Ummto4 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 If one wants to use Story of Science to the max w/ teacher's guide and student worksheet, 1. What subjects are covered ? Will science, applied math, history, and geography be covered ? 2. Is it possible to do it all in 1 year (i.e. 3 books), assuming no other science, history, and geography curricula are added? 3. What is the best age to use this, so one can understand and use everything in the book and guide ? 4. Any recommended add-on to make this book and guide a full curriculum ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I cannot answer all of your questions, but I will touch on some of them. I used Story of Science this school year with my 8th grade son for a history course. He only read the books and discussed them with me. I *think* he could have handled the texts in 6th grade...probably 7th...definitely 8th. The books LOOK easy, but that is deceptive. By the time you get to the Einstein book, the topics are very difficult and require a mature reasoning. I know that people say otherwise...but I wonder how much their kids are really, really understanding... I have a friend who also used the texts this year with her 8th grade son for a SCIENCE credit. She used the accompanying workbooks and did experiments. I do not think the Hakim books should count for both history/geography AND science/applied math. Pick one or the other. Just my 2 cents. I did add in some other books and scientist/inventor biographies since this was a history course for ds. I am also using an inventor unit study (that is where we are right now) to round out the course. I would not have done this if it were a science credit with lab work. My son LOVED the Hakim books. I mean...LOVED...them. He was the perfect age, interest, and ability to devour them. Like I've said in another post somewhere, he would sneak them into his bed at night to read. :) So starting in late August, we were finished with them by early October. It was a pleasant problem to have. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ummto4 Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 I cannot answer all of your questions, but I will touch on some of them. I used Story of Science this school year with my 8th grade son for a history course. He only read the books and discussed them with me. I *think* he could have handled the texts in 6th grade...probably 7th...definitely 8th. The books LOOK easy, but that is deceptive. By the time you get to the Einstein book, the topics are very difficult and require a mature reasoning. I know that people say otherwise...but I wonder how much their kids are really, really understanding... I have a friend who also used the texts this year with her 8th grade son for a SCIENCE credit. She used the accompanying workbooks and did experiments. I do not think the Hakim books should count for both history/geography AND science/applied math. Pick one or the other. Just my 2 cents. I did add in some other books and scientist/inventor biographies since this was a history course for ds. I am also using an inventor unit study (that is where we are right now) to round out the course. I would not have done this if it were a science credit with lab work. My son LOVED the Hakim books. I mean...LOVED...them. He was the perfect age, interest, and ability to devour them. Like I've said in another post somewhere, he would sneak them into his bed at night to read. :) So starting in late August, we were finished with them by early October. It was a pleasant problem to have. HTH! Thanks. I'm thinking of using this may be for the whole 7th or 8th grade. I own the books, and you're right. Although they look simple, the science itself is not (KWIM ?). WHile reading them, I found myself pausing or re-read some section just to make sure I got the concepts right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnella Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Some of the labs are very difficult to pull off. I remember one from the first book that required us to have cubes 2 inches square of various materials: aluminium, glass, etc. Not something I had around the house. Someone mentioned an experiment set that covered some of the same topics. I can't remember the name unfortunately. The thread should be on this board if you search. I did have to go through the kit's book to match experiments up with the book but my DS enjoyed having more labs. I like the series and think it's very readable, though that doesn't mean it's easy. It's really a history of science along with some major mathematical developments. So I wouldn't try to use it as science, history, and geography. I counted it as 7th grade science. We're not going to finish the third book this year. I'm going to save it for supplemental reading for another year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 If one wants to use Story of Science to the max w/ teacher's guide and student worksheet,1. What subjects are covered ? Will science, applied math, history, and geography be covered ? It is just the history of science with some experiments and discussions and projects. The Quest Guides include ideas for curriculum links. There is a little bit of math and general history and quite a few maps about birth places of scientist and some writing assignments etc but I wouldn't call it a curriculum for any of those subjects. We use it in conjunction with the history cycle we are on. 2. Is it possible to do it all in 1 year (i.e. 3 books), assuming no other science, history, and geography curricula are added? Each book has about 45 lessons so I don't think you could do justice to the full program in one year. You could easily read all three books in a year if you pushed but it wouldn't cover the other subjects enough to call it complete. The third book, as far as I know doesn't have a teacher's guide yet. 3. What is the best age to use this, so one can understand and use everything in the book and guide ? The book could be easily understood by a 5th grader but I think 6th-8th is more appropriate for the Quest Guide. 