Any suggestions for help with A Level chemistry?

[WorriedNotWorried]

Chemistry was DS’s favourite subject at GCSE but 2 months into A levels and he isn’t enjoying it at all. New teacher isn’t motivating him and he’s struggling.

Can anyone please recommend any online books or websites so that I can try and help him. Lack of parents evenings etc is making everything much harder.

Many thanks

Careers Advisor here.

Does he need chemistry for future plans? Is it that he's not enjoying it or it's too hard? Sciences from GCSE to A Level is a huge jump....what was his chemistry grade at GCSE?

Grade 7. He’s not really enjoying it but he is loving maths and physics.

I think it’s a combination of 6 months off school, never really having had to work hard before and thinking he was going to absolutely love it based on how much he enjoyed it at GCSE ...

Chemistry teacher here - a level Chemistry is really hard so I would expect some struggles at this point. He needs to make sure that his GCSE knowledge and understanding of atomic structure and bonding is very secure. Does he have a copy of the course textbook? He needs to read the relevant chapters and complete the questions in them.

Has he approached the teacher for help?

My dd is a year older and got 8,8 in GCSE. I had to get a tutor to help build back her confidence in Biology because lockdown and the need to self-teach was getting her down. It's not cheap but her confidence and grades quickly bounced back.

A-level is much harder than GCSE. Is he doing the necessary hours of study outside of class?

Yes he does have the text book but he’s not doing enough at home. We’ve had a chat this afternoon and he’s finally doing some now.

Thanks for your replies.

We booked a chemistry tutor for a few sessions and it was worth every penny. You can them via zoom. It can be hard to ask questions when they are trying to get through so much in a class and easy to fall behind.

Why did he choose chemistry?

Because it was his favourite subject at GCSE and he got a 7.

I was wondering if he needed it, for a future career plan?

Hi WorriedNotWorried
I was weak in my A Level Chemistry in my lower sixth, but recovered after about a year - and went on to do a Chemistry Degree. I changed a few things. I found different books which helped me understand more.

I would propose:

1. Tackle end of chapter qns in his text book to identify weaknesses and to then read the chapter.
2. Use YouTube to find those particular topics; YouTube is brilliant for this.
3. Have a look at different books. My son is Y13 doing AQA Chemistry. I bought him the Hodder book. Quickly he found it difficult to comprehend, and we purchased the CGP text book which was simpler to follow.

Hope the above helps

@WorriedNotWorried mychemguy on YouTube. He explains things really well.

@Portico and @mumsneedwine - this is exactly the sort of help I was after. Much appreciated. I shall go google now. Thank you so much.

DD is trying to keep a topic ahead with ‘flipped learning’ - she reads the section of the text book and watches the you tube vids before they tackle the topic in class. She says that this gives her the confidence to ask questions to clarify stuff instead of just sitting there processing new info.

That’s a brilliant approach

@KingscoteStaff great idea - I shall suggest it!