Science Program Help?

[nikki]

Hey All- I posted this on the other board as well,but would love to hear from this group about science curriculum for next year. I have a set of 10 year old twins who love science and read at about the 10th grade level. I am considering Thinkwell or PLATO...but wonder what levels would be appropriate. I look forward to hearing from you since we are all new at this and trying to get a jump on next year. Thanks!:001_smile:

[nmoira]

It would be helpful to know what they've done already and where they are in math.

I am considering Thinkwell or PLATO...but wonder what levels would be appropriate.DD the Elder (8, ready for algebra, but we're holding off) is zipping through the PLATO Middle School Science package. It's a bit on the simplistic side, and certainly has *nothing* requiring deep thought. I'm going to follow up with Singapore Interactive Science, with an emphasis on the hands-on components and demonstrations/experiments (at least the ones we can do at home). After that I'm not sure.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has used Thinkwell at this age.

[kck]

I am interested in hearing more about Thinkwell too. My 9 year old did Plato middle school this year but he just found it really dry, boring, and shallow. He's been algebra ready for about a year, and we'll probably need to take the leap in the fall. The content and level was fine for him, but he'd love something more hands on and deep. We've been just using live books and spontaneous physics experiments for the past month or so. I'm also interested in hearing more about the Singapore Interactive Science curriculum. My child is probably not ready for the work load of a high school class but wants depth and hands on stuff.

[Crimson Wife]

:bigear:

I'm disappointed to be hearing such negative reviews of the PLATO middle school series as that's what I'd had my eye on for the next time through the cycle.

[nmoira]

I'm disappointed to be hearing such negative reviews of the PLATO middle school series as that's what I'd had my eye on for the next time through the cycle.I don't think it's necessarily a bad choice for a younger gifted child, and it does give an adequate general overview. In our case, I need to have more one-on-one time with my youngest and needed to offload a subject for a few months.

DD particularly enjoyed the cell and tissue unit in the Life Science module. Its biggest deficit (for a supposedly interactive program) is the relative lack of tinkering and playing type programs. For example, it would be easy to design an interactive animation that would show the effect of placing a cell in solution of differing salinity, rather than merely describing what would happen. It would also have been cool to have the child, say, "feed" the ribosome the amino acids it needs to make a protein as it "reads" the RNA.

[nikki]

We are getting ready to head into Alg next year and for the most part spent this year doing a great deal of hands-on activities and reading about different areas of science that interested us. I was thinking that the PLATO middle level might be a good survey course if we complete all three...given what many others have said about the program. But then do we move onto that HS program or do Thinkwell?

In all honesty, I am feeling way overwhelmed these days when considering middle school curriculum in all areas of study and especially science and trying to map out how things will connect to High School. So any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

[nmoira]

I was thinking that the PLATO middle level might be a good survey course if we complete all three...given what many others have said about the program. But then do we move onto that HS program or do Thinkwell?I have no first-hand experience, but I have yet to hear or read anything positive about PLATO Science HS courses, especially when compared with Thinkwell.

[patchfire]

I was thinking that the PLATO middle level might be a good survey course if we complete all three...given what many others have said about the program. But then do we move onto that HS program or do Thinkwell?

This is essentially what we are doing. DD is going to spend next year doing a variety of science activities, including the PLATO courses and some general science overview w/ Science Matters. Then, the next year, we're going to tackle a high school-level biology course, something more ecologically-focused, hopefully (biology is dd's least favorite science, but she does like more environmental science, so I'm hoping to hook her in that way). Then chemistry, then physics, then the four APs. This is all, by the way, what she has sketched out for herself. She wants to squeeze in some upper level astronomy and geology both in there at some point. Hey, why not, right? :lol:

Anyway, the PLATO middle school courses look like they will work for what I want from them. I also purchased the CPO science books used on amazon and she'll read through those, and we'll add some experiments.

[nikki]

Thanks so much for your insights. After a long day and lots of questioning about if we can really do this or not it is great to come here and feel encouraged. I am thinking that all the PLATO for middle school next year will work best with some"fun" stuff thrown in too. I am new here..but thankful for all this support!:001_smile: