Exploration Education/ Rainbow Science

[ofthevine]

Can anyone tell me more about either of these programs? I'm trying to compare and they both look hands-on and highly recommended but since they both cover Physical Science, I am trying to narrow it down for my oldest's 7th and 8th grade years.

 

Thanks for the assistance!

[kristin0713]

My son started Exploration Education last year and is finishing it this year.  He's in 6th grade now and last year only did 4 days of science a week so it's taking him more than a school year.  I bought him the advanced/high school kit even though he is young.  He uses the text-to-speech feature to read it and LOVES that.  He has done great with all of the projects, but some of the tests have been hard for him, and some of the concepts are a little over his head.  I really have no complaints about it except that the textbook is 100% online, and for him as a 5th/6th grader taking a high school course, I would love to have a textbook that he could easily use as a resource for the tests. (Although he absolutely loves that he can let the computer read it to him.)  We have had some issues with experiments and needed replacement parts  but they sent them out right away.  

I looked extensively at Rainbow Science because I was considering it for DD but have not used it yet.  My impression is that there is "less" overall for physical science than EE.  The first year covers physics and chemistry but not nearly the amount of hands-on projects that EE has.  It is designed to be two days of reading and one day of labs a week; EE is five days a week for the advanced program and there are hands-on experiments/projects constantly.  

I hope that helps.  Let me know if you have any other questions.