The Young Scientists Club - Questions

[jpklehm]

I'm considering joining The Young Scientists Club for my 8 yo ds.

 

But...

 

before I did, I really wanted to get some been-there-done-that advice from those of you in the know.

 

Science has been my biggest struggle since we started hsing 8 years ago. We did a lot of different things with my oldest (13 yo ds) and have been mostly doing the Apologia elementary series with my youngest. I have been pulling books from my shelves to try and put together chemistry topics and experiments for my 8 yo for the year, but I am not confident in my knowledge base; so, I'm searching for something we can do together that will be a combination of reading/discussing together and hands-on learning. Adding some simple writing would be great, too. Any suggestions? It doesn't have to be chemistry, either.

 

Is The Young Scientists Club worth the money (almost $17 per kit - $34 a month)? How thorough are the activities and information provided? At what approximate grade level are the kits?

 

And any other information you can give would be hugely appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Pam

[NittanyJen]

We just scored a NOEO 'bonus.'. Last year the kids took a just for fun class every other week at the local natural history museum. It was real science, but just for fun because it wasn't our main program.

 

On the last day, surprise Mom, we are bringing home tadpoles!

 

My DS7 is now in NOEO chem1, and one of his assignments tied to the book, "How to Think Like A Scientist" was to make up his own science question and answer it. As luck would have it, his tadpole just hatched into a froglet. He posited that it will take 5 weeks and 1 day for his froglet to grow to the size of a quarter. Nice!

 

Every other day we put a quarter on a clear sticky, label it with the date, lay it near the frog when he is on his rock, and photograph him.

 

My hope is that we can just keep him alive that long ;)

 

But the project fits the assignment very well, and keeps his interest in the froggy going, too!

 

I am finding NOEO is like this-- it creates neat opportunities for the kids to explore and become curious and ask questions about the world. And yet most of the actual chemistry experiments are very simple and self-contained, quick for set up and clean up.

[Lily_Grace]

I hate the Young Scientists Club. We use Noeo, but the first two years of the program (ages 9 and 10 here) we used I took out the instructions for the YSC kits, rewrote them, and slipped them back in. They are very poor as a science aid, giving no space for the kids to wonder or form hypotheses after introducing the experiment before explaining to them exactly what the outcome should be and why. There is no learning involved, only force feeding of information. Wild Goose was so much better for science kits and not novelties.

 

We still use Noeo, but I dropped the science kit add-on and chose other supplements for the year. I'd rather pay for kits from Steve Spangler Science or Wild Goose or Thames and Cosmos or the big Lakeshore Learning tubs that cover a part of the subject. They're much better at getting excitement and interest out of my kid than YSC ever was.

 

 

ETA: the books in Noeo are wonderful. They offer lots of hands on learning opportunities, especially the chem II and physics II choices. If I had to do it without ordering any extra kits I would still stick with Noeo. The hands on books are awesome.

Edited July 28, 2011 by Lily_Grace

[jpklehm]

We just scored a NOEO 'bonus.'. Last year the kids took a just for fun class every other week at the local natural history museum. It was real science, but just for fun because it wasn't our main program.

 

On the last day, surprise Mom, we are bringing home tadpoles!

 

My DS7 is now in NOEO chem1, and one of his assignments tied to the book, "How to Think Like A Scientist" was to make up his own science question and answer it. As luck would have it, his tadpole just hatched into a froglet. He posited that it will take 5 weeks and 1 day for his froglet to grow to the size of a quarter. Nice!

 

Every other day we put a quarter on a clear sticky, label it with the date, lay it near the frog when he is on his rock, and photograph him.

 

My hope is that we can just keep him alive that long ;)

 

But the project fits the assignment very well, and keeps his interest in the froggy going, too!

 

I am finding NOEO is like this-- it creates neat opportunities for the kids to explore and become curious and ask questions about the world. And yet most of the actual chemistry experiments are very simple and self-contained, quick for set up and clean up.

 

This is perfect...exactly what I dream about when I think of us doing science! Thanks.

 

Pam

[jpklehm]

I'd give NOEO a look. It uses the kits, but it is much more than what is provided in the kits.

 

http://www.noeoscience.com/

 

I like the kits, but they are too expensive for what you get and the information is quite minimal (not really enough to call it science class IMO).

