Help Your Kids with Science

Help Your Kids with Science
Published at DK Canada

About the book

Following the success of Help Your Kids with Math, Help Your Kids with Science is a comprehensive and stress-free approach to science.

With clear graphics, instantly understandable diagrams, and welcoming, jargon-free text — covering all the important areas of biology, chemistry and physics — Help Your Kids with Science is a great resource for children and adults to learn even the most complex science problems with confidence.

Whether it's working with the Periodic Table, the threes laws of motion, or trying to explain polarity and magnetic fields, Help Your Kids with Science is a great resource for parents.

Help Your Kids with Science also includes a glossary of key science terms and symbols.

My Thoughts

Science is a dreadful term sometimes for homeschoolers.   Many moms feel overwhelmed when they see the words chemistry, physics and biology.    But don’t be discourage because there is now a book that will help you with science!    This book is a unique step-by-step visual guide that will guide you to help your kids with science.   

Essentially, the book is divided in three major sections; biology, chemistry and physics.  Three reference sections on each subjects can also be found at the end of the book. 

The section about biology will provide guidance on everything related to biology; what is biology?, variety of life, cell structure, cells at work, fungi and single-celled life, respiration, photosynthesis, feeding, waste materials, transport systems, movement, sensitivity, reproduction, life cycles, hormones, disease and immunity, animal relationships, plants, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds, body systems, human senses, human digestion, brain and heart, human health, human reproduction, ecosystems, food chains, cycles in nature, evolution, adaptations, genetics, pollution and human impact.

The section on chemistry will covers the following subjects: what is chemistry?, properties of materials, states of matter, changing states, gas laws, mixtures, separating mixtures, elements and atoms, compounds and molecules, ionic bonding, covalent bonding, periodic table, understanding the periodic table, alkali metals and alkali earth metals, halogens and noble gases, transition metals, radioactivity, chemical reactions, combustion, redox reactions, energy and reactions, rates of reaction, catalysts, reversible reactions, water, acids and bases, acid reactions, electrochemistry, lab equipment and techniques, refining metals, chemical industry, carbon and fossil fuels, hydrocarbons, functional groups, polymer and plastics.

Finally the section on physics will highlight the following themes; what is physics?  inside atoms, energy, forces and mass, stretching and deforming, velocity and acceleration, gravity, Newton’s laws of motion, understanding motion, pressure, machines, heat transfer, using heat, waves, electromagnetic waves, light, optics, sound, electricity, current, voltage, resistance, circuits, electronics, magnets, electric motors, electricity generators, transformers, power generation, electricity supplies, energy efficiency, renewable energy, the Earth, weather, astronomy, the Sun, Solar System, stars and galaxies, and origins of the Universe.

Though I have some reservations on the evolution information that could be found in this book, I still believe that my kids should be expose to both evolution and creation teaching.   Having this book not only will help me to be able to highlights the difference between the two ways of thinking but also decorticate the information to pass on to my kids.    The images and graphs found in this book are fabulous and will help to understand how something work.   For example, in the feeding section you can visualize a close-up section on a drawing illustrating the mouthpart of a grasshopper and learn that it is suited for cutting and chewing.    In the Chemistry section you will have numerous illustrations about how molecules bond and the physics section also contains drawings explaining how the sounds travel and so on.

Essentially, I consider this book as a great reference book for parents as well as high school students.   It is definitively a great resource to have in your home so that you can have the tools to help you explain something to your child.    I would recommend this book for higher levels of primary school as well as high school parents.    If you are a parent who feels overwhelmed with science but want to help your child who might have difficulties, this book is definitively a life saver!

Another title from DK Canada might be of interest for parents who are lost in the mathematical world.   Help Your Kids with Math is also available for parents.    Seeing that my oldest is entering more complicated mathematical problems, I am seriously thinking of requesting this one for review in the future.  

The book Help Your Kids with Science is available for purchase at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned products for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.