Anyone heard of esciencelabs?

[swainsonshawk]

This is a science experiment/lab company that I came across on a web search today: http://www.esciencelabs.com

 

It seems they were designed for a virtual school setting where you are following a course and need to do the labs at home. I did a search of the boards, but couldn't find anything. I am sorely tempted. I would sure make the teaching of secular science a lot easier. I would need to pair it with a good textbook, I think--but which one?

 

I'm looking at the life science for middle school students. Does anyone know what book these kits are usually paired with?

 

Becky

[SkateLeft]

I looked into Esciencelabs last spring, when I was looking for biology lab kits for my high schooler. I had trouble getting the website to work properly in order to place an order, and finally decided to go with LabPaq instead.

 

So I have no experience with Esciencelabs, but we do LOVE Labpaq! It's some of the best homeschooling money we spent this year. They don't specifically offer middle school kits, but I'm thinking about buying the physical science kit for my rising 8th grader next year, since she'll be doing physical science.

 

The lab manual is on CD, and I had it printed and comb bound at Kinkos. The kit contained everything, from tools to materials. I think the only thing I've had to buy is distilled water.

 

If the Esciencelabs kits are similar, they don't need to be paired with a specific text book. They're designed to be used by a variety of programs, and cover standard topics, so can be matched with pretty much any text. For biology, I just went through the experiment list and matched it up with the chapters in my daughter's textbook. I'll be doing the same thing with physical science next year for my younger daughter. The experiment list for the biology kids in Esciencelabs was similar to the Labpaq one, but didn't cover quite as much. Either kit could have gone with any high school biology text.