RSO vs. RS4K

[sncstraub]

I'm trying to figure out what science to use next year (this fall), and I'm considering these two right now. We'll be studying chemistry.

 

I'll have a 4th grader, ds9, who is a great reader and reluctant writer as well as a 1st grader, ds6, who is a reluctant reader. I want to combine them even if that means the 1st grader is kind of tagging along.

 

I also have a 3.5yo dd who will want to be involved when there are experiments, I'm sure. And I have a newborn right now...who will hopefully be napping better by then!!

 

So...am I right in understanding that RS4K will not take up the entire year? But REO would? We're not terribly science-y here, but I don't want to neglect it. I'm wondering if it would work to do RS4K once a week? Also, I was trying to figure out whether Pre-Level or Level 1 would be more appropriate. I don't want to buy both - too expensive.

 

I've also been looking at AiG God's Design for Chemistry. I don't have a problem with the creation/intelligent design aspect, but I don't want the kids to be bored with it either (the samples I've previewed don't look too exciting). And it is meant to be used everyday? We won't be doing science everyday, for sure.

 

Any pointers? :bigear:

[sncstraub]

Pretty please?? :bigear:

[nukeswife]

I have not used RS4K, but we love RSO here. RSO will fill a whole year, but the schedule that comes with it is for only 2 days a week, which we find totally doable.

 

Have you downloaded the Try before you buy from RSO, that will give you a decent amount of lessons to look at or even work through to decide if it's for you.

 

I've used the Chemistry with my kids even though my oldest was 12 at the time. Sure it wasn't "Rigorous" but I'm not in it for that. I want my kids to learn to enjoy science and this did the trick. I'll worry about things being more challenging when they are in high school.

[5Wizards]

We tried RS4K first and didn't like it. Switched to RSO and my DD (9 at the time with tag-along 5 year old) really enjoyed it.

[Spryte]

We are doing RSO Chemistry right now (just started) and enjoying. We did RSO Life last year, and I'd planned on starting Earth and Space, but we are doing Chem at DS's request.

 

We love RSO. You can definitely do it for a year, or go faster if you choose. We do 1 - 2 days of science per week, and it lasts the year.

 

I like to order the kits from Home Science Tools so that gathering supplies isn't an issue, otherwise I have a tendency to scramble at the last minute and put things off. :)

 

Can't speak to RS4K, but we do love RSO here! And I think you can definitely combine this one, tagalongs and all.

[hsmom2011]

I've used RS4K pre chem and chem 1. I attempted to use RSO Earth and Space and disliked it so much I gave up after the section on weather.

 

We really liked RS4K, but I think it will be too difficult to combine your age range because the pre level will likely be too easy for the older child, but the level 1 will be way too difficult for the younger child.

 

It is true that RS4K does not last an entire year. I think we finished in 10 weeks.

 

I did not like the experiment/hands on stuff in RSO and that's pretty much what it is all about. It is mostly hands on. I was so turned off by how lame the weather activities were that, as I said, I gave up. Basically it has you make a weather station using plastic cups and paper plates and somehow you are supposed to use this to record weather. Yeah right...

 

Although I don't love hands on stuff in general, I think the hands on stuff in RS4K is well done.

 

:iagree: We have used both and prefer RS4K. I am combining a 2nd and 6th grader. We just purchase both level 1 & pre-level one. They follow the same topics chapter by chapter. The experiments are similar, just more in depth in level 1, so experiment day is pretty easy to do with both kids.

[ChiknGirl]

We tried RS4K Biology and didn't like it. We switched to RSO and have completed Biology and Chemistry. RSO is a winner in our house. The kids love it and I find it easy to do. RSO does not require a lot of writing and is easy to add extra reading to.

[Walking-Iris]

My 3rd grader did RS4K pre-level chemistry this year, and I didn't think it was too easy or babyish at all. I read aloud the text and my 4 year old joined in with listening and doing some of the labs. My ds still looks at the text for the fun of it. It took us about 12 weeks to finish it. I also got a VanCleave chemistry for every kid activity book because my ds liked the hands-on stuff so much. I think you could totally combine those ages with the pre-level, but not the level 1.

 

My only tip would be to read the lab for that week carefully before attempting to do the lab with the kids. :tongue_smilie: Seems obvious, but I would try to read it as we went along---it's just too involved. You definitely have to take the time to read ahead and prepare your stuff so you can just pick up and do the lab.

[Heather in VA]

Well you guys are no help. I just realized I completely forgot to pick a science for my 9 year old for next year so I drop into this thread for some direction. The rule is that everyone loves one thing and hates the other. That way I know what to do :lol::lol:

 

Sounds like RS4K vs RSO is all a matter of preference. *sigh*

 

Heather

[sncstraub]

The rule is that everyone loves one thing and hates the other. That way I know what to do :lol::lol:

 

Sounds like RS4K vs RSO is all a matter of preference. *sigh*

 

Heather

 

Seriously - now what am I supposed to do? :tongue_smilie:

 

It's good to know that I could possibly combine them with RS4K pre-level chem. I was thinking about that. I was also thinking about the advantages of only having 10 weeks worth of science given that we'll be dealing with a new baby and jumping into a new curriculum overall this year (TOG). Maybe I'll push science to the spring semester...

 

...but I don't want to short-change the kids either. And I rather liked the looks of RSO better. Back to the drawing board, I think...

[Syllieann]

Not to confuse you more but have you looked at Mr. Q's lab too? I haven't used it but it seems that its layout is very similar to RSO but IMO the labs have more of a real science feel, meaning that they are actually experiments, not demonstrations.

[Spryte]

I looked at both programs, and went with RSO because it is secular. That's not going to help you either, is it? It doesn't look like you need a secular choice. In which case, maybe RS4K is a good option? :)

 

RS4K is somewhat secular too, I think, but the author is not, and apparently there are a *few* references to that in later courses. Maybe knowing that will help you make a decision?

