The Rainbow Science without lab kit

[KeriJ]

How can I make that work?  (please chime in relaxed science moms)  I found the text for $2.00.  I really like it.  I'd rather not spend over $100 to complete the set.  

 

Is there something that could I could substitute?  or just do without the hands-on aspect?  or combine it with something a little more inexpensive?

 

Also, is the lab kit reusable? (if I were to buy it)  I have 5 kids, and reusable is key for us.

[RootAnn]

Golly. Most of the meat of the program is in the labs, but there are some that are worksheets vs. actual experiments. Some of the lab kit, especially the physics part, is substitute-able. The chemicals can be purchased elsewhere, but aren't reusable - so you'd have to reorder those for later kids. I plan on using Year 1 again, so anything consumable I'll re-buy. You can see contents on their Lab Supplies page. 

[mom31257]

You need the lab manuals because the lessons extend into it.  Are you going to do it over 2 years? The lab manuals are $23 each per year. I guess the lab equipment and supplies will depend on how many you do and how much you can find around the house. 

[Tess in the Burbs]

I agree.  The reading text is very minimal.  The heart of the lesson is through the lab.  I actually added in more reading.  But the labs teach the concepts.  Otherwise you are missing most of the program.  It's learning through the labs. 

[Lori D.]

As previous posters have said, the lab component is intertwined with the teaching manual, and the lab component has the meat. You could attempt to assemble the materials on your own, but when I've attempted that with other science programs, I usually find that ends up costing more than buying the ready-made supplies.

 

To make Rainbow Science work, you'd need to (1 )purchase a durable equipment set, which would last through all your students, and then (2) purchase a consumable supply set for each year (it's a 2-year program) for each new student. USED, the durable equipment runs about $75-100 (new is about $150). New, the consumable portion runs about $55/year, per student.

 

So, if all 5 DC use it, Rainbow Science would run you about $130-140 per student for 2 years of middle school science. At about $65-$75 per year per student for middle school science, that's not bad at all! :) You'd just have to make an initial big investment, with purchasing the durable equipment set and then the first year's consumables.

[birchbark]

We went through the text earlier this year without the labs, as a sort of science overview. I liked it, but DS didn't. Also I'm not sure that much stuck. I will hang on to the book as a sort of reference manual, but I don't think I will use it as a textbook again.

[KeriJ]

We went through the text earlier this year without the labs, as a sort of science overview. I liked it, but DS didn't. Also I'm not sure that much stuck. I will hang on to the book as a sort of reference manual, but I don't think I will use it as a textbook again.

 

Well, one plan I have is to just read the physics portion for next year, learn the vocab and answer some of the questions. Then we would also use The Way Things Work and the Story of Inventions, as well as biographies.  I was going to gather videos to demonstrate some of the concepts, but I was hoping others would have suggestions. :) 

 

It wasn't my favorite as a text, but if we only use a portion of it at a time, we wouldn't be reading much of it any way.