sweetpea3829 Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 So let's talk science. :-) I have gotten some GREAT advice re: science on these boards. Last year, we put some of that advice into play and did a "guided" interest-led unit on Oceanography and Marine Biology that lasted from April through September. We used a ton of library books and resources. We completed a number of hands-on activities as well as numerous minibooks/lapbook elements. At the end, each kiddo had a completed lapbook. All of the materials we used, I gleaned from internet resources, or I made it myself. I started by brainstorming topics within oceanography/marine biology, and from that, I created an outline to follow. Then I added the reading assignments, lapbook elements, activities, etc. It was a TON of legwork on my part and it took a lot of effort to ensure that I still followed their interests while making sure that our lessons were guided enough so we hit upon everything I wanted to hit upon. In the end, I probably could have done a better job of being more "interest-led" and it was a bit more guided and scheduled than I had intended. (I am a creature of schedule, though...and without a good schedule, I tend to fall into the depths of chaos...lol). Things I liked about last year: 1) Using a variety of library books/resources as our "spine" instead of a textbook. This allowed me to customize reading assignments for each kiddo, while still covering the same material. 2) The lapbook elements. They still pull their lapbooks out and look at the various pieces. It helps to remind them of the things we learned about. And it was fun. (Side note....I am NOT a cutesy, crafty mom/teacher. All of our lapbook pieces had specific educational elements). That brings me to this year. We will begin our science term in April. I'm leaning towards Earth Science, but am not set on anything specific yet. Earth science is such a broad category and I could probably break it up over the next two school years. I'm just not feeling the whole, "create your own curriculum" thing this year! It was so much legwork and this year, with all four in full-time school...I'm not sure I'm going to have the time to sit down and flesh out an entire earth science unit. I wouldn't mind doing the lapbook elements and activities myself, if the reading assignments, books and resources were already chosen and an outline already fleshed out. Is there anything out there that might have enough of a framework to pull some of the load off of me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 We enjoyed Elemental Science Earth and Space. I think she haslapbooks as well. (I know biology had one and I think the others do as well). Uses real books, scheduled out...support materials there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalusignan Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 We enjoyed Elemental Science Earth and Space. I think she haslapbooks as well. (I know biology had one and I think the others do as well). Uses real books, scheduled out...support materials there. I was just going to recommend Elemental Science - sounds like something you might like since it includes lap booking. They sell the lap book templates on their site along with coloring sheets for littles. If you didn't want to purchase the complete curriculum, you could look at their required book list and go from there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Elemental Science looks like it might be just what I'm looking for. Thanks for the suggestion! Anybody have any other thoughts/suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.