wehave8 Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Can you compare: Exploring Creation With Physics and Chemistry (Apologia) AND The Rainbow Science (Beginnings) (content wise, besides one being more hands-on) Pam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 I haven't used Rainbow Science, but I have used the Apologia one. That one is the best out of the Apologia series in my opinion. The text is written for an older student. Probably 5th/6th. Lots of experiments to do. The materials were not difficult to find. There are even more experiments if you have the notebook journal as well. I did the Astronomy, Botany, and Zoology series but I didn't love doing them. I thought it was meaty without being overwhelming. It was pretty good for my son who is very STEM oriented and needed a lot more depth than you would find in most elementary science texts. We often do 3 or more different science programs in a year. So lots of science around here. This is would be a solid choice that sets a 5th or 6th grader up quite well for middle school level science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 8 hours ago, calbear said: I haven't used Rainbow Science, but I have used the Apologia one. That one is the best out of the Apologia series in my opinion. The text is written for an older student. Probably 5th/6th. Lots of experiments to do. The materials were not difficult to find. There are even more experiments if you have the notebook journal as well. I did the Astronomy, Botany, and Zoology series but I didn't love doing them. I thought it was meaty without being overwhelming. It was pretty good for my son who is very STEM oriented and needed a lot more depth than you would find in most elementary science texts. We often do 3 or more different science programs in a year. So lots of science around here. This is would be a solid choice that sets a 5th or 6th grader up quite well for middle school level science. Rainbow says 7th-9th. I was just wondering if I'd want to put Exploring Creation With Physics and Chemistry in the plans if we were considering Rainbow later. I know they cover a lot of the same, from looking at ToC, but I don't know the depth of Apologia's. Would one build on the other, or would it be a repeat to do them both? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williams1956 Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 I'll start by saying that I haven't used either of these (my oldest is only 7), so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. If this isn't what you're looking for, just ignore me :) I went to a conference session a couple of weeks ago with Dr. Jay Wile about teaching science at home and he talked about both a little bit. You can check out his full session notes here: http://www.drwile.com/sci_at_home.pdf The “Exploring Creation” series - • Christian Worldview • Lots of experiments that can be done at home, as long as you get the kits. Not all require kits, however. • Very rigorous – too rigorous for some, mostly because of the emphasis on math. could take all 4 high school years. • Not many pictures – The books concentrate on the explanations, making them easy to follow. The Rainbow - Grades 7 and 8 - Christian Worldview – (Immersion Approach) • Two courses - one for each year • Discovery oriented with home-friendly experiments • Expensive, but includes everything • A bit more understandable than most school books, but not as good as others designed for the home • The number of topics covered is lower than many courses, but the emphasis is on experimentation, so the student trades breadth for experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Williams1956 said: I'll start by saying that I haven't used either of these (my oldest is only 7), so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. If this isn't what you're looking for, just ignore me :) I went to a conference session a couple of weeks ago with Dr. Jay Wile about teaching science at home and he talked about both a little bit. You can check out his full session notes here: http://www.drwile.com/sci_at_home.pdf The “Exploring Creation” series - • Christian Worldview • Lots of experiments that can be done at home, as long as you get the kits. Not all require kits, however. • Very rigorous – too rigorous for some, mostly because of the emphasis on math. could take all 4 high school years. • Not many pictures – The books concentrate on the explanations, making them easy to follow. The Rainbow - Grades 7 and 8 - Christian Worldview – (Immersion Approach) • Two courses - one for each year • Discovery oriented with home-friendly experiments • Expensive, but includes everything • A bit more understandable than most school books, but not as good as others designed for the home • The number of topics covered is lower than many courses, but the emphasis is on experimentation, so the student trades breadth for experience. I’m super confused. I thought Apologia Exploring Creation were the elementary/middle school texts. I was going to comment that we’re using the chemistry/physics one this year. But are you talking about high high school or the younger books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williams1956 Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 4 hours ago, lexi said: I’m super confused. I thought Apologia Exploring Creation were the elementary/middle school texts. I was going to comment that we’re using the chemistry/physics one this year. But are you talking about high high school or the younger books? I'm sorry if I caused any confusion! I think he was referring to the Exploring Creation for high school (EC with Biology, EC with Chemistry, etc.) not the k-6 curriculum the OP is referring to. My mistake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 We used The Rainbow this year. My son is in 7th grade. I can't compare the two science programs, but I can give you a review of The Rainbow. My son and I both loved this science course. There are three lessons a week. The first two are book lessons and the third is always a lab. Book Lessons: The book lessons are short. Very short. We had done Bob Jones 6th Grade Science the year before and their lessons were long. Very long. My son didn't know any better and was fine with the long lessons, but I found them tedious and dry. The two weekly book lessons in The Rainbow take us 15-30 minutes, tops, and