toawh Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 What do I do? I can't afford to buy each of these to see which one I like best. If you've tried one or all of these... How teacher intensive is it? Does it explain the concept well? Does it cover a whole year's worth of study? What grade does it go up to? Did you love/hate/anything in between it? Did you feel the need to supplement? How is it organized? Does it give suggestions of extra readings? And anything else you might feel is useful to know. I don't mind at all if you try to sell me on your favorite. :bigear: BFSU has been particularly confusing from what I can gather about it online. I want my kids to love science, to have a deep understanding of its concepts and to have as few gaps as possible. And I want to not have to keep on buying misfits in this subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerPoppy Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Well, Mr. Q's Life Science is free, so you can definitely try that one. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toawh Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 Oh, and if you do RSO, then what do you do for Physics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 BFSU is available as an e-book for $5 from Outskirts Press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 BFSU! How teacher intensive is it? The teacher has to do everything, but it's very well laid out/almost scripted. You have to gather a few super basic materials (I have actually had them at my house, unlike most "household" item programs), get a few library books if you want to, and skim over the lesson before you teach it. Does it explain the concept well? YES. Oh my yes. The best of any elementary program I've seen. Does it cover a whole year's worth of study? Yes. It's K-2 technically, but you can vary the pace to much faster or slower. What grade does it go up to? 2 officially, but it would be fine for 3rd too, I think. However, I am only talking about BFSU 1, which I am using. There are now also BFSU 2 and 3, which cover grades 3-5 and 6-8!! Did you love/hate/anything in between it? Love. Love love love love pretty much all of it. Seriously. It took me a while to read all of the intro chapters, but they are very important for teaching with the method. Once I finished those and finally just dug in, it was fabulous. Did you feel the need to supplement? No. I do use many of the recommended supplemental reading books listed in BFSU, and some others in the same vein, but I don't feel the need to add any other science programs. We are a very science-oriented home and so we have things like microscopes around just for the heck of it :lol: and random acts of science occur often, but the only thing on the schedule is BFSU. How is it organized? I tried officially supplementing once and it was just silly and quite unnecessary. Does it give suggestions of extra readings? Yes! At the end of each lesson is a list of related books/authors/series. And anything else you might feel is useful to know. I don't mind at all if you try to sell me on your favorite. :bigear: BFSU has been particularly confusing from what I can gather about it online. I want my kids to love science, to have a deep understanding of its concepts and to have as few gaps as possible. And I want to not have to keep on buying misfits in this subject. Best. Science. Ever. :D BFSU isn't really confusing--it's just not "biology" and then "chemistry," etc. It's all taught hand-in-hand, as it really is in life. You can focus on one area for a while and then switch, though--we started with some biology threads, then did some physics threads, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greeny Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 BFSU is available as an e-book for $5 from Outskirts Press. Thank you for sharing! I have wanted to check it out forever and this is making me finally pull the trigger! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Everything she said :iagree: BFSU! How teacher intensive is it? The teacher has to do everything, but it's very well laid out/almost scripted. You have to gather a few super basic materials (I have actually had them at my house, unlike most "household" item programs), get a few library books if you want to, and skim over the lesson before you teach it. Does it explain the concept well? YES. Oh my yes. The best of any elementary program I've seen. Does it cover a whole year's worth of study? Yes. It's K-2 technically, but you can vary the pace to much faster or slower. What grade does it go up to? 2 officially, but it would be fine for 3rd too, I think. However, I am only talking about BFSU 1, which I am using. There are now also BFSU 2 and 3, which cover grades 3-5 and 6-8!! Did you love/hate/anything in between it? Love. Love love love love pretty much all of it. Seriously. It took me a while to read all of the intro chapters, but they are very important for teaching with the method. Once I finished those and finally just dug in, it was fabulous. Did you feel the need to supplement? No. I do use many of the recommended supplemental reading books listed in BFSU, and some others in the same vein, but I don't feel the need to add any other science programs. We are a very science-oriented home and so we have things like microscopes around just for the heck of it :lol: and random acts of science occur often, but the only thing on the schedule is BFSU. How is it organized? I tried officially supplementing