Aims - Electrical Connections - review

As Paul gets older there are many concepts I want him to learn and things that I want him to experience that are not my "forte". I have asked Steve to help with these types of things, and he is more than happy to help. He has been wanting to start a study on electricity with him, but it just had not happened yet. Then, as always, God sent us a little something to help "push" us along. We were given the opportunity to review "Electrical Connections" from AIMS Education Foundation. As soon as it came in I handed it to Steve and he took it from there.

"At AIMS, we believe that hands-on math and science is the most effective way to develop conceptual understanding.

As a non-profit foundation, we're committed to doing what's best for students. Join us and rekindle the joy of learning!"

The "Electrical Connections" book we reviewed is geared to Grades 4-6. This is a pretty accurate grade range. 4th is probably about as early as you want to start, but it could be used with a little higher than 6th grade, depending on the student's previous knowledge with electricity.

As I mentioned above this was Steve's subject to teach. So, here are his thoughts on the actual content:

I like that it takes a complex subject, like electricity and breaks it into 3 distinct categories. Then within each of these categories you are provided with experiments that are easy to perform and teach the subject matter well. It is also helpful that the experiments use common household items. The structure of the lessons really kept Paul's attention because they demonstrated the concept being taught from the perspective of all his senses. One example of this is using a statically charged balloon to generate popping sounds when a paper clip is drawn near it, or to illicit a feeling when holding it close to the backside of your hand, or to cause the corner of a piece of saran wrap to rise from the table as a balloon is held near. I felt the well-rounded approach of the lessons, including many hands-on experiments will help Paul to remember the concepts more vividly. It was also very helpful that all the experiments and lessons were right there together in one book. There was no need to think about another activity to reinforce the lesson.

Personally I loved the layout of the book and from looking at it myself, as someone that has zero knowledge of electrical connections, it was laid out so well that I could have taught it, if the need arose. However, I am incredibly thankful that Steve was willing to take this on. And the time Paul got to spend with Daddy, and will continue to spend with Daddy as they work through the rest of the book was priceless. There are several "mini-books" that teach the various concepts as well as games and easily conducted experiments.

You can purchase the book here for only $24.95 and it also comes with a CD of all the consumable pages of the book, so you can just print them and use them as needed. Plus AIMS offers so much more than just the "Electrical Connections" book we reviewed. Be sure and look around their website and even order their catalog to see all the wonderful hands-on products they sell for Math and Science.
If you would like to check out other reviews of not only the "Electrical Connections" book but several other books AIMS has to offer go here to see what other TOS reviewers had to say about AIMS.
If you want to make Science and Math come alive for your student I really suggest taking a close look at what AIMS has to offer!
Disclosure: All opinions in this review are my own. I was given the above mentioned product for free to review with the TOS Homeschool Crew. There was no other compensation given for the review.
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