FAQs
Why are your courses in the form of PDFs?
By providing our mini-courses in a form that is readable on a variety of digital devices, as well as easily printed, we allow parents and kids great flexibility in how and where they interact with the courses. We also believe kids need to EXPERIENCE a concept in order to really learn it. Mini-courses in the form of PDFs allow us to bring visual, tactile, and movement- based activities to your home. All of our courses include parts that are printed and used then to build, model, and/or use in a game. Additionally, our PDFs include Experimental Journal, Research Journal, and Field Journal pages that empower kids to make and note their own observations. Finally, each mini-course comes with conceptual “Tool” badges that kids can cut out and collect in order to expand their conceptual tool kit.
Will I need to print out the courses or can I read them on a digital device?
We think a combination is best! Some activity pages will need to be printed because they constitute the materials used to build or play. Additionally, all Experimental, Research, and Field Journals should be printed so that kids can make their own observations. We also include “What are you curious about?” bubbles throughout the courses to allow kids to stop and write their questions as they learn. However, not all pages must be printed—the call is yours!
What if we are confused about an activity? Do you provide any one-on-one help for customers?
We would love to work with each of you one-on-one. However, given our limited man- and woman-power, this is not possible. We pride ourselves on our carefully-selected team of Naturally Curious experts, who are passionate about developing creative and insightful science courses for your kids. We believe our mini-courses, which provide instruction in the form of engaging stories, as well as numerous interactive activities, help empower you, as parents to teach science as it is best taught! We hope in the near future to help connect our customers in an online venue so that any questions can be posed to and answered by our community.
How long will it take me to complete a course?
Because we believe every concept is best taught using multiple, varied approaches, which helps reinforce the material, our mini-courses provide many hours of fun and thought-provoking activities. While total time will depend on the individual kid, as well as his or her age, we estimate most courses to provide 5-10 hours of activities.
How many kids can do a course at a time?
We make sure all mini-courses are flexible. Almost all activities can be done with one kid and one adult–rarely, three people are required. Almost all of these activities can also be done with multiple kids.
Is every course really appropriate for the entire K-5 range?
K-5 is obviously a very large academic and developmental range! However, because we use nontraditional approaches such as stories, games, and movement-based activities, we believe our courses can spark the imagination and be REALLY, REALLY FUN for all kids in this age group. What we do find is that each kid may have a different part of each course that he or she engages with best. This is the power of using so many different approaches to reinforce the same concept. Parents may find that if they return to the course six months or a year after the initial experience, kids may now have a particular interest in a completely different activity. In any case, when kids have fun and come back to a topic numerous times, they will be reinforcing those neural connections that are so important for long-term learning!
What academic topics and milestones are covered in each course?
Our team of Naturally Curious experts uses two criteria to pick mini-course topics: The concepts taught must be either really important for understanding the world, and/or just plain cool. Our Naturally Curious experts come from a wide range of scientific backgrounds and are attuned both to the topics in their fields that they think all kids should know about and to topics that professional scientists get excited about. We also use the newly-published Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), developed by the National Science Foundation, to provide a framework for which concepts and skills are covered in each course. This information is listed on each mini-course page. For more information about the NGSS, please visit NSF Next Generation Science Standards.
My child loves a particular scientific topic. Can you do a mini-course on it?
We love how curious kids are and we love to know what they are curious about! If you or your child has course idea for us, please send an email to info@benaturallycurious.com with the words “Mini-course idea” in the subject line. While we already have a long list of super-cool courses we’d like to bring you, there is nothing better than fueling kids’ natural curiosity, and we would like to help you do that.
How will mini-courses be delivered to me?
After checking out on our site, you will receive an email with a link to download your course directly to your computer. Your PDF will be stamped with your name and purchase date.
What is your refund policy?
Due to the nature of digital products, we cannot offer refunds. If there was a problem with the transaction or duplicate billing has occurred, please email us at sales@benaturallycurious.com immediately and we will fix the mistake as soon as possible!
Can I email my mini-course to my friends?
Our team of awesome science experts works very hard to come up with the most creative and thought-provoking science mini-courses they can! Please support our efforts to bring you these awesome courses by respecting our copyright and not sharing the PDF with your friends either in digital or print format. Each PDF will have the name of the purchaser and transaction date stamped on it. If you plan to use the mini-course as part of a group of kids and parents, please email us at info@benaturallycurious.com and we can provide you with a group discount code!