Planning BFSU!

[Snowfall]

I'm so excited. I bought it, loved it, did a few lessons from it, then found that it required more planning than I had anticipated. The chart in the front isn't as clear as I had hoped wrt what lessons you must have completed already, which ones should be done concurrently or closely following one another, etc. Plus I was having an AWFUL pregnancy (until March :D) and couldn't get books in time at our cruddy library. I then bought RS4K Pre-Level Chemistry and R.E.A.L. Science Life. Then I decided I really want to do BFSU first, to cement the idea that the sciences are very interrelated, before we start with the separate treatment of them. Now that the baby is getting a tad bit less fussy (man, she is a FUSSY one!) I have a little (very little, lol) bit of time to plan it out.

 

I went through and wrote my whole schedule out, now I'm in the process of searching out books, deciding which to buy and which I can get from the library system in the next county, and occasionally finding selections I think are better than the ones recommended in the book. I'm also assigning Magic School Bus episodes where appropriate, as well as other shows as appropriate, such as the Planet Earth series in the biomes section. I'm so excited!

[fairytalemama]

Doesn't feel great when you get something done, even when life is crazy? Yay for you! :hurray:

 

It does look like your hands are full, but if you get a moment would you please share your schedule? I'm planning on buying BFSU too and would love to see what you've planned.

[Snowfall]

I definitely will when I finish, but that will be another few days or longer. I have to do it in spurts and fits. lol I might not be doing it in the exact order some people would, since you really have to choose which one you want to do next, but I'm trying to make it logical, without staying too long in one thread or too long out of one. I'm also not quite sure sometimes if I should do all the parts of a lesson in one day or spread it out over a few days. I'm thinking of just doing a Science Friday thing, so that we can do a whole lesson in one day, without worrying about taking too long.

[Satori]

Here's our schedule, along with related books and videos. I still have to add more MSB videos when I can find them. I added BrainPop and Discovery Streaming if you have subscriptions:

 

https://docs.google.com/View?docID=0AVHHF7m2_5oTZHQycDVrN180MWY0OGptN2Zx&revision=_latest

 

We had a blast yesterday learning about sound waves!

[fairytalemama]

I'm thinking of just doing a Science Friday thing, so that we can do a whole lesson in one day, without worrying about taking too long.

 

I think that's a great idea! I might just steal it. :D

 

And Angela --- you're my hero. Where do you find time to do all this stuff? I need some lessons in time management from you or something.

[EmilyGF]

I'm a scientist, and my husband is too, and I'm going to go out on a limb here.

 

You don't need to add in books.

 

Really.

 

Just do the lessons in the book. Maybe get a science encyclopedia from DK to read up on things that interest you. Maybe keep a list of topics in a 3x5 notebook to talk about at lunch time. Don't stress about it. You'll be laying excellent foundations. If your child begs to read more about something, do it. But otherwise, you'll be learning a TON just from the BFSU.

 

Emily

[Satori]

That's true, you don't need to add extra books. We don't for every lesson. It is fun however to get some kind of extra visual or material just so my daughter can see it being talked about instead of just from Mom though. We've been loving the BrainPop videos.

 

You do learn a lot from just BFSU, more than any other science curriculum I've looked into (I purchased/looked at least 6.) I'm learning things I don't remember learning myself, and I loved college physics and thought I knew a lot about science. I love learning all over again.

[Snowfall]

And Angela --- you're my hero. Where do you find time to do all this stuff? I need some lessons in time management from you or something.

 

Yeah, there's no way I could plan out all the stuff you do, Angela. It's pretty amazing. :) I did start out that way, but then 24/7/8 months morning sickness happened, then a newborn, then a fussy infant...I don't find much time nowadays.

 

I'm a scientist, and my husband is too, and I'm going to go out on a limb here.

 

You don't need to add in books.

 

Really.

 

Just do the lessons in the book. Maybe get a science encyclopedia from DK to read up on things that interest you. Maybe keep a list of topics in a 3x5 notebook to talk about at lunch time. Don't stress about it. You'll be laying excellent foundations. If your child begs to read more about something, do it. But otherwise, you'll be learning a TON just from the BFSU.

 

 

Thanks. :) I don't feel like we absolutely have to. Each lesson has so much explanation in it. It's just that it feels much less scattered to me to have books to go with them. Plus, DD remembers things so much better that way. She memorizes books after only hearing them read 2 or 3 times, so it makes a huge difference in her retention. It will also just make it more fun for us, and we really need that after feeling like we barely survived our first year of homeschooling, due to my miserable pregnancy and very fussy baby.

[Tracy]

I'm thinking of just doing a Science Friday thing, so that we can do a whole lesson in one day, without worrying about taking too long.

 

This is what I have been doing. We get everything else done in 4 days, and then all we have is science and a piano lesson on the 5th day. Sometimes, I don't get a chance to plan BFSU until that day, so I have a whole morning to figure out what we are doing.

 

:party: Welcome! We love BFSU! I really admire that you are trying to tackle it with a fussy baby. But it is such a solid program. If you can do it, you will feel really good about it.

[Soror]

We love BFSU as well. We have done a few lessons but are officially starting come August. I started planning out lessons but then I found a schedule on the yahoo group that I like pretty well so I am just going to use that.

 

I have been working on typing up supplemental book lists and materials lists so I can have everything prepared ahead of time. I haven't exactly decided our schedule yet for everything. We generally do co-op on Fridays- so that is out. I have thought about doing some on Sat.