Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Where can I find GT Math & Science Curriculum?

I'll post a review tonight. One thing I should mention is that the PDFs are print-restricted (the restriction is strippable, but of course no one should ever do that). I do like having things in electronic form, but I like having books too-- if I wind up liking the grades 3-5 and 6-8 ones, I may buy the print versions too.

I did The Young Scientists Club with my son in first/second grade. It's like $10 per kit and they mail you a kit to do at home each month. We had alot of fun doing that and he learned alot.
He is doing right now an online science course through NU/NUMATS. It's very good but I'm realizing that we don't have alot of time to do an online course in addition to everything else we do! I was earlier doing a chemistry set with him we bought online, which has been alot of fun too.

Sorry for the delay on the review of BFSU... will definitely post something before bed tonight.

I am uncomfortable without some sort of science textbook. Though BFSU has plenty of additional reading suggestions, they are predictably within the normal reading range for the suggested age of the science lesson, so likely to sometimes be a bit down-level for a HG+ child.

I noticed that Glencoe / McGraw-Hill put out a series of science textbooks and supporting materials. Has anyone had experience with those? I ask because I was pleasantly surprised by the Glencoe World History, but I realize that that might not say much about the suitability of their entire line.

I'm thinking about buying a decent microscope. I bought DS one last year, but it turned out to be junk because I didn't know what I was doing. Is there a microscope anyone would recommend that would take a kid through the first years of science just fine, but as cheaply as possible? I am aware of the Brock Magiscope, but would like something a little more traditional-- I don't see us needing to do any microscope work in the field (DS has a decent little pocket scope for that anyway) and want something where it's easier to change objectives.

What are the features to look for in a microscope for a student at the middle and high school level? In particular, what's the minimum maximum magnification you'd recommend?

What features and magnification you want in a good student microscope really varies depending on what you want to use the microscope for. Edmund Scientific has a pretty good selection of microscopes for many different purposes. It looks like there are some reasonably decent ones there that would serve most middle-high school science purposes in the $150-300 range.

We got DS6 a microscope for his 5th birthday. Its the My First Lab DuoScope. Aculady is right- you can get some that will last up through high school science for a couple of hundred bucks. If, like us, you are looking for one that is pretty fully featured but not as powerful and doesn't quite have the highest level optics but comes at a good price there are a few to be found. (We didn't trust that our wonderfully bright but often clumsy 5 yr old wouldn't accidentally wreck a $200 piece of equipment)

Check out this link:
http://microscopes.toptenreviews.com/kids-microscope-review/

I agree re: microscopes. The other place to look for one is in university surplus sales and the labware 'E-bay' site (blanking on the name at the moment).

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features to look for in a microscope for a student at the middle and high school level? In particular, what's the minimum maximum magnification you'd recommend?

Well, it really isn't strictly about the magnification or the field of view-- but it IS, ultimately, about both of those things. High quality optics, basically. Those are what cost more, and they are unquestionably worth the price in most cases. A microscope buyer needs to consider many of the same things that a camera buyer does. Most "student" microscopes are frustratingly dim and narrow-field, making them difficult to use, to say the least.

Re: McGraw-Hill science books.

This is what my daughter used for science from grades 4-8. I would say that they were decent in terms of coverage, though hardly at the kind of pace or detail that gifted middle schoolers need. I'd certainly recommend them for PG 5-8 yo.

The 'experiments' were frequently nothing to write home about, though a competent adult 'guide' could easily make adjustments to make them educationally worthwhile even when things went wrong. There were quite a few embedded experiments, most intended for regular classroom use. They may need to be adapted for home use, but most do not require any special equipment or materials.

I still have a copy of the "red" book, which I believe was a 5th grade one. It has nice general coverage, about a third biological sciences, about half physics/chemistry, and the remainder earth science and astronomy (very basic, btw).

Coupled with a hand-held magnifier (I like the little telescoping pocket one from Lee Valley, myself), a basic rock kit, and some miscellaneous household devices, it's a pretty good textbook.

Recommended (as a science educator myself):

a BOUND composition book, preferably a journal style, for recording observations and making illustrations/schematics.

a starting discussion (the one shortcoming of the McGraw-Hill middle school series) of the scientific method and a bit of history there, with some emphasis and thought experiments on dependent/independent variables and good experimental design.

HTH!

You can check out beestar. My daughter has been using the GT math program. The worksheet are full of all real life world problems, challenging stuff to help kids thinking. I like the math program best. Beestar also has science program.
Lisa

E.D. Hirsch Jr. series called "What your X grader needs to know" gives a good general overview of what skills are usually taught in each grade level for all subjects. While it isn't necessarily useful when looking for challenging concepts, it will give you an idea of what schools are typically basing their progression on.

My third grader really enjoyed the Math for the Gifted Student workbooks (available from Amazon).

I really like the Let's Read and Find Out series. Janice Van Cleve's books are also great. She has a series that includes "Physics for Every Kid," "Chemistry for Every Kid," "Biology for Every Kid," "Earth Science for Every Kid," etc.

Thanks for all the help on science and microscopes. I'm buying these to try out:

AmScope 40x-1000x All-metal Student Cordless LED Field Biological Microscope $90

Celestron Digital Microscope Imager $42

The best thing about the microscope, the price, is also what's making me leery, but the AmScope microscopes all seem to get high user ratings on Amazon. I guess I'll find out if I'm a patsy, or if a decent home student microscope is really available for under a hundred dollars now.

ETA: I might get this cheap Celestron instead, for $119:
Celestron 44104 500x Power Advanced Biological Microscope