 

RSO has a try before you buy option, so you can get a feel for it, if you're really torn.

 

For us, RSO doesn't go deep enough - it is a jumping off point, but we do a lot of science supplementing here with library, museums, and BrainPop and the Happy Scientist videos. We also do a lot of Bill Nye and Beakman, just for fun.

 

I love choosing science curriculum, I think it's a lot of fun. What a nerd, right?

[Education Explorers]

Last year was our first year HS, so take this with a grain of salt (obviously we have not used any other science programs either).

 

We used RS4K: Chemistry Pre-Level 1 and Level 1 last year. I taught my 2nd grade son and 5th grade daughter together. The Pre-Level 1 book was extremely helpful for a subject in which the kids had zero background knowledge. If we had just jumped into Level 1, I think they would have been lost. While at first blush, it does not seem to have all that much in chapters and chapter length, I found it was packed with a lot of information. Getting kids to understand the different types of bonds and chemical reactions, for example, is not a one day of reading kind of thing. Getting then to understand and retain them is going to mean going a little slower than reading the chapter one day, doing the lab the next and then start a new chapter (IMO).

 

The kids enjoyed the labs and seemed to really learn a lot from the program. I liked it and we will be using RS4K Biology next year. I will supplement it for my new middle schooler because RS4K does not cover human biology.

 

I wanted a secular science program and was pleased overall with the program. My cousin who has a masters in chemistry and thought we ultra-weird (as if that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black :lol:) for HSing. He "quizzed" the kids and was blown away by their understanding of chemistry.

 

I would recommend the program. Just a thought: to save some money, you could skip buying the pre-level 1 labs and teacher's manual and just use the pre-level 1 text to accompany a Level 1 program. We did Level 1 labs exclusively and my youngest had no trouble. I just required less writing/conclusions etc. of him.

[tomandlorih]

I'm trying to figure out what science to use next year (this fall), and I'm considering these two right now. We'll be studying chemistry.

 

I'll have a 4th grader, ds9, who is a great reader and reluctant writer as well as a 1st grader, ds6, who is a reluctant reader. I want to combine them even if that means the 1st grader is kind of tagging along.

 

I also have a 3.5yo dd who will want to be involved when there are experiments, I'm sure. And I have a newborn right now...who will hopefully be napping better by then!!

 

So...am I right in understanding that RS4K will not take up the entire year? But REO would? We're not terribly science-y here, but I don't want to neglect it. I'm wondering if it would work to do RS4K once a week? Also, I was trying to figure out whether Pre-Level or Level 1 would be more appropriate. I don't want to buy both - too expensive.

 

I've also been looking at AiG God's Design for Chemistry. I don't have a problem with the creation/intelligent design aspect, but I don't want the kids to be bored with it either (the samples I've previewed don't look too exciting). And it is meant to be used everyday? We won't be doing science everyday, for sure.

 

Any pointers? :bigear:

 

 

We did RS4K this year.. with my dd8 and tag along 3.5yr old ds. She hated it:lol: and he only liked the experiments where you could get messy. We did Science 1x per week and it was a little much for 1x per week but not quite enough for 2 weeks.. We used pre-level 1 Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Now Biology, which my dd loves the most, was actually the hardest to do the experiments. You needed a butterfly kit, you needed to grow a tadpole, you needed a microscope. We ended up just looking at videos on YouTube which wasn't very exciting. We also skipped the lab books because there was just way to much writing for my writing-resistant dd..

 

I loved the idea of RS4K, the fact that it used all the right vocabulary and didn't "dumb it down" but made the technical understandable.. but in practicality it just didn't work for us. My dd loves science and knows a lot(and I don't want to lose that!) but this year was to "text-booky" after last years VERY fun Charlotte Mason style science and hands on experiments(more than just 1 per chapter like RS4K has). We are switching to RSO next year. I just picked up Earth and Space at a used curriculum sale and my dd looked it over and is very excited to try it.

 

HTH

Lori

 

PS.. maybe it would resonate differently with a boy?? I don't have time now but it would be interesting to put up a poll with a loved it with a boy or hated it with boy , loved it with a girl, hated it with a girl, and of course the obligatory other=D

Edited June 19, 2012 by tomandlorih
to add maybe it would be better with a boy?

[Ecclecticmum]

Haven't read the replies.

 

RSO has great labs, and RS4K has a nice "book"

 

What about the possibility of getting RSO as your spine, and using the RS4K "reader/text" as a supplement? This can help them understand more.

 

To me, RSO is just labs. There's not as much information as there should be.

 

I combine RSO & Elemental Science. I use ES as my base, for the reading, ongoing projects and base information, and then RSO for the labs. And I still have to end up adding youtube videos into it, because RSO seems to skip info before giving the labs properly

[HeidiKC]

We used RS4K Astronomy last year for my 6th grader. I thought it was too easy, but would probably be perfect for 4th grade. Also, I was pretty disappointed in the "Lab" book. I think nearly half of the "experiments" involved downloading Google Earth (which I could never do properly!) and then looking up info about various galaxies or something. Not what I'd consider a lab, and not very fun. But the earlier labs where we actually did something would be great for 4th grade.

 

I like the way the books are laid out. Yes, you could do it once a week and finish it during the year - EASILY. That's what we did. I think for each chapter we did this: week 1 - read chapter, week 2 - take notes from chapter, week 3- chapter review and lab. This was probably 30 minutes/week. We were also doing physical geography (so a lot of overlap with earth science there), so I didn't mind that RS4K book was so short. But if that's your main science, I think you'll want to add some stuff. What I would do is add DVDs from the library, and assign library books on topics from the chapter.