once and it was just silly and quite unnecessary. Does it give suggestions of extra readings? Yes! At the end of each lesson is a list of related books/authors/series. And anything else you might feel is useful to know. I don't mind at all if you try to sell me on your favorite. :bigear: BFSU has been particularly confusing from what I can gather about it online. I want my kids to love science, to have a deep understanding of its concepts and to have as few gaps as possible. And I want to not have to keep on buying misfits in this subject. Best. Science. Ever. :D BFSU isn't really confusing--it's just not "biology" and then "chemistry," etc. It's all taught hand-in-hand, as it really is in life. You can focus on one area for a while and then switch, though--we started with some biology threads, then did some physics threads, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toawh Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 Thanks LittleIzumi for all your input. I downloaded Mr. Q, and found (at least the first few lessons) rather dry. Pretty much he teaches some vocabulary and does a few matching and multiple choices to reinforce it. So it's down to BFSU vs. RSO. And I never thought I would use those. I'm a little scared to jump into BFSU because I've been so loyal to the WTM version of science, following a subject for a whole year. Does it really matter that much? What is RSO like -- does it also have reading lists? Has anyone tried both of these that can compare them for me? I'm afterschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amiemac78 Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Thanks LittleIzumi for all your input. I downloaded Mr. Q, and found (at least the first few lessons) rather dry. Pretty much he teaches some vocabulary and does a few matching and multiple choices to reinforce it. So it's down to BFSU vs. RSO. And I never thought I would use those. I'm a little scared to jump into BFSU because I've been so loyal to the WTM version of science, following a subject for a whole year. Does it really matter that much? What is RSO like -- does it also have reading lists? Has anyone tried both of these that can compare them for me? I'm afterschooling. Yes, RSO has a reading list. Here is a link for the try before you buy for the first ten weeks or so. The reading list is included in the trial. http://www.pandiapress.com/?page_id=20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mert Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Yes, RSO has a reading list. Here is a link for the try before you buy for the first ten weeks or so. The reading list is included in the trial. http://www.pandiapress.com/?page_id=20 You can also look over the list Angela made... http://satorismiles.com/curriculum/rso-life-additional-resources/. She's using RSO now but started out with BFSU. She has some good posts about both. (There's a search function on her site to help dig up the posts!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 BFSU! How teacher intensive is it? The teacher has to do everything, but it's very well laid out/almost scripted. You have to gather a few super basic materials (I have actually had them at my house, unlike most "household" item programs), get a few library books if you want to, and skim over the lesson before you teach it. Does it explain the concept well? YES. Oh my yes. The best of any elementary program I've seen. Does it cover a whole year's worth of study? Yes. It's K-2 technically, but you can vary the pace to much faster or slower. What grade does it go up to? 2 officially, but it would be fine for 3rd too, I think. However, I am only talking about BFSU 1, which I am using. There are now also BFSU 2 and 3, which cover grades 3-5 and 6-8!! Did you love/hate/anything in between it? Love. Love love love love pretty much all of it. Seriously. It took me a while to read all of the intro chapters, but they are very important for teaching with the method. Once I finished those and finally just dug in, it was fabulous. Did you feel the need to supplement? No. I do use many of the recommended supplemental reading books listed in BFSU, and some others in the same vein, but I don't feel the need to add any other science programs. We are a very science-oriented home and so we have things like microscopes around just for the heck of it :lol: and random acts of science occur often, but the only thing on the schedule is BFSU. How is it organized? I tried officially supplementing once and it was just silly and quite unnecessary. Does it give suggestions of extra readings? Yes! At the end of each lesson is a list of related books/authors/series. And anything else you might feel is useful to know. I don't mind at all if you try to sell me on your favorite. :bigear: BFSU has been particularly confusing from what I can gather about it online. I want my kids to love science, to have a deep understanding of its concepts and to have as few gaps as possible. And I want to not have to keep on buying misfits in this subject. Best. Science. Ever. :D BFSU isn't really confusing--it's just not "biology" and then "chemistry," etc. It's all taught hand-in-hand, as it really is in life. You can focus on one area for a while and then switch, though--we started with some biology threads, then did some physics threads, etc. :iagree: I blogged about a few of our BFSU lessons and activities. You can see how I implemented it for my younger kids. We were supposed to start up our science this week again