CAtoVA Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Has anyone used one or both of these programs (not together of course)? I am thinking about science for DD next year (she will be in second grade) and would like to hear from "real" people who have had some "real" experience ; ). Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 We started RS4k level 1 building blocks for my first grader this year. I like it but it is super quick. We switched curriculum about 4-5 times and we are still likely going to finish it on time. But maybe I should have started at a higher level. I think the labs for level 1 were not worth it for us. I ended up just doing our own activities for a unit. Despite the not so glowing reviews, I do like the explanations and enjoy it as a spine just to help me make sure I've introduced all the topics I wanted to. I plan on getting the next level or two without labs and hope it advances well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAtoVA Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Displace, thank you for your comments. I'm surprised you said Building Blocks 1 went quickly—the samples make it look like it's in depth! Do you think the series is a grade level or so behind in difficulty? What other science curricula did you "switch" to and try this year if you don't mind my asking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalAlt Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 We're finishing up the first level of Chemistry. If I could find the textbooks used or discounted in some way, I would use them again - my daughter enjoyed reading them, and they were clear if not super deep explanations. But they did go quickly, and like the previous poster, I wasn't a big fan of the lab stuff. We're finishing the year (2nd gr.) the way we started - topic clusters using the Let's Read and Find Out Science books, level 2. These are great books, all available in our library, with experiment ideas included! Throw in some BrainPop, and we're good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmstranger Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 following...I keep going back to look at it. I'm looking at 3rd grade and the "coming soon" grade 6. I looked at 5th grade to get an idea, but I really want a sample of more than the first chapter...all of the first chapters seem the same in all levels, so I want to know what happens later! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Displace, thank you for your comments. I'm surprised you said Building Blocks 1 went quickly—the samples make it look like it's in depth! Do you think the series is a grade level or so behind in difficulty? What other science curricula did you "switch" to and try this year if you don't mind my asking? I would say level 1 is k level. We are into science and DS is gifted but still level 1 is a quick read. Fortunately you can deepen any topic. The font is huge and there is some new vocab with science words but pretty minimal. I do tend to just introduce vocab instead of make a vocab book or something. I used each section so far to do one or two main activities with reading science books in between. For example, there is a chapter on cells and we independently did a jello cell model (Pinterest). Their chapter on bacteria the lab was look at milk and yogurt and compare them. Instead we made yogurt. Atoms and molecules their lab instead of a marshmallow model (which would be ok) we played with a molecular atom set, which I used also to demonstrate molecular changes. Geology we made a playdoh core earth and continents (Pinterest) and trying to tie into continents. We'll do volcano and a rock dig for the rest of the geology chapter. So, for me it's good to spark creativity and typical fun science activities. The building blocks are different than the unit books. Building blocks over time will be more info than each unit of Chem, bio, etc (older versions now I guess). I tried earth/space mr. Q which I enjoyed but as a read aloud from the computer with me reading was not great for DS. I did like the few experiments with it we tried. K12 we tried (eek!) but it was too boring. We started with measurements, there's a lot of info before the experiments, etc. We also own sciencesaurus but there's no labs and I couldn't get creative with labs with it. We also have another science text but again no labs so no go for us. One of my goals is trying to do an activity first and then read about it. It helps for retention if you work on an experiment or activity and discuss it first. Then while reading DS can pick up specifics or details or just enforcement. I've also invested in some engineering is elementary units which tie in reading, science and technology but are pricey. I haven't used them yet. Also (if that wasn't enough), I'm using some GEMS by lhs (?) to get ideas for experiments. My library has some. There are books on liquids, bubbles, dissolving, tons of stuff. They are a couple of decades old but if you can coordinate a GEMS book for labs with RS4K I think it would be good. Who knows? Maybe the labs in the future books will be better and the program by itself will be great. I was just disappointed because the level one labs have a lot of activities that were along the lines of look at this object to compare it to the subject, or think about this process and how it's happening. They were not really experiments