Incogneato - Is this the homeschool pack you're referring to?
http://www.legoeducation.com/store/detail.aspx?pl=6&ID=1303&c=0&t=0&l=0Well, here's my experience w/ NXT in the hope that it will help you decide what is right for your family. I bought it for DS hoping it was something he would do w/ his dad over the winter. Never really panned out as DH works a lot. DS, then 7, was amazing at the programming and debugging and was even correcting me, very quickly. He has excellent visual spatial skills. I'd be trying to help him build a robot, and he'd correct me. So I quickly learned to just let him do it. Ha Ha Ha. So long story short, I never got to play w/ the kit. So I convinced DH that DS, then 4, needed his own robot.
We got another one for Christmas last year. Well, very quickly DS4 took over that kit. He could sit and do the tutorial on his own. I could show him simple programs and he could tell me pretty accurately how the robot should react. The trouble is that they will build a robot, then not want to take it apart to build another one.
B/c of the expense etc, I highly regulate robot kit use. When the robot is taken apart, we sort all the pieces back into the tackle box and take a quick count of pieces. I know, I'm anal that way.
From my reading online, many people buy the NXT for kids that are too young and it does mainly become a spectator sport for the kid. I think only you know your kid. Maybe they won't take to it, put it away for a year and try again.
Now if it's physics you're after ... I'd say get LEGO education sets - Motorized Simple machines and/or Motorized Mechanisms or the Elementary Engineering I or II. Those are hybrid bricks and Technic pieces which is nice for younger kids used to bricks only. They can build all sorts of cool stuff and they come with info to help you guide them in the scientific principles involved.
Now the other aspect is some fun science w/ the NXT. I spoke about my 7yr old's science fair project in another thread. Here's a quick recap. A question he had been pondering was does hot water cool down to room temp at the same rate as cold water warms up to room temp. So he decided to do that for his science fair project. I bought the LEGO Temperature sensor for the NXT. Using the NXT brick only, he wrote a program to log temp of two glasses of water, append those to a file, upload the file to the computer and analyze the data in Excel. Dh did the graphing in excel as we were very short on time. DS did all the data analysis though ie drawing conclusions. DH did shift the graph which allowed DS to see a different and correct interpretation of the data. My FIL who has a Ph.D. in chem engineering was shocked at how great the data was and showed the asymptote very nicely. DS showed his project to the engineers at the Power Plant and they were impressed this could all be done w/ a "toy." At the NXTSTep blog, Brian, does a lot w/ datalogging w/ the NXT. You can read there about his son's science fair project. they monitored the noise level in the hallway at his son's school while simultaneously counting the # of students passing by. There are companies which make 3rd party sensors for the NXT. One company is Vernier. they have oxygen sensors and carbon dioxide sensors, pH sensors etc. I saw an article on an all girl team which built an NXT robot which moved among the vege garden at their school analyzing soil temp, pH, and moisture levels and would alert someone when parameters needed attending to. I think the goal was to have it turn on the sprinkler to water etc that way they didn't over or under water the crops. Another company makes accelerometer for measuring g-forces, infrared sensors etc.
My point to all this, is that there is a lot that can be done w/ the NXT if your kids are interested. Now is it something you can just hand them and say go to it? Depends on the age and the kid. My kid is the type that he likes interaction on most things and robotics is something I enjoy so I don't mind helping.
But the NXT will sit on the shelf for months and not be picked up b/c a) he doesn't want to take that robot apart or b) he just got several 500-1000+ pc Mars LEGO kits he's been busy playing and building c) I haven't initiated an NXT activity d) no time b/c of school.
For ex: I bought the compass sensor and we had fun for a couple of weeks, setting up items to locate using the compass readings. Next we need to use the compass sensor to give the robot the ability to navigate using it. Once I get them going, they'll go with it.
Now that it's summer we'll have more time. Our summer project is the Mars Base Command challenge I linked to above. Since we have two kits, we'll likely also do some data logging perhaps, how high does the temp rise every time the freezer is opened which might help the kids to remember to not stand there w/ the fridge/freezer door open.
Also, in fostering independence, now that the NXT has been out for awhile, there are many books out there w/ complete building instructions.
OH OH OH I almost forgot.
Here is a website that is NOT to be missed.
http://www.nxtprograms.com/ This website is built for kids. You can download all the programs. Additionally, he encourages kids to then modify the programs and to change the robot such that it can do X.
