PeachyDoodle Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 If you use Real Science Odyssey, how much time do *you* spend on it, including prep work, etc.? I like the look of RSO, and I think the hands-on aspect will be more engaging for ds6 than a literature-based program, but I'm a tad intimidated by the amount of work it seems like it would involve. The materials list goes on for two solid pages! :svengo: We don't have a great track record when it comes to science. Our experiments never seem to work, if we even get around to doing them in the first place. I want an elementary science plan that's fun, but gentle and not overwhelming in either time or information, and so far I'm coming up empty-handed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 I haven't found it to be too time consuming. The supplies list looks daunting but actually isn't all that bad. At the beginning of a month I would make the weekly lab kits: I took those cheap storage bins and put the components for each week into one (so four bins with two experiment components). If there were lab sheets I would put those in too. If I felt the reading section wasn't enough I would put on hold books at the library. Then I didn't need to think about it. Each week we could open and go. Between reading, experiment and write up it could be anywhere from 30 min to an hour twice a week. We are currently doing Elemental Biology and it is more writing/reading/craft based with some experiments or demonstrations. This one seems to take us waaaayyyyy longer and I don't find it nearly as fun and interesting. I think RSO is awesome! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 It didn't take that long when I did it with my 6 yo. Of course, I didn't worry about extra books either. Just did the fun experiments and read to him what the text said. In full disclosure we only did 10 experiments. Life happens right? ;) He is now 8 and I started RSO physic. Only on lab 2 though. We enjoy it overe here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 We spend an hour or two each week (I'd say we do 2-3x per week, 30-45 minutes for science). I spend very little extra prep time, maybe 5-10 minutes reading through and gathering supplies while my kids are finishing up their written work for Spanish. I get the experiments kits from Home Science Tools, which have most of the items you need for each book. Sometimes I realize that I don't have something on hand that I need for the next lab, or there was a prep step that needed to be done ahead of time. Then I'll either improvise with something we do have on hand, decide to skip the lab, or introduce the topic, do the prep, and put the supplies on my shopping list for my next errand day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted May 25, 2017 Author Share Posted May 25, 2017 We spend an hour or two each week (I'd say we do 2-3x per week, 30-45 minutes for science). I spend very little extra prep time, maybe 5-10 minutes reading through and gathering supplies while my kids are finishing up their written work for Spanish. I get the experiments kits from Home Science Tools, which have most of the items you need for each book. Sometimes I realize that I don't have something on hand that I need for the next lab, or there was a prep step that needed to be done ahead of time. Then I'll either improvise with something we do have on hand, decide to skip the lab, or introduce the topic, do the prep, and put the supplies on my shopping list for my next errand day. A lab kit would take a lot of the pressure off, if I can swing the funds for it. Thank you! I am not familiar with this site, so I'm going to browse around and see if there is anything else that trips my fancy. :) Just looking at the table of contents, I guess I'm a little concerned that RSO seems to cover A LOT of ground. DS tends to absorb things at a slower pace so I'm not sure if this would leave him in information overload. I guess we could think about using it over two years. That would help with the cost a bit, and also give us the chance to tag along on whatever DD is up to. Lots to think about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 I do school planning on Sunday. I just look ahead and add the supplies to my shopping list that I need. It takes about five minutes. Sometimes we run into trouble because stuff that is normal supermarket stuff in us either has a different name here or isn't so commonly used. The experiments are fairly simple so most of them work. It takes a couple of minutes to set up but my kids are old enough to read the list and set it up themselves if I'm a bit behind schedule that day. We aren't doing it totally to schedule we have ended up being a bit behind but that is more that science tends to be the first thing to get dropped of life gets crazy because it's the one that makes the most mess. The kids really enjoy it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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