Has anyone used REAL Science-4-Kids?

[pahansen]

I am going to start homeschooling next year, and my husband (science buff) and I very taken by REAL Science-4-Kids (not to be confused with Real Science Odyssey). After two years of using a regular school text through our cyber school, I like the fact that the curriculum is deep, rather than broad, and that I won't be spending yet another year going into water changing into ice and steam or the food chain. (I swear that science texts add only one or two new facts per topic each year!)

 

I also like the fact that there doesn't seem to be any sort of scientific philosophy layered on top of it. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) I would rather add God to my science curriculum right now than try to extract the parts of Creation Science I disagree with, and I really dislike having to fight evolutionary overtones in the first grade. RS4K seems to deftly avoid both of these issues by simply presenting science.

 

Right now I'm looking at using the curriculum for my future 3rd and 1st graders. My plan was to use the more structured things, like the quizzes, with the older child, and to simply expose the younger one to all of the same lessons and let her do what she can for the lab books (like the drawings, etc.). We are already used to keeping science journals before the kids can really spell or write, so that part should be okay. Do you think this will work? Both kids were really interested when I was looking at the book online, but will the younger one be engaged?

 

Also, I wasn't sure where to start. We'll obviously be in Pre-Level 1. My thought was to do Biology first, then Chemistry (since her Biology seems to be kind of chemistry intensive), then Astronomy (which should be out by then), then Physics (which ties in well to astronomy). Have you found one order to work better than another, or does it not matter?

 

Finally, will these books really go through a whole school year? They looked a little short for my voraciously science-oriented kids, but I didn't think I could finish two topics in one year without really pushing. Even though they look brief, they are also packed with information, so I would rather do too little than too much.

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

--Pamela

[WVNA]

We are also planning to use Real Science 4 Kids level 1 physics book next year. I agree that I don't think there is enough material there for a whole year though. I plan to supplement the book with a lot of extra experiments and readings. In your case, if you use RS4K chemistry book, you could also add in experiments from Adventures with Atoms and Molecules which is highly recommended by TWTM.

[ELaurie]

I also like the fact that there doesn't seem to be any sort of scientific philosophy layered on top of it. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) I would rather add God to my science curriculum right now than try to extract the parts of Creation Science I disagree with, and I really dislike having to fight evolutionary overtones in the first grade. RS4K seems to deftly avoid both of these issues by simply presenting science.

 

I think Dr. Keller does an excellent job with this.

 

Right now I'm looking at using the curriculum for my future 3rd and 1st graders. My plan was to use the more structured things, like the quizzes, with the older child, and to simply expose the younger one to all of the same lessons and let her do what she can for the lab books (like the drawings, etc.). We are already used to keeping science journals before the kids can really spell or write, so that part should be okay. Do you think this will work? Both kids were really interested when I was looking at the book online, but will the younger one be engaged?

 

I think this is a great plan for your 3rd grader, and I also think your 1st grader will find RS4K very engaging :001_smile:

 

lso, I wasn't sure where to start. We'll obviously be in Pre-Level 1. My thought was to do Biology first, then Chemistry (since her Biology seems to be kind of chemistry intensive), then Astronomy (which should be out by then), then Physics (which ties in well to astronomy). Have you found one order to work better than another, or does it not matter?

 

She suggests Chem first, then Bio, followed by Physics and Astronomy. However, we started with Biology, which I did with our dc in the spring / summer because we were raising tadpoles and caterpillars and climate was a consideration for releasing the frogs / butterflies. We did Physics during the school year, and plan to schedule Astronomy in the summer / fall when the weather here is better for observing, so this might be a factor for you as well. You may also find that you will want to start with one of the Pre Level books when your oldest is in 3rd grade, then move up to a level 1 text when he is in 4th. I did this for Physics, partly because the Pre Level 1 Physics text wasn't available yet, but also because I thought ds 11 (then 10) was ready for the more substantive level text when he was in 4th grade. Ds 8, then 7 tagged along just fine, and I think he got enough out of it to make it a worthwhile endeavor for both of them.

 

Finally, will these books really go through a whole school year? They looked a little short for my voraciously science-oriented kids, but I didn't think I could finish two topics in one year without really pushing. Even though they look brief, they are also packed with information, so I would rather do too little than too much.

 

I considered this as well, and ended up supplementing with additional experiments (available on the RS4K website) and other supplementary reading in science. This worked well for us.

 

This year I am using the Chemistry KOGS which have added considerably to the program. Dr. Keller also offers online classes, which I may use for ds 11 next year when he is in 6th grade to provide his with some accountability for homework and class discussion with a teacher other than me.

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

--Pamela

 

I'm using It's Elementary! and The Periodic Table: Elements With Style with ds 8 and selections from The Usborne Science Encyclopedia with ds 11 as our primary supplementary texts this year.

Edited February 3, 2011 by ELaurie

[Upstatemamma]

We have been using Real Science 4 Kids for about four months now. My son (1st grade) and I both really like it. We started with Biology because that was what seemed logical. Apparently, the RS4K people intend for you to start with Chemistry. Although, I read that on the site, I have never seen a single reason for that in the curriculum. We just bought the study folder as well. My son found that to be very fun. I have added to the curriculum by taking other books out of the library on the chapter topics. Since he is young and I don't do quizzes with him I feel this keeps him engaged.

[SnMomof7]

Eavesdropping.

[rootsnwings]

:bigear:

[Guest]

We have been using RS4K Pre-Level 1 Biology alongside BFSU and like it also. However I also like Apologia (we will be starting it when we finish RS4K) and three programs in one year is beginning to seem like too much :tongue_smilie:. BFSU has been my son's favorite, even though he likes reading the RS4K text. The cost however is too high for what you get, even though I just bought the PDF package, so it doesn't seem like we will be continuing next year.

[pahansen]

I'm glad to hear all of the positive press and suggestions from people who have actually used RS4K. I'm guessing that we will like it very much.

 

I was thinking of doing Biology first simply because I thought it would catch my 1st grader's attention better than Chemistry, but maybe I'll revisit that decision. Can anyone give strong reasons for one over the other? (Other than the author's suggestion, which does hold a little weight with me.)

 

We just bought the study folder as well. My son found that to be very fun.

 

I noticed that there was a newly released Biology folder listed today, but I couldn't quite figure out what was inside. Can you tell me what the study folders are like? (Or where to find the information on her site?)

 

For those of you who are eavesdropping ;) , I have to say that I love the option to buy less expensive digital copies and print at your leisure. Also, you can read the entire student text online. It's so nice to know exactly what you're getting into. The experiments were also appealing. They actually illustrated the lesson well without seeming to require an endless number of random items. (Plus, the ones I saw didn't involve a tremendous amount of slopping. I'm sure my children will be damaged in some way because of it, but I hate slopping!)

 

--Pamela

[Upstatemamma]

The study folder has questions and activities to do for each section of the chapter. Some drawing exercises, some true and false questions and some fill in words. It gets put together with manilla folders. It is really fun.

 

I relation to the downloading and printing what I love is that I have bought the one item for all four of my kiddos but only paid for it once. :)

[Guest]

I was thinking of doing Biology first simply because I thought it would catch my 1st grader's attention better than Chemistry, but maybe I'll revisit that decision. Can anyone give strong reasons for one over the other? (Other than the author's suggestion, which does hold a little weight with me.

 

Pre-Level 1 Biology, Chapter 2 on Cells, references prior lessons from Chemistry on atoms and molecules. You could just cover that on your own with your child though and continue with the lessons if you like. That was what we did :). That's what I have come across so far.

[SnMomof7]

So, I can't find any online samples. Where can I find the one for Pre-Level Chemistry? I like digital copies too. :)

[Guest]

So, I can't find any online samples. Where can I find the one for Pre-Level Chemistry? I like digital copies too. :)

 

http://www.gravitaspublications.com/pl1-full-text

 

Just click the images here to see the full text.

[SnMomof7]

Thanks Marie! I looked all over their website and couldn't find it!

[Guest]

Thanks Marie! I looked all over their website and couldn't find it!

 

You're welcome. It took me a little while at the beginning to figure out where everything was too :).

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

http://www.gravitaspublications.com/pl1-full-text

 

Just click the images here to see the full text.

 

Thanks for sharing that link. I was considering this for next year, and it was nice to see exactly what it is.

