AIMS "From Head To Toe": A Review

The AIMS Educational Foundation has done it again and made me happy with "From Head To Toe"--a biology curriculum for grades 5-9.  This product comes in the form of a 277 page book, consisting of 39 hands-on activities reinforcing knowledge gained about the skeletal, nervous, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, urinary, and sensory systems. 

I love that this book contains a resource CD in the back of the book.  I wish all companies would start doing this!  This eliminates me standing over the copier into the wee hours of the morning, getting the spine of the book all out of shape and usually ending up with distorted copies from flattening the pages.  The resource CD allows you, the teacher, the ability to print just what you need for that day, as many copies as you need.

The student learns new information by reading a short "rubber band book".  These are mini-books that are created simply by folding the paper into quadrants and securing with a rubber band. 

At the start of each activity, the teacher is presented with a page of important data.  What is the topic?  What key information will be presented?  What supplies are necessary to perform experiments?  What benchmarks will be mastered?  What skills will be utilized (reasoning, inferring, observing)?  What background information does the teacher need before leading this lesson?  I really appreciate this page!  I feel empowered to move on, even when my previous knowlege has been lacking in a certain area. 

We are studying the skeletal system through another science curriculum, so when this product came up for review, I chose the activities on the skeletal system as well and they meshed nicely!  The rubber band book reinforced the information that we had just read about, and the activities were fun and different, such as recreating a skeleton using real-size cut-outs of the pelvis, the skull, etc.  Also, hands-on activities using beef bones and chicken wings went along with what we had just learned about marrow and its role within the bone structure.

I have previously reviewed AIMS Educaional Foundation's "Electrical Connections" and gave it high ratings.  "From Head To Toe" has proven to be no exception.  I see a pattern here of consistency and quality, as well as top-notch customer service!  I am anxious to take a look at their "Earth Book" and "Chemistry Matters", which I'm sure will be fantastic.

This product is sold here for $24.95.  I think the value is phenomenal.

**Disclaimer:  I was provided with a review copy of this product in exchange for an honest review. 

See what the other folks at the Homeschool Crew thought about "From Head to Toe" and other products from the AIMS Educational Foundation by clicking here.