Supercharged Science

I have a confession to make. Maybe you've already noticed; maybe not. But here goes . . . that Theory Thursday tab at the top of the screen? It's been kinda lonely lately. The last science experiment we posted was all the way back in August! My poor science-loving kids. It's not that we haven't done any experiments at all. We've done a few that I just haven't taken the time to blog about and we've done a few repeats (like this favorite), but I have definitely not made weekly experiments a priority.

And even though we've been greatly blessed with a subscription to review Supercharged Science, we still haven't done weekly experiments . . . It's more like daily experiments! Ha!

The kids and I were very excited to reacquaint ourselves with the e-Science program. Do you remember the simple hovercraft we made a couple years ago? We found the directions from Supercharged Science. Over the last 2 years, we've joined in on a few of their online teleclasses and preformed many experiments. Aurora, owner and founder, is extremely personable. Whether she's speaking in front of the camera in a video of an experiment, conducting a live class, or writing an email, it's like she's talking directly to you. She's one of those people that you want to be your friend. She has a wealth of information, yet has a way of explaining things to make it easy enough for a child to understand. But it's not just her magnetic personality that draws you to e-Science; it's the program itself.

One thing that makes this perfect for my hands-on kids is that they recommend "teaching science from the inside out," in other words, starting with experiments to pique their interest and then moving on to explain the reasoning. But it's so much more than a list of experiments! They offer resources for each type of learner: teleclasses & videos for auditory, text downloads & reading for digital, videos & projects for kinesthetic and visual. 

Since it's a full curriculum, it's very thorough. I'm talking 20 study units, over 1,000 videos, more than 900 science activities, experiments and projects thorough. Lesson plans, data lab sheets, quizzes, exercises, reading material - everything you need to teach kids kindergarten all the way through 12th grade is included on this one site. The program contains so much, but they make it easy for you, the parent, to give your child the best science education possible. The getting started page takes you step-by-step through the program and explains just how easy it is to follow. 

My kids are young (7, 5, 3), so we pretty much kept to the experiment portions. We did read through some of the explanations and further study materials, but I tried to keep to that "inside out" teaching. Of course, Jake, the oldest, is my question child. Why does this do this? Why did that happen? How does this work? He is the one who wants to understand it all. I usually respond with I don't know or my favorite Ask your father (since he gets that science-y brain from him anyway.) But I don't have to say those things anymore. Now it's Well, let's find out. E-Science has made it so easy to find the answers to his questions. 

We did things like bounce magnets, made kazoos, baked bread, classified objects, play thumb war, bounced balls, made a pendulum, made a pulley, rolled balls down an inclined plane, and more. But our very favorite activity? We made a robotic hand! The kids were ready to make a full-body robot, but I told them they'd need their daddy's help for that one.

I really can't say enough good about this program. It's thorough, easy to use, fun, organized, and the kids enjoy it. Even Zac (3 yr) will sit and watch video after video and continue to ask for more. It's quality content that truly appeals to the kids.  The program costs $37 a month for the K-8th plan and $57 a month for the K-12th plan. You'll receive access to the first 7 units and some additional sections filled with useful content and projects. You gain access to 2 new units each month after that. If you'd like to use e-Science as a supplement to your current science curriculum, they have a list of conversion charts for many companies that make it easy to find the topics you're studying and match up additional study.

Whether you use it as a stand-alone curriculum or a supplemental program, e-Science will not disappoint. There's even a 30-day money-back guarantee, so there's really no reason not to give it a try! They also offer a free science guide filled with 30 fun activities to get you started! Head over to Supercharged Science today to see all they have to offer.

  

Watch the video below to see how Alyssa shows off our really cool robotic hand . . . while her brothers act like typical brothers.

As always, you can read more reviews of e-Science from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.