[ElizabethB]

We did chemistry first because the author suggested it and we had alread read a few biology books on our own. I did it when my daughter was 1st grade, towards the end of the year. My son was almost 4. I was surprised at how much the chemistry did add to our other things--a weather thing we talked about was improved by a knowledge of atoms and molecules, as was an experiment we did for something else that involved evaporation and condensation.

 

My 3 year old learned that everything was made up of atoms and molecules. He kept asking about things, "Is that made up of atoms?" Finally, about 1,000 questions later, he finally found something that was not: a shadow!

[Dina in Oklahoma]

Hello~

 

We are using RS4K level 1 biology this year. I had read that some felt it jumped all over the place, others felt it wasn't enough for a year, and some though it didn't go deep enough. I have not found that to be the case.

 

I paired it with Lyrical Science as DD 12 learns well through song. I have DD learn all the songs that pertain to the chapter of RS4K that we are working on (usually when traveling to co-op or running errands.) Then, follow up by having her read through the LS worktext (it's just a few pages) and quiz her orally over the worktext questions.

 

Once she has that completed, we dive into the RS4K text and experiments. I require her to make flashcards of all terms and concepts (on brightly colored cardstock which she loves) and review them each day. We make a game of it as I quiz her and she quizes me. I am amazed at how much she has learned this year!

 

Best Wishes on your science adventure!

 

 

[Upstatemamma]

Oh I like the flash cards idea. I may need to use that. :)

[Jenny in GA]

For whatever reason, science has been the hardest thing for me to find something I like and feel comfortable with.

 

My daughters are 7 and 9, and we just finished RS4K pre-level Chemistry and are starting Elemental Science.

 

Pre-Level Chemistry took us about three months, and it only took us that long because I didn't get into it much and sometimes we'd take whole weeks off from it. We probably could've finished in two months if we'd gone straight through.

 

It was a lot of money, IMO, for two month's worth of materials.

 

The girls liked the books and illustrations, and the way they explained things were nice. But there wasn't much to the text. No additional readings, no additional activities. Honestly, I think if we read the entire text in one sitting, we would have been finished in less than an hour.

 

Toward the end I really started to hate the lab book. Some of the experiment ideas were a little weird to me. (Put sugar and salt in a bag. How could you un-mix them?) A lot of times we had trouble understanding what they were asking. Also, it seemed like they kept asking the same questions over and over in different ways. For the last couple experiments I stopped even using it.

 

Maybe it was just the pre-level. But I don't plan on using RS4K again in the future.

[SnMomof7]

I wonder if anyone is pulling together lit lists for these courses :D!

[Guest]

For whatever reason, science has been the hardest thing for me to find something I like and feel comfortable with.

 

My daughters are 7 and 9, and we just finished RS4K pre-level Chemistry and are starting Elemental Science.

 

Pre-Level Chemistry took us about three months, and it only took us that long because I didn't get into it much and sometimes we'd take whole weeks off from it. We probably could've finished in two months if we'd gone straight through.

 

It was a lot of money, IMO, for two month's worth of materials.

 

The girls liked the books and illustrations, and the way they explained things were nice. But there wasn't much to the text. No additional readings, no additional activities. Honestly, I think if we read the entire text in one sitting, we would have been finished in less than an hour.

 

Toward the end I really started to hate the lab book. Some of the experiment ideas were a little weird to me. (Put sugar and salt in a bag. How could you un-mix them?) A lot of times we had trouble understanding what they were asking. Also, it seemed like they kept asking the same questions over and over in different ways. For the last couple experiments I stopped even using it.

 

Maybe it was just the pre-level. But I don't plan on using RS4K again in the future.

 

:iagree: With what I highlighted. I have had the same issues although we have not tried that many. RS4K I like the Pre-Level 1 Biology but like you said there just isn't much to it. Even at $35 for the PDF, if I have to do so much added work to make it meaty, it just isn't worth it. We like BFSU and will finish the year (my way :tongue_smilie:) but I think I will be dropping that also and won't be redoing the book again next year, as I originally intended. The approach does not agree with how I wish to cover Science and looking over MPH the approach seems the same and so not for us either. I have also checked RSO and ES and sadly those are not going to work for us either. For now, the only one that I am sticking with that is worth the cost for us since it appears to be what I am looking for and is meaty seems to be Apologia.

