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KitBook- Electric Circuits Review by Stephanie Ruby

Ed Basconi/David Jones
Edamar Inc
423-794-6222
1914 North Roan St., Suite 106-101
Johnson City, TN 37601
http://www.KitBook.com

This KitBook is amazing! It includes everything that you need to study electric circuits in depth, from the textbook to all of the materials that are required to build your own circuits. The kit covers the following: defining electricity, learning about simple circuits, batteries, conductors and insulators, switches, series circuits, parallel circuits and electromagnetism. Whew! That's a lot!

The KitBook has three parts to it: the text, the tray, and the PowerPage. The text is a wonderful book with loads of information, study questions, and all of the information about each activity. The tray holds all of the materials needed to perform all of the activities listed in the text. The PowerPage is a series of wires and connectors that are ready for you to attach to the various cells and switches.

When I first opened this, I was in love with the fact that it looked like a product that both my six year old and my nine year old could use together. The chapters are easy to understand with questions at the end of each chapter to ensure that your child has retained the information. The KitBook makers also sell (for $1.99) a student workbook that allows for extra review for optimum retention.

When you come to an activity in the book, the directions are clear and concise, with plenty of explanation about what is happening in the circuit that the child has created. My children didn't need much help at all. They read the chapter for themselves and were able to do each project by following the instructions. I was only really needed for general supervision in case of questions.

I love the simple to follow directions and the fact that everything is included. This kit is great for parents that don't have a deep understanding of the subject themselves because it is written with very detailed explanations. This is also a great deal of fun for the children because they get to learn with hands-on activities, allowing a deeper understanding of what is happening and why. Parents will love not having to hunt down all of the little odds and ends needed to experiment with circuits on their own, and the handy little tray in the book keeps all of these materials secure and well organized.

Some might think that spending $39.95 on a curriculum that is geared towards only one particular unit of science is too much, but I find this product to be well worth it. I am not science-minded myself, and enjoyed not stressing out over a subject that I don't understand very well. I was also very happy to see that both of my boys had the ability to explain to their dad what they had learned in science each day that we did this. If I didn't own this already, I could certainly see this being high on my wish list for the school year.

Product Review by Stephanie Ruby, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August, 2008

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