Science has always been a favorite subject in our home. Who doesn’t love exploring and discovering how things work and why? When given the opportunity for reviewing kindergarten through second grade science curriculum from Science4Us.com, of course we said yes. From the creators of VocabularySpellingCity.com, Science4Us.com Online Subscription is a great site to bring interactive science to our youngest students.
We typically do science with all learners together, aiming things at the older girls’ level. I had been wondering if the younger children were getting what they needed. I’m sure they were having fun, but were they actually learning anything? After just a few sessions of Science4Us.com with my 2nd grade son and kindergarten daughter, I was amazed at what they knew – and were learning. The video presentations and game-type application and review were right up their alley. This was great reassurance for my tendency to worry.
We were able to set both children up easily. At first, I was hoping to have both children work together. Not only is the site not set up for this type of learning, my children preferred to have something on the computer that was “their own”. Each child has their own sign-in — which they love entering in when it is their turn (do I deprive them so much that this is such a joy or do all children enjoy this type of task?). Their progress is tracked so we can see where they have been – both the most recent session and all other areas completed. This was great for my younger daughter who took 2 or 3 sessions to complete the activities. My son would often complete all the online activities (12 on average) in one sitting.
I started off sitting with my daughter as she was working through the modules. She needed some assistance in choosing her answers (we have a new trackpad vs a traditional mouse for the desktop) and some of the activities were above her readiness. The site is aimed and kindergarten through second grade learning levels. All the activities are available for each student, so some of them are geared for those at the older end of the range. The science information itself was not an issue, but some of the practice modules that incorporate language arts skills she hasn’t acquired yet were. I read these with her, helping her to understand what was being asked for, fitting it to her skill-level.
What was that? Language arts skills in a science curriculum? Yes! That is actually one of my favorite parts of this. Language arts is *not* my strong area (it shows in my writing doesn’t it?). Various fun activities – that would regularly show up across the different modules – used the science topic to practice language arts skills. Things like alphabetizing vocabulary words (taken from the lesson), Silly Bulls – unscrambling vocabulary words via their syllables (hear that play on words? my children loved that!).
There are plenty of modules involving the application of the science learned, too. When learning about magnets and magnetic items, there are a couple of fun sorting activities. There are opportunities to draw things in a notebook, a digital version that is part of the program (more on that later) or you can use a paper one if you prefer. A module will have the prompt for what the notebook page should be about, or have an activity of circling the items that answer the question, tally objects, etc. These are then saved in the student’s notebook. I can (signed in as the teacher) view their notebooks to see what their drawings are, how they are answering, etc. I enjoy being able to peak into their online work this way.
So, is this just videos and games? Not hardly! This is true science learning. The set-up of Science4Us.com enables it to be used in a classroom setting or at home. For those needing to track their students’ work (and additionally alignment with standards), the teacher’s side of things has all that you need. You can assign any or all activities within a module, see the student’s notebook entries, track their success on the completed activities (we have had some instances of completing an activity successfully (earned a star on the student page) that was not shown as being attempted or completed from the teacher log-in). There are also additional materials which will appeal to those desiring help in teaching a unit, activities for small groups (this would be great for co-ops!) or additional printables to extend the lessons. The printables for the activities even include at the top when to use the activity (prior to or after a specific online activity).
We did only a few of the offline activities, finding most of them unnecessary for just one student (or my particular student who only wants to do what is necessary and nothing extra). My children enjoyed picking their own topic and lessons and completing the activities within the module. The first three activities are needed to be done in order and the evaluation should be saved for the end. The rest of the activities can be done in any order – of your or your learner’s choosing.
There are 4 “books” of learning with topics within, Inquiry (science tools), Physical Science (matter, energy, and force & motion), Life Science (living things and balance in nature), and Earth & Space Science (earth and space). There are specific modules inside those topics within the books – giving 28 modules from which to choose. Math and language arts skills are utilized within the modules – which I love, multi-tasking their learning time. We have encountered one module which I ended up skipping over due to the content (history of the earth) not agreeing with our worldview. Everything else has either been no issue or was an easy clarification.
I would not have seen myself choosing an online, standards-based science curriculum for my younger learners in the past. I’m learning to be flexible in what I want to use (for my own ideals) and what works well for my children (and my available time). This works very well for these children at this time. I am minimally involved, they are learning and enjoying it. This FITs for us!
Science4Us.com is available by subscription. A subscription is $7.95 per student per month, up to 10 students. There is even an iPad coming soon. It is intended for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade or can be used remedially for older students. Because of my learners’ performance, I think the material is actually on the lower end of the range. There are demos and samples available on the website to help you determine the fit for your family.