or even activities for a lot of them. Also, the lab book had a lot of pages and working it. I did not feel it was necessary to do extensive lab books. At the moment we are just doing the activities are experiments and discussing what's going on. I'm taking a few pictures for our portfolio, and I could write down what DS says and discovers about the activities, but I'm not that formal with it currently. My goal is to make labs a little more formal within the next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 We're finishing up the first level of Chemistry. If I could find the textbooks used or discounted in some way, I would use them again - my daughter enjoyed reading them, and they were clear if not super deep explanations. But they did go quickly, and like the previous poster, I wasn't a big fan of the lab stuff. We're finishing the year (2nd gr.) the way we started - topic clusters using the Let's Read and Find Out Science books, level 2. These are great books, all available in our library, with experiment ideas included! Throw in some BrainPop, and we're good to go. I do this also. I get let's read and find out books for the topics in real science for kids. I just received a used chemistry unit to compare it to the building blocks. The chemistry unit is about half the size of one of the building block units. I would say the building blocks will have a lot more material than each individual unit if the first level already has half of the material of the whole entire chemistry book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAtoVA Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Displace, that's super useful to know that the 1st level of BB looks about like a K level text. I was thinking of trying Level 1 of BB for my DD next year but I won't as she will be in 2nd grade and is on grade level or slightly above in her subjects. I am leaning toward the Building Blocks rather than the Focus Units because, as you noted, they seem to offer more content and definitely variety. When I started homeschooling a few years ago (my DS now in 5th grade at a school), I was of the mind that the littles should do one type of science per year (just like in the WTM). However, with actually teaching science I find my kids seem to enjoy more variety at the younger ages. Now I am thinking that the one year, single branch science study can wait until middle school. That's why the Building Blocks series appeals to me. I actually have several of the GEMS units from when I ran a learning center for kids and teachers a few years back. I love them! I also like the AIMS units. Thanks for reminding me about those. tmstranger, I agree about the lack of breadth in the samples! It's really hard to figure out where the books will "go" in rigor, depth, etc. This is a flaw in the marketing imo. I'm hoping to actually see copies of everything at my state's homeschool convention in June and be able to make an informed decision then. Cardinalalt—thanks for weighing in. I love the Read and Find Out Science books and so my kids! They are excellent for fleshing out topics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Displace, that's super useful to know that the 1st level of BB looks about like a K level text. I was thinking of trying Level 1 of BB for my DD next year but I won't as she will be in 2nd grade and is on grade level or slightly above in her subjects. I am leaning toward the Building Blocks rather than the Focus Units because, as you noted, they seem to offer more content and definitely variety. When I started homeschooling a few years ago (my DS now in 5th grade at a school), I was of the mind that the littles should do one type of science per year (just like in the WTM). However, with actually teaching science I find my kids seem to enjoy more variety at the younger ages. Now I am thinking that the one year, single branch science study can wait until middle school. That's why the Building Blocks series appeals to me. I actually have several of the GEMS units from when I ran a learning center for kids and teachers a few years back. I love them! I also like the AIMS units. Thanks for reminding me about those. tmstranger, I agree about the lack of breadth in the samples! It's really hard to figure out where the books will "go" in rigor, depth, etc. This is a flaw in the marketing imo. I'm hoping to actually see copies of everything at my state's homeschool convention in June and be able to make an informed decision then. Cardinalalt—thanks for weighing in. I love the Read and Find Out Science books and so my kids! They are excellent for fleshing out topics! I just wanted to clarify that the books are being used by us as read alouds, not being read by DS. I think the difficulty varies so much among readers at this age, so if they were going to be read by your DD by herself is feel differently about the age levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAtoVA Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Displace, I took your comments to mean the content in BB book 1 was about K level not that the reading level was (?) I would be reading the books with her, or to her, most likely, so the content level is what would most concern me. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Ok yes. I didn't want to be confusing. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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