BFSU vs. Supercharged Science

[CrunchyGirl]

Anyone want to compare them? I love the idea of BFSU, I try so hard to make it work. But I have zero science background and I can't help but feel I'm really not doing a good job with it. The idea of videos appeals to me and I think they'd work well for LegoMan. It sort of looks like her new online system is kind of like BFSU in how it lays out topics. I keep seeing the criticism though that you have to gather supplies. But do you really? Can you just watch the experiments? I have one of those kids who doesn't need to do everything himself, watching works great for him. In the end he is a hard core STEM kid and thrives on learning everything he can about STEM topics.

 

I really need something more open and go than I can make BFSU right now. I feel guilty admitting that but it is what it is at the moment.

 

Thoughts?

[Tracy]

I hear you and feel your pain.   :grouphug:   I cannot compare the two for you.  But there is just nothing like BFSU.  Dh is a science teacher who has seen many, many programs, and he agrees that there is nothing that provides the depth and the topic integration that BFSU gives.   :thumbup1:  That said, I haven't taught it for 2 years now.  My health issues and dd's learning issues, combined with having a dh that brings up science all the time in everyday life has caused me to guiltlessly throw it to the curb.  Nevertheless, he just brought up the issue last night that he thinks we need to start doing more formal lessons again. :svengo:  He may have to do it if it is going to get done, though (unless I experience some sort of miraculous healing).   ;)

[nature girl]

I have no experience with Supercharged Science, but I have to disagree with the idea that kids can learn as well from watching videos of experiments as they can from actually doing the experiments. I think they can learn the concepts, but the understanding is probably much less likely to stick with them long term, you know? If you think back on the things you learned at that age, the concepts you remember are probably based on activities you did, not movies you watched. I think learning scientific method is also invaluable, in the long run probably the most important thing you can take out of science education.

 

It really is a ton more work, I'm a huge fan of BFSU but I don't find myself spending anywhere near as much time as I (and my DD) would like on science just because there's so much prep involved. (And I DO have a science background!) But it's not necessarily the program I love, so much as the amazing, diverse but deep understanding of the world I think she's getting from experimenting on her own, making things happen and trying to understand what she's seeing.

 

Maybe you could do a mix of the two? Find one simple experiment to go with and reinforce each video topic?

[koalaborg]

I don't have any experience with Supercharged Science, but I am in the process of switching us over to BFSU. My dd7 will be 3rd grade, so I am setting up our schedule from volumes I and II. We have been following the classical schedule up to this point, and so we will be focusing on Chemistry this coming Fall. But I love the layout of BFSU where you can move around as needed and the different topics have prereqs or coreqs listed.

 

I planned out our summer to cover topics from C (Physics), B (Life Science) and D (Earth Science) from Volume I to give us a good foundation before working through A (Nature of Matter) threads from Volumes I and II in the Fall and Spring. Even though we have discussed many of the topics in Volume I previously in our other curriculum (we had been using RSO for Biology and ES for Earth Science) I want to make sure we go over them again with the depth that BFSU does.

 

I have a science background and have been so impressed with BFSU - I wish I had known about it sooner. I would have probably started with it originally. The mom-prep required for BFSU is really the only drawback that I see. I am expecting a baby this summer so I am working on getting our lessons planned out now - pinning videos to go along with lessons, looking for interactive websites. I even subscribed to education.com to have access to worksheets to go along with our lessons for reinforcement.

[lovinmomma]

I have nothing valuable to add to this discussion. I just wanted to say that I  :001_wub:  BFSU.

[sagira]

I have nothing valuable to add to this discussion. I just wanted to say that I :001_wub: BFSU.

So do I. I can find nothing else that compares and that I would want to use.

Thanks for the tip a PP suggested on education.com. Off to check it out.

[Mrs Twain]

I haven't seen Supercharged Science and can't comment on it.

With my older kids, I have completed BFSU volume 1 and half of volume 2.

Volume 1 went very well for us, and the experiments/demonstrations were excellent. They were simple and clever, and they usually only required basic supplies which I actually did have around the house. I made up copywork for each lesson which summed up the basic science principles. My kids copied these, drew pictures illustrating the principles, and filed them into their science notebooks. All of this required work on my part, though not too much. I enjoyed it because the program is well crafted.

Volume 2 was more difficult to teach (even though I was a science major), and it became a slog. My kids said they hated science and were bored with the whole subject. Dh was displeased with our science at that point because of the kids' attitudes, and in the end we switched to BJU online science. Both kids are now doing BJU Science 6 (since we had covered most everything through BJU Grade 5) and thoroughly enjoy it, especially the experiments. I bought all of the supplies for the experiements, and all I do is get out the necessary items and let the kids do it themselves. After watching the experiement on the video, they can conduct it by themselves without any help from me. I am feeling quite relieved that I don't have the stress of trying to teach BFSU volume 2.

