Science is fun...in this house! Which is why we are all happy to review Sound, and Fluid Dynamics by CrossWired Science.
As we all know, the STEM movement is strong. This is a great science curriculum in which you can use for ALL of your children at the same time. From Kinder (or even pre-K) to Grade 12. And even as an adult, I am learning things I didn't before. There are different elements, and yes, reading, writing, experiments etc are all part of the course. And yes, they do have tests. But even my kids, who hate tests didn't mind doing it together. So, they were able to finish it well and with a good attitude.
We all know how hard that is for kids, right?
So this, as a mum and a teacher, I consider a huge win!
I absolutely love the look of the site and navigating it. It's fun, it's bold in colour, and beautiful imagery. As someone who blogs, I think that the site could use a little rearranging-- in terms of how to access the "first timers" information and welcome. That should be on the first tab on the left. It makes it easier to manage and access. Or the right. But the tabs should be easier to follow.
What makes this a great resource is that you can use it as a stand-alone curriculum for your child(ren) or as a supplement. It is also good for any age group to be able to do. This is for multiple reasons. You can go more in-depth with each lesson, have the child do it on their own, or in a group setting and what I am reviewing currently as part of the Homeschool Review Crew is only the beginning of the whole program that they are planning to roll out. So we are excited about it.
The idea of modifying the same lesson for children that are younger versus older is genius and something I am totally on board for. There is nothing more stressful for a homeschool parent than having to manage different curriculum altogether.
There are scriptures that are used in the lessons so we will see how that plays out-- it doesn't come across in the description as something earth-shattering to those seeking science curricula that isn't heavy on Christian theology.
It's interesting to me that on the videos on the home page, they only make certain select videos shareable. I wonder why that is?
Check out a sample video:
PIN IT!
Infrasound from CrossWired on Vimeo.
You can see the Course Report or Quiz Report on the page which is nice and very intuitive. I appreciate this as a hard-working parent. It can be hard when trying to find a good system to use and usability is vital. As well, when you go to the report pages you can download as a CSV file so you can be able to present to the homeschool board- if your state requires it. How cool is that?
I love the field trip page because it gives sooooooo many ideas for field trips. It gives even ideas where you can incorporate what you are already doing. For example, we are a huge scouting family, which of course means that we.... camp (duh). So, that is easy to wait to incorporate learning into something we already do! And honestly, with my kids fighting me about small things these days, this is a huge benefit.
LIKE/COMMENT/SHARE ON FACEBOOK!
They even considered that some people school on cruise ships-- how considerate is that?
You do the field trip reports online which is a huge advantage in this program because they help you keep track of what is being done not just on paper but online as well. So when you are able to download the CSV file, everything, including the field trip reports is included.
My older son is home every once in a while, and he is sad there isn't more astronomy in the lesson. Haha. Yes, that is my child.
There are worksheets with the lessons you do-- which is a short video that they watch. This is cool because it helps to reinforce what they are learning. Though, while it has printability, would be nice to be able to answer online.
I like that the quiz is something they can do as a group right under the video after they are done watching it and doing their experiment.
In the experiments page, I love that they give great ideas and in the ideas, they give the links to show how to do it from other YouTubers. Which is great because my kids are hooked on YouTube.
My older son was less than intrigued and wasn't feeling challenged but that is okay because it was not meant for him but for my younger two.
And I got some great ideas for my girl scouts to do some cool projects.
Via (my daughter):
Hello, I’m Via and today I will be reviewing a science website. One thing I like is how to put together and how vibrant it is. The pictures are beautiful chosen which helps the overall look of this website. There was obviously a lot of thought put into the front page and is a good example of what I would look for in a website.
TWEET THIS!
What is the weirdest science fact you heard or know? I didn't know that bats can adjust their ears at least 4 times in the time it takes a human to blink!🦇 We learned that with #CrossWiredScience!— Fired Up To Learn (@fireduptolearn) April 18, 2019
CHECK OUT THE REVIEW 👉https://t.co/EMsTKbarsd #hsreview #science #homeschool pic.twitter.com/gpW0RjgLHg
With all the good there is also room to improve on. Some things I didn’t like is that it is hard to find where certain things thing are without exploring the website which not everyone has time to do. If I tried to I might not be able to figure it out on my own.
All confusion aside, I really do like this website and enjoyed doing my science it to. I would recommend this to people who homeschool and friends. In a rating system from one to ten, I would give a seven to eight. I really enjoyed reviewing this so I’ll try to do more reviews like this in the future. Thanks, Bye!
Kai (my younger son):
"It's very helpful for people. It helps you restart the quiz if you want. It's a fun one. It's fun. It's basically a fun way to do it."
TBA
No comments:
Post a Comment