Jump to content

Menu

I did it. I bought RSO


hsmom
 Share

Recommended Posts

I am so excited! I have put it in a cart over 10 times and then signed out and decided no I did not need it. :confused: Then I decided I would buy it once I sold my other science.

 

Well I woke up this morning still owning my other science and said, "it is time!". I put it in the cart and clicked buy! :D

 

I am so excited to get started! Now today we are going to go on a hunt for supplies. We will be armed with the list, debit card and lots of time. :D

 

One subject down too many to go. Wish me luck.:001_smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So exciting! You WILL NOT regret it! We love it over here!

:iagree: ITA!! I have had them for over a year (Life and Earth & Space) just sitting on our shelves and finally took the recommendation of so many here and opened it up to start and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I did! DS LOVES doing his "fun science". LOVE it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Real Science Odyssey by Pandia Press.

 

For the pp that asked about Chemistry, we're using it now and it's so much fun, it's by far our favorite. The experiments are great and lots of fun as usual.

 

Thanks for letting me know, glad to hear it is fun too! I suspected that we would love the Chemistry as much as the previous 2 we have used. The format and openness of the curriculum works wonderfully for us. Allows us rabbit trails and still helps us keep on track.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we used RSO Earth & Space, my boys really loved it. They were 1st & 3rd grade at the time. My youngest told me he hoped we never, ever change our science, and my older son wrote his name on one of the RSO lab pages as "Meteorologist (his name here)". They were enjoying science. I like a loose format too, since I tend to add a ton of stuff to anything I use.

 

After using it during 1st & 3rd grade, I thought we needed something harder with more rigor as my older son moved into 4th gr. this year. I could have just beefed RSO up with some WTM recommendations if I felt it needed it (hindsight is always 20/20 and all).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm thinking about getting RSO Life....I can't decide between the bound or loose leaf versions. Any suggestions? Will the bound version get kind of lopsided like SOTW AG after a lot of pages are ripped out?

I have the loose-leaf version for Life and the bound version for Earth & Space, and while I *like* the 'solidity' of the bound version, the loose-leaf version is definitely a bit better as far as making extra copies, etc. I think for Earth & Space, I may just purchase the 'extra student copies' that can be sold separately instead of trying to make copies from the book. I think it will kinda depend on how you plan to use it too. I definitely won't be tearing out the pages from my bound book though b/c I could see it getting ugly :P I would either leave them in there and have the child use them straight from it, or make copies for them to use so the book stayed intact.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

For the pp that asked about Chemistry, we're using it now and it's so much fun. The experiments are great and lots of fun as usual.

 

:iagree: My 4th grader is doing RSO Chemistry and she's really enjoying it. I will be doing Biology with my middle child next year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ugh! I am so torn between RSO and Elemental Science. Every time I think I've decided on one, I see a thread about the other one, and get all undecided again!

 

 

How are they different?

I've looked at Elemental Science and it looks rather bookish and not too exciting but easy to do.

What is RSO like?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How are they different?

I've looked at Elemental Science and it looks rather bookish and not too exciting but easy to do.

What is RSO like?

 

 

I am trying to decide between these two, also. Elemental Science appears easier to use and I like the lapbook for Biology. RSO seems to be loved by many on these boards but seems to have a lot of hands on/experiments. I don't really like lots of experiments.... I understand, this is science, and there should be some. Is it mostly experiments though? I don't like the idea of trying to find some of the things listed....like looking for snails?! Never have seen any around here! :tongue_smilie:

 

I would appreciate any feedback, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keeping snails and other creatures scared me off from using RSO Life for a year. I finally just decided to go for it, as Elemental Science and BFSU (and others) didn't work out for us so well. We are not keeping any creatures, but supplementing with extra books and videos. It is amazing how informative and fun it is when we go to the library and choose from a huge selection of mollusk books. We've learned sooo much!

 

Here's a blog post where I actually talk about how we don't keep creatures, yet still learn tons.

 

The experiments in RSO have been very fun and easy to do. I don't think I even had to buy anything for the Life year except picking up stuff at the grocery store. Most of it has been stuff we already have around the house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How are they different?

I've looked at Elemental Science and it looks rather bookish and not too exciting but easy to do.

What is RSO like?

 

I would say this is not a bookish curriculum and is really focused on hands on experiments and or activity to "sink" in the topic being learned. This was a great fit for us, because my DD loves experiments.

 

Let me explain in general how this science works:

 

1) There is 1 page to read about the topic you will be learning about. They suggest you add this to their science notebook (I decided not to make extra copy for the notebook).

 

2) Than there are 1-3 labs related to the topic that you just learned about. These include experiments, coloring, notebooking, and other activities that are fun and support the topic. The experiments include lab sheets they have to fill out, either draw or write in.

 

And that is it. It is very simple!

 

3) We also added books about the topic from the library. They have suggestions listed in their guide.

 

4) We also added videos and online games we found on the topic from the library.

 

We did rabbit trails on the topics my DD really liked and even found some free lapbooks online. Than we moved on to the next topic. It has a very open format that allows you to beef it up a lot or just do the basics and it is still covers a lot of topics.

 

Any experiment that we didn't like or couldn't find the supplies for, we found our own in books/online that had the same learning output. At the top of each experiment it list your supplies. There is even a list of all supplies needed for the year too. They have some "kits" at Home Science Tools I've been looking at for the past two years, I think for chemistry I might just give in and buy the kit this year:

 

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/search.asp?ss=rso+kit&x=0&y=0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ugh! I am so torn between RSO and Elemental Science. Every time I think I've decided on one, I see a thread about the other one, and get all undecided again!

 

I downloaded the RSO Life a few days ago and we started it yesterday. I haven't bought the whole thing yet, but I am going to. We have been/still are using Elemental Science. I just blogged about it this morning. Link is in my signature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good for you!! We're doing RSO Life this year & it's honestly one of the best curriculum choices I've made. It is SO fun!!

 

I've added in a few things here & there, but totally not necessary.

 

I can. not. wait. to buy Earth & Space!! EEK! New stuff!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...