K12 Science: how much prep work for mom?

[Mamabyrd]

I am considering doing K12 for science next year. How much parental involvement is there? How much time should I expect to invest? Are materials for experiments included and are they easy to do? Finally, can anyone walk me through what a typical K12 elementary science class is like? Thanks!!!!!!!!!

[Samiam]

My son did K12 science for 3rd-4th grade. The lesson is written to the student. He sat in front of the computer and did it himself, although I was in the room. Lessons are interactive, often with something for the student to "click on". For example, when he was talking about populations, mutualism, etc....he clicked on two bunnies, it multiplied into four bunnies, multiplied into 10 bunnies, etc etc, until there a hundred bunnies, and then it showed the food source going low, and bunnies getting less.

Every single lesson has a hands-on lab to it. You don't have to do it every lesson, but the option is there. The only thing you need to do as the parent is make sure you have the supplies. I bought the Science kit (used) and it comes with most of the things that were not "common"....I had to supply things like salt, water, vinegar, etc depending on what the experiment was.

I know 4th grade dealt alot with geology, and he had alot of daily work with minerals and rocks (came in the kit). You would want this kit to ensure he gets the full extent of the science.

Overall, it was one of the best "typical" programs we have used for Science. Now, I lean more to the Charlotte Mason way of things, in-depth study of one subject matter for an extended period of time. But for the mainstream way of doing science, K12 was pretty top-notch.