but I wasn't able to fit it in. I notice my history and science seems to meld into each other while doing our Prehistory unit so we haven't actually gotten back into BFSU yet. We've been doing lots of stuff on the Big Bang and early universe. Hopefully next week we can get back into BFSU! I will blog about it again when we do. Oh- not sure if you know- its mentioned on here often enough- but just in case- the author of BFSU has a yahoo group where he is accessible to answer questions and offer suggestions. I've found it pretty invaluable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toawh Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 :iagree: I blogged about a few of our BFSU lessons and activities. You can see how I implemented it for my younger kids. We were supposed to start up our science this week again but I wasn't able to fit it in. I notice my history and science seems to meld into each other while doing our Prehistory unit so we haven't actually gotten back into BFSU yet. We've been doing lots of stuff on the Big Bang and early universe. Hopefully next week we can get back into BFSU! I will blog about it again when we do. Oh- not sure if you know- its mentioned on here often enough- but just in case- the author of BFSU has a yahoo group where he is accessible to answer questions and offer suggestions. I've found it pretty invaluable. Okay, that's it your blog post is the straw that makes me chose BFSU. I have boys :D and the less paper work there is in a subject the more thrilled they get. All the hands-on stuff and library books are for me! And besides we're after schooling. Has SWB mentioned this program or given her opinion on it anywhere. Last question! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I'm a little scared to jump into BFSU because I've been so loyal to the WTM version of science, following a subject for a whole year. Does it really matter that much? I put a review of BFSU on my blog some time ago. We are still using and loving it. As for classical science, I really think that modern science has effectively made it obsolete. During the time of classical education, each area of science was truly its own topic. But science has come so far now, and everything is related to each other. For example, when you study plants and animals, you must necessarily study energy also in order to understand the differences between plants and animals. BFSU handles this very nicely in a way that no other program does (that I have seen). So you can be loyal to WTM without following the science recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 It sounds like you've already picked BFSU, but I just thought I'd weigh in anyway since I've used all three. I would not choose Mr. Q. As you said, there's a lot of vocab and it's pretty dry. Between the other two, I preferred RSO for my purposes (until DS more or less outgrew it this year), *BUT* for an afterschooling setting, I probably would have opted for BFSU simply because you can bounce from one topic to another - there's even a chart that tells you several different "paths" you can follow through the book. With RSO, there's a much more linear layout. Also, BFSU can be adaped for more ages more easily than RSO. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I love RSO! I have heard some people say it lacks in the reading area, and it may, but I use additional reading. However, if you aren't a science family and want something quick and to the point with a short activity - RSO would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I must be the weird one because we're really enjoying Mr. Q Life Science this year. It reminds me a lot of Ellen McHenry's chemistry programs in his use of humor and in doing a great job at making advanced stuff accessible to younger kids. I'm planning on continuing with Mr. Q's Earth & Space Science next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrself Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Thank you for sharing! I have wanted to check it out forever and this is making me finally pull the trigger! Me too! Quick ? first - what file type is this? Epub or Adobe? or something else? THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloversandlions Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Me too! Quick ? first - what file type is this? Epub or Adobe? or something else? THANKS! It is a .pdf file, but (at least) I cannot save it - it requires a password. Any ideas on how to resolve this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I must be the weird one because we're really enjoying Mr. Q Life Science this year. It reminds me a lot of Ellen McHenry's chemistry programs in his use of humor and in doing a great job at making advanced stuff accessible to younger kids. I'm planning on continuing with Mr. Q's Earth & Space Science next year. I guess we're weird too, we've used three of the books so far and are doing physics (the fourth) this year. I found it the opposite of dry. I have supplemented some with other experiments, and we watch related videos and things; we've really enjoyed them as a spine (ala SOTW). