Where to Begin?
Teaching with Real Science-4-Kids is as easy as
Teach the Content
The first step for teaching with the Real Science-4-Kids program is to have your child learn the content. Content is the science information found in the the student textbook. Simply have your child read the student textbook for the subject they are learning. If your child is a silent reader, have them read the textbook to themselves, then discuss any portion of the material they have read orally. If you child does not yet read, read the text book to them and then have an oral discussion about the content.
Teach the Experiment
The second step for teaching the Real Science-4-Kids program is to have your child perform the hands-on experiment. Each chapter for each subject has a hands-on experiment that your child conducts. For grades K-3, it is recommended that you conduct the experiment with your child. For grade 4-8 the it is recommended that the child perform the bulk of the experiment.
Teach Connections
Finally, the third step for teaching the Real Science-4-Kids program is to have your child make connections between the content they learned in step 1, the experiment they performed in step 2 with other subjects. If you have a child working through Chemistry Level I you can use our completed KOGs course. The KOGs portion of the curriculum connects the content and experiment to history, philosophy, the arts, language, technology, and critical thinking. If you have a child working through other texts, you can make your own connections to history, philosophy, the arts, language, technology and critical thinking. Gravitas is working on having KOGs courses available for all grade levels and all subjects.
Using Real Science-4-Kids and Kogs
Real Science-4-Kids and Kogs-4-Kids is designed to give your students a solid foundation in science. Two core disciplines that are missing from standard elementary and midschool education are chemistry and physics. Regardless of your child’s age, Dr. Keller recommends that you start with chemistry and physics, move to biology and geology/astronomy (coming Fall 2010) and connect these subjects with the Kogs-4-Kids supplemental series (currently available for Level I Chemistry)
Grades K-3
If you have a first grader, second grader or third grader, begin with Pre-Level I Chemistry. You will need the student text, teacher’s manual and student workbook. Pre-Level I Chemistry has 10 chapters and 10 experiments that will cover 20 weeks of instruction. Each chapter takes two weeks. One week is dedicated to the student text and the following week is dedicated to the laboratory experiment. You do not have to do science every day. Dr. Keller recommends that for the first week you go through the student text and discuss any questions your student may have. You might also review the laboratory experiment, but give you child time to think about and explore the content before doing the experiment. For the second week, have your student perform the laboratory experiment. These are real experiments and not just demonstrations. They are designed to get your child to explore science through open inquiry. Open inquiry allows students to ask questions and test their own ideas.
After completing Pre-Level I Chemistry, continue the series with Pre-Level I Biology, Pre-Level I Physics, and Pre-Level I geology/astronomy (coming Fall 2010) following the same approach used for Pre-Level I Chemistry.
After your child has gone through the four Pre-Level I books find out where your child is. Are they ready for Level I or do they need more time with Pre-Level I materials? If you are not sure, download the sample chapters for Level I and find out if your child feels like they can understand the information presented.
Grades 4-6
If you have a fourth through sixth grader being with Level I Chemistry. You will need the student text, teacher’s manual, and laboratory workbook. As with the Pre-Level I series, the Level I series has 10 chapters that are designed to cover 20 weeks of instruction. Dr. Keller recommends that you connect chemistry to the Level I Chemistry Kogs. There is a free online tutorial that will walk you and your student through the Level I Chemistry -KOGs series.
After your child has gone through the four Level I books find out where your child is. Are they ready for Level 2 or do they need more time with Level I materials? If you are not sure, download the sample chapters for Level 2 and find out if your child feels like they can understand the information presented.
Grades 7-high school
Level II Chemistry is written for advanced middle school and high school. After finishing Level II Chemistry, your student is ready for high school science.
Not all of the RS4K and KOGs books are finished. Dr. Keller is working hard to get these completed as soon as possible, however, the most important thing to remember is that no matter what your child’s age or grade, introduce chemistry and physics before they get to high school. If chemistry and physics are the only subjects your child has exposure to before high school, they will have the foundational disciplines they need for all science and will be better prepared for other subjects such as biology and geology/astronomy.
