good things from homeschool moms about Spectrum Chemistry, although we didn’t use personally. “Fulfill all your requirements for a lab-based chemistry course while exercising your student’s practical-problem-solving skills and scientific reasoning. This one-year chemistry course is done three days a week, one of which is a lab day. It is the equivalent of an honors chemistry for college-bound students.”- beginningspublishing.com