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toawh Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Regarding Mr. Q: I think free is good, but when you're working with a five year old there are a few issues to consider. Firstly, the matching activities and pencil paper stuff is frustrating for him. He can tell me what the words we learned mean, but he gets confused when I hand him those worksheets with tons of definitions. And after awhile, maybe this is just me, the tone of Mr. Q gets annoying to me. Also my wiggly five year old is fidgeting and squirming. It may be great but it doesn't fit us. Regarding RSO: I'm really torn here. It looks so good and thorough. I just am stumped about physics, and since we will probably never be solely homeschooling I thought something more action-ish might be more fun. After seeing Satori Smiles blog though I'm not so sure I made up my mind as well as I thought I had. If I could just see it in my hands. Sigh. Regarding BFSU: It looks so cool, but I've never laid my hands on it. I may regret buying it. It may be a snazzy new thing that is a let down eventually. As you can see I'm still as unsure as ever. :001_smile: I'm glad you've all been able to find what works for you. PS K has been a real learning experience for me since i was home-schooled. It's amazing how little they can fit in. I must say though that ds loves riding the bus, singing, getting paint everywhere and playing with friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetic license Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 BFSU requires thought and planning on your part, but it is great at tying all the threads of science together. I find RSO busywork-ish, esp for a 5 year old who needs more input than output. Note that the $5 BFSU does not let you print it. (there are however some creative ways like screenshots to get around that if you want to print particular sections) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloversandlions Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Click the file tab at the top then click save as. That's what I tried to do, but in this case, it does not work. I get a message saying that I need to enter the owner password - that without this password, I do not have permission to save the document. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloversandlions Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 It worked fine for me doing it that way. Are you using an older version of adobe maybe? Hmmm...maybe that's the problem - I'm not using Adobe. I'm using "Preview" on a Mac; I've never had a problem with it until this. What I did, eventually, was to go into my downloads, rename the file, and just drag it over to the folder in which I want to keep it. I'm hoping that's good enough and that it won't disappear. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I must be the weird one because we're really enjoying Mr. Q Life Science this year. It reminds me a lot of Ellen McHenry's chemistry programs in his use of humor and in doing a great job at making advanced stuff accessible to younger kids. I'm planning on continuing with Mr. Q's Earth & Space Science next year. We enjoyed the life science one. My dh even made a audio recording of it so the kids could listen to daddy at lunch every day. My kids aren't really big on hands on. Mr Q. Does have labs, but we didn't use them. I'm wondering which Mr. Q to do next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsutsie Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 In a perfect world, I'd be able to buy all the Level 1 RSO books and line the lessons up into the suggested BFSU sequence. They are both GREAT! BFSU is a little more work - I need to read it all before I can present the topic/idea. RSO is open and go, assuming you have some good science-type books laying around. (Just check experiment supplies on Sunday evening - usually end up doing a store-run at 9pm!) Currently we are doing RSO, but I do read the topic info in BFSU to check if there is a fundamental idea missing. There usually is. I wish someone would write a RSO-type program, using BFSU concepts and NOEO books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toawh Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Well, my library finally decided for me. They are inter-library-loaning BFSU for me. So I get to try it out for free; couldn't be happier!! Thanks for all the great input. It's so nice to have the wisdom of folks who have tried stuff out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamolina Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I am just trying to clarify... those of you who have purchased the pdf download and then put it on your Kindle... is it a good conversion and easy to use, or is it better to just go with the Kindle version directly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I am just trying to clarify... those of you who have purchased the pdf download and then put it on your Kindle... is it a good conversion and easy to use, or is it better to just go with the Kindle version directly? Things I noticed: *The ToC has live links automatically with the pdf conversion of vol 2&3, just like the Kindle, but vol 1 doesn't. I spent about an hour putting in bookmarks to compensate. *The flowchart in vols 1 & 3 didn't come out well in the conversion. Vol 2 is same as Kindle. *With the Kindle version, you can go to the ToC directly. With the pdf conversion, you have to bookmark it or go to the beginning and page forward a few times. Otherwise it seems to be a good conversion - the linked ToC is the only biggie imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 BFSU is available as an e-book for $5 from Outskirts Press. How did I not know this?! Thanks for the heads-up. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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