Science is another weak subject for Cameron so when we were recently asked to review Fascinating Education and their Fascinating Chemistry program, I jumped at the chance.
What did we receive
We received access to their chemistry program for a year. It is all online so you don't have to worry about downloading anything to your computer. They also have Biology and Physics too. It works on both a MAC and PC, not to sure about a mobile device with the videos and all.
How did we use it
We used this middle school/high school curriculum during the summer so he would be ready for school when that time came. This was our first time with them and we chose Chemistry, I've always heard to start with Biology because that is what comes first. Dr. Margulies says to have Chemistry first, then Biology, and then Physics. Here is the Fascinating Education curricula:
- Assumes students know nothing about chemistry, biology or physics
- Slices the information very thin
- Presents the material slowly and clearly – in plain English
- Follows a story line
- Shows how chemistry, biology and physics explain or solve some real life observation or problem
- De-emphasizes terminology
As you can see there are plenty of lessons in each category from the image below:
This is the lesson on heat.
There are 2 different ways to learn and then there is the test. The first way is the “Lesson”, this is where they watch a video on the lessons and then take some pre-tests at the end, in case they are visual learners. The second way is the “Script”, this is where they read actually what the videos were saying, in case they need to read to understand like Cameron.
There are 19 lessons in all. They even add math to the equation, so you are getting two subjects in one.
Oh, I almost forgot that they also have Labs for the lessons and PDF versions of the tests and quizzes for those who prefer to print them out. These are both password protected, for the labs because of safety reasons, and for the tests and quizzes so they don't get all the answers. 😉
What did we think
I personally liked it! I liked how it taught him about math and science all at the same time. It seemed to be a full online chemistry science curriculum to me, so he could go from the beginning of the school year to the end and learn everything he needed to know.
I couldn't find anything wrong. I usually suggest if they don't have the lessons written out to do that, but they covered their bases by offering not only videos of the lessons but also Scripts of the lessons, which open up into PDF so they could be printed out if you prefer.
Cameron especially liked it because he could watch the video and also have the script open in case he didn't hear something and he could just find that spot in the script. He has his days where he'd like to just listen or just read, so with this we could do both.
Leave a Reply