we're reading very slowly when we do them and pausing to discuss and exclaim over things. I was pretty impressed with how the writer of the book could explain a concept to us so completely in so few words. He gets right to the point and somehow makes everything easy to understand in a way that no other science book we've used before has done. We don't find the lessons dry at all. My son has never once sighed and wanted to skip Science this year. He knows it will be a productive session and that he won't be bored or overwhelmed during it. Each book lesson has 1-3 questions to answer and I include the time we took to answer them in the 15-30 minutes of reading time for each lesson. My son would answer them on a piece of loose leaf paper and stick them in a binder. The lessons in the book range from being one side of a page long to 3 sides of a page long, with lots of pictures. (Lots.) Most lessons are 2 pages long (again, with pictures taking up space.) The text is a good quality text with glossy pages and full color and good quality pictures and diagrams. And again, even though they're short, they are effective. The school year is broken into two parts. At the end of each part, there is a page of review questions. My son was able to answer the questions pretty easily, which means he was remembering what he'd learned. There were 4 or 5 lessons on biochemistry (in the chemistry part of the book) that were a bit tricky to understand. They were about nucleic acids, proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids and I was glad I had just taught my other son biology the year before so that if my son had questions, I was better able to answer them. But other than those 4 or 5 lessons, everything was clear and easy to understand and memorable. Labs: Everything, and they mean EVERYthing, is sent to you in their lab kit--except for a gallon of distilled water, which they warn you that you'll need up front. If they ask you to use a pen to mark something, then they provide the pen! They provide paper towels and rulers and scissors, which are things most people have, but it doesn't matter. If it's needed for the lab, then they provide it in the lab. They make no assumptions that you have anything. The labs are designed for the student to do for him/herself. A couple of them involve lighting a match or something like that, and they tell you in the teacher's guide about those labs so that you can supervise them. In my home, we have a rule that labs are never done alone (it's part of our lessons on basic lab safety.) So I would always be the lab assistant while my son did the lab. Labs took us longer than book work. I would set aside a full hour for labs. I am happy to report that every lab worked. There was a tiny snafu in our lab kit and we realized in the middle of a lab that we were missing a tiny light bulb with wires. I went into our attic and found a small strand of 50 Christmas lights and sacrificed that strand to get a bulb (I had to cut the wires and we hooked up the wires to the battery in the science kit.) I'm not sure why our kit didn't have the bulb. If you get this science program, you might want to check carefully that everything is there when it first arrives. Let me know if you have any specific questions. We are happy customers. We're going to continue the program next year. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted April 22, 2018 Author Share Posted April 22, 2018 17 hours ago, Garga said: We used The Rainbow this year. My son is in 7th grade. I can't compare the two science programs, but I can give you a review of The Rainbow. My son and I both loved this science course. There are three lessons a week. The first two are book lessons and the third is always a lab. Book Lessons: The book lessons are short. Very short. We had done Bob Jones 6th Grade Science the year before and their lessons were long. Very long. My son didn't know any better and was fine with the long lessons, but I found them tedious and dry. The two weekly book lessons in The Rainbow take us 15-30 minutes, tops, and we're reading very slowly when we do them and pausing to discuss and exclaim over things. I was pretty impressed with how the writer of the book could explain a concept to us so completely in so few words. He gets right to the point and somehow makes everything easy to understand in a way that no other science book we've used before has done. We don't find the lessons dry at all. My son has never once sighed and wanted to skip Science this year. He knows it will be a productive session and that he won't be bored or overwhelmed during it. Each book lesson has 1-3 questions to answer and I include the time we took to answer them in the 15-30 minutes of reading time for each lesson. My son would answer them on a piece of loose leaf paper and stick them in a binder. The lessons in the book range from being one side of a page long to 3 sides of a page long, with lots of pictures. (Lots.) Most lessons are 2 pages long (again, with pictures taking up space.) The text is a good quality text with glossy pages and full color and good quality pictures and diagrams. And again, even though they're short, they are effective. The school year is broken into two parts. At the end of each part, there is a page of review questions. My son was able to answer the questions pretty easily, which means he was remembering what he'd learned. There were 4 or 5 lessons on biochemistry (in the chemistry part of the book) that were a bit tricky to understand. They were about nucleic acids, proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids and I was glad I had just taught my other son biology the year before so that if my son had questions, I was better able to answer them. But other than those 4 or 5 lessons, everything was clear and easy to understand and memorable. Labs: Everything, and they mean EVERYthing, is sent to you in their lab kit--except for a gallon of distilled water, which they warn you that you'll need up front. If they ask you to use a pen to mark something, then they provide the pen! They provide paper towels and rulers and scissors, which are things most people have, but it doesn't matter. If it's needed for the lab, then they provide it in the lab. They make no assumptions that you have anything. The labs are designed for the student to do for him/herself. A couple of them involve