Rainbow Science -- has anyone used this?

[Rose in BC]

I am interested in this curriculum for my up coming grade 7 students. I'm interested in hearing people's personal experience with this product.

 

Thanks.

[Guest]

Me too! I am looking at it for my guys. I did a search for it on the forum and found some helpful posts.

[Sarah CB]

Hi Rose,

We used Rainbow Science in our co-op last year. The kids did year 1. This year they're using RS a little, but are also doing a bunch of other stuff. I wish they had just stuck with RS. I really like the text and the fact that you can buy all of the materials for the experiments.

 

I'm not sure if you're registered or enrolled, but RS covers the majority of outcomes in grades 7 and 8 as well as a portion of grade 9.

 

Sarah

[Krista in LA]

She is in 7th grade. She likes it and feels like she is learning stuff. The material is presented so that she can just pick up her book, read it, take notes, and be done without any help from me. What I love most about it is that it comes with absolutely everything but the distilled water for the labs. We never had those "ordinary household items" that some science programs require for their labs, so we often didn't get labs done. I think it's a pretty solid program. My dd's only complaint about it is that he cracks lame jokes a lot. I'm amused by them. :lol:

[Rose in BC]

Hi Rose,

We used Rainbow Science in our co-op last year. The kids did year 1. This year they're using RS a little, but are also doing a bunch of other stuff. I wish they had just stuck with RS. I really like the text and the fact that you can buy all of the materials for the experiments.

 

I'm not sure if you're registered or enrolled, but RS covers the majority of outcomes in grades 7 and 8 as well as a portion of grade 9.

 

Sarah

 

I too like the idea of buying a complete package. It certainly makes it easier to have everything you need in one spot. I'm glad you mentioned you liked the text -- another concern for me. And yes, meeting the plo's is important.

 

Thanks for your response.

[Rose in BC]

She is in 7th grade. She likes it and feels like she is learning stuff. The material is presented so that she can just pick up her book, read it, take notes, and be done without any help from me. What I love most about it is that it comes with absolutely everything but the distilled water for the labs. We never had those "ordinary household items" that some science programs require for their labs, so we often didn't get labs done. I think it's a pretty solid program. My dd's only complaint about it is that he cracks lame jokes a lot. I'm amused by them. :lol:

 

Definitely having everything together in one place is a bonus! The lame jokes . . . well my kids have a mother that does that too!

[debbiec]

I personally have not used it. I teach science at a tutorial/co-op and we used to use Rainbow Science for two years for 6-7 th graders. It is parent friendly, and provides basic information. After 4 years, out co-op opted to no longer use it for these reasons:

 

1. Parents felt like (for mostly 7th graders) that it presented information, without thorough explanations, particularly the physics portion. They felt like it was a little "light weight" for 7th. It was felt like that many of the projects in the text were more busy work than meaningful to learning. IT was felt like this the Life Science year was a good one, but the other year of RS was not well done. It was felt like kits for the course were overpriced and too much that was not household materials, compared to other programs (though this was for a class of 8 of so). And finally, it was felt like this would be more appropriate for 5-6th graders as an intorduction and to prepare for other science courses.

 

I might add that I recieved this kids after two years of Rainbow into Apologia Physical Science and they did fine with the transition.

 

2. I did not have my ds in the class because I shared some of the views of the above parents that had their kids in Rainbow and I opted to do science at home that year. So all the above is hearsay. But, I must add, that our co-op does a lot of science classes for elementary kids, so by the time they got to 7th for Rainbow, some of it was repetitive for them, which might explain some of the disssatisfaction of it. Maybe it just wasn't fitting well into our sequencing of science courses?

 

So, if you have a student that is not very science oriented, or has not had much science, this could be a really good course.

 

Just wanted to throw some other views in there for you to consider. I always like wieghing both sides.

[Rose in BC]

 

Just wanted to throw some other views in there for you to consider. I always like wieghing both sides.

 

What did the co-ops use instead (or you personally)? Thanks for your input.

[Linda in NM]

We've used it this year with my 8th grade son--Physics and Chemistry. My son got stuck in chemistry, because he enjoys it so much, so we've added in additional reading from PH and other sources (he enjoys reading about elements--go figure!)

[Stacy]

and she really liked it. Her girls are not science oriented, so this was perfect. She also liked having everything at her fingertips in one box. Well, two boxes, as she did both Year one and Year two.

 

I am actually trying to sell her set on Vegsource. I cannot post here since I do not have enough posts to sell, which is a bummer since I've been buying and selling on TWTM for years. OH well.:) I will eventually have enough posts. So anyway, if any of you are interested in my ad, you can email me. Just a thought, in case you're interested in saving some money.

 

With joy!

Stacy

[PixieKris]

We are using the Biology/Earth Science components with a friend who did the Chemistry/Physics last year. She liked the Chemistry/Physics better, but the Biology is fine (we are just starting the Earth Science.)

 

Pros:

 

Everything (in theory) is included in the kit.

 

The explainations are clear and simple.

 

The readings are short enough for a 6th grader to read through, understand, not get bored, etc.

 

Great color pictures in the text.

 

The lab book gives good instructions.

 

A thorough and logical coverage of biology for a 7th grader.

 

Cons:

 

Our kit was missing a few components, which meant you had to check everything before the morning of the experiment.

 

The author is very cynical about a non-biblical explaination for everything, which as a person who adhere's to the theory of evolution, bothers me. My daughter enjoyed pointing it out everytime his worldview overtly affected the information. We did further research on biogenesis, because his explaination was not very good. Even if I did want a biblical explaination, I wouldn't think it would be right to make fun of the 'scientists' who think God didn't create everything - I know this because I also don't like reading scientific arguments that put down Biblical explainations. Just give us the facts from your point of view, and we can figure out your worldview. No need to be rude. (just venting a bit.)

 

Not many "experiments." The labs were fun, and illustrated the point, but I'd have liked a bit more of the scientific method (I really liked Real Science for Kids) developing a hypothesis, procedure, recording results and coming to conclusions.

 

It's pricey! We split it with my friend, so the labs weren't that expensive per person, but it's not cheap doing an all inclusive kit.

 

+++

So, would I use it again? I think so. I'd love to do the Chemistry/Physics, as it is presented without the worldview issues (according to my friend.) We won't end up doing that because Casi is off to school next year, but I do tell people about the program, mentioning the caveats. It was easy enough to implement that we used it and for the most part liked it, and that is the sign of a decent curriculum to me. The other piece I am always looking for (of course) is did we learn, and I'd say yes. Even the parts that we didn't enjoy forced us to look for alternate explainations, forced us to read actively and critically instead of passively, and provided us with conversations about worldviews.

 

:001_smile: Kris

[debbiec]

Well, I used Apologia General SCience because I knew we would be using that down the road and wanted to stay on a sequence. I really like the Apologia series, though, I think general science isn't as interesting as the higher level courses. I taught it at home that year and I can't say it was "fun," but it did lay a good foundation for the other courses. Our tutorial is replacing Rainbow with Apologia General Science (which I am going to tutor as well as Physical Science), but plan to supplement a lot as far as activities for make it more enjoyable.

 

But, there are a lot of good things out there. A lot depends on if you want Christian perspective or not, as someone already mentioned. Rainbow can be good, don't get me wrong. It just depends on your child I think. It just wasn't a good fit for our co-op kids (I think) due to our sequencing schedule, though I talked to several parents today and they commented how glad they were we were replacing it. One of the complaints today was about the "looking up" so much stuff. Having not done it, I wasn't sure what she was talking about. And like someone else said, our group preferred something a little more "Scientific method" oriented. It's really just preferences.

 

One thing I haev looked at recently, which some on the boards said is a little dry, is the God's Design science Series. I mainly like it because it covers areas many science programs don't, and could be a great introduction, with experiments, activites and content. Plus you can be selective of what topics you child may not have covered in the past. Basically you can piece together which topics since they are in separate paperback books. Though, the content is short and sweet with good explanations. But, it is a little expensive, and not quite as engaging as Apologia in my opinion. Apologia is more "narrative."

 

If you like Rainbow, go with it. Nothing wrong with it. It just didn't suit my needs for my son (who is very science oriented) well, nor the majority of those in our co-op.

 

Enjoy your year of science and don't stress too much over it, pick something, make the best of it, and enjoy it!