What does the HIVE think about The Rainbow science curriculum?

[Murrayshire]

Thinking of going this route for 7th and 8th grade....this year my sixth grader is using Oak Meadow's Life Science.....Hoping The Rainbow may be a bit more rigorous even though I love the layout of OM and how it's taught to the child.

Can anyone tell me what their thoughts are on The Rainbow and how well it worked?

Thank you for reading and sharing!

[redsquirrel]

I find Rainbow science intriguing, but it is not secular. If you are liking Oakmeadow in part because it is secular, you might want to look elsewhere for science.

 

The only reason I mention it is because so many people suggest Oakmeadow for those looking for secular hs science.

[ahousefullofjs]

:lurk5:watching this. I think Rainbow Science looks amazing. I'm thinking of using it next year too, would love to see some feedback from others.

[Murrayshire]

I find Rainbow science intriguing, but it is not secular. If you are liking Oakmeadow in part because it is secular, you might want to look elsewhere for science.

 

The only reason I mention it is because so many people suggest Oakmeadow for those looking for secular hs science.

 

Yes, I would rather have more of a secular science program....maybe we should stick with Oak Meadow?:glare:

But Rainbow looks awesome......We both get lost in public school books and would rather have lessons already planned and use living books as well....Thank you for your help!

[redsquirrel]

Yes, I would rather have more of a secular science program....maybe we should stick with Oak Meadow?:glare:

But Rainbow looks awesome......We both get lost in public school books and would rather have lessons already planned and use living books as well....Thank you for your help!

 

But..but... I was sort of hoping that Oak meadow gave you the nice lesson plans.

 

I am counting on Oak Meadow for high school secular science. Please tell me there are lesson plans..or some sort of plan.

[Princess Peach]

My 7th grader DS is using Rainbow and he loves it. I love that it is open and go for him and the lab kit has everything needed. It's a great intro to physics and chemistry (he is doing year 1).

[Murrayshire]

But..but... I was sort of hoping that Oak meadow gave you the nice lesson plans.

 

I am counting on Oak Meadow for high school secular science. Please tell me there are lesson plans..or some sort of plan.

 

Oak Meadow gives you a weekly plan....You basically figure out what assignments you will do for that given day....As this was the case for 2nd and 6th grade OM......You are gathering supplies that you need for assignments and projects though. But if done ahead of time, it's not a big deal. We are also using Lyrical Life Science along with OM....just adds a little more meat and fun songs plus sometimes will pull out a worksheet from LL science to go along with what she is learning in OM.

I only have the student OM life science book...I don't have the TM which has suggestions and probably answers to the test questions at the end of each week. I just go back through the reading to make sure the questions are correct. Now, when I get up to high school, I may want the Manuals. Thanks again!:001_smile:

[Murrayshire]

My 7th grader DS is using Rainbow and he loves it. I love that it is open and go for him and the lab kit has everything needed. It's a great intro to physics and chemistry (he is doing year 1).

 

I love open & go!!

Thank you for sharing!

:)

[missmoe]

My oldest son used Rainbow Science. I was hesitant to use it because of the religious viewpoint. I found the religious viewpoint to be specific to a few sections and easily discussed.

 

I loved the easy enjoyable reading, the tests, the kit (that I need to make science happen), and the lab manual.

 

Now, I'm wondering why I'm not using it with my girls this year? :confused:

[klmama]

As others have said, The Rainbow is very much an open and go curriculum. Students who can read and follow directions well will be successful with the independent labs. If you plan to use the quizzes, you will want to be sure to help the children review their textbook and lab book, as quizzes are more detailed than one might expect from the casual approach of the program. Your children will come away from this curriculum with a good understanding of concepts, but their ability to define terms may not be as strong as with a traditional curriculum. Whether or not that matters is up to you. ;)

[missmoe]

As others have said, The Rainbow is very much an open and go curriculum. Students who can read and follow directions well will be successful with the independent labs. If you plan to use the quizzes, you will want to be sure to help the children review their textbook and lab book, as quizzes are more detailed than one might expect from the casual approach of the program. Your children will come away from this curriculum with a good understanding of concepts, but their ability to define terms may not be as strong as with a traditional curriculum. Whether or not that matters is up to you. ;)

 

Yes, I agree. We solved that weakness by adding a science notebook as described in TWTM.

[MomsintheGarden]

Our oldest ds did RS in 7th & 8th grades, and it worked well for him. 2nd ds did RS in 6th and 7th grades. He is now using Apologia Biology in 8th grade. Our 3rd ds is using RS Year 1 now, in 6th grade.

 

We found that for our students it was a better fit to do it at a slightly younger age. We are a "sciency" family, and that gives our students a chance to fit in more high school science courses. The RS textbook doesn't involve much reading. I think the lessons are a bit too short sometimes, actually, but that works out well if you discuss the topics with your child. The text is about 1" thick for both years. Not that I think wordy is better, but at times I would have preferred a few more words here and there to explain a concept more thoroughly.

 

The main problem with this approach is that it is a rather big jump from 7th to 8th grade science. That has actually worked out in 2nd ds's favor, because he is easing into high school-level material by starting it with one subject in middle school. Also, it can make the transcript a little tricky (but not impossible) to have a high school subject done early. For ds2 I plan to footnote that he did Biology in 8th grade.

 

GardenMom

[Kathy in Richmond]

Our oldest ds did RS in 7th & 8th grades, and it worked well for him. 2nd ds did RS in 6th and 7th grades. He is now using Apologia Biology in 8th grade. Our 3rd ds is using RS Year 1 now, in 6th grade.

 

We found that for our students it was a better fit to do it at a slightly younger age. We are a "sciency" family, and that gives our students a chance to fit in more high school science courses.

 

Same experience here.:) Older son used RS in 7th and 8th; younger daughter used it in 6th and 7th, and she followed in 8th with Apologia biology. They loved Rainbow Science!

 

The RS textbook doesn't involve much reading. I think the lessons are a bit too short sometimes, actually, but that works out well if you discuss the topics with your child. The text is about 1" thick for both years. Not that I think wordy is better, but at times I would have preferred a few more words here and there to explain a concept more thoroughly.

 

Yep. We're also a STEM oriented family. During the RS years, the kids were also reading science magazines, books from the library and our shelves, and going to the local Science Museum regularly.

 

We supplemented with reading from other books at times. For instance, in the physics section, the kids also read and discussed Eyewitness Force and Motion with me. All in all, though, I was happy that RS was quick and easy to use, and it provided a nice conceptual basis for their further studies. I wanted a curriculum that would tie our informal studies together, and it was good for that purpose. And the labs with all supplies included were fun!

 

The main problem with this approach is that it is a rather big jump from 7th to 8th grade science. That has actually worked out in 2nd ds's favor, because he is easing into high school-level material by starting it with one subject in middle school. Also, it can make the transcript a little tricky (but not impossible) to have a high school subject done early. For ds2 I plan to footnote that he did Biology in 8th grade.

 

We transitioned to Dr. Dobbin's Spectrum Chem in 9th grade, which made a nice follow-up to RS. I like to have a lot of fun and hands-on experiences with the content subjects such as science & history in middle school. During these years, we work hard in math, Latin/grammar, writing, and study skills. I believe that once they have these basic tools in place, they can jump into higher levels of science & history in high school.

 

My son went from doing Rainbow in 7th and 8th and Spectrum in 9th to AP sciences in 10th through 12th with no problems.

[Jen+4dc]

Thinking of going this route for 7th and 8th grade....this year my sixth grader is using Oak Meadow's Life Science.....Hoping The Rainbow may be a bit more rigorous even though I love the layout of OM and how it's taught to the child.

Can anyone tell me what their thoughts are on The Rainbow and how well it worked?

Thank you for reading and sharing!

RS was amazingly easy to implement, it was the first science program that actually got done on a regular basis around here.

 

My oldest son used Rainbow Science. I was hesitant to use it because of the religious viewpoint. I found the religious viewpoint to be specific to a few sections and easily discussed.

 

I loved the easy enjoyable reading, the tests, the kit (that I need to make science happen), and the lab manual.

 

Now, I'm wondering why I'm not using it with my girls this year? :confused:

:iagree:

 

 

One caution: if you're not a science-oriented person you may have trouble explaining things when the kids get stuck. There's little to no extra explanation in the teacher's manual for a non-science person like myself. It was more difficult to teach for me. On multiple occasions I found myself calling an engineer friend of mine or heading to youtube to try and find a video of the concept that would explain it to my kids better than I could. Of course, any middle school science program may have been like that for me. You start talking scientific terms and my brain shuts down and my eyes glaze over.:tongue_smilie:

 

HTH:)

[Princess Peach]

One caution: if you're not a science-oriented person you may have trouble explaining things when the kids get stuck. There's little to no extra explanation in the teacher's manual for a non-science person like myself. It was more difficult to teach for me. On multiple occasions I found myself calling an engineer friend of mine or heading to youtube to try and find a video of the concept that would explain it to my kids better than I could. Of course, any middle school science program may have been like that for me. You start talking scientific terms and my brain shuts down and my eyes glaze over.:tongue_smilie:

 

HTH:)

 

Yes I agree with this. I do wish there was more explanation in the TM.

Thankfully we are using this with my very science-y brainiac kid. :D

[lewelma]

We transitioned to Dr. Dobbin's Spectrum Chem in 9th grade, which made a nice follow-up to RS.

 

Kathy, I know that Spectrum chem is not completely secular, but am unclear on how much faith-based material is in the text. Would you mind describing it to me. Also, how long did it take your ds to do the program every week?

 

Thanks,

 

Ruth

[Kathy in Richmond]

Kathy, I know that Spectrum chem is not completely secular, but am unclear on how much faith-based material is in the text. Would you mind describing it to me. Also, how long did it take your ds to do the program every week?