Here are some suggested sequences:
Sequence 1 – Begin in Grade K
Grade K- Pre-Level I Chemistry Grade 1- Pre-Level I Biology
Grade 2- Pre-Level I Physics
Grade 3- Pre-Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 4 – Level I Chemistry + Kogs
Grade 5- Level I Biology
Grade 6- Level I Physics
Grade 7- Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 8- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 9- ready for high school science
Sequence 2- Begin in 1st Grade
Grade 1- Pre-Level I Chemistry Grade 2- Pre-Level I Biology
Grade 3- Pre-Level I Physics
Grade 4- Pre-Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 5- Level I Chemistry + Kogs
Grade 6- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 7- Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 8- ready for high school science
Sequence 3- Begin in 1st Grade (accelerated pace)
Grade 1- Pre-Level I Chemistry Pre-Level I Biology Grade 2- Pre-Level I Physics and Pre-Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 3- Level I Chemistry + Kogs
Grade 4- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 5- Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 6- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 7- ready for high school science
Sequence 4- Begin in 2nd Grade
Grade 2- Pre-Level I Chemistry and Pre-Level I Biology Grade 3- Pre-Level I Physics and Pre-Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 4- Level I Chemistry + Kogs
Grade 5- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 6- Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 7- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 8- ready for high school science
Sequence 5- Begin in 2nd Grade (accelerated pace)
Grade 2- Pre-Level I Chemistry and Pre-Level I Biology Grade 3- Pre-Level I Physics and Pre-Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 4- Level I Chemistry + Kogs and Level I Biology
Grade 5- Level I Physics and Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 6- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 7- ready for high school science
Sequence 6- Begin in 3rd Grade
Grade 3- Pre-Level I Chemistry Pre-Level I Biology Grade 4- Pre-Level I Physics and Pre-Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 5- Level I Chemistry + Kogs
Grade 6- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 7- Level 2 Chemistry and Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 8- ready for high school science
Sequence 7- Begin in 4th Grade (if you child has had no previous chemistry and physics)
Grade 4- Pre-Level I Chemistry Pre-Level I Physics Grade 5- Level I Chemistry + Kogs and Level I Biology
Grade 6- Level I Physics and Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 7- Level 2 Chemistry
Sequence 8- Begin in 4th Grade (your child has had some chemistry and physics)
Grade 4- Level I Chemistry + Kogs Grade 5- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 6- Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 7- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 8 – ready for high school science
Sequence 9- Begin in 5th Grade (your child has had no previous chemistry and physics)
Grade 5- Pre-Level I Chemistry, Pre-Level I Physics Grade 6- Level I Chemistry + Kogs and Level I Biology
Grade 7- Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 7- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 8 – ready for high school science
Sequence 10- Begin in 5th Grade (your child has had previous chemistry and physics)
Grade 5- Level I Chemistry + Kogs Grade 6- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 7- Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 8- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 9 – ready for high school science
Sequence 11- Begin in 5th Grade (accelerated pace)
Grade 5- Level I Chemistry + Kogs and Level I Biology Grade 6- Level I Physics and Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 7- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 8- ready for high school science
Sequence 12- Begin in 6th Grade (your child has had no previous chemistry and physics)
Grade 6- Level I Chemistry + Kogs (review Pre-Level I Chemistry if needed) Grade 7- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 8- Level 2 Chemistry and Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 9- ready for high school science
Sequence 13- Begin in 7th Grade (your child has had no previous chemistry and physics)
Grade 7- Level I Chemistry + Kogs (review Pre-Level I Chemistry if needed) Grade 8- Level I Biology and Level I Physics
Grade 9- Level 2 Chemistry and Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 10- ready for high school science
Sequence 14- Begin in 7th Grade (your child has had chemistry and physics)
Grade 7- Level I Chemistry + Kogs and Level I Biology Grade 8- Level I Physics and Level I Geology/Astronomy (coming Fall 2010)
Grade 9- Level 2 Chemistry
Grade 9-10- after finishing Level 2 Chemistry you child is ready for high school science
Sequence 15- A high school student who has had little or no science
Grade 9- Level I Chemistry + Kogs and Level I Physics Grade 10 – Level 2 Chemistry + Level I Geology/Astronomy
Grade 11-12 – they are now ready for high school science.