 

Noeo seems to be popular, for good reason. I'm going to check into this series right away.

 

Thank you!

 

Pam

[jpklehm]

We still use Noeo, but I dropped the science kit add-on and chose other supplements for the year. I'd rather pay for kits from Steve Spangler Science or Wild Goose or Thames and Cosmos or the big Lakeshore Learning tubs that cover a part of the subject. They're much better at getting excitement and interest out of my kid than YSC ever was.

 

 

ETA: the books in Noeo are wonderful. They offer lots of hands on learning opportunities, especially the chem II and physics II choices. If I had to do it without ordering any extra kits I would still stick with Noeo. The hands on books are awesome.

 

Thank you for your honesty and for all the recommendations! That is exactly what I need! :)

 

Pam

[jpklehm]

ETA: the books in Noeo are wonderful. They offer lots of hands on learning opportunities, especially the chem II and physics II choices. If I had to do it without ordering any extra kits I would still stick with Noeo. The hands on books are awesome.

 

My ds is 8, to be 9 in March, and is in 3rd grade. Should I still do Chem I or move on to Chem II? I'm on the fence here. He really hasn't had any chemistry yet, though, so perhaps we need to just start at the beginning.

 

Pam

[jpklehm]

I have tried so many things. It has been hands down the best for us. It gets done, it's easy for me to use, and the kids like it.

 

I guess I just have to get past the price...ugh! But if it gets done and my ds enjoys it, then it's worth it. I won't order the Young Scientists kit with it, though, because most of what comes with that, I already have.

 

Thanks!

 

Pam

[NittanyJen]

For an inexpensive alternative of very high quality, all in the box kits (you sometimes need to supply a 9V battery, a rubber band, or water) with great instructions, for $20 you can get Science Wiz kits that contain several experiments each, and they work-- seriously. We hydrolyzed water (separated it into hydrogen and hydroxide ions, collecting each into the supplied test tubes) and then proved the H+ was there by popping it with a lighted match. Most experiments are not quite that exciting, but they are cool, and each kit contains several, with excellent explanations. There are at least 3 chemistry kits, one of which is or the younger age group. The DNA kit looks fantastic (I am holding it until we get to polymers) and there are several for physics-- we have done the light kit (kids loved the prisms, prism glasses, and making their own pinhole camera).

 

There are also another set of kits for the youngers called. My First ______ Kit by Scientific Explorer. When my son was 5 or 6 we weren't HS yet and we started these, and they were a hit-- he wanted them all the time. The exploring color science kit was fantastic, and could fit with a young physics program. There is the fizzy foamy kit, my first airplane kit, my first science kit, and more. These are also great for little ones.

[evandmp]

I looked at the young scientist kits but then found theacademyofscience.com. Supposedly they include everything but water and that description on experiments and the pics of whats inside look amazing. I was never hands on with science so I'm excited to have the opportunity to learn along with my son.

[evandmp]

For an inexpensive alternative of very high quality, all in the box kits (you sometimes need to supply a 9V battery, a rubber band, or water) with great instructions, for $20 you can get Science Wiz kits that contain several experiments each, and they work-- seriously. We hydrolyzed water (separated it into hydrogen and hydroxide ions, collecting each into the supplied test tubes) and then proved the H+ was there by popping it with a lighted match. Most experiments are not quite that exciting, but they are cool, and each kit contains several, with excellent explanations. There are at least 3 chemistry kits, one of which is or the younger age group. The DNA kit looks fantastic (I am holding it until we get to polymers) and there are several for physics-- we have done the light kit (kids loved the prisms, prism glasses, and making their own pinhole camera).

 

QUOTE]

 

I saw those at rainbow resource and they were on my to buy list before I found the other site. The kits looked like a lot of fun and are pretty affordable.

[black_midori]

I bought the first 6 kits of the Young Scientist's Club on amazon - 3 kits per box, $15-20 or so EACH BOX!!!! So, each kit was like $5-7. Way better deal than joining the club itself :)

 

That said - my son has really enjoyed these kits, but I've found that they are average. I wouldn't want to have paid $15 each kit for sure - the "kit" is just a plastic baggie with instructions and a few supplies in it... I would have felt totally gypped if I had not bought the 3-in-a-box from amazon. For $5-7ish each, though, it was worth it.

