My sons and I participated in a free tele-class earlier in the week presented by Super Charged Science. I was really impressed with the sheer volume of material available on the site involving all aspects of science.
One of the freebies for being on the free tele-class was that we got the opportunity to try out Super Charged Science for a month for only a dollar. I signed up to try it out.
Aurora Lipper is the mastermind behind Super Charged Science. She is an engineer and mom and wanted to make a program that would make kids excited about science. She was a professor at Cal Poly State University and saw so many kids coming in that really weren’t prepared for the college level science curriculum. They were bored with science. She set out to find interesting ways to teach science and get people excited about learning it. So far, in my opinion, she has done just that. You can read her complete bio here.
There are lots of instructional videos, lesson plans and experiments in everything from the scientific method to aerodynamics. Most of the materials for the experiments are things you can find right around your own home.
In just a few days my kids have made a harmonica, a spinning sound machine, done an experiment with pennies and water (to demonstrate the scientific method) and are planning several more for today.
Aurora also provides detailed lesson plans on how to build and present a science fair project from start to finish.
Of course, as with many other curricula, she offers different levels of membership. I will provide an overview below or you can get details here for the basic online version or here for the mastery versions.
One of the things I love about this site is that she encourages kids to do the experiments first. The reasoning behind this is that most kids love hands on experimentation. Once they have created something really cool, they are more receptive to the how and why something works. This is a great time to throw in the vocabulary words and actual science behind these experiments which she provides every step of the way.
She also encourages kids to use their own minds to experiment on their own. If I do this, what will happen? How will it change things? She reiterates how working scientist never KNOW the answers until they experiment with their own hypothesis. Aurora encourages kids to do the same. We are keeping a notebook documenting our experiments and writing down our own ideas and findings. I’m even learning a lot!
My main goal in homeschooling is to allow my kids to think for themselves. While we can learn a lot from those that came before us and can build on that, I want my kids to always know that their own ideas are very valuable and by asking the questions in life and experimenting with their ideas, they can find the answers on their own. This curriculum reinforces that and I love it.
Even though we haven’t been using Super Charged Science for long, I feel compelled to write about what I have seen so far. Below you will find what I like so far, the challenges I have had and the pricing for each of the products she has to offer. I’m sure I will be updating the Science category with other findings later. Keep checking back for updates.
WHAT I LIKE
I like the cancellation policy.
I like that I there is no long-term commitment required. You pay a month to month fee and only have to give 72 hours notice to cancel.
I love the variety of experiments available.
I love that the teaching style utilizes all learning styles.
I like that most of the experiments use every day items that we already have in our recycle bin.
I like that you have the option to order the pre-made curriculum for those of us that don’t want to go looking for items for the experiments.
I like the reviews I have read about the great customer service available.
I like that the experiments are all categorized under the specific objective you are trying to teach (or learn yourself!)
I like that the program is self paced and that you can jump from one objective to the other on your own. No need to follow the exact order. I did start my kids with the scientific method category so that they would understand the basic rules for doing experiments.
I think the pricing for the e-science program is reasonable considering all of the information you get. I can’t really comment on the pricing for the Mastery program as I have not chosen that option yet.
DRAWBACKS
The live e-course was a little much for my kids. Real time was difficult since we couldn’t pause and my kids had a lot of questions. The good thing was that I got exposed to what was available, so even though the live class was a little stressful, I learned a lot about the program and got access to the $1 trial offer.
The site has so much information that it took me a while to get familiar with it. But after closer review, I realized that the science projects are really categorized well and that it is pretty simple once you get to the page with all of the projects.
Once I signed up for the e-science program I found it difficult to find it. On the Super Charged Science webpage you have to go to the very bottom of the page to find the e-science link in order to sign in. I thought it should be somewhere at the top of the page, but that is just me.
Some of the videos are VERY long. I can understand this for the projects themselves but there are others that in my opinion could have been shortened. But this wasn’t a deterrent for me because luckily we have the old fast forward button! I just fast forwarded through the parts that were irrelevant to me.
PRICING
This is a month to month commitment. You can cancel within 72 hours of your payment date and not be charged for the next month. Your first month is a trial membership. If you don’t like it for any reason within the first month, just email Aurora and she will refund you, no questions asked.
K-12 e-science program: $37 per month. This program is a self guided online science program that gives you hundreds of science experiments, detailed videos on how to do them, instructional booklets on how to build them and the science behind them so that your kids will understand what they are doing and why. All available at one website.
Grades 5-8 Advanced e-Science or High School e-science Program: $57 per month. This program is also a self guided online program. The projects are for older kids who are ready for more advanced science projects.
These products are packaged and ready to be sent to your home. This Program is an all-inclusive program that includes lots of materials to make the projects, dozens of instructional video DVDs and audio lecture CDs, science manual, unlimited support, enrollment in e-Science, and money-back guarantee.
Silver Package (recommended for K-8): $599. Includes materials for over 100 experiments, projects and activities. Total program spans 125+ hours (1 year) of science learning. Also includes 1 year of the e-science online program.
Gold Package (recommended for K-10): $1,195. Includes materials for over 200 experiments, projects and activities. Total program spans 200+ hours (1-2 years) of science learning. Also includes 2 years of the e-science online program.
Diamond Package (recommended for K-12): $1,895. Includes materials for over 500 experiments, projects and activities. Total program spans 300+ hours (2-3 years) of science learning. Also includes 5 years of the e-science online program.
Hope this is helpful to those of you wanting to include science in your curriculum but are having a hard time keeping your kids interested. It is definitely worth a look.
If you try it out, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
