Anyone use TOPS science??

[Plain_Jane]

I've been doing a bit of reading about what they have to offer and so far, it sounds pretty good for hands-on science.

 

I'd like to hear from people who have or do continue to use it. What do you like about it? Dislike? Would you recommend to others of prefer something else?

 

I'm not sure what I want to do for science next year with 7yo dd. We did NOEO this year, but I'm not overly interested in using it again next year. I don't want to spend a lot on science but DD has a strong interest in it, so I would like to commit to 3 days a week of science at minimum.

 

I do plan on using living books for most of our curriculum but I'm looking for fun experiments and hands-on type things.

[Lenora in MD]

I have not used TOPS personally, but I have a good friend who has used a number of them. She really likes them. They teach the scientific method, the experiments really work and actually teach something. Also, they are a lot of fun. It seems highly recommended.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Dh and ds12 just finished Rocks & Minerals. They enjoyed it, but unfortunately are not very specific or talkative. I think it was great for hands-on learning. I gather that dh thought it lacked what you would get from adding living books. I am using Science Explorer with ds and the combination works well.

 

I have heard good things about Electricity and Magnetism. It's also inexpensive, so it's definitely worth a try.

 

Here's a link to an old thread:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9523&highlight=tops+science

 

FWIW, we used Noeo Biology 2 for 5th grade. We didn't continue with it either. It lacked hands-on and the reading was dull.

 

Good luck!

[scrapbabe]

We have enjoyed Tops Science. We did the one about Bean Plants. We just purchased the Bouyancy one. My 11 year old really enjoyed them. My 8 year old did too, but didn't enjoy graphing and writing. You would definitely want to supplement with a textbook or living books. But they are great for hands-on science.

 

Smiles,

Shalynn

[farmnwife]

We just finished the corn & bean activity book. My boys are 11 & 10yo. It was just right for them age wise. Very hands on. We will do another. Be sure to read thru the info before. Some of it was confusing on the sequence of things but eventually I figured it out. I did email the TOPS people with questions. They were very prompt and helpful.

 

judi

[Plain_Jane]

Thanks for the responses!!

 

It looks like everyone who responded has older children than mine. Anyone know if TOPS is appropriate for a 7yo or too difficult??

[Doran]

Thanks for the responses!!

 

It looks like everyone who responded has older children than mine. Anyone know if TOPS is appropriate for a 7yo or too difficult??

 

 

We did the Radishes program as part of Sonlight science. My dd is 11 and it was a perfect match for her -- not too easy, not so challenging that she couldn't do most of the work without a lot of help from me.

 

I guess it depends a lot on your 7 year old, but I'd think it might be a little too old for him.

[Sunshine State Sue]

It looks like everyone who responded has older children than mine. Anyone know if TOPS is appropriate for a 7yo or too difficult??

 

They have a variety of books for a variety of ages. Choose appropriately, and you will be fine.

[Lori D.]

I see you are looking for something for young elementary ages. Don't know if this would work for you, BUT... for those early years, we didn't worry about a formal science program. We read library books (Let's Read And Find Out About Science series, Magic School Bus series, etc.); we watched science videos from the library; did experiments; used science kits; went of field trips; etc. It really kept alive the love of learning.

 

If you're looking specifically for experiments below are some great resources; the books are all available through Amazon, while the kits are all available through Rainbow Resource:

 

- "365 Super Science Experiments: With Everyday Materials" (by Churchill, Loeschnig, and Mandel)

- "365 More Simple Science Experiments with Everyday Materials" (by Breckenridge, Fredericks, and Loeschnig)

- "More Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children" (by Williams, Rockwell, and Sherwood)

 

- Science With Magnets (an Usborne book and kit)

- Science with Light and Mirrors (an Usborne book and kit)

- Gears & Pulleys kit (co-developed by the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago)

- My First Chemistry Kit

- My First Science Kit

- Science in a Nutshell kits

- Force and Motion kit (Idea Factory)

 

 

 

Specifically in answer to your questions about TOPS; we have only used the TOPS units geared for 5th-7th grade and up in the middle school years. We used them as supplement to go along with our spine of Reader's Digest How ... Works series. Of the ones we tried, these were worthwhile:

 

- Rocks and Minerals (buy the accompanying kit, too!)

- Analysis (buy the accompanying kit, too!)

- Solutions (some of the supplies in the Analysis kit can be used here, too!)

- Heat

- Cohesion and Adhesion

- Motion

 

 

I do NOT recommend the following TOPS units: Sound (required expensive equipment), or Light (too many experiments were not reproducible). Below is my list of pros and cons about the TOPS units. Hope something here helps! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

CONs

- Most of the units you have to assemble all the supplies -- depending on the unit, this can get very time-consuming and expensive, on average costing $15-30 per unit. (A few kits do have supply kits you can purchase separately -- do so! It's well worth it to save you a lot of time and effort.)

- Not much in the way of explanations or teaching text.

- Some experiments we either could not reproduce, or didn't "get" the purpose.

- The authors strongly request that if you buy/sell a used TOPS unit booklet, that you as tge buyer or the seller also send them money to "acknowledge the ongoing value of this book" since buying a used copy of the book "affects us by eliminating a potential book sale." [i'm all for supporting authors who write school materials, since they never, ever get paid what they really deserve for all the countless hours they put into the materials -- but, really!)

 

 

PROs

- Very experiment-based; interesting experiments.

- A more Scientific Method based program (question, experiment, use results to come to a conclusion).

- Good supplement for experiments to flesh out a more "text" based program.

- Wide range of topics and for a wide range of ages.

- Great as a short unit "filler" in between other longer science programs, or to fill out some time at the end of a school year.