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REAL Science or Elemental?


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Well, we are doing REAL science Odyssey Life this year and love it.  But I have nothing with which to compare it.  You can get a large portion of the REAL science books online free from the Pandia Press website in the try it before you buy it section.  That's how I decided to buy it.  I did a few lessons with the kids from the free stuff, and they really enjoyed it.

 

 

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We have done both. Elemental Science for elementary Biology, and Earth Studies, then switched to REAL Science for Chemistry. I preferred the Elemental Science, but I think I have heard that The Chemistry Level of REAL Science was not the best one of the series. We are going back to Elemental for Physics this year because Real Science doesn't have a Physics level for me to compare it to, but we are using Pandia Press for History this year.

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I used REAL Science Odyssey Chemistry with my daughters for at 7 and 10 yrs. They loved it. good balance of activities and inforamtion; very open and go for me. I did find I had to be on top of what was required for the week (eg oops I need Borax and white glue asap). Then for 8 and 11 yrs old we did Elemental Science Logic Stage Biology. I wanted to love it, but none of us did. I didn't find it as open and go as I'd hoped, and my younger one struggled even with the adjusted readings. Reading from an encyclopedia or DK book isn't fun for my two - they find the pages too busy and seem to prefer the information in a more narrative or hands-on mode rather than lots of short segments. I do like how faithfully ES follows SWB's model for science for each year. We are heading back to REAL SO for this year.

Hope this helps!

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ES was so redundant for us. I did the Chemistry,when older Ds was in 5th, and then did Biology last year with K5 and 3rd. Same old same old every day. Got tedious. We are using RSO this year, and looking forward to it. The hands on aspect is is going to be fun, and I'm just making sure I have all supplies that are non-perishable prior to school year start.

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You need to ask yourself what you want out of science. We started with RSO for life science this past year and it is really just an lab book. You will need heavy supplementation, if you want a meaty program. It also isn't very cohesive. Elemental Science is designed after the method featured in the WTM. If that appeals to you, I would go with it.

 

There's also Evan-Moor ScienceWorks. We switched to it, but you will need to add your own literature to it as well. They provide suggestions, but many are out-of-print. So, just search by topic at a local well-stocked library. I have suggestions on my blog at http://bluehouseschool.blogspot.com/search/label/Life%20Science.

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I tired ES Bio with an 8, 7 and 4 yr old using both the notebooking and again with the lapbooks. Neither went over well. It was too dry for us. MagicSchool Bus and other DVDs/books worked better. They are also all enjoying the BJU Science we are doing now. 

 

I looked at RSo but as someone else metioned, I did not want to be gathering 100,000 supplies for experiments we might not even get to.

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We have been using the R.E.A.L. Science Life Science for a couple years. (We also do Apologia at our co-op, so they get LOTS of science!) I really like it for the grammar stage, but I do have to stay on top of the supply list, as others have said. However, my 9yo is going to be doing ES logic biology this year, and she is really looking forward to it. The WTM style of history for logic stage is going really well after three weeks, so I think this will work for her as well. I can't say that I love the look of the ES grammar stage materials as much as the logic stage ones. My vote would be R.E.A.L. for grammar. 

 

Good luck deciding!

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Well, I'll chime in on the ES side.  We tried REAL twice and it just didn't work.  We needed WAY too much stuff, and like the pp said, it was really a lab book.  ES is well laid out and easy to use.  Yes, you need extra books, but not nearly as many as REAL requires.  I was also disappointed in the graphics in REAL.  

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I have only used ES & only the biology level for Grammar stage.

We have enjoyed it.  However, it does require extra books - I usually pre-order books at our local library to pick up in time for whatever topic we are studying that week. By extra books I mean Junior non fiction books on the topic we are reading about that week - we found just the encyclopedia wasn't enough info)

Our favourite bits are the experiments & most of the have worked (which is always good).

We have been happy with it & are planning on using the Earth Science & Space for grammar next year.

(Our years go Jan - Dec for schooling here in Australia).

 

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I use them together. For the most part they line up great (might have to do the REAL out of order but that won't matter). I have done this for both Grammar stage books Biology and Astronomy and will most likely do it for Chemistry. I use ELemental for the main curriculum and add in REAL. I do end up with extra experiments from REAL at the end but we do those as fun weekend projects or summer work or just store for later on.