lighting a match or something like that, and they tell you in the teacher's guide about those labs so that you can supervise them. In my home, we have a rule that labs are never done alone (it's part of our lessons on basic lab safety.) So I would always be the lab assistant while my son did the lab. Labs took us longer than book work. I would set aside a full hour for labs. I am happy to report that every lab worked. There was a tiny snafu in our lab kit and we realized in the middle of a lab that we were missing a tiny light bulb with wires. I went into our attic and found a small strand of 50 Christmas lights and sacrificed that strand to get a bulb (I had to cut the wires and we hooked up the wires to the batter in the science kit.) I'm not sure why our kit didn't have the bulb. If you get this science program, you might want to check carefully that everything is there when it first arrives. Let me know if you have any specific questions. We are happy customers. We're going to continue the program next year. Thank you so much for explaining The Rainbow Science. I JUST realized what I have been trying to ask, but I have not relayed it correctly. Miscommunication runs in our family. :( Anyway, what I am confused about is that some do RS in grades 6-8, while others do it in 7-9. I am trying to decide if I should do some elementary science (not sure what topics) and then Rainbow, or should I do Rainbow and the maybe Apologia General and Physical? IF I did Rainbow, would doing General and Physical (Apologia's 7th & 8th grade book) be a repeat of Apologia, or would Apologia cover the topics enough in a deeper and/or different way that it would BUILD on RS? Maybe if I ask it this way... Are Apologia General and Physical equal to Rainbow in content and depth, or are Young Explorers Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology and Exploring Creation with Chemistry & Physics equal to Rainbow in content and depth? That's why I want to know ahead of time what I am planning for 6th-9th, so I building, instead or repeating the same level. KWIM? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 You worded the question fine. It it would be fine and ok to do the elementary chemistry physics by Apologia one year and then Rainbow after that. It will cover some of the similar stuff, but only small parts. Rainbow can easily be used for any point from 6-9. It does not take four years of course. If you wish to move straight in to Rainbow and not do another elementary book, that is fine too. If you want to wait another year to do Rainbow but don’t want to be at all the same from this next year to Rainbow after that, pick a completely different thing to study for the year. HTH! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 15 hours ago, wehave8 said: Thank you so much for explaining The Rainbow Science. I JUST realized what I have been trying to ask, but I have not relayed it correctly. Miscommunication runs in our family. :( Anyway, what I am confused about is that some do RS in grades 6-8, while others do it in 7-9. I am trying to decide if I should do some elementary science (not sure what topics) and then Rainbow, or should I do Rainbow and the maybe Apologia General and Physical? IF I did Rainbow, would doing General and Physical (Apologia's 7th & 8th grade book) be a repeat of Apologia, or would Apologia cover the topics enough in a deeper and/or different way that it would BUILD on RS? Maybe if I ask it this way... Are Apologia General and Physical equal to Rainbow in content and depth, or are Young Explorers Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology and Exploring Creation with Chemistry & Physics equal to Rainbow in content and depth? That's why I want to know ahead of time what I am planning for 6th-9th, so I building, instead or repeating the same level. KWIM? Pam Forgot to say, I would consider Rainbow to be equal to Apologia General Science and Physical Science. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted April 23, 2018 Author Share Posted April 23, 2018 3 minutes ago, Janeway said: Forgot to say, I would consider Rainbow to be equal to Apologia General Science and Physical Science. THANK YOU! What do you think of the elementary Chemistry and Physics compared to middle school Physical Science? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 One more thing, Rainbow Science is very thorough and in depth, but it doesn’t really have Earth Science topics much. I still prefer Rainbow over Apologia and would just add in Earth Science if that were important to me. Perhaps you could do Earth Science next year and then Rainbow after that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 2 minutes ago, wehave8 said: THANK YOU! What do you think of the elementary Chemistry and Physics compared to middle school Physical Science? Pam Similar, but not as much computation and definitely less boring. Ha ha...sorry, edited to add, I like Physics Chemistry from the elementary series better than the physical science from the secondary series. But Physics Chemistry definitely covers a lot less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted April 23, 2018 Author Share Posted April 23, 2018 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted April 23, 2018 Author Share Posted April 23, 2018 38 minutes ago, wehave8 said: THANK YOU! What do you think of the elementary Chemistry and Physics compared to middle school Physical Science? Pam 35 minutes ago, Janeway said: Similar, but not as much computation and definitely less boring. Ha ha...sorry, edited to add, I like Physics Chemistry from the elementary series better than the physical science from the secondary series. But Physics Chemistry definitely covers a lot less. Could elementary be enough without Rainbow or middle school Physics to prepare the child enough for high school? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 21 minutes ago, wehave8 said: Could elementary be enough without Rainbow or middle school Physics to prepare the child enough for high school? Pam Yes! I have known people to do it. Plus, I never did the middle school science. I started it but could not stand Apologia's middle school science. My oldest is in public school now earning good grades taking PreAP Chemistry. So no problem at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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