Science

This is my second year using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey and I've enjoyed it.

The first year I homeschooled I thought I could come up with an outline and experiments all on my own.  And I could, but it was a lot of work.  Way more work than I really wanted to do in the preparation department (plus, I didn't do as many experiments as I really wanted because I didn't prepare well enough).

So, while looking around at blogs and reading numerous reviews (about all kinds of curriculum), I came across this one that matched perfectly with my four year classical/history cycle and I thought, "Aha!" 

I really did.

It lays out exactly what supplies you need in two different ways.  A handy, all in one, list at the beginning and, separately, in the directions for each experiment.  That way I can peruse the big list before the school year starts to see if there is anything I need to purchase.  Many of the items I already own or are small things I can buy in the weeks before the experiment (like an orange or marshmallows).

There are also explicit instructions for enough experiments to do 2 a week most of the school year. 

That's a lot of experiments. 

It's also my kids favorite part of school.

I'm not sure what we're going to do next year though.  Our next level is Physics and right now, R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey doesn't do physics.  Darn.  Does anyone have any good elementary level suggestions?  I would LOVE to hear them!

Makenna did the Earth and Space R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey with us last year and while she really loved it, the worksheets were much too simple.  So were many of the experiments.

I decided I wanted to challenge her a little more this year, so I purchased a chemistry kit called CHEM C2000 (the link is to the Thames and Kosmos website, they're the ones that make the kit and it has good information about it, but I bought mine on Amazon for less...I love Amazon!) along with a workbook all about the periodic table. 

This isn't so much a curriculum as a kit with everything you need to complete 250 different experiments.  To turn it into a curriculum, Makenna does experiments on one day, chooses a topic she wants to learn more about (one that has to do with the subject of her experiments, a vocabulary word she came across, a piece a equipment she used, or really whatever she wants as long as it's chemistry related), learns a little more about it and then writes me a 1 - 1 1/2 page paper on it another day.

Before you feel too bad for her, keep in mind that she double spaces with size 13 font.  Even with that, it was a little difficult for her at the beginning of last year (I had her do them last school year too to make science a little more challenging), but her writing skills have really grown through all the consistent writing.

Somewhere in all that, she does an activity or two out of her Mastering the Periodic Table book.  They're not hard, but it gets her into and more familiar with the Periodic Table, which I think is great.

How do you do science at your house?

Happy Experimenting,
Leah

If you want to check out more of our curriculum and reviews, visit my 2013-14 curriculum overview!