Noeo or Real Science 4 kids....

[Love2Smile]

Which would you pick for a 5th grader who loves science and why?

I can't make up my mind between these two!

[Sunshine State Sue]

Science is a tough one in our household. I haven't been overly thrilled with anything we've used. If your daughter loves science, you may want to investigate Science Explorer. It was too difficult for my ds at 5th grade, but it has been good for 6th grade. It's intended for 6th-8th, but I have heard of science-oriented 5th graders enjoying it. I would also be curious to know if your daughter is more hands-on or literature-oriented.

 

I don't know how you are thinking of using RS4K. I believe it is intended to be used as Biology/Chemistry/Physics all in a year. That would make it an incredibly expensive program. I have mostly heard good things about the Chemistry, which is the author's specialty.

 

Here is my review:

We used RS4K Physics Level 1 for 4th grade. My son is not particularly science oriented. Neither am I.

 

Pros:

• Excellent quality student's text

• Some of the experiments were fabulous (rolling a matchbox car down a ramp into a line of banana slices pinned to a piece of cardboard to see how much force is needed to smash the banana)

• Experiments did a great job of adding math into physics

 

Cons:

• Expensive curriculum

• 10 week program

• Some expensive supplies

• Some experiments didn't work (especially when I bought those expensive supplies)

• Some of the material was over MY head

 

Overall, I found it expensive for a 10 week program. If I am going to have to supplement a 10 week program to make it last a year, I may as well create the year long program from scratch. My 20/20 hindsight.

 

 

Here is my other review:

We used NOEO Biology II with our 5th grade son. He is not particularly science oriented. Neither am I. I have mixed feelings about the curriculum.

 

The advantage is that it is all laid out for you. The reading is not too difficult for a 5th grader. In fact a bit on the easier side since it's targeted at 4th-6th grade. It is not time consuming - we spend perhaps 30-45 minutes 2x per week. After a week or two of guidance, it can be done fairly independently. It’s secular, which I prefer.

 

The disadvantage is that it is not very challenging. The "experiments" were fairly lame - mostly looking at something under the microscope and sketching it. There are a few kits that come with it. Dad and son did the kits on eggs and owls, and they were good. Okay, my son thought the owl pellet was really gross. There is a long section using the Body Book, which is all cut-and-paste. The plant kits were decent.

 

But, what I found with Noeo is that there is too much freedom for my unmotivated student to do a mediocre job. Because all he has to do is read 2 pages and write about them, I find that he reads the pages and picks out 2-3 sentences to write down. I need more accountability. If I want to quiz him about what he’s read, I have to read the pages and determine the questions to ask on my own. That, coupled with the lack of hands-on activities, is disappointing.

[trust and obey]

and have liked it.

My ds are 8 and 10 who love science, and we did level two chemistry. There are two Usborne books that are the spines. They have wonderful pictures, and we've always made sure to check out the internet links. Some have been too over the head (read: too much info and not enough games for ds8), but there are lots of good sites. The experiments have been enjoyable, and most have worked, and we haven't had to purchase any additional supplies. We haven't made use of the notebooking aspect, but it would add a lot to the program. Also, having a weekly schedule is nice to keep on track.

 

I do agree that some assignments are kind of short, although on the days you only read a couple pages, if you went through all the internet links a lesson would take at least 30 minutes, and the program is scheduled 4 days a week.

 

There is nothing in the way of quizzes/testing, but since I read aloud the books and they narrate back to me what they've learned, at their age it hasn't been a problem for us.

 

Hope this helps - there's just too many selections out there! Hope you find one that suits your family.

[pbjmeyer]

They are selling some damaged books at 40-50% off, which makes it more affordable. The teacher's manual is easy to follow, and the reader is creative as well as informative. The student workbook makes it easy to write up the results. Each lesson has an experiment to do, using easy to find materials.

check out the web site for the phone # and ask the exact prices of the books. getting the student reader at a discount cuts the cost of the program back to an affordable one.

My ds is in 5th grade and the chem I is perfect for him. I am buying the chem II series from the damaged lot to be able to afford it.

Joyce

[ArwenA]

We enjoyed RS4K, we did a lot of supplementing so that one subject lasted for a year. We enjoyed the experiments, in general it was great!

I've decided that, for us, a more child led/discovery/less structured/not using a curriculum approach works best for us.

My science loving 5th grader was doing chemistry 1 and 2 this year and loved them. I've also learnt a lot! I have no experience with Noeo, but RS4K is very good.

[coffeefreak]

I can't find the damaged books on Gravitas' website. Do you have a link?

Thanks!

[Cheryl in NM]

What is NOEO? I can't find it on the abbreviations page.

[Dani n Monies Mom]

NOEO is not an abbreviation, it's the actual name of the science curriculum.

 

Here's the site: http://www.noeoscience.com/

 

We have enjoyed this a great deal this year. We're doing Chem 2 and dd12 has really gotten in to it.

 

Ava