 

My 7yo was not able to do a lot of the experiments entirely by himself, which was disappointing (I was hoping for a non-teacher science, since it is his favorite subject and he wants to do it ALL THE TIME!). A lot of it was probably just the poorly written instructions - not very young-student friendly.

 

I am wishy-washy about buying the remaining kits - I had planned on buying all of them and using that as our main science, but I'm not sure right now... He wants to do 2+ kits a WEEK - that adds up fast. He can zip through all the experiments in each kit easily in one modest sitting, and then he's ready to move on to the next. I had them planned out as 1 kit every 2 weeks!! I had living books to go along with them (like NOEO), but even that only drags one kit out a week, since he is such a fast reader. ARGH!!

 

Note on Noeo - my son wants an extremely high-experiment load in his science. I noticed on Noeo that they use few kits in a semester - I forget exactly how many, but I remember it working out to be like 1 kit every 5-6 weeks or something??? Not nearly enough for us, I'm afraid. What I really need is for my 7yo to get wise enough to clean up his messes so mommy lets him do his own experiments without flipping out... :)

[Lily_Grace]

My ds is 8, to be 9 in March, and is in 3rd grade. Should I still do Chem I or move on to Chem II? I'm on the fence here. He really hasn't had any chemistry yet, though, so perhaps we need to just start at the beginning.

 

Pam

 

Chem II is an introduction also, but written for students who are able to grasp more information at a time. If your library has any of the books browse through them and see what you think.

 

 

Note on Noeo - my son wants an extremely high-experiment load in his science. I noticed on Noeo that they use few kits in a semester - I forget exactly how many, but I remember it working out to be like 1 kit every 5-6 weeks or something??? Not nearly enough for us, I'm afraid. What I really need is for my 7yo to get wise enough to clean up his messes so mommy lets him do his own experiments without flipping out... :)

 

:lol: Yes, only a few kits are included. However, the books Fizz, Bubble, and Flash, Geology Rocks and Adventures with Atoms and Molecules all provide many, many more experiments! This year we're doing Physics II. So far this week we've done 3 experiment days and two computer link/summary/definition days. We've done at least 2 experiments a week since we've started a month ago. There will be some down weeks as we get further in, but it won't be a month before we do another experiment ever. Maybe 6-7 days at the longest stretch.

[NittanyJen]

Note on Noeo - my son wants an extremely high-experiment load in his science. I noticed on Noeo that they use few kits in a semester - I forget exactly how many, but I remember it working out to be like 1 kit every 5-6 weeks or something??? Not nearly enough for us, I'm afraid. What I really need is for my 7yo to get wise enough to clean up his messes so mommy lets him do his own experiments without flipping out... :)

 

Note that these are not the only experiments in NOEO by a long shot. Several of the books on the list are experiment books, using everyday household items.

[jpklehm]

For an inexpensive alternative of very high quality, all in the box kits (you sometimes need to supply a 9V battery, a rubber band, or water) with great instructions, for $20 you can get Science Wiz kits that contain several experiments each, and they work-- seriously. We hydrolyzed water (separated it into hydrogen and hydroxide ions, collecting each into the supplied test tubes) and then proved the H+ was there by popping it with a lighted match. Most experiments are not quite that exciting, but they are cool, and each kit contains several, with excellent explanations. There are at least 3 chemistry kits, one of which is or the younger age group. The DNA kit looks fantastic (I am holding it until we get to polymers) and there are several for physics-- we have done the light kit (kids loved the prisms, prism glasses, and making their own pinhole camera).

 

There are also another set of kits for the youngers called. My First ______ Kit by Scientific Explorer. When my son was 5 or 6 we weren't HS yet and we started these, and they were a hit-- he wanted them all the time. The exploring color science kit was fantastic, and could fit with a young physics program. There is the fizzy foamy kit, my first airplane kit, my first science kit, and more. These are also great for little ones.

 

Thank you, Jen, for these suggestions. I'm going to check into them now. My ds loves to do experiments but admittedly, we haven't done many so far in his young schooling career. I'm trying to change that because I promised my boys that we'd have more fun this year...more drawing/labeling art in different subjects, more field trips, etc.