Looking for 6th grade Science (Chemistry) recommendations

[blessed2fosteradopt]

Hi:

We are busy in the planning stages for next year and my son has expressed an interest in studying Chemistry. Here is what I am looking for based on his abilities and my needs:

Open and go
No lapbooking, light on the writing
Easy to follow and comprehend
Fun experiments
We are Christian but are open to using a secular source as well.

Any recommendations for us? He has had no prior exposure to Chemistry.

Thank you!

Blessings,

Lisa

[amyco71]

Take a look at Noeo Science, Chemistry II. It is definitely open and go, and you can modify the writing to be as much or as little as you like. You don't have to have done Chem I to do Chem II, the levels are just based on age/reading ability. They also include experiment kits. We've been using Noeo for several years and really like it.

[mcconnellboys]

Ellen McHenry's Elements into to Chemistry, followed by her organic chemistry programming. Both available through Rainbow Resource Center.

[blessed2fosteradopt]

Thank you both for the suggestions. Both programs really look great. I am going to let me son take a look and get his thoughts? Any others we should be considering?

[Sasharowan]

We are looking at a couple different programs by this publisher. www.walch.com (http://www.walch.com) The power Basics series and the Science Literacy series. They are also available at Rainbow resource.

[Carol in Cal.]

RS4K introduces the real language of science. It's not complete, but what it covers is very, very good. Tiner covers more but doesn't use the scientific language. It cements much of the learning from RS4K, and adds more information. It also is written engagingly, with historical stories of chemists. It is Christian-friendly. The two together would be a great program for about 20 weeks, I think.

[Maura in NY]

We're doing 6th grade chemistry this year using Ellen McHenry's Elements (9 weeks), RS4K II (18 weeks), and finishing with Ellen McHenry's Carbon Chemistry (9 weeks).

Results so far: We enjoyed Elements. I should note that we did the games and experiments with 2 other families. You can watch similar experiments on youtube, if desired. (youtube supervision, please!) Not much writing, very engaging.

I had high hopes for RS4K II because we used all the level I books and I thought they were very good (I think we used them in 2nd and 3rd grade). Unfortunately, for us, the level II didn't follow suit. It goes into great depth with very technical topics, without giving the student a grasp of the bigger picture. On more than one occasion, I have had to dig up better explanations of a concept so that my student understands the point of the lesson. In addition, both the text and the teacher's manual have errors. Errata is available on the site, but it's frustrating. Also, for some questions, inadequate information is provided to get the right answers. (Like graph the titration of this base into this acid, giving 2 chemical formulas, without ever telling the student how to identify a strong or weak acid or base). I should note that this is my very science minded ds, who is quite engaged in the topic.

We are on Chp. 8 of RS4K II. I wouldn't use it again or recommend it. We are looking forward to moving on to the Carbon Chemistry.

In the past, we have used Concepts and Challenges Physical Science (half covers Chemistry) and also the Tiner book. Both of these are good.

Maura