RS4K Prelevel 1, Elemental Science Chem & RS4K Level 1

[Create Your Ritual]

I have been considering doing Elemental Science Chemistry this upcoming semester and using The Elements by McHenry with my 4th grader. I have seen others that have brought in RS4K Prelevel 1 on up through Level 1 Chemistry. My question is.. what are the main differences between RS4K Chemistry and Elemental Science Chemistry. Is one program so vastly different from the other that using them both over time might be a good thing? Are they easy enough to do together?

 

I have an upcoming 4th grader (new to homeschooling) as well as a 1st grader and I would like to integrate science. Neither has had much in PS... the older has had a study in rocks one year and magnets in another for a part of a semester. Although they learn loads reading & in nature.

 

I remember when I entered into college years back, chemistry was a weak area although I had always done well in it at the high school I was at. That being said, I would love to be able to focus more on chemistry and physics in these next few years (still keeping it light and easy for the younger one), but giving them a solid understanding of The Periodic Table and just a feeling of being comfortable with the subject, so that they are able to really grasp the material at a higher level down the road.

 

Do these two programs (RS4K and elemental science) along with McHenry do an overall great job, or is there something I am missing.

[Pata]

That seems like alot of chemistry to me :). We are using Chemistry for the Grammar Stage as is and so far my 3rd grade dd has enjoyed it, but I know that others have added either Ellen's program or RS4K's book. Just from what I've seen on the web, RS4K would add more of a textbook feel to the program and Ellen's program would enhance the periodic table study. So I guess that it would be doable to add both. You may want to ask this questions over at the Elemental Science yahoo group to see if you get more of a response. Hope that helps!

[mom31257]

I only have experience with RS4K Pre-Level 1 which is for K-3, but I will tell you that I love it. It does a great job of explaining chemistry on an easy to understand level.

 

I don't think it will be enough for a 4th grader, but you might could have the 1st grader listen in on the Level 1 book. The Pre-Level 1 book was only 10 short chapters and had 1 experiment per chapter. If you wanted to do chemistry all year, you would have to supplement.

[Create Your Ritual]

That's sort of what I was thinking to. I actually was wanting to do an intro chemistry for both the 1st & 4th grader together, and I was trying to figure out if the concepts taught in both levels of RS4K were different enough from Elemental Science Chemistry that it would go together without overlap. I KNOW I want to use McHenry, as I just love her science series, but I was unsure about the other two.

[mom31257]

I forgot to mention that RS4K has a way to view the whole student text online. You have to click on the book cover when it says "view full text". You might get a good idea of the difference if you looked at both.