plain jane Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I've done a search and read a great number of reviews on Exploration Education and it seems that the reviews are decent. Definitely some cons mixed in with the pros but it sounds like E.E. is heavy on the hands-on (which I'm wanting) and weak in the reading portion (which I can add in). OTOH, the Thames & Kosmos kits that are recommended in WTM sound really good and if I buy all 4 of them ($$ :svengo:) and add in library books (which I'd have to do for Exploration Education too) we could have a great year. Does anybody have any opinion with following WTM recs and using all the Thames & Kosmos kits vs. doing Exploration Education? Would one be more rigorous than the other? More fun? More.. I dunno? Oh, less crazy for me? :tongue_smilie: Could I combine the two somehow or would that just be too much?- I'm thinking doing EE first and then finish off the year with the advanced T&K kit- Physics Pro? Maybe? :001_unsure: Part of me feels like I'm not going to know which way will work better unless I try both somehow. :001_huh: Gosh, I hate making my oldest the guinea pig for everything. Also, why is it that WTM recs for physics books is lacking so? It seems to all be kit recommendations. Please don't recommend the CPO book :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swainsonshawk Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 We are doing EE next year, too. I am having my sons do only the physics sections and leave out the chemistry sections (2) for next year. I need science to be 2-3 days per week, not 5, so this is how we are doing it. Plus, I am doubling up on lessons. We may add in reading from the Prentice Hall Science explorer books that we have. I have the individual topic books. I've also had the combined book and I hated it--the text is so dense as to read like a glossary of terms. I hated CPO for the same reason. I don't really like the PHSE books all that much either, but they are the best I can find. In addition, we will be adding in: The way things work book, Bill Nye videos, and anything else I can get my hands on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Look on Thames and Kosmos for the physics kits - I paid ~$11 for the Discovery kit that has a retail price of $39.95.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 We haven't always had good luck with T & k kits. I hope EE is better. Can you elaborate some on what you mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 The instructions for EE are excellent. My 11 yo needed ZERO help on the first project. We love it so far, although we think the photo at the end of each lesson is dumb. If that is all I have to complain about so far....that is amazing, in my book!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 The instructions for EE are excellent. My 11 yo needed ZERO help on the first project. We love it so far, although we think the photo at the end of each lesson is dumb. If that is all I have to complain about so far....that is amazing, in my book!:D We helped my 8 year old with assembling the "car" at the beginning (I could see glue in all the wrong places), but so far kiddo is enjoying it. We are fleshing out the reading with 8 year-old appropriate books, and throwing in some Janice Van Cleave and Snap Circuits, but so far so good. Personally, I'd rather it was all in the book and not with a CD-ROM, but that is just me. That silly little car is a big selling point for my son. First thing he asks about science of the day is "are we going to use the car?" I discuss the "set up" for him, and he assembles the rest, and feels quite pleased with his abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 When people say it's weak in the reading portion, what does that mean? Is it reading for sake of reading? Do you feel a concept isn't covered until it's read about multiple times? Are the explanations not covered in detail or explained well? If you understand a concept, how much do you have to read about it? This always confuses me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 When people say it's weak in the reading portion, what does that mean? Is it reading for sake of reading? Do you feel a concept isn't covered until it's read about multiple times? Are the explanations not covered in detail or explained well? If you understand a concept, how much do you have to read about it? This always confuses me. My son cannot memorize Newton's laws via a scant paragraph on each one. He is, however, younger than age range. He can't solidify the ideas by answering two multiple choice questions, a one sentence hypothesis, a one sentence "result", and a one sentence re-iteration of the law. I'd like the intro, the little hands on bit, and then more examples on video. Thankfully, there is YouTube, and I can pull some up (people love posting such things) and have kiddo chant the law we are covering to fit the vid we are watching. Then, because he is so young, I go over library books that describe it in a different way, as review, some weeks down the line. As I said, I'd rather EE was all in a book, so we didn't have to shuffle between computer screen, book, and hands-on for the day. If it did have several more demos of each law or property we were looking at for each, the CDROM would be fine with me. If you child is independent with the computer and the hands on, you would be happier with it. I don't regret it, as the hands on stuff is VERY appealing to my son, but it could have been done better IMO (ie either meatier visuals on the CDROM or all in a book). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 What do people use to suppplement Exploration Education? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalea Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Create Your Ritual Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Would like to learn more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 So far, I think it is enough. DS loves it and is retaining a lot. Our only issue is the projects need DH's help and DH isn't home that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 (edited) What do people use to suppplement Exploration Education? My ds is in 7th grade using the advanced version. I went went through physics threads here on the board and came up with these books. (I haven't previewed any yet.) The Cartoon Guide to Physics The thermodynamics of pizza Introducing Quantum Theory The Flying Circus Fatal Forces horrible science Mad About Physics Secrets of the Universe series The Physics of Star Trek Physics of Christmas The kids guide to building cool stuff Cool stuff and how it works Carry on Mr. Bowditch The Story of Inventions A Wrinkle in Time (for fun) Crazy Machines computer game (he loves this) October Sky (movie) I'm sorry about the crazy spacing. I copied the list from my Evernote page and I'm not able to make it look any better. My ds has started The Physics of Star Trek and is really enjoying it. HTH! :) Edited August 25, 2011 by Jaz crazy spacing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 While we haven't yet completed EE, I have to give an overwhelming endorsement to the company. Their customer service is the BEST of any I've seen, HS market or otherwise. They, for free, sent me new parts for my kit which I had purchased years ago, before we were even HSing but never had time to complete. For free, he sent me a new car when I offered to pay for it so DS8 could build it w/ the newer software since DS11 had already built the car. Then I realized I had bought the upgrade kit to go to advanced for DS11 and since I don't want them to share, I needed to buy a new supplies only kit for DS8. Well, in the box for DS8, John included 3 kits, for free, w/out my asking....anticipating our needs, that they had changed slightly since I bought the original EE intermediate kit since the advanced upgrade still uses the kits from the intermediate kit. That's customer service! So, I'm writing this to emphasize that if you have any issues, drop them an email. Hopefully by years end, I'll be singing the praises about the science. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Ours just came in the mail today!! :hurray: I did end up getting the Advanced version, even though I'm only planning to have dd10 do Standard - for $20 more, I figured maybe we could all do the last two lessons of the week together (with older sisters who are doing a different physics program this year), or if she's really gung-ho and gets it, maybe she'll just tackle it herself because it's fun. I think this is going to be right up her alley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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