Christian Kids Explore Chemistry [Paperback]

Robert W. (Author), Jr. Ridlon (Author), Elizabeth J. Ridlon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007 | Series: Christian Kids Explore

30 Lessons in five units
Hands-On Activities: including making model atoms, breaking covalent bonds, and making gas expand.
Chemistry Terms, Notations, and Rules
Unit Reviews
Supplemental Book List
Coloring pages
This is all you need to teach a strong, basic chemistry course for Junior high and upper elementary students.
Organized and easy-to-use!
Grades 4 - 8, 384 pages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bollix Books; 1st edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892427184
• ISBN-13: 978-1892427182
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #511,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Chemistry Curriculum for homeschoolers March 10, 2008

By B. Navarro

Format:Paperback

This is a great product for teaching chemistry to multiple ages. This is not a workbook style course so if that is what you are looking for try something else. My kids, ages 5 years to 12, love it! We have tried many different science curricula, but this is our favorite so far. The hands on experiments are simple and easy to do and use things that are easy to find or are common household items. The information in the book is solid and easily simplified for the younger children or expanded for the older. We use the Review It and Think about It sections for discussions. We also do a lesson a day instead of the recommended one lesson a week. I think if you stretched out each lesson into a week it would be slow and boring, but speeding up the pace results in a fun, attention keeping curriculum.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Affordable, easy to use November 2, 2008

By Blessed Mama

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this book for my 10 year old daughter because she was interested in learning chemistry. This is a great introductory course in chemistry with easy hands-on projects and short, manageable chapters. It is thorough enough for the curious upper elementary aged child, but not overwhelming. It is not an in-depth high school chemistry course, but if your child is not science oriented, it might be just the thing for her. There is no separate workbook or teacher's manual, which makes this an affordable, student-directed course. References to a Christian worldview are peppered throughout, helping the student to see God's Hand even in the smallest particles.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK! May 11, 2008

By D. Nixon

Format:Paperback

My 10yo dd loved this book! She was able to do most of it on her own, and liked it that way! She really delved into the subject, and read further and learned more than this book had even. Because of going through this book, she says she wants to do more chemistry and be a chemist!

I think it's a low price for a great book, and recommend this book highly for kids that like to work mostly on their own with some help as needed. Any book that helps a child LOVE science is worth it's weight in gold!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Love the Resource CD! April 18, 2012

By Jennifer Bogart TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Chemistry is my oldest daughter's favorite subject EVER (she's nine). We were very excited to receive digital copies of Christian Kids Explore Chemistry and it's accompanying Christian Kids Explore Chemistry Resource CD. There still isn't a lot of choice in the realm of Christian science texts (that aren't super textbook-like), and the Christian Kids series is well respected and a solid program.

We have a copy of Christian Kids Explore Biology - another title in this series, but I'm SO impressed by the changes that the 2nd edition and its incredibly valuable resource CD have brought to the series! If you're familiar with other titles in the series, there are quite a few similarities between this and others in the series.

Designed to provide a year of science lessons for students in grades 3-8, the 30 lessons are divided into five major units: The Basics of Chemistry, Atoms and Molecules, The Nature of Chemistry, States of Matter, and Organic Chemistry. The program is designed with teaching science twice a week for 60-90 minutes daily in mind.

The lessons contain opportunities to memorize scripture and vocabulary, read to your children from the text, review previously learned materials, complete coloring pages, read from the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia, complete hands on activities, think critically about the activities, and engage in optional supplemental reading (from the resource list - not planned, you choose), and test knowledge learned in the `wrap-ups' at the end of each unit.

The book's coloring pages though they aren't nearly as elaborate as the ones found in the biology text, and many children in grades 4-8 may feel that they are beyond the coloring stage.

What totally MAKES the program though is the resource CD.... Often the success of a homeschooling curriculum is due to how well organized it is, how easy it is to get up off the ground and to run with it. While the author is a homeschooling mom herself and her books tend to be `do-able', the resource pages make it so easy to get started. My FAVORITE parts of the resource CD are the pre-written lesson plans (more on these later) and the detailed supply lists - broken down not only unit by unit but also lesson by lesson, so you have lots of time to plan ahead for supplies. A section of the CD also includes ALL of the reproducible pages you need for the course - these can be printed all at once and bound to create a student activity book, or printed as needed for a more notebooking-based approach.

So, more about those lesson plans! This is really where the 2nd edition with the resource CD shines - the lesson plans basically show you exactly how to use the text and which parts of it on a day-by-day basis to get all your bases covered. Each lesson is scheduled over 2 days (to be taught in one week), and a wrap-up for each unit is also scheduled over 2 days, for a total of six teaching weeks per unit (that's 30 weeks total). This is great because it reminds you to work in vocabulary, review, supplemental reading etc. I tend to lean towards open and go programs, and some elements can be a bit tricky for newer homeschooling parents in particular to figure out when to do (review etc.) so it's nice to have the pre-planned lessons available to use (totally optional of course).

The resource CD even includes a full literature guide from the Bright Ideas Press Illuminations program for a biography of the Christian scientist Blaise Pascale - A Piece of the Mountain, though it seems to be missing a couple of the graphic organizers called for in the guide that are included in Illuminations. A huge resource list is also included in the appendix as well as further source of biographical study.

Overall, this is another very well done offering in the Christian Kids series of science books from Bright Ideas Press for moms looking for a realistic, do-able guide to science - and with the resource CD it's now even easier to plan and use, making it simple to get going! Read more ›

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Curriculum! January 4, 2013

By M. Tirado

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This has been an amazing book for my son. He has a love of science and this book has been outstanding! We look forward to engaging in the other books that complete this science curriculum, physics and biology! Highly recommended for faith-based families.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love these books April 20, 2009

By M. Geiger

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have used two of these books before and have been very pleased. They are perfect to use as is or to use as a jump off point to add to for an older student.

16 of 33 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Christian Kids Explore Chemistry February 27, 2008

By homeschool mom

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this book for my 7th grade daughter, as it is supposed to be for grades 4-8. This book is, plainly stated, horrible. If I had intended to use it for a 3rd-grader I might not have been as disappointed, but for grades 4-8, it is worthless. The "Teaching Time" in the lessons has the most rudimentary information,and the "Hands On" experiments are lame. Do not waste your money and time on this book.