4. Any recommended add-on to make this book and guide a full curriculum ? Not a full curriculum but we added Thames and Kosmos Milestones in Science for more hands on activities. Thanks The Quest Guides have a lot of material to cover and it is pretty thorough, though pretty public schoolish with group activties and such, but it isn't a complete curriculum and I don't see how it could be or think it is meant to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masaki Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Someone mentioned an experiment set that covered some of the same topics. I can't remember the name unfortunately. The Milestones in Science Kit from Thames & Kosmos is the one I've heard mentioned several times. I also bought it to go with SOS, but we haven't opened it yet. It looks neat, just haven't found the time yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I was just reading up on The Story of Science and have a few more questions hopefully someone can answer... We studied Aristotle already this year and I was wondering if I could start with the second book without having read the first one? Also, how useful is the teacher's guide? Can I use this book with two student guides to teach my upcoming 5th and 8th graders if I'm reading aloud and then they would do the worksheets on their own, we would do labs together? I"m considering piecing together a science curriculum for next year, I just can't find anything that really works well for us in our price range. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I was just reading up on The Story of Science and have a few more questions hopefully someone can answer... We studied Aristotle already this year and I was wondering if I could start with the second book without having read the first one? You can - they are pretty much stand alone. Also, how useful is the teacher's guide? Can I use this book with two student guides to teach my upcoming 5th and 8th graders if I'm reading aloud and then they would do the worksheets on their own, we would do labs together? Hmmm...let me just list what is in each one and you can decide. Honestly, I would do without the student book before the teacher's guide because we do a lot of it orally, but here goes: Teacher's Guide, Unit 1, Newton at the Center - a list of materials for experiments and copies of handouts etc. a unit summary with background and historical information a list of National Science standards that are met by the unit benchmarks for science literacy list a page pretty similar to the first page of the lesson for the student guide but it includes goals, lesson outline for the teacher (assignments, activities and what order to do them in), classwide activity, team learning activity, directed reading, you be the scientist, conclusion, homework, curriculum links for math, art, geography, history, and music (though these are very short and mostly say go to the library and look up various people who lived in the same time period), a list of reference books, and all the answers. The Teacher's Guide for the first lesson alone is 12 pages. The Appendix has the tests, copies of the worksheets, and pages to photocopy for discussions. The Student Guide, Unit 1, Lesson 1 the theme, who, what, where, when quest sheet to fill in (3 pages of questions) you be the scientist reading and activity (another 3 pages) I"m considering piecing together a science curriculum for next year, I just can't find anything that really works well for us in our price range. :P Most of the meat of the program is in the Teacher's Guide, as well as miniature copies of the worksheets in the Student Guide. If you use all of it (63 lessons), it can be a full year of science. We also used the Thames and Kosmos Milestones in Science kit for more hands on. The Quest Guides are a little more talk and write, not a lot of experimentation or demonstration (for us anyway - it might be enough for others). For all of Unit 1 the only hands on supplies are in lesson 1 - compass, camera, lesson 2 - household machines like an egg beater, stapler etc, and lesson 6 - marshmallows, toothpicks, pen, meterstick, tape. The activities are good and thorough, there just aren't a lot of them. It isn't really an experiment book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I was just reading up on The Story of Science and have a few more questions hopefully someone can answer... We studied Aristotle already this year and I was wondering if I could start with the second book without having read the first one? I would NOT skip the first book. Yes, it is titled Aristotle, but the book is about the progression of the development of physical science over the course of centuries. Aristotle is just a major player. Many, many other scientists and their findings are covered. Some of the topics might go over your 5th grader's head...but not all of them. Since you are planning to read it aloud, I think it would still be a rewarding study for your younger child. Just be prepared for some questions when you get to the Einstein book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Thanks to both of you - very helpful responses! I've struggled with getting to science all three years that we've been homeschooling - experiments are hard to get done and are done sporadically - and it's a shame I went to engineering college and shouldn't be so intimidated by all this! LOL I am strongly considering Aristotle with quest guides and Thames and Kosmos kit for next year, sounds like it would be interesting in that it ties to history which I love! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Here is a review I wrote for the Quest Guide. http://missmoe-thesearethedaysofmylife.blogspot.com/2011/02/teacher-and-student-quest-guides-for.html If you wanted to use everything in the quest guides, you would have activities that covered lit, music, art, math, history, as well as science. I don't think these subjects are covered in a complete or orderly manner, but rather in a unit study fashion. I feel that the guides are very well done. We covered a lot of science the two years we used them, but barely put a dent into everything covered and offered in the guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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