Can anyone please weigh in on the "Christian Kids Explore..." science series

[HappyGrace]

There is not a lot of mention about it in the board archives, for some reason! Is it no good? Also, I was looking at the Earth and Space one, and it seems to be written to include a little lower level than some of the others? I thought the Earth and Space one looked maybe better than the others?

 

I'd love to hear any and all opinions of this series! Thanks!

[jelbe5]

I am planning on using the Earth and Space book with my rising 4th grader this year. Now this child is a "late bloomer" and just became a fluent reader this past school year. I am hoping to have her do most of the reading and activities on her own as much as possible. I plan to use some supplemental go along books (Let's read and find out science books) and videos where applicable.

 

My older daughter is doing Apologia's physical science book and I wanted my younger to do something that would follow my older daughters course. The books do not have exactly the same contents, but enough to make it work the way I want it to.

 

I have seen the other books and Earth and Space does seem to be written to a lower grade level than the other books, but that is okay for me. I plan to use the Biology, Chemistry and Physics books after Earth and Space, in that order, all going well.

 

For a good basic overview I think it will be good. It includes many vocabulary words and activities. I plan to have my dd narrate the lessons and the additional science books I have her read.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Adrianne in IL

[scrapbabe]

Well, I think I've posted about it before. I didn't like it because there wasn't a whole lot of meat to it. It requires a lot of supplementation of books. I was constantly trying to track down the books it suggested to use. We don't have a good library, so to use the program would have cost me an awful lot of money. There's not enough information in the book alone. I liked the "idea" of the living approach to science - but it was too much hassle to pull it all together.

 

HTH

 

Smiles,

Shalynn

[plain jane]

I agree with the PP; CKE doesn't have a lot of meat to it and IMO doesn't cover a topic well enough without supplementing with something, be it an experiment book like this or living books. There's enough information provided for the text for the target age range, but it's not presented in a engaging manner. Atleast that's what we found when we worked through it. It does a decent job of covering the topic, but I found some of the end of chapter questions to be lacking in depth, the activity pages dull, and the layout of the book cumbersome.

 

I purchased it because of reviews I had read here (do a search under CKE and you should get a number of results) but I was disappointed with it and won't be using it again. I think it does a decent job, but it wasn't the right fit for us.

 

ETA: I do think it makes a fairly good spine if you are willing to put in the time to add in library books for each chapter/topic as well as other experiment books.

Edited August 23, 2009 by plain jane

[Amy in CO]

I am having my 5th grader use it on his own. He reads it, does the vocab, answer questions, and the hands on part (most don't count for experiments).

 

But I also got some of the experiment kits suggested in the new WTM for him to do. So every couple of weeks, he gets a break from the book to do real experiments.

 

I also have him do reports for each chapter, just 2-3 paragraphs at this point. We have several science encyclopedias that he can look up information in to help with that.

 

I asked him how he was liking it, we have been using it for about a month now, and he loves it, except the report part. When I told him that whatever science program we did, he would still have to write the reports, he is happy to stay with CKE.

 

We are using the Biology, which I think is graded for 3rd-6th.

[HappyGrace]

It doesn't sound like a good fit-thanks for weighing in! (I almost bought it yesterday and couldn't due to funding-kind of glad now that I couldn't)

[LNC]

I have such a different opinion. We have used CKE biology and earth/space . They are sooo well organized, dense and concise. I have made library lists for each chapter from the recommended resource pages in the back - many very age appropriate titles. I have been amazed at how much info she packs into so few words.

 

We are reading through the Apologia life science titles this school year for a change of pace - but they are very wordy. I'm not sure how it will go in comparison. I'm definately using the CKE physics and chemistry next year. HTH!