Science Curriculum Reviews Please

We have used the pre-level Real Science 4 Kids for Chemistry and Biology. My kids were 2nd and 3rd grade. They loved it. I loved it. The student textbook is a beautiful hardcover book with excellent illustrations to help you understand chemical bonds (or whatever else you’re learning). Each chapter is fairly short. It took us a day to read a chapter. I’d sometimes spread it out over a few days and add in a living book or two if I could find one. Then we’d do the experiment on Friday. In the younger books the font is rather large.

It’s written in a very fun, engaging yet intellectual manner. I never felt they were “dumbing it down”, just explaining it so a child (or parent) could understand. My kids were able to narrate back with ease. My then 3/4-yr-old sat in on all the science and he became familiar enough with the various pictures of the elements that he could tell me “in this picture oxygen is bonding with helium” and other such gems.

I used the text for a science co-op too where I had 3 3rd graders, a 6th grader and a 7th grader. We’d read a part of the chapter (which took 5 to 10 minutes) then did the experiment. It worked really well. I’d occasionally pull the chapter from Level 1 or 2 off the internet to go a little more in-depth.

I don’t use the student workbooks with my younger guys. It’s too hard for them to do so much writing. We do a lot of it orally or I have them draw a picture to show what happened and write a few sentences. The experiments were easy to do with normal household stuff. I did use the teacher’s manual to help me understand the lab better as I’m not a ‘science’ person.

I plan on using this curriculum all the way through. Because we go through them so fast though – about a month for a book – I try to add in other living books. I also will do a Real Science book then take a month or two to do oceans or deserts or birds or whatever. And because I do go through them quickly it can get expensive which is why I add other things in. That way I can spend time looking for used books or wait for sales to get the rest. Oh, the publishers have a deal that if they revise the book you can send in your old copy and they’ll send you the most recent version.

I feel like my kids are getting a thorough understanding of science but it still gives us time to focus on other subjects not covered in the books.

You can view all of the materials online for free at http://www.gravitaspublications.com/. Every page of every book. I think that’s pretty darn cool. I’ve been tempted to just use the teacher’s manual online since I only reference it once in a while and skip the student lab book altogether. I’ll have to see what the older grades look like. There are a lot of extras you can use too – language connections, technology, history, art, etc. We’ve never delved into those as I feel like the main book is enough.

We have tried Apologia (for the younger kids) and found it boring, dry and overwhelming. My kids dreaded me pulling out the book. They much prefer Real Science and the unit studies we do.

I’ve read some of the books that go with Noeo. Some were great and some were rather dry and textbook like. I still reference their book list and plug it into the Real Science books. They correspond fairly nicely. Then I just use the experiments from Real Science with the living books from Noeo.

Heather

I was wondering about Real science 4 kids instead of apologia. We are just getting started with CM and I wasn’t sure it was a CM style book.. We have the pre-chemistry and the Chemistry 1 and I’m trying to decide if we are going to use it next year. We used apologia exploring creation with astronomy and my kids didn’t like it either.. If we do use the RSFK I’m going to find something to stretch it out.

Angela

Cindy, I am pretty sure he could do all three subjects in one year. At the Pre-Level I know you definitely can. I just looked through the Level 1 books (which are 4th-6th) and I think you’d be able to do those in a year too; each book is around 70 pages. I think you could easily do one chapter a week plus the experiments. Or you could take 2 to 3 weeks per chapter and add in additional living books and experiments. Currently there is only Chemistry for Level 2 and that’s a bit longer.

Depending on how much money you want to spend you can opt for the student text only and find experiments to go with it. Or use the lab sheets and manuals online. You can’t print though. Take a look through them to see if they are something you want. You can buy the lab sheets and teacher’s manual on CDs if wanted at http://www.arn.org/realscience/realscience.html. I’ve heard on the Real Science yahoo group that you can get a 25% discount by purchasing at the conventions. I don’t have any around me, but you might.

They just added tests and quizzes online at http://www.gravitaspublications.com. I think you pay a monthly or maybe yearly fee to access those, if you want.

I love Real Science but am also impressed with Rainbow although I’ve only seen it online. I don’t know anyone who’s actually used it though.

Good luck. I’m interested in hearing what you decide.

Heather