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18 July 2013
I have always had an interest for science which I try to pass on to my own children. I will often take my children to science museums for a day out and often talk to my children about how things work whilst out and about. For instance my 5 year old son already has a good understanding of how steam engines work and just the other day we saw some sycamore seeds on the floor which evolved into a conversation about different techniques that trees use to disperse their seeds. This is fine whilst my children are still at primary school age, but it's now been over 20 years since I did GCSE chemistry and I'm starting to think that it's going to be difficult to keep up with my children in some areas when they get a bit older. This is why I turned to Help Your Kids with Science book by "Carol Vorderman". I put Carol Vorderman in quotes because whilst the book is published in her name it also appears to be published with a slightly different front cover under the names Dr Mike Goldsmith, Dr Stewart Savard and Allison Elia. Not that this is a bad thing as Carol Vordeman is perhaps one of the best known female role models for STEM subjects and so is perhaps a good way of promoting this book some who may otherwise not read these subjects.
The book features a good layout and clear diagrams synonymous with Dorling Kindersley (DK Publishing). This makes it an easy book to follow and the explanations are clear and easy to understand. It is perhaps similar in level to posters at science museums. As a reminder of the science I once new it is very good and a great way to keep up with kids until about the end of middle school (year 8). It would also make a good reference book for help with homework. It would however be a bit dry for teaching kids directly which may be better using a more practical based approach.
If you are looking for a book to help parents to keep up with what children are learning at school then this is good. If wanting to engage your children and trying to inspire them to learn science then you may want to look at a more practical book.