All that to say--
BFSU is a high quality science program if you can get it done well. However, if it is not getting done well, then it would be better for you to switch to something else that will get done well.

[rachelpants]

I don't have any experience with Supercharged Science, but I am in the process of switching us over to BFSU. My dd7 will be 3rd grade, so I am setting up our schedule from volumes I and II. We have been following the classical schedule up to this point, and so we will be focusing on Chemistry this coming Fall. But I love the layout of BFSU where you can move around as needed and the different topics have prereqs or coreqs listed.

I planned out our summer to cover topics from C (Physics), B (Life Science) and D (Earth Science) from Volume I to give us a good foundation before working through A (Nature of Matter) threads from Volumes I and II in the Fall and Spring. Even though we have discussed some many of the topics in Volume I previously in our other curriculum (we had been using RSO for Biology and ES for Earth Science) I want to make sure we go over them again with the depth that BFSU does.

I have a science background and have been so impressed with BFSU - I wish I had known about it sooner. I would have probably started with it originally. The mom-prep required for BFSU is really the only drawback that I see. I am expecting a baby this summer so I am working on getting our lessons planned out now - pinning videos to go along with lessons, looking for interactive websites. I even subscribed to education.com to have access to worksheets to go along with our lessons for reinforcement.

I want to follow your BFSU pinterest board ....do you have a link? :)

[edeemarie]

We don't have experience with BFSU but we do currently have a Supercharged Science membership (the TOS crew is currently reviewing it).

Yes, you do watch experiments first, but this is meant to spark their curiosity. Then you do the experiment on your own. I love this because I have always felt like I couldn't do experiments well and always messed them up somehow. But now I just do them exactly as the video shows.

For us, I let the kids explore different topics and videos, and then come to me when they have an experiment they want to try. Some we can't do because we don't have supplies, but most we have been able to put together.

There is also additional material for extra reading and evaluations (to make sure they fully understand the material) that you can us once you have your child's interest sparked.

If you click on my blog link below you will find a link at the bottom of the Supercharged Science review where you can try the website for a month for only $1. That should give you enough time to know whether it will work for you or not. :-)

[warneral]

I haven't seen Supercharged Science and can't comment on it.

With my older kids, I have completed BFSU volume 1 and half of volume 2.

Volume 1 went very well for us, and the experiments/demonstrations were excellent. They were simple and clever, and they usually only required basic supplies which I actually did have around the house. I made up copywork for each lesson which summed up the basic science principles. My kids copied these, drew pictures illustrating the principles, and filed them into their science notebooks. All of this required work on my part, though not too much. I enjoyed it because the program is well crafted.

Volume 2 was more difficult to teach (even though I was a science major), and it became a slog. My kids said they hated science and were bored with the whole subject. Dh was displeased with our science at that point because of the kids' attitudes, and in the end we switched to BJU online science. Both kids are now doing BJU Science 6 (since we had covered most everything through BJU Grade 5) and thoroughly enjoy it, especially the experiments. I bought all of the supplies for the experiements, and all I do is get out the necessary items and let the kids do it themselves. After watching the experiement on the video, they can conduct it by themselves without any help from me. I am feeling quite relieved that I don't have the stress of trying to teach BFSU volume 2.

All that to say--
BFSU is a high quality science program if you can get it done well. However, if it is not getting done well, then it would be better for you to switch to something else that will get done well.

Same here! Science degree too lol. We did bju science 5 this year and enjoyed it. We didn't use the videos but next year I'm considering it. I'm concerned about time. How much time do you spend on science per day/week? Do you use the activity book? I use it because it helps my kids synthesize what they are learning.

[Mrs Twain]

Same here! Science degree too lol. We did bju science 5 this year and enjoyed it. We didn't use the videos but next year I'm considering it. I'm concerned about time. How much time do you spend on science per day/week? Do you use the activity book? I use it because it helps my kids synthesize what they are learning.

Mrs. Vick is excellent teaching BJU Science 6, and I believe she teaches other grades of their science courses as well. My kids use the whole program including the activity book.

There are 182 lessons if I recall correctly. Each lesson takes 45 minutes to one hour including watching the video and doing the activity book or whatever else she tells them to do. I can't imagine doing all of our subjects like this, but dh and I have been impressed with the high quality and are therefore motivated to spend the time on it for science.

Instead of the Quick Checks, I have my kids take notes from the textbook which is better for retention and studying for the quizzes and tests. It takes additional time but seems effective for teaching this skill which I want them to learn by high school.

[warneral]

Thank you Mrs. Twain!  I think we will try the videos for next year. 

[koalaborg]

www.pinterest.com/theveganbee/homeschool-science

 

I've got links pinned for a few of the Vol. I lessons and will be working over the next few weeks to get more up.