 

Hi Ruth,

It's been a few years since I last used Spectrum, but I can't remember much (if any) religious material in the text. I flipped through the book just now to try to refresh my memory, and I found:

(1) a reference to "when God created the universe" in the introduction

(2) mentions "Our Creator" in the organic chem chapter in reference to the complexity of life

(3) a section on evolution (last section in the text) where he talks about different theories, and a closing comment in the same section encouraging students to "seek after God with all your heart".

 

That's all I found looking quickly through 250 pages. I think it would be easy to use in a secular fashion.

 

My kids spent about an hour twice per week reading, studying, and working the exercises in one section. The weekly lab took a third day, and that could last anywhere between 30 min and 2 hours, depending on the experiment.

[lewelma]

Thanks Kathy

[8filltheheart]

Our experience is very similar to Kathy's. It took minimal time. I did throw in Plato's chemistry in Jan b/c I was a little leery of how little time it was taking. However, he says he really didn't learn anything in Plato that he hadn't already learned in Spectrum. Either way, our experience is again like Kathy's in that he has been more than prepared for AP chem. He is taking AP chem through ChemAdvantage and has an extremely high A.

[bethben]

I have a 5th grader using it. Like others though, he is pretty well versed on science so far. He answers the questions well and seems to understand the material. He likes it a lot because it came with the cool science kit. I'm not sure I would have used it when he was in 7th grade. Some days, there are only 2 pages of material to read. As with others, more is sometimes just "more" and only needs 2 pages to really explain the concept.

 

Beth

[Murrayshire]

As others have said, The Rainbow is very much an open and go curriculum. Students who can read and follow directions well will be successful with the independent labs. If you plan to use the quizzes, you will want to be sure to help the children review their textbook and lab book, as quizzes are more detailed than one might expect from the casual approach of the program. Your children will come away from this curriculum with a good understanding of concepts, but their ability to define terms may not be as strong as with a traditional curriculum. Whether or not that matters is up to you. ;)

 

Would just keeping index cards of terms help in that area?

Thank you for sharing!

[Murrayshire]

Yes, I agree. We solved that weakness by adding a science notebook as described in TWTM.

 

Helpful information!! Thank you!

:iagree:

[Murrayshire]

RS was amazingly easy to implement, it was the first science program that actually got done on a regular basis around here.

 

 

:iagree:

 

 

One caution: if you're not a science-oriented person you may have trouble explaining things when the kids get stuck. There's little to no extra explanation in the teacher's manual for a non-science person like myself. It was more difficult to teach for me. On multiple occasions I found myself calling an engineer friend of mine or heading to youtube to try and find a video of the concept that would explain it to my kids better than I could. Of course, any middle school science program may have been like that for me. You start talking scientific terms and my brain shuts down and my eyes glaze over.:tongue_smilie:

 

HTH:)

Thank you for that important bit of info!

[Murrayshire]

I have a 5th grader using it. Like others though, he is pretty well versed on science so far. He answers the questions well and seems to understand the material. He likes it a lot because it came with the cool science kit. I'm not sure I would have used it when he was in 7th grade. Some days, there are only 2 pages of material to read. As with others, more is sometimes just "more" and only needs 2 pages to really explain the concept.

 

Beth

 

Do you feel there is not enough there for a 7th grader?

[Princess Peach]

Do you feel there is not enough there for a 7th grader?

 

IMO, it is enough. It is meant to be an intro to the high school sciences. The idea is, when they get to high school level, they will not be hearing the info for the first time, so they will be better able to absorb it. Also, my DS loves science, so he will take something he reads in the book and it will springboard into an internet search for a deeper understanding of the topic.

[cheryl h]

So I really have not seen RS in person, in fact, all I have done is a search on reviews. It seems to be meaty in experiments but a little light on explanation. So, I am wondering how or if it would work to use both RS and either of the Apologia General Science or Physical Science. I love both of these books but am not exactly thrilled with the hands on experiment component. I don't like that the very next sentence in the text after the instructions for the experiment is the answers to the experiment. If it's there you can't keep yourself from reading it, and after you've read it, what's the point of doing the experiment anyway? I would rather they have to do the experiment to discover for themselves how the science works, and then have to come up with their own conclusions based on the science principal demonstrated and what they observed. This could be easily solved if Apologia excluded that info and had it in a separate TM (along with the answers to the On Your Own questions), or in the least put it in the back of the book; but that isn't how they do it.

 

Would it be too much work to do both the middle school Apologia books and the Rainbow Science?

Edited November 18, 2011 by cheryl h

[Susan in TN]

IMO, it is enough. It is meant to be an intro to the high school sciences. The idea is, when they get to high school level, they will not be hearing the info for the first time, so they will be better able to absorb it. Also, my DS loves science, so he will take something he reads in the book and it will springboard into an internet search for a deeper understanding of the topic.

 

:iagree:

 

I think my kids actually learn/absorb more BECAUSE the lessons are short and to the point, with a bit of humor thrown in. They are not great lovers of science in general, but they enjoy the lessons because they aren't a drudgery of long text reading.