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Anyone used Supercharged Science?
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Hi all! I’d love opinions from anyone who has used this program. Background – This is our third year of homeschooling. Up until now science in our home (with 4 children aged 3, 6, 8 and 10) has been entirely literature based. We’ve done a lot of Burgess, and a little Among the _____ People. We’ve stuck to literature because everyone has greatly enjoyed it, but I realize now as we go into 4th and 5th grade, the time will soon be upon us to get into “more”.
I have looked at Apologia and don’t feel it would be a fit (yet), but the children are eager to get into experiments and to experience some practical science. I’m wondering if Supercharged could be a “super-easy” way for ME to get this going in our home. I am dreaming of my older two just “doing” science on their own for this year (which the program says is possible), giving me a chunk of time to work more with my little ones on reading, etc. Thoughts?
I don’t know what to say. We used it for a while. I didn’t love it like I hoped I would. Neither did my kids. Do they still offer a 30 day free trial or something like that? You could have the kids do it for that period and see how they like it. I hate to discourage you…it might be just the thing for you…but it wasn’t for us. The kids didn’t really like her style in the videos and the was the big thing going for it in my mind. And I did not find it user friendly at ALL. I needed more structure as I lacked confidence in this area. But if you can get past that, it could work fine if the kids were self-motivated to explore on their own.
You might take a look at http://www.pandiapress.com. That’s what I’ve gone with now, and I think we’ll like it a lot…but I guess I can’t say I’ve really proved that with the kids yet either. I love what I see…it’s really what I was hoping Supercharged would be, but in a book. They have a good bit free to try too – I think 3 weeks worth – so you can try that on for size too. I hope this helps!
I signed up for Aurora’s ecamp this summer. I would use this in a heart beat if I could afford it, but with my kids being 7 & 8 I think it can wait till they are a bit older. probably around 5-8th grade would be a perfect fit!! The lady is super awesome and she really connects with the kids and she does lots of live classes and has where you can email and get questions answered if things aren’t working right. the videos are great quality, not cheesy at all. She has probably 10 different experiments for each little topic so you can pick & choose what you are comfortable with or do the ones you have the stuff for. I hosted a science day this summer and had a mess of kids come out for rocketry. We did about 4-5 different things in about 3 hours plus I hooked lap top up to tv so all kids could watch the video on rocketry and they loved it. ages were 6-9 They were repeating Newtons laws as we were doing the experiments. Super fun day and I highly recommend the program. Website is very easy to find what you are looking for seperated by topics so you could take one topic per term etc. For now, since my two are so young, I’m going to be content with Sonlight’s science program, but 2-3 years and I will most likely switch. There is just something about Aurora that I & kids like. I personally love that she is a woman rocket scientist!! Hope this helps you.
Thanks so much, ladies, for taking the time to reply!
anniepeter – this does help and I appreciate your honesty. I, too, will need a lot of structure in this area, so your comment on this is something I will need to think about. My kids (boys) may very well connect with her style, that’s kind of an individual thing, so we’ll see. Also on structure, I saw a mention on another review that stated the materials were not that “easy” and not really household items. More to think about. They do still have the 30 day trial…
After seeing cdm2kk’s comments…first, if I had known there was a “camp” I might have gone that route. Sure sounds like that’s an easier way to test the waters! After seeing your comments though, I do wonder if I truly “need” to be doing this right now either (my 2 eldest are only a bit older than yours). I’ve never looked at Sonlight, so perhaps I’ll check that out. Certainly the SCM guide tells us there is nothing wrong with sticking to living literature in these years. And we do love the living books approach.
Again, I truly appreciate the responses, ladies 🙂 And maybe I’ll find some others on the forum with more comments or success stories…
Angelina, I wouldn’t pay for super charge for kids your age either. Sonlight has living books along with an experiment book and you purchase the non consumable kit as well as the consumable kit which contains everything you need. These are more in line with younger kids and I like having all the weird stuff here. Now there are things like paperclips or rubber bands not included but those are easy enought to get. This year kids are doinng the Science C I believe, it has weather, electricity/batteries, and a little on the body.
Supercharge Science is really set up to be online use, but I have a probem with monthly subscription type stuff. I do like having what I buy in hand. They do allow you to purchase the course seperated by age groups, but eventhey tell you not everything online are on the DVD’s so you pay that big price and feel you aren’t getting everything. I think the silver package was for K-8th for around $500ish the full course Gold was like $1200ish K-College but who has that just lying around? LOL
Since I did the ecamp, I can continue with the online access for $37 a month, but my kids are not learning that much knowledge at their ages. I have to read everything to them. They can watch the video, but I have to explain some of the words. It is just for a little older group that can do it on their own in a more semi guided way. Best of lluck.
cdm2kk, thank you again, your comments have really made this more clear for me. You and I think exactly the same way about materials and weird stuff, as you say, LOL! I’ll definitely check out Sonlight, I like the idea of an experiment “kit”. The other company that does it that way from what I can gather is A Reason for Science, so they might be on my check-them-out list. Then again, Sonlight is so well regarded and they are very literature based, so that might be the obvious way to go. Is there any reason you don’t envision yourself staying with Sonlight for Science for “long term”…or could you see staying with them through to about junior high? Thanks again for taking the time to reply, it has really been a help to me!
I hope (this is said laughing hysterically) that my kids will become more self independant learners and by 7-8th not need me to help with evey little thing. I think Super Charged would be more entertaining while educational, but I do think I would continue with Sonlights reading too. The kit I got is a bit cheesy for $20 and I could have collected 80% of the things in there except a few. With that said, did I want to spend the time tracking it all down.. probably not, so it is a wash…I guess. I have a friend who ordered two different sciences from Sonlight and I can’t wait to see hers they were for 4th grade & 6th grade. I will know more then how the experiments will go with Sonlight seeing her kits. I just like Aurora’s videos and her kooky sweet bubbling personality.
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