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Oh, yes...most all of those ended up being a bust, which is what further propelled me to dump RSO. I was doing better on my own, finding my own books and trying to piece things together that was satisfactory to me. I also didn't like how tedious and data-heavy a lot of the experiments were. What kid wants to sit around and time herself doing this or that umpteen times? DD doesn't care about data at her age. Not that much of it anyway.

 

 

I do agree.  But I felt like the book recs with REAL (Earth and Space) were very dull.  I don't care for the encyclopedias as the main texts.  Might as well use a textbook if that is the case.  I like NOEO, as a contrast, because the books are real books that are generally enjoyable to read.

 

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  • 1 month later...

I do agree.  But I felt like the book recs with REAL (Earth and Space) were very dull.  I don't care for the encyclopedias as the main texts.  Might as well use a textbook if that is the case.  I like NOEO, as a contrast, because the books are real books that are generally enjoyable to read.

 

I just came across this ... I wanted to toss out that REAL Earth & Space (level 1) seems to be an unpopular year.  We tried it last year, for 2nd grade, with A. who is accelerated in science.  We stuck it out past weather but A. started detesting science.  !!!!!  The child is normally a Certified Science Nut.  So I dropped it entirely and we just did DVDs for the rest of the year.  But he still says he hates "weather". 

 

I also agree with the above about the disjoint REAL Biology in Level 1, from what I've seen; but I think their Level 2 looks better and am considering that for Logic stage.  I like Apologia elementary biology for elementary, though I disagree with the world view quite strongly and do it as a read-aloud so I can edit/filter. 

 

I did pick up REAL Chemistry Level 1, though, and tried a bit in the summer -- A. really enjoyed it.  I plan to run it with Ellen McHenry's Elements/Neuro/OrgChemistry programs this year which is redundant but that's okay by me.  If gathering supplies is an issue, you can get kits like this one at Home Science Tools. 

 

(ETA -- the redundant Chemistry plan is prob. not for everybody, but on reading my post it sounded rather spacey and I wanted to mention that it is part of a plan to have this child, who is quite sciencey, ready to handle fairly rigorous cell & molecular biology content in the Logic stage, and to be able to read the genetics sections of the Dawkins Magic of Reality book next year with good comprehension.  We'll see how it goes!)

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  • 4 months later...

 

I did pick up REAL Chemistry Level 1, though, and tried a bit in the summer -- A. really enjoyed it.  I plan to run it with Ellen McHenry's Elements/Neuro/OrgChemistry programs this year which is redundant but that's okay by me.  If gathering supplies is an issue, you can get kits like this one at Home Science Tools. 

 

(ETA -- the redundant Chemistry plan is prob. not for everybody, but on reading my post it sounded rather spacey and I wanted to mention that it is part of a plan to have this child, who is quite sciencey, ready to handle fairly rigorous cell & molecular biology content in the Logic stage, and to be able to read the genetics sections of the Dawkins Magic of Reality book next year with good comprehension.  We'll see how it goes!)

 

Are you still liking RSO Chemistry?  I'm getting ready to start a week from Monday, but just have the sample.  A bit trigger shy; I don't like to jump around much. 

 

We've been doing God's Design for Science which I find really, really dull ... I would like Chemistry to be fun.

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  • 7 years later...

So I'm WAY late to this conversation, but having this debate.  We are also way out from official homeschooling, per se.  My oldest is almost 3, so we will probably not start anything formal for another two years.  But I am VERY excited about homeschooling, and thoroughly researching options.

 

I'm curious when it comes to needing lots of supplies or lots of extra books...we are expats in a poorer, non-English speaking country.  Do you think the materials for labs with REAL would be available?  Do you think it would be reasonable, cost wise, to purchase enough books to supplement this model?  We're thinking about 1000 total for all subjects per a year.  And finding English books here is very difficult, and when you do find English books, they are very expensive, so we would need to lug any books on the plane with us when we go back to the US or purchase digital copies (but with that, sometimes the formatting is thrown off and also, there is something really beautiful about a tangible book).

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  • 2 weeks later...

You may want to create a new post, as resurrected ones are often deemed “Zombies” & locked, particularly when reopened by new posters.

We spent several years in Hong Kong & would have had no issue sourcing the materials, but somewhere more remote or rural might make sourcing materials a challenge. I believe the full supply lists for each level are included in the free “Try Before You Buy” sample. 

Edited by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax
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