Please share your experience with using RSO for elementary chemistry

[Seasider]

How did you like it? How did the kids like it? What sort of equipment did you use (ie, could we set up a "lab" or was it more kitchen science-y)?

 

Did you use any other supplemental materials?

 

I am getting boggled by the options - just have to decide soon!

[Mama2two]

I'm bumping this b/c I'm interested in this too

[monalisa]

We are half way through it (started in Feb. with dd9) and will pick it up again this fall. It is kind of "kitchen-y" because many of the experiments involve food and you definitely do not need any fancy chemistry equipment (we have used kitchen equipment like glasses, jars and Pyrex), but that could make it more fun. I have considered buying some test tubes and beakers, but haven't. I did buy goggles and science thermometers as well as some nice periodic tables from Home Science Tools (which is where I got RSO Chem). I wish I'd ordered it 3 hole punched and not bound, because I ended up cutting off the binding and doing that myself. DD does like it, but doesn't love writing on the lab sheets too much. The experiments and activities are pretty good. Right before summer, we finished the section where they make a sort of "lap book" type of scrapbook for the first 18 elements. You can download 3 weeks from Pandia Press for free. I would recommend it, but I do think it might be best geared for third grade or older, and not 1st or 2nd (too abstract, imo, for 1st or 2nd).

 

Forgot to add -- we did use the Kingfisher Basher Chemistry book (my dd loves all of those books), and a little bit of Fizz, Bubble, and Flash! just because I have those 2 books.

[g7s22]

:bigear:

[Seasider]

Thanks, monalisa! Anyone else?

 

Bueller?

[dbmamaz]

Two friends and I tried to use it for a coop last year, for our 4 kids ages 7-9. The experiments were easy enough to put together, but we didnt finish out the year. our issues?

 

- partly it was just the coop wasnt working. The range of ability was frustrating, as my son's writing is so bad that he was always still writing way past when everyone else was done. The youngest one was the only girl, and she often seemed lost content-wise.

 

- we werent willing to do the crafty parts much. the woman hosting is pretty crafty, but for her kids the cutting and pasting would have been so far below the crafts they liked to do - and the other two boys hated cutting/pasting in general.

 

- some of the experiments didnt seem that relevant (ok, i actually had fun making meringues with the kids, but really? as a demonstration of gasses?), or we couldnt get to work (i vaguely remember something about a hanging .. something . . static electricity? but i think ALL elementary science programs are like that

 

I kinda wish we'd gotten further because i think some of the later experiments were better. But the kids were more interested in playing than in working, and for the other two moms, this was one of only 2 mornings a week they had their toddlers in preschool, so they needed to be more focused.

 

My son didnt want to finish the curriculum - but again, he doesnt like any curriculum. For science this year, I"m just giving him a bunch of books to read and making him do some copy work from them. We did some hands-on science over the summer, but really, he hates most of it.

 

I did read the entire curriculum and i liked it - but it didnt work for us. again - no curriculum really works for us (i mean, for my younger - my older one will do just about any curriculum)