Intellego unit studies? What do you think?

[momsuz123]

I see that the HSBC has Intellego unit studies at 45% off. Have any of you used these? Did you like them? I have 7&8 year old girls.

 

Thanks!

[Rivka]

I got the 3-5 Astronomy study when it was offered free on Mother's Day, and then bought Geology and Weather on sale at Currclick to make a full year of earth science.

 

I like them, but I also think that you need to understand what you're getting. Intellego unit studies are essentially a curated collection of links. All the meat of the program is stuff that is out there available on the web. What Intellego does - and make no mistake, this is a lot - is find quality materials, organize them, and arrange them into a set of topics and lessons that cover a subject area. They've also compiled things like lists of materials you'll need if you do all the recommended experiments/projects.

 

So, for example, if your next topic is "the sun," Intellego might give you links to a couple of webpages to read, a short science video on YouTube, and an experiment on a different webpage. They include occasional worksheets, but you won't find, for example, customized lab sheets for the recommended experiments, or lapbooking components, or anything like that.

 

I think it's worth it for what I paid. But I do think it's important to know what you're buying before you buy it.

[FairProspects]

We love them here. They are perfect for my hands-on, visual learners who hate to write, but can absorb and discuss a high level of content. The videos from the Intellego links are frequently documentaries or clips and have sparked fantastic discussions in our house about the origins of the universe, how atoms are split, etc. If you want traditional textbook science, then no, this is not it. But personally I don't have time to look all over the web for the best videos, websites, and ideas, so I love Intellego and use it as a springboard to get into some great scientific ideas.

[BugsMama]

I felt like they were not worth the money. Half the links didn't work, and then when the links were fixed, sometimes they did not line up with what the unit said we were going to learn.

 

Because all the links are to free content, it isn't always quality content.

 

Some of the links were religious in nature when they were supposed to be secular.

 

We own 6. I've used 3. I won't mess with the others. I can do just as well googling my own stuff. I was mad I wasted money on them.

[Writerdaddy]

yes-- the unit studies are a collection of weblinks that lead to varying quality sites. They put in a couple worksheets of very basic nature, not anything at all approaching a professional workbook.

 

Think of them as supplements to something else you are doing, or else if you just want to casually find out stuff on a topic.

 

Although buying several of them would make me shirk at the price, for one unit the price is okay for finding a bunch of websites you wouldn't find otherwise. It can inject a fun factor into learning, which is worth a lot IMO

 

If you are not web surfing in your hs, then forget about it.

[ErinD]

A positive vote for Intellego here. We've used a bunch of them and they are great for us - they give us a direction and suggestions but don't tie us down. I love them because they've already found the links for me and it saves me a bunch of time! And the price is right, they don't require a ton of printing, and I can use my own choice of notebooking pages, maps, etc.

[FairProspects]

Think of them as supplements to something else you are doing, or else if you just want to casually find out stuff on a topic.

 

I don't think this is necessarily true at all. It depends on your purpose for grammar stage science. My goal is just to excite dc so that they love science. We don't need to spend hours to do that, nor do we really have the time while we are focusing on basic skills. Intellego can be adjusted up or down in terms of time, so it offers a lot of flexibility.

 

I'm also wondering if certain units are better than others. We haven't tried any of the Social Studies/History units because I didn't like the samples, but we really like the Astronomy unit.

[jeninok]

We have used Astonomy 6-8, globetrotting with folktales, and are about to use the Greece and Rome and Evolution Units for 6-8.

 

I do use a spine for science and history, as well as supplementing with lots of library books and field trips, but I find that the Intelligo Units really do teach him a lot in a way he enjoys and is engaged with.

 

I love having the links all put together for me. Also we have had no problem with broken links, occasionally it will re-direct and take a few seconds to load.

 

However, I do find that you have to be sure to take the time and go through the links ahead of time and plan your lessons. Often it requires printing activities, making up some questions, or adapting it to fit your teaching style/homeschool instead of a large group.

[jar7709]

I like Intellego a lot. My boy is doing the Solar System elective unit study (the bigger one for ages 8-14, not the smaller K-2 or 3-5 astronomy units) right now; it is great for him, he loves surfing the web and getting his learning from audio/visual media, but his writing skills are not way up there where his comprehension and reading skills are. Yes, I could google to find the links and put them in a logical order myself but I don't have the time to do that. I've not yet run into too many dead links.

[dbmamaz]

I liked the idea but my youngest didnt. I think its mostly just unit studies that didnt work for him. He didnt like 'go to the website and read this, now watch this video, now fill out this worksheet, now do this craft' . . .too busy! and then we are still on teh same subject for days and days? nope

 

My older son did one on his own, but he's pretty easy going with curriculum. i actually did buy their world religions one for him, but we havent used it yet

[WIS0320]

I have now used States of Matter, Virginia and we're finishing Globetrotting With Cinderella. I am planning on using parts of the World History K-2 next year.

 

I agree that you have to understand what you are getting. If you like to tweak a lot, these can be great because they provide a basic topical framework and lots of links and project ideas. I like these units because it takes framing my own curriculum out of the equation while also allowing me to add or change things as I see fit. I find them to be a great jumping off point and I certainly think they are worth the money for the links they provide. It is $12 for me to not spend a lot of time surfing around the internet looking for age appropriate supporting web material.

[Elfknitter.#]

I like them, but I also think that you need to understand what you're getting. Intellego unit studies are essentially a curated collection of links. All the meat of the program is stuff that is out there available on the web. What Intellego does - and make no mistake, this is a lot - is find quality materials, organize them, and arrange them into a set of topics and lessons that cover a subject area. They've also compiled things like lists of materials you'll need if you do all the recommended experiments/projects.

 

:iagree: Rivka summed it up perfectly. I'm lazy, I'm tired, and I have a 9 month old. Sure I can find these links on my own but I don't have the time. Intellego science has so far worked to give me the frame work I need with some items. I find we prefer to read more books on the topic, so I merely add them in. Since the monkeys tend to prefer watching Magic School Bus or Bill Nye, we just do that instead or in addition to their video links for some topics.

 

 

I'm also wondering if certain units are better than others. We haven't tried any of the Social Studies/History units because I didn't like the samples, but we really like the Astronomy unit.

 

I've wondered this as well. From some reviews, it seems their science units are better than their history units. However, we haven't used any of their history or social studies units, so I can't personally comment.

 

However, I do find that you have to be sure to take the time and go through the links ahead of time and plan your lessons. Often it requires printing activities, making up some questions, or adapting it to fit your teaching style/homeschool instead of a large group.

 

:iagree:

 

If you watch' date=' they will have them on sale at Currclick for half price.. which is what I waited for to buy mine. In fact, they are on sale right now, and you get them instantly instead of waiting for disks to come in the mail.[/quote']

 

So far, I found the best time to purchase them from Currclick is during their January Whisper Sale. I believe I picked up a couple of their pdf downloads for $7-$8 then.