CrossWired Science provides online science learning in a fun and engaging way with Sound, and Fluid Dynamics. As a homeschooler, sometimes it can be daunting to teach all the subjects we want to cover and finding great, complete, easy to follow curriculum can be challenging. So finding something that I feel at ease using is something that makes me very happy.
What is CrossWired Science?
Sound, and Fluid Dynamics from CrossWired Science is one of the “new kids on the block” in the homeschool, online science arena. However, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with their setup.
CrossWired Science has decided to take a different, unique, approach to science which is refreshing. In addition to having a Biblical Worldview side to their science, they have “CrossWired” the sciences showing the cross-correlation of the various science (ie. physics with chemistry with biology). It’s a very unique approach. And, dare I say, quite the project to undertake.
Beta testing the first two modules, Sound, and Fluid Dynamics, we found a very interesting connection between the sciences. This really makes digging deeper into science and Gods world fun to do.
What Makes It Different from other Science Curriculum?
CrossWired Science has 30 Global Topics (G-Topics) throughout that encompass every discipline of science. The company really hopes that, as they slowly release the other 14 projects they intend to release, they will have a complete, self-standing science program for all ages and all grades. They plan to release the 14 projects slowly over the coming months.
Each Global Topic
The lessons include various activities, links, and activity suggestions within the unit. There is SO much to chose from. Some of the included activities are:
- video
- experiments
- research
- reading
- unit links
- reinforcement activity suggestions
- teen devotional
- digging deeper
There are so many great inclusions in the program. Interesting, there are many links to what others have to offer on the web because CrossWired Science recognizes that there are some great resources out there and they should be used in coordination with their program.
First Timers and Second Timers
A great feature that I found interesting is that the program has a first time and second timer option. Subscribers to CrossWired Science provides a science curriculum that gives “First Timers” a chance to move through the program and then deeper curriculum for “Second Timers.” The “Second Timers” curriculum digs a little deeper and provides a more complicated and thought-provoking question in the quiz section of each lesson.
The thought is that a child and an adult can each learn from the videos and will learn at different levels. Using the first timer and second timer model, it can provide the additional learning needed to go deeper.
Digging Deeper
Each Global Topic has lots of extras to go along with them.. Sound has five Digging Deeper sections and Fluid Dynamics has a very extensive 5-part “Gold Dig” where students will learn deeply about bones. This section is very amazing and very extensive. Yet still in bite sizes so that even young learners will take something from the learning.
These sections are heavily illustrated with fun and beautiful pictures, which are the same whether using for a first timer or second timer. However, the text and the questions are on two different levels.
Additionally, there are some great field trip ideas that they offer. We decided that a trip to learn about birds (and manatees) while we were on spring break. It was very fun and was in keeping with what we were studying. We read some of the books that were included and then decided to find out more about the birds in the region where we were visiting. We learned about osprey and even saw some babies in the nest. YAY!
What We Thought
Overall, we really liked CrossWired Science. We started with First Timers on the Fluid Dynamics and my 9 year old really loved it.
What was great is that the lesson self-track provides the quizzes to track comprehension, and provides lots of extras to work through. The lessons are short and very easy to get through. The quizzes were good and not too intense but very good at checking for comprehension of the subject.
The website tracks the students’ progress making it easy for the student to know where to resume their lessons. There is also a tab for the parents or teacher to tracker the progress of each of their students in order to see how they are progressing.
There are several experiments and you, as the teacher/parent, can assign as many of the experiments as you wish. I loved that there were links to videos to show how to do the actiities or run the experiments making it easier for some children to work through the lessons on their own. I just needed to make sure we had the required items. Which is listen right on the experiment page.
And there were some great reading section giving book ideas to go deeper into the learning. My son loves to read so having book ideas that go along were great. And there is even an easy way to plan out the reading of the book suggestions. I liked that the child could see that easily.
Additionally, there were other resources like Devotions that correspond with what is being studied as well. I liked that there were two types of devotions – Teen and Science. We used the teen devotions for our teenage daughter to work through.
Right now they only have Sound and Fluid Dynamics. I look forward to seeing what else they add.
Check it out for yourself
You can check out CrossWired Science by clicking here. They aren’t on social media yet, but be sure to check back. They have really been expanding.
Or click the banner below and see what the rest of the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about CrossedWired Science. Additionally, if you are interested in checking out CrossedWired SCience for yourself, you can use the code adventure22 to get a $10 discount on your own purchase of CrossedWired SCience. Be sure to check it out, it’s VERY economical.
Leave a Reply