We had the opportunity to review Fascinating Chemistry, which is an online homeschool chemistry curriculum from Fascinating Education.
I will tell you, having a rising high school student is a bit daunting. Homeschooling during the elementary and middle school years has been so easy. As of right now, I can pretty much keep up with my children in regards to what they learn in school. I consider myself quite effective as a teacher. Although I am not afraid of the high school years, I know there are going to be some subjects in which I may need outside assistance to teach my children. Science is one of those areas and if I am going to seek assistance, I may as well turn to someone who has experience in the area.
Dr. Sheldon Margulies attended law school and is a retired neurologist whose knowledge in his fields has enabled him to not only teach more than 2,500 medical students and residents, but to author three books and hold several teaching positions at prestigious medical schools like John Hopkins and Howard University. If you are looking for help teaching a high school science, Dr. Margulies has the experience you need and he shares his knowledge in the science curriculum he offers through Fascinating Education.
Fascinating Education offers six homeschool science courses which includes Fascinating Biology, Fascinating Physics and Fascinating Chemistry. The courses are geared towards middle school and high school students and are comprehensive enough for a high school student to earn credit towards graduation. The recommended sequence of instruction is chemistry, biology and then physics. A student will be best able to work through the courses if taken in that order and they also have a strong math background. You may see all of the courses from Fascinating Education.
We received online access to review the Fascinating Chemistry course. When you purchase any of the courses, you receive one-year access to that course, which all vary in the number of lessons per course. Fascinating Chemistry has 18 online lessons and 12 labs. In fact, everything is online; the lessons, quizzes and tests. The labs are available online, but students need special login permission to access the labs, which are available as a PDF. Access comes with your registration and requires a separate password for safety during the use of some of the materials that may be called for use in the labs. Adult supervision is recommended. The full course and tests are also available in a PDF format and are mobile friendly, so your children may continue their learning away from the computer.
When you first enter the course area, this is the screen you see, which gives the student access to all of the course lessons. There was no need to set up anything with our account. After you register or purchase your course, you just log in and start learning. Each course has three button options that appear at the bottom of the lesson:
Lesson (red button) – video lesson option
Script (blue button) – PDF lesson option
Test (yellow button) – Either a video or PDF option (available from the dropdown menu)
The Fascinating Chemistry course lessons cover the following chemistry areas:
| Lesson 1: Intramolecular Bonding Lesson 2: The Ionic Bond Lesson 3: The Covalent Bond Lesson 4: The Polar Covalent Bond Lesson 5: The Metallic Bond, Part 1 |
Lesson 6: The Metallic Bond, Part 2 Lesson 7: Heat Lesson 8: Air Pressure Lesson 9: Properties of Water Lesson 10: The Mole |
See all of the lessons and further detail of what is covered.
The option of the scripted version of the lesson may appeal to some students, while the visual one that is colorful and interactive may appeal to others. Having both options available for students completing Fascinating Chemistry makes the curriculum one that will probably go over well with more students. Lately, River has started preferring to use his headphones more and likes video options.
The menu on the far left of the screen was helpful with letting River know where he was in the lesson. Although the curriculum remembers where you stop in a video, it does not keep track of when you complete a lesson or of the last lesson you completed. Each video lesson runs about 45 minutes. I kept record of where River stopped at the end of his study time.
Each lesson includes a glossary tab, which you see to the right of the menu tab. A quick click and scroll through the glossary section is easy access to definitions of scientific terminology presented in the lessons. This feature is helpful.
After completing a lesson, River took the lesson test, which are multiple choice. Depending on how well your child understands the material, he could finish both the lesson and test under one and one half hours of time. There are help prompts for the test and every once in a while a pop-up message appeared telling him he chose the right answer.
There are labs that accompany the chemistry curriculum. Looking through them (Salt Crystals, London Dispersion Forces and more), I was able to see that they compliment the lessons well. For now (during the summer), I think the program was a good introduction for River who will be delving more heavily into science study when we return to school. He will have more time to complete some of the labs for credit. He is following a STEM-based program and chemistry is one of the areas that will be part of his instruction. River will probably continue working through Fascinating Chemistry as a supplement to his other science. Although students have the option of covering the lesson in a video or written presentation, I would suggest printing the scripted lesson, so your student will be able to easily refer to it later. The fact Fascinating Education presents the lesson so a student may work independently gives me another education option for him. Plus, I know the instructor is skilled and well knowledgeable (definitely more than me) in what he teaches.
If you are curious as to whether or not Fascinating Education homeschool science is a good fit for your homeschool, you may try these Free Introduction to Science Lessons.
Availabilty
Fascinating Chemistry is available online for $79 for one year.
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