 

I wonder if anyone is pulling together lit lists for these courses :D!

 

I will be going over my WTM and CM books and checking so see what I can pull together to go along with Apologia I think. This is just getting to be really disappointing for me when it comes to science, my passion. Math, I have found two programs that work great for us (a combo of Horizons and Singapore and we are happy :)). Science just has me spinning in circles :banghead:.

Edited February 3, 2011 by Guest

[golfcartmama]

We used RS4K PreLevel Chem earlier this year. We do science twice a week and I did the reading and made memory cards with the new terms for him to review on Tuesday, supplemented with other books M-F (ones that I found at our library on atoms or molecules, etc), and Thursday we did the science lab.

 

I will say I LOVED having a nicely printed, color text book with easy to understand pictures and explanations. I like that it is broken down into easy to use terms and the analogies they use were easy to understand for my kids.

 

I didn't like the labs so mcuh, not sure if it was the level or what we were doing but they were complicated to me...like for two of them I had to buy a head of red cabbage, chop it us and boil it for like an hour and then use the 'juice' as an indicator...my house stunk for a week.

 

I may go back to them next year for Level 1, not sure yet, but honestly for the pre-levels at least you can do all three in one school year. We're doing RSO Life now and we love the labs, but wish they had the 'text' to go with it, so in short, I haven't found my science curriculum that I LOVE yet! Maybe Nancy Larson....

[Upstatemamma]

I have a list of books I have been giving my son to read along with the bio pre-level set. Let me know and I will list them.

[SnMomof7]

I have a list of books I have been giving my son to read along with the bio pre-level set. Let me know and I will list them.

 

Please do!

[Guest]

I will say I LOVED having a nicely printed, color text book with easy to understand pictures and explanations. I like that it is broken down into easy to use terms and the analogies they use were easy to understand for my kids.

 

This is what keeps me going back and forth with RS4K (although we have the PDF format). I was up most of the night researching. I have a science kid and one that will most definitely be going in that direction. He is currently using the curriculum K'Nex packages (bridges and Engineering Marvels) and will sit there for hours building things. He doesn't build them to play with, he builds them for the satisfaction he gets from the process. I started building them for him from an old set when he was 3 and one day when he was just over 5 he just started doing them on his own.

 

I saw this in him since he was 2 and am struggling to find science that meets what I am looking to do with him. I am looking forward to using Apologia but keep coming back to RS4K for Physics and Chemistry. I love the RS4K approach but wish there was more to it :(. I am not that enamored with the lab workbooks either though. Ditto for the teacher's guide which is just a teacher's companion for the lab workbook.

 

Another thought I have had is just getting the PDF books for Physics and Chemistry (at about $30 for both I can see doing that) and using BFSU as a resource for adding activities and correlated reading. I can also add Van Cleave's books. I think that in my case I just have to face the fact that I will have to do some work to get to what I want to do with my son. I need to do some more research though. For now, one curriculum is just not going to cut it in our house.

[Elohcin]

We just finished Chemistry for our Jan term. My 4th and 5th graders loved it. The experiments were challenging but doable and they all worked. We didn't have to buy too many things we didn't already have and they learned alot. We are off to do Apologia now, but I would consider using this curriculum again for Biology or Physics.

[Guest]

We just finished Chemistry for our Jan term. My 4th and 5th graders loved it. The experiments were challenging but doable and they all worked. We didn't have to buy too many things we didn't already have and they learned alot. We are off to do Apologia now, but I would consider using this curriculum again for Biology or Physics.

 

May I ask how long it took you to cover the Level? Did you just follow the book and experiments or did you add anything? And, did you cover a lesson a week? I am drawn to the texts and want to figure out how to work them in to what I want to do with my son.

[SnMomof7]

Marie, what is BFSU?

[Guest]

Marie, what is BFSU?

 

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding.

 

Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=building+foundations+of+scientific+understanding&x=0&y=0

 

Dr. Nebel's website:

http://web.mac.com/bnebel/Press_for_Learning/Building_Foundations_of_Scientific_Understanding_.html

 

We have been using it this year alongside RS4K Pre-Level 1 Biology. Then I want to start Apologia after RS4K to continue the year while still working on BFSU.

