Robert Bruce Thompson, author of Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments, has assembled a chemistry set to sell to amateur chemistry buffs and homeschoolers.
Because chemistry is widely considered to be the most difficult lab course to do well—particularly on a tight budget—we offer the CK01 Standard/Honors Home School Chemistry Laboratory Kit. It provides a comprehensive, rigorous laboratory component for a first-year high school chemistry course, and does so affordably. With the exception of standard household items (such as table salt, sugar, vinegar, aluminum foil, foam cups, and so on) and other minor items that are readily available locally, the kit contains all of the special equipment and chemicals you’ll need for a complete chemistry lab course.
The kit can be used with a religious curriculum or a secular curriculum, and is easy to coordinate with any standard chemistry textbook, including A Beka, Alpha Omega, Apologia, Bob Jones, CK-12, and many others. The laboratory sessions encompass the entire range of topics typically covered in a first-year high school chemistry course. The kit contains sufficient material to provide lab sessions, interspersed with your lecture material, over the course of a full school year. For students who have already completed a first-year chemistry lecture course that did not include a lab component, you can use this kit as a standalone chemistry lab course taught on weekends during the school year or during the summer session.
For a student who will go on to major in college in chemistry or another science, the kit provides a rigorous, comprehensive first-year chemistry lab experience. For non-science majors, you can, at your option, reduce the rigor and scope of the chemistry lab experience simply by doing only selected core lab sessions, while still providing an essential introduction to chemistry lab concepts and procedures.
These kits are designed and produced by Robert Bruce Thompson, author of the best-selling Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture, which has been used by thousands of homeschoolers to provide hands-on homeschool chemistry lab courses. As popular as that book is, we frequently receive email from readers asking if there is a way to do a rigorous first-year hands-on chemistry lab course without spending several hundred dollars or more on equipment and supplies. So we set out to design a homeschool chemistry kit that would be as inexpensive as possible while providing a full range of rigorous experiments. The CK01 is that kit.
26 thoughts on “Bob Thompson’s Homeschooler Chemistry Set”
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Thank you so much for this!!!! We homeschoolers LOVE experiments and its hard to get all we need in one place. This is perfect.
For religious curriculum? We wouldn’t want any offensive science you know.
Pray tell, what religious curriculum requires a modification to a science chemistry set that would not first render all basic science moot in the first place?
Please let’s not let this degenerate into a holy war. Obviously this is targeted at a homeschooler market and there are homeschoolers of all stripes, including those who teach a religious-based curriculum. That’s their choice. Their right. Bob is obviously trying to appeal to as broad a market as possible and wants such homeschoolers to know his kit is compatible with their curriculum. No harm there, me thinks.
I agree with chad. What basic first-year chemistry could possibly go against religious teaching. I am not trying for any offense to anyone. I am just curious.
BoB
I don’t have the foggiest idea. But I bet Bob does, which is why he specified this in his description. He’s a smart guy. He wouldn’t have put in in there unless it meant something to a segment of the homeschooler market.
You are the one the one this is worried about a holy war. Not me. The description of the coursework indicates that it can be “. . . used with a religious curriculum or a secular curriculum . . .”
Let me point out some examples.
First year geology course. Normally this would have something to say about sedimentary and metamorphic rock formations. Certain aspects of these directly contradict some people’s religious interpretations. Example: How did the Grand Canyon form? There is enough relevant material that these could be avoided.
Biology. While a first year bio class would not necessarily require a discussion of evolution, it is definitely important. You can teach some parts of evolution without upsetting anyone’s faith. Micro-evolution, as far as I know, is non-controversial.
Doeas anyone have an example of basic chemistry that would not be able to be used with a religious curriculum?
Please remember that the religious questions stem from a direct quote from the description of the product.
BoB
I don’t have the foggiest idea. But I bet Bob does, which is why he specified this in his description. He’s a smart guy. He wouldn’t have put in in there unless it meant something to a segment of the homeschooler market.
For religious curriculum? We wouldn’t want any offensive science you know.
Pray tell, what religious curriculum requires a modification to a science chemistry set that would not first render all basic science moot in the first place?
…and for the advanced students, science.zip :evilgrin:
Bob is having a hard time logging in, so he asked me to post this:
Religious home schoolers are often concerned that a secular science kit, such as this one, may include explicit or implicit criticisms of or hostility toward their religious beliefs. Although our company (and we) are secular, we wanted religious homeschoolers to know that nothing in our chemistry kit should be offensive to their religious beliefs.
As another commenter noted, this situation is particularly common with geology (and biology) materials that might contradict the religious beliefs of fundamentalist Christians, particularly Young Earth Creationists. We have many science kits planned for future release. Some of those, such as forensics and physics, are unlikely to offend anyone regardless of their religious beliefs.
Other kits, such as earth science and biology, will be secular and may indeed offend the sensibilities of some (not all) religious homeschoolers. We will flag those kits prominently to warn anyone who is concerned about their content that these kits may not be suitable for some religious homeschoolers.
This makes sense. I now follow the reason for the comment about religious curricula.
BoB
This makes sense. I now follow the reason for the comment about religious curricula.
BoB
I bought the book and the kit and couldn’t be happier! There was no way that I could purchase the items separately for the price. My questions to customer service were quickly and professionally answered. The author / owner is closely involved in the company to ensure outstanding service and quality control. I can’t say enough other than Thank You for making the Learning Chemistry Lab once again available for Hobbiests like me and homeschooling families. You have a very satisfied customer.