Apologia Chemistry: Why all of the detail and photos?

I'm sure you wonder why many of these posts are so detailed.  The blog serves several purposes.  One reason I post is for students who miss lab.  Ideally, the kids look at the blog and Google Classroom to check on missing assignments.  The second reason I post is for the parents.  If the child is struggling with a concept, it's helpful to look at the blog to see if I posted answer keys to check the child's progress.  Sometimes, parents want to understand what material is covered.  The third reason I post is to document labs, quizzes, and activities for several home-school academies: Mother of Divine Grace, Kolbe, and Seton.  I have kids enrolled in all three academies.  The blog and the classroom are evidence we completed the entire Chemistry course with labs equivalent to the experiments in Dr. Wile's Chemistry textbook.  The last reason is for you.  It can be tough to teach Chemistry at home.  It's helpful to have different fun labs to try in addition to Dr. Wile's experiments.  If you have a Co-op group it's nice to check on pacing. 

I tell the kids to keep lab reports.  The lab reports or lab notebook is evidence the child completed the labs described.  Take photos and save them on Google Classroom with test grades.  I have not had trouble documenting my class for Kolbe, Seton, or Mother of Divine Grace.  The photos and blog-journal serve as evidence we completed a high school level chemistry lab course.  Really.