[Upstatemamma]

These are the books that we are using for bio - I don't have any of the other subjects because we haven't done those yet. :) I don't know why I don't have chapter 2 I think that we must have had something going on when we did that chapter and so we skipped the extra reading. Chapter 7 I have not found anything extra for. Here ya go -

 

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 1

Animal Feathers and Fur by David M Shwartz (not at the library)

Hooves and Claws by Jason Cooper

Antlers and Horns by Jason Cooper

Feet, Flippers, Hooves and Hands by Mark J Rauzon

Animals born alive and well by Ruth Heller

What Makes a Mammal? By Lynn Stone

Is a Camel A Mammal? By Tish Rabe

Can snakes crawl backward by Melvin Berger

Slither and Crawl: eye to eye with reptiles by Jim Arnosky

Birds by Helen Frost

Backyard Birds by Johnathan Latimer

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 3

Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life by Molly Bang

How Did We Find Out About Photosynthesis by Isaac Asimov

The Magic School Bus Gets Planted: A book about Photosynthesis

How Plants Get Food by Meish Goldish @font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 4

Section 2

Roots (World of Plants) by John Farndon

Plant Plumbing A Book About Roots and Stems by Susan Blackaby

What Do Roots Do? By Kathleen Kudlinski

Section 3

Time For Kids Plants

Flowering Plants (The Green World) by Wendy Madgwick

Section 4

The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor

Oceans (QEB Planet Earth) Discover Life Beneath the Waves by Steve Parker

Kingfisher Young Knowledge Oceans and Seas by Nicola Davis

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 5

How Do Apples Grow? By Betty Maestro

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

Fruits and Vegetables by Carrie Branigan

The Life Cycle of a Bean by Ruth Thomas

From Blossom to Fruit by Gail Saunders-Smith

The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller

The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds

 

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 6

Microscopic Scary Creatures by Ian Graham

The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope by Kristeen Rogers

Hidden Worlds: Loking Through a Scientist’s Microscope by Stephen P Kramer

Greg’s Microscope by Millicent E Seslam

Microlife From Amoebas to Viruses by Anna Claybourne

Pond Water Zoo by H Peter Loewer @font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 8

Part 1

The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco

Flying Colors: Butterflies in Your Backyard by Nancy Loewen

Bella: A Butterfly’s Story by Joanne Randolphe

Part 2

Butterfly by Mary Ling

My, oh My a Butterfly by Tish Rabe

Part 3

A Butterfly Grows by Stephen Swinburne

Butterfly by John Woodward

Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehert

Caterpillar to Butterfly by Camillade laBedoyere

Part 4

Don’t Worry Bear – we have it

Cocoon by Diane Redfield Massie

Part 5

Time for Kids Butterflies

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 9

Part 2

Where Do Frogs Come From? By Alex Vern

First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Part 3

The Tiny Tadpole by Judith Nicholls

Curious George: Tadpole Trouble

Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace

Only Tadpoles Have Tails by Jane Clarke

Part 4

Frog: See How They Grow by Angela Royston

From Tadpole to Frog by Anita Ganeri

How a Tadpole Grows Into A Frog by David Stewart

Part 5

Frankie: A Frog’s Story by Joanne Randolphe

Slippery, Slimy Baby Frogs by Sandra Markle

Frogs by Gail Gibbons

Frogs – National Geographic Readers Series by Elizabeth Carney

 

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Chapter 10

Food Chains by Dana Meachen Rau

Honey Bees by Joyce Milton

The Story Goes on by Aileen Fisher

Food by Peter D Riley

The Magic School Bus: Wet All Over – A Book About the Water Cycle

Aliens From Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems by Mary Batten

Water, water, everywhere A Book About the Water Cycle by Melvin Berger

Why Does It Rain by Judith Jango-Cohen

Lady Life Cycles

[SnMomof7]

Wow, thanks for that! We do have a few of those already (have to love Magic Schoolbus!)

[Guest]

Wow, thanks for that! We do have a few of those already (have to love Magic Schoolbus!)

 

Hey Jennifer, do you have this?

 

http://sqooltools.com/edvideos/msb/index.html

 

Just click on the titles you want under "Topics" to watch the videos :).

