Welcome to ARN-Announce
Dennis Wagner, editor

Number Sixty-one, November 1, 2006

ARN-Announce is the on-line announcement and information service of Access Research Network. ARN generates announcements to the current ARN Announce list as information becomes available. You have received this message because your email address was submitted to this list. Subscription and Unsubscription information is at the end of this message.

IN THIS ARN-ANNOUNCE:

Real Science-4-Kids: Chemistry Level II Now Available

Level II Chemistry of the popular Real Science-4-Kids science curriculum is now in stock at ARN. This program teaches high-school and college level concepts of chemistry, physics and biology to kids in grades 1-2 (Pre-Level 1) grades 3-5 (Level I) and now grades 6-8 (Level II). The program is designed for homeschool use with complete teacher manual and lab worksheets, and school classrooms are using the curriculum as well. There is no better science program available for this age level.

The 240 page hardback Level II Chemistry textbook will take your student to the level of knowledge about chemical bonding, reactions, acids, bases, mixtures, carbon-based chemistry, polymers and biological polymers.  Each chapter contains a summary of important concepts and study questions that allow students to test their comprehension of the material presented.  A fold-out period table chart is included in the inside cover of the book.  As with the Level I curriculum, Level II includes large, easy to read text, and a generous supply of colorful diagrams, charts and cartoons to hold your student’s attention on every page.  For a detailed look at the topics covered in each chapter you can view the Table of Contents.

For the best price, order the Level I or Level II bundles which include the student textbook, the teacher manual and the lab worksheets.  The Teacher Manuals and Lab Worksheets are also now available on CD.  The bundles can be ordered with the Teacher Manual and Lab Worksheets either in hardcopy or CD.

For the Level I Curriculum a Connects to Language module is now available for Chemistry, Physics and Biology and included in the Level I Bundles (and can be ordered separately if you already own the Level I curriculum). Learning science takes more than just learning what an atom is or how forces work. To fully understand science, the language of science must also be mastered. The words that scientists use to explain how things work can either make science interesting or difficult depending on how well someone understands the language.

With the Connects to Language module, the students will explore the Latin or Greek word roots for several scientific terms. They will also learn five other words that have the same word root as the scientific term and build a vocabulary around the word root. They will explore the meaning of all of the words listed and then practice using them on their own. They will build their vocabulary and as a result begin to have a deeper understanding of the language used in science.  Trying to memorize all the complicated terminology of science is a daunting task.  But once a student masters the underlying root words using the Connects workbooks, understanding the language of science becomes more manageable and interesting.

It’s no secret that the enrollment of U.S. students in science and engineering majors in college is on the decline.  One of the contributing factors to this is our students don’t get introduced to “real” science until Junior or Senior high school when it is accompanied by a lot of difficult math.  The RS4K solution is to introduce them to real science concepts much earlier, without the math, and build a love for science in our children at a younger age.  We think this is a sound concept whether your students is in homeschool, private school or public school.  Order your Real Science-4-Kids Curriculum today and give them the edge they need to be successful in science tomorrow either as a career, or just as importantly as an informed citizen in our technology-driven culture.

Sample chapters for each level can be downloaded from the catalog page links above.

Here is a comment from one happy parent:

I am a graduate student in Physical Chemistry at The University of Wisconsin-Madison, with three years experience lecturing at the college level, plus seven years as a teaching assistant at the college level. I gave my final exam for RS4K Chemistry I to my own children over the weekend. I've been totally impressed with the program.

I never thought of teaching my kids science because I was always unimpressed with the "Gee, lets throw some baking soda in vinegar and watch it fizz" where you never saw “Why” the soda and vinegar fizzed. I had resigned myself to waiting until my kids knew some algebra before I started teaching science.

My oldest daughter was ready to do pre-algebra so I thought I'd start I was looking for some Jr. High Level science for her. That is when I saw the RS4K chemistry text. I looked at the table of contents and said to myself, "This looks like a Freshman College text book" and then looked at the content and saw "This is grade school level." I was very impressed on how Dr. Keller was able to remove the math from the material without loosing the “Why” things are happening.

When I’ve shown this material to the profs here at UW-Madison, the normal response is an incredulous, “You are teaching this to grade-school kids!??” They are all just as impressed with the quality of this material as I was when I saw it.

And it not just the science-geek Dads that love this curriculum.  Here is a comment from a Mom who feels like she’s learning just as much as the kids as they work through the program together:

I just wanted to let you know that I have been teaching RS4K Chemistry Level I to my children ages 10 and 11 and we are absolutely loving it! I have to admit that the only Chem background I have is my 8th grade year of Middle School but my children and I are learning so much!! My son looks so forward to this class. He is comprehending everything and really getting the picture of how it all fits together. We were doing a lesson on Chemical Reactions today and he was comparing it to the motor on his go cart and started talking about oil mixing with gas and making combustion. He says that he loves doing the laboratory manual. We have done all the basic science stuff and I have never seen them so excited about science and this is very refreshing because it is challenging. This has impressed me to no end. The children are actually thinking for themselves and having a great time! Thanks so much for writing this and we look forward to doing Biology next spring.

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11.01.06