Rainbow Science

When I went on Sabbatical, I promised to come back with a series of reviews for the curriculum Marissa and I used this year. I haven’t forgotten that promise; today’s blog entry will begin “My Year in Review.”

Marissa went to public school through the 7th grade. During her last year in “regular school” (her term not mine), she failed science. Last year, we didn’t do formal science. We broke the year roughly into trimesters. First, we studied science by learning about food storage. We were starting to concentrate on independent living skills and food storage tied in nicely to the rest of our day. I found experiments on the Internet. Then, we learned about fetal alcohol syndrome and the scientific process. Finally, we studied different ways of learning and discussed, “The Ways I Am Smart.” Even if Marissa would normally be in ninth grade, I decided to start back at 7th grade for science. She is working on her transcript for graduation in history, literature, theology and art/music. In math and science, we are still working at a more basic level, the beauty of homeschooling. 

The Rainbow is an introductory Science program written by Dr. Durrell Dobbins. Both Marissa and I enjoyed this program. The entire program is actually a two-year program that covers physics, chemistry, biology and earth science. This year we did just physics and chemistry.

The text that is included in the program is very well written. The lessons are short and cover only a single topic or idea. Questions at the end of the lesson allow you to evaluate whether or not your child understood the lesson. There are a ton of pictures for those of you with children who are primarily visual learners. For each two lessons, there is a laboratory experience that reinforces the idea.

The photo on the left is a picture of a molecule of carbon dioxide, a molecule of water, a molecule of methane and a diatomic molecule of oxygen that Marissa constructed recently during a chemistry lab. She used these molecules the next week in chemical equations. The lab kit is sold separately and includes everything needed to complete all of the labs.

While I wandered the exhibitor’s hall at last year’s homeschool convention pondering the cost of The Rainbow, I almost looked at a different program. In hindsight, I realize that I wouldn’t have been able to do labs in the home for less money. This lab came with colored styrofoam balls and dowels. I would have had to buy the balls, the dowels, plus three different colors of paint. In one lab we needed about an inch of candle wick. No one is going to sell me an inch and I don’t have any of that around the house already. As I collected material, I would have ended up spending throughout the year and, in the end, I would have spent more money.

I first heard of this program through Classical Christian Homeschooling. The review on that site discusses the possiblity of completing the text in one year while skippng the labs. That may work for some children; however, I found that the labs were essential for Marissa. She is a kinesthetic learner and needed the hands-on to really understand a topic. We generally read two lessons on Tuesday and followed up with a lab on Thursday. That left Monday, Wednesday and Friday for algebra.  

The author is a Christian. Since the program covers the scientific process (that which is observable, measurable, testable and repeatable), worldview is not the main thrust of the program. Worldviews, both Christian and secular, are accepted on faith and not science. Still, the author’s worldview is apparent throughout the text and someone with a humanistic worldview may take offense. I would highly recommend this program for a Christian homeschoolers.

Finally, I would caution, in the chemistry section, your child will need to be able to balance standard chemistry equations. Marissa doesn’t understand the concept of balanced equations when we are doing them in algebra and so Marissa really struggled with this learning objective. Marissa is 15; I don’t think we could have put learning basic science off any longer. But, if I lived in a perfect world, I would have liked to wait until Marissa was more grounded in her math skills before starting this course.