[melmichigan]

The author is an ID proponent, (she wrote for young earth creation publications in the past), as demonstrated by the word "design" frequently used throughout the book. This was a big stink in the past with her motivation for the books and the topic of many a locked thread, but she has recently "come clean" in her religious beliefs on her remodeled website. This doesn't seem to impact most who use the books, as it tends to go over the heads of DC or is easily ad libbed when reading aloud.

 

When we used them, the chemistry and physics only, we had to work to stretch each book to even 10 weeks, let alone 20, but I have science avid DC who are very demanding.

[momto2Cs]

I used RS4K pre-level 1 biology and chemistry with my kids. Chemistry we did for a semester and biology for a year. I used the chapters in the books as a jumping off point, adding read alouds, projects, and videos. It worked really, really well, with kids who devour science. If it wasn't for the cost, we'd still be using RS4K!

[SnMomof7]

I totally dig that she uses the word 'designed', I noticed that in the student chemistry text in pre-level 1. We are young-earth all the way though, so that turns my crank :).

[Guest]

I used RS4K pre-level 1 biology and chemistry with my kids. Chemistry we did for a semester and biology for a year. I used the chapters in the books as a jumping off point, adding read alouds, projects, and videos. It worked really, really well, with kids who devour science. If it wasn't for the cost, we'd still be using RS4K!

 

Thank you for sharing this :). I am thinking of doing what you did when you did Biology, with the other two (Chemistry and Physics) adding from other resources (Usborne books etc). We are currently using Pre-Level 1 Biology but I have not been going beyond the experiments because we are also using BFSU and we do a lot with that. Next year though I think I will just buy the RS4K Texts (PDF or maybe even the printed book from Rainbow) and expand on them, using Chemistry and redoing Biology while working on Apologia alongside them. I can then use Physics the following year.

[SnMomof7]

No, I didn't Marie! Too bad we are on dial-up!

[Guest]

No, I didn't Marie! Too bad we are on dial-up!

 

Shoot!!! We love watching them. Adrian loves the Magic School Bus too. Have you checked the library? We get the DVD's from there also :).

[SnMomof7]

Our local library is...bleh. Small-town-rural-Alberta, there are only 3,000 people in our county in total!

[pahansen]

Wow! That's a lot more info than I'd expected! :D

 

I think I may pursue my plan to do Pre Chem and Pre Bio this year. I wasn't sure if we could manage both, but it sounds like it's very doable. Since we're in Pittsburgh, I was thinking of adding regular visits to our Science Center, which is pretty fantastic and has all kinds of neat stuff to experiment with.

 

We also love the Penny Norman kits which are great at explaining and fun for the kids. (I think one of the reasons why we liked RS4K was that the tone was very similar to the Penny Norman kits our kids love.) We'll probably do whichever kits fit with the science we're on as well.

 

I also believe in ID, although I'm not really Young Earth (which has caused some issues for me with Christian science curricula -- I'm not going to say that it's not possible, because God can do anything; I'm just not sold on it). While it suits me just fine that the author is coming from that background, it's still good to know where she's coming from.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback. I have to admit now that I'm really curious about how well we'll like the labs...

 

--Pamela

[Dawn E]

Hey Jennifer, do you have this?

 

http://sqooltools.com/edvideos/msb/index.html

 

Just click on the titles you want under "Topics" to watch the videos :).

 

Thanks so much for sharing that link!

[Spy Car]

The author is an ID proponent, (she wrote for young earth creation publications in the past), as demonstrated by the word "design" frequently used throughout the book. This was a big stink in the past with her motivation for the books and the topic of many a locked thread, but she has recently "come clean" in her religious beliefs on her remodeled website. This doesn't seem to impact most who use the books, as it tends to go over the heads of DC or is easily ad libbed when reading aloud.

 

When we used them, the chemistry and physics only, we had to work to stretch each book to even 10 weeks, let alone 20, but I have science avid DC who are very demanding.

 

 

It caused a stink because Dr Keller pretended not to be a creationist/ID proponent (when she in fact was and is) and was caught out when she wrote in her Yahoo group that one of the her purposes with RS4Ks was to shake students belief in the Theory of Evolution as a first step in winning young people over to her religious faith position.

 

Big-time agenda here.

