Julie Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Does anyone have any experience with this? The samples look great. I am looking for something very hands on with labs that are successful. It would be maninly my DS 6 using this program. If anyone has a suggestion for a very hands on middle school science Iwould welcome that as well. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 We have Earth Science and like it very much. We bought it because it was very hands on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I haven't used REAL Science, but it seems to get good reviews. It wasn't around when we did elementary science. Dh is using Exploration Education with ds as part of our middle school science. It is hands-on and they are enjoying it. Link in my signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Did you see that there is a "try it before you buy it" download? It has a few weeks worth of lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thanks ladies! Sue any challenges with the EE being so computer based? Audrey, I am printing off pages now and drooling over the Chemistry 2, would love to see if I can make that work with my middle schoolers when it is done in the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in PA Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 We've done both Life and Earth, and completely enjoyed it. I did add some extras as we do a 42 week year, just extra activities from various books. We also did a lot of additional reading. The experiments and projects were nice and dd learned so much and, even better, has retained most of it. I just wish the Chemistry had come out sooner. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 (edited) Sue any challenges with the EE being so computer based? Challenges? Not that I can think of. I would say that the lessons are not as in depth as they might be, but we have found a nice balance with Science Explorer. EE comes with everything you need. The hands-on portion is very engaging - making a scale, a motorized vehicle, and more. The directions are clear. The projects work. Dh and ds do it together, so I'm not as clear as I might otherwise be. :glare: Edited February 8, 2009 by Sue in St Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Paula that is a great endorsement. I have done Apologia with the bigger two and I regret not doing something more hands on. It sound like this will be the ticket. I will probably do the chemistry with my middle schoolers. I emailed the company and she said that although the language was more elementary the concepts were not. She said there were a couple of activiteis that might need beefing up and I think I can manage that. Great gal she answered me lightening fast on a Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thanks Sue, a subject that requires little from me sound good right now. :). The grab and go appeal is really there with EE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 We did their Life Science a couple of years ago and LOVED it. I SOOOO would have stayed with them if they'd had any of the intermediate levels done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 What ages were you kids? I was leaning towards that with my almost 1st grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cillakat Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Does anyone have any experience with this? The samples look great. I am looking for something very hands on with labs that are successful. It would be maninly my DS 6 using this program. If anyone has a suggestion for a very hands on middle school science Iwould welcome that as well. Thanks I like it very much......I also like Real Science 4 Kids (aka RS4K). Katherine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I have a biology background and I really sniffed over my 1st grade options very carefully. I didn't start until 4 months into our 1st grade, and I will finish the book in the 7 months left in my year. I am pleased. It isn't the only thing I'm doing, but it worthwhile. I'd buy it again. I'm even happier about next year, because, while I love earth science, I'm not much in the star department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamoon Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 this is a great program, but for me there is a bit of prep involved. every lesson is an experiment. that was the reason i bought it, thought it would be exciting~but it really shifts our routine to do those experiments. sometimes i just can't get to them. (i am not complaining, just adding my 2 cents). i do like the program~just got hit by reality i suppose. lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria/ME Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 what mamamoon said, I second! My dd was between the ages of 7-9 when we used REAL Science Life and Earth....at this point she finds them a bit too simplistic so we are moving on...but I highly recommend them and really enjoyed the course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 Thanks ladies I appreciate your input. It is great to hear from someone who is sciencey, I am not. I will keep the prep in mind............I hope it will beat hours of reading with no decent hands on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 What ages were you kids? I was leaning towards that with my almost 1st grader. Mine were 4 and 9 when we did life science, and both enjoyed it. I added a little more reading for my ds9, and just let dd4 do the hands-on activities with us without doing the lab sheets. She's 6 now, but was reminding me just the other day that worms are "both a girl AND a boy," as we learned that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 My oldest daughter (5-1/2) is doing the sample of Biology right now, and we'll be buying the whole course soon. It's GREAT. My daughter loves biology more than anything and this is right up her alley. Lots of discussion and experiments. I'm very pleased with this program (and so is my PhD microbiologist husband!). :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osaubi Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I really like the REAL Life Science, but found we were just not doing it at home on a regular basis (not the programs fault). When we did get around to getting back on the science track, I found that we needed to be outside or have live animals(such as butterflies, pill bugs, fish). We live in an area that has a nice cold winter. The experiments and activities that we did do though have stuck in my ds head. I opted for a weekly co-op with other families who all had older kid than I did. We are using this for our Life Science. http://www.eequalsmcq.com/homeschoolers.htm There are pros and cons to this curriculum. Pros-it is free-will give your kids a great science vocabulary-it builds apon itself but is easily doable if you just do certain chapters-experiments are with things that you may have at home-he tries to keep experiments low cost. Cons-He is not always clear on some of his experiments HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I really like the REAL Life Science, but found we were just not doing it at home on a regular basis (not the programs fault). When we did get around to getting back on the science track, I found that we needed to be outside or have live animals(such as butterflies, pill bugs, fish). We live in an area that has a nice cold winter. We have cold winters here too. I was able to order the critters we needed from Carolina Biological except for the snails, but it was spring by the time we needed them so we were able to find some locally. Oh, and we just went over to our nice neighbor's and borrowed a fish from their aquarium for a few minutes for the fish one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I have only got Earth and Space. I tried to use it with my 8yo DS for 3rd grade, I found it a bit simplistic, it didn't cover things to the depth I would like. But actually I'm not sure it's possible to cover that width of information to any depth so perhaps it was unrealistic to expect different. I ended up supplementing so heavily that I stopped using it. I suspect that perhaps it's me and TWTM way of doing things is not for me in that respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.