I was using Noeo Chemistry with my dd and her friend who hschools with us twice a week. I was loving it, but the girls far prefer just going through the chem manual that came with the chemistry set and doing those experiments. So we are doing that and supplementing with Real Science 4 Kids chemistry which has lots of basic info on atoms, molecules,etc. Not very exciting but not overwhelming either. Then I read to them and am having them read the living books from the Noeo curric. Some of those are really great and there hasn’t been much resistance at all. The Noeo requires a chem set from Thames and Kosmos, and it has proven to be a great hit. Oh, the girls are in grade 5 & 7. I also use the Noeo books for my 15yr old son who has had only a little science.
I also own almost all the living science books you mentioned above Sharity, and I love them all. I found Madam How/Lady Why a bit hard for my dd to focus on as it talks a lot about England and the countryside there, but we have enjoyed most of them. I love Storybook of Science and also the Storybook of Birds and Beasts by the same author. One we love that you can get through SCM is Jacks Insects by E. Selous. My kids have totally loved listening to this one-great imagery! Again it was a bit hard to get ‘into’ at the beginning but the story grabbed them pretty quickly:) We spend several weeks each year aboard a fishing boat in Alaska so I use most of my read alouds then. The natural world provides the hands on we need then and when we are home we do the experiments and things we can’t do on the boat.