 

Bill

[Guest]

Our local library is...bleh. Small-town-rural-Alberta, there are only 3,000 people in our county in total!

 

I prefer rural (wish we could do it too). Bummer on the library system though :(. Have you checked out the ILL (Interlibrary loan) option? My husband just used it for the first time when he couldn't find a writer he wanted in our library system and we did not have to pay anything extra. They do say that it is at the other library's discretion whether they wish to charge or not but you could look into it.

[Guest]

It caused a stink because Dr Keller pretended not to be a creationist/ID proponent (when she in fact was and is) and was caught out when she wrote in her Yahoo group that one of the her purposes with RS4Ks was to shake students belief in the Theory of Evolution as a first step in winning young people over to her religious faith position.

 

Big-time agenda here.

 

Bill

 

Well, I am not sure what the rumor is or isn't but so far with the Pre-Level 1 Biology that we are using, the program appears to be completely neutral.

[Guest]

Thanks so much for sharing that link!

 

You're welcome :). Actually I got the link from someone else on these forums ;).

[Guest]

Found these from Dr. Keller's blog:

 

http://rebeccawkeller.com/education/connecting-the-dots-with-real-science-4-kids

 

http://rebeccawkeller.com/education/what-is-science-part-5

[Spy Car]

Well, I am not sure what the rumor is or isn't but so far with the Pre-Level 1 Biology that we are using, the program appears to be completely neutral.

 

There is no "rumor". Keller's position was made quite clear in her own words.

 

She is a proponent of ID/creationism and uses a false public position of "neutrality" to hide that fact. "Neutrality" between teaching science and non-science is not an admirable position for a science text in any case. Keller'sdebating trick is to call everything an "-ism", so "creationism" and "Darwinism" are just matters of opinion or ideology/POV. When the truth is one is a theological belief and the other is a scientific Theory that has been.validated by a massive array of scientific evidence. She tries to obscure that fact in the minds of young people.

 

Bill

[melmichigan]

It caused a stink because Dr Keller pretended not to be a creationist/ID proponent (when she in fact was and is) and was caught out when she wrote in her Yahoo group that one of the her purposes with RS4Ks was to shake students belief in the Theory of Evolution as a first step in winning young people over to her religious faith position.

 

Big-time agenda here.

 

Bill

 

I almost sold my books when everything came to light. I don't want to debate it again, I just thought the OP should know the history. The author has done some serious backpedaling on her website in the last year, which I have also commented on and I though that should also be known. If people are really interested they can read her own responses by doing a search for the locked thread here (she logged in under her own name) or by subscribing to her yahoo group and reading the old posts. There are also convention speeches (to Christian groups) that were recorded that are searchable on the web where she is really clear about her goals. I think there is actually a whole website dedicated to the debacle. In the end it is up to the individual to make their own choices, I just wanted them to be informed. :)

[Spy Car]

I almost sold my books when everything came to light. I don't want to debate it again, I just thought the OP should know the history. The author has done some serious backpedaling on her website in the last year, which I have also commented on and I though that should also be known. If people are really interested they can read her own responses by doing a search for the locked thread here (she logged in under her own name) or by subscribing to her yahoo group and reading the old posts. There are also convention speeches (to Christian groups) that were recorded that are searchable on the web where she is really clear about her goals. I think there is actually a whole website dedicated to the debacle. In the end it is up to the individual to make their own choices, I just wanted them to be informed. :)

 

Could you link me to the portion of her website where this is discussed? I looked and in the sections I saw saw the same old "public face" of so-called "neutrality" between -isms, and no acknowledgment that she is a active proponent of ID/creationism.

 

Bill

[elfgivas]

The author is an ID proponent, (she wrote for young earth creation publications in the past), as demonstrated by the word "design" frequently used throughout the book. This was a big stink in the past with her motivation for the books and the topic of many a locked thread, but she has recently "come clean" in her religious beliefs on her remodeled website. This doesn't seem to impact most who use the books, as it tends to go over the heads of DC or is easily ad libbed when reading aloud.

 

 

 

i'm so glad someone finally said this; i was reading the replies and getting ready to write it out. we used it as a critical reading exercise with the dc. we'd read it, and then ask "so what is the author's position on how life came to be on earth?"....

 

but i have trouble giving money to ID folks, so we're still looking....