Mamasource from Mamapedia is offering a 50% off deal on the monthly science kits from The Magic School Bus: you can get one year (12 month) of science kits for $120 (an average of $10/kit).
The kits are mailed to you monthly and each month’s kit has a different topic. The kits contain most of the supplies that you’ll need to conduct the experiments, with the exception of some things like vinegar or sugar. (Anything that most people wouldn’t keep in their kitchen is usually included in the kit.)
I ordered this kit last year and we really liked it. My kids love doing the experiments, and it’s definitely enabled me to do way more experiments than I would have had the time or energy to do on my own. Call me lazy, but it’s nice to not have to buy random things like iron filings or foam balls to do a science experiment!
I’m sure you could buy the supplies cheaper elsewhere, as long as you can find a source and would be able to find a use for the leftover items (since many experiments use only a tiny bit). I used Groupon referral credits to purchase mine when a similar deal was available through Groupon so I’m not sure if I would pay cash for it because it’s so much at once. But, it’s probably still a lot cheaper than buying all the items on their own, and it was a good motivation to me to actually do some experiments.
Each kit contains a booklet with a brief overview of each topic and a place to journal your observations about the experiments. Though it’s nowhere near in-depth, I did appreciate that the booklets contained a pretty good scientific explanation of what you were doing in each experiment. (The books of science experiments that are fun, but don’t give you any sort of explanation as to what is happening kind of drive me nuts!)
We got behind on doing our experiments, so I just stopped in April and saved the kits we received to use once we start school again this fall.
Go here to read more about the kits and grab the deal for 50% off!
$1.25 for Lucerne (half gallon) at Safeway, Fri-Sun Only
Carrie,
Will you mention the Homeschool Fair at the East Library on Monday, August 13 from 9 to 12? I met great people from great organizations last year.
–Penny
Hi, Penny! Maybe! :) I’m just kind of testing out this homeschool section so we’ll see how it goes. Feel free to send me any tips. I’ll check out the Homeschool Fair info.
Gail will email with all the PPLD homeschool happenings. You can get on the list if you like – contact her at gsohns@ppld.org
Suh. Weet. I had just headed to the library’s site to try to figure out how to sign up when I saw this comment! (I can’t ever seem to find any sort of email list for the library, is it just me or is there not a place to sign up for event alerts?)
There are places to sign up for various events lists….I’m just a sub in the district and not the most knowledable about all that, but I know the people in childrens – it was just easier (for me, anyway) to tell you who to contact! :)
Hey Laura! Thanks for passing on my e-mail to Carrie. It’s exciting to get “free advertising” for our homeschool programs. We’re always looking for better ways to get the word out and I think this is perfect!
I heard your bunny program was awesome! Wish I’d gotten it to see it that day.
Thanks again,
Gail
Carrie,
I am thrilled with this new section. It is so timely for our family as we began our 1st homeschool year this past Monday.
Oh, thanks! I am *so* excited as it gives me a place to share some of the other things I love (sometimes it gets really old saying “here’s a coupon here! And there!”) and I hope it will be something I’m able to keep up with. :)
A funny I just remembered – my 7yo saw me working on school stuff yesterday (I’m matching up Mystery of History with Story of the World, Classical Conversations, and Bible reading) and told me I should start a blog and talk about homeschool stuff. If only he knew!
Ohhh. I would really appreciate if that ‘match up’ happened to appear on this site as well. That would be a bargain of time to me! I only have a Kindergartner today, but we will be there shortly. Even a fee based option would be worth it! I was just telling my husband, after visiting the DaVinci Machines exhibit in Denver with our family, that I want to teach our kids how the people and events Bible were contemporary to so many of the events and people we too often study separately.