BFSU

[happycc]

Sorry for the typos as I am helping my son play Prodigy at the same time. 

 

I had this sitting on my shelves for years. I wanted to implement it but just couldn't until I formed a Science Coop and now it is being implemented. 

Our coop goes from Preschool through high school. 

We have two main groups right now. A preschool group that uses a different curriculum called Bugs to Bunnies. 

The other group is BFSU volume 1. We have 6yrs old in there all the way up to 9yrs. 

Our high schoolers pair up with the younger ones as aides. 

We have two kids in each group with high functioning autism and two with seizures as well as one with some kind of learning challenge. I let the parents decide where each child should be. They are doing just fine in the group. One of the kids is somewhat nonverbal and signs so the kids in there are learning signs too. He is a preschooler. They are learning animals signs. 

 

It is about 2 hours. 

Kids arrive

five minute bathroom room break before we gather all together.

 

We start the group in a circle all together. We do also include adults as that involves everyone. 

First few meetings we do ice breaker games ..name, age , favorite color one day and then after we sort them from oldest to youngest, sort by height, sort by favorite colors 

second group meeting we did favorite activity and sorted by indoor/outdoor activity, favorite food-sweet/not sweet, organize people by height, 

3rd group meeting middle name, sort by abc, where you were born and sort by in usa or outside of usa, west coast, east coast, in california etc. 

 

Once these icebreaker games run dry, I start having them share their notebooks beforehand. 

 

We go over the rules. kids came up with them we posted them. Each day I erase one random rule and see if they can guess what was missing. 

 

Then we have the kids come up names for each of their individual groups. Our group was Dino Minions and the other is Science Seekers as our Main Name  of our coop is Science Squad. 

 

From their we break up in individual groups 30 minutes, then five minutes break and then another 30 minutes of group time with about 20 mins of free play before a final circle of 10 mins which includes notebooking and naming one thing they enjoyed or learned that session. 

 

Then bathrooms and head out the door. 

 

I gave one parent the preschool book and said "GO for it". I gave her a general plan and determine how long she thinks is needed to cover each unit. But in general I gave a two weeks for each unit and told her to change it as she see fits. 

 

Now for planning my BFSU

1) I sat down and looked at the chart and just cycled through A, B, C, D at each level and kept an eye on the prerequisites. (A1/A2, B1, C1, D1, then A3, B2, C2, D2, etc) This should allow them to see how all the sciences can be related and they don't become bored with just the same thread week after week.  And I made a list/more of a chart. Each day was about an hours worth of lessons so there was some wrap around days when we couldn't do all of them in one day. When our group gets larger, I intend to have two stations, so one group within the BFSU group does one part of the lesson and the other group does the other and switch. We can cover more in that short amount of time insuring the kids all get enough attention. So I have a station one and station 2 planned. That is only when we get more kids and another parent willing to lead that for the whole year. 

 

2) Once Scheduled made, I read through the entire lesson and type up what I want to say and what the kids are expected to say or might said and what I need to do. I highlight what I will say in Bold. 

 

3) In a box, I have my high school students collect the stuff I need. They do any necessary drawing or poster making. I also have them read the book (beginning chapters) on how to get the kids to have discussions by asking questions rather than answering it for them.  

 

4) I assigned one mom to find the books in the library and have an older kid or teen read those as a review.  So we present a topic, then the following week, I read a book related to that last topic. If I can't find a book I make sure that a kid presents their notebook on that topic. 

 

5) I made a large poster with a beaker with lines and made the goal to be 1000 and then the reward could be: bake a group cake together, go on a field trip, go on a camping trip together as a group on a weekend. For each question anyone answers correctly or has a good discussion with it the group gets a point. I got the questions from the QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION/ACTIVITIES to review, reinforce, expand and assess learning. I do these as review a session or two after the lesson was presented. 

 

Right now we have 8 kids and open for a few more. 

 

I hope this helps others with their BFSU coop planning. As time goes on we will move on to BFSU vol 2 and 3 and the preschoolers ready for BFSU vol 1 can start when we add another group for them. 

 

 I have read that by high school the students can do Skype for vol 3. WOW! Perhaps once my teens get through vol 1 and 2 we can start a skype group for vol 3.

 

If any families are interested we are located in San Leandro, CA. And meetings are Tuesday mornings from 10-12pm. 

Edited September 24, 2016 by happycc

[desertflower]

Wow that sounds great.  Thanks for sharing.

[fdrinca]

Thanks for sharing.

 

I love this book. I recommend it to every new homeschooler. 

 

And yet, I never really quite know how to implement it. I wish I did. Maybe now I do :)

[happycc]

If you want the order that I picked, just for the sake of it, here it is:

 

Vol 1

 

A/B1

A2

C1
D1

B2

B3

A3

D2

C2

B4

A4

B4A

C3

D3

A5

B5

C4

D3A

A5A

A6

B6

B

C5

D5

B7

D6

A7

B8

C6

D4

A8

B10

C7

D7

A9

B11

D7

B11

A10

B12

B11

D8

D9

 

Of course there are parts 1, 2, 3 etc for some the activities and make up days for those if I run out of time to do them in one day. Again I just looked at prerequisites and time of year when these things might occur ie no gardening stuff in the middle of the winter. The assumption with this plan was to start around end of August and beginning of September and end by early summer. Ha! 

Change it as you see fit, but I think the whole point is just to get started and keep going. I think that is what stalls most people is just beginning it. I found retyping it such that the script works for me works the best. I start by reading the lesson and try to visualize how the lesson would play out and then type it up kind of like a script for a play. I bold face what I want to say and italics what the kids might ask or say and in regular print what I will do ie steps to science experiment. I started with highlighting what I read but that was just too much. I just decided to retype it the way I need it to work for me. 

 

Oh I used color tabs (those sticky notepads and wrote the thread letter on the side of it) to mark the beginning of each thread. So I can flip between the threads quickly. 

 

Humor me someone and do volume 2 and 3 so I don't have to do it myself;) 

[73349]

If you want the order that I picked, just for the sake of it, here it is:

...

Oh I used color tabs (those sticky notepads and wrote the thread letter on the side of it) to mark the beginning of each thread. So I can flip between the threads quickly. 

       Good idea! I need to do that.

 

Humor me someone and do volume 2 and 3 so I don't have to do it myself;) 

 

I'm doing Vol. 2 (with a child who has been through Vol. 1) in this order:

 

D12 and D9

A11

A12

A13

A14

A15

A16

A17

A18

D10

D13

D11

B13

B14

B15

B19

B16

B17

B18

C8

C9

C10

C11

C12

C13

C13A

C14

C15

 

HTH.

[fralala]

The scripts! The scripts! I want to see your scripts!

[happycc]

I am not sure how to attach those on here but I can type one up here. 

 

 

Really nothing fanciful. 

Just whatever he says to ask or say I highlight. 

 

I want you to look around and see how I ORGANIZED or arranged this house. 

We walked into the kitchen.

The first category or kinds of things are things in the kitchen such as the plates in this cabinets 

The second category in the kitchen is utensils in this drawer. 

Kids name the different categories

We walk into the homeschool room-Can you name some  of the categories in the room?

Kids name some categories. 

Point to shelf: This Shelf is organized with science books and that shelf has history books. 

Tell me how you organize your bedroom. What categories do you have and how are they supposed to be kept? 

 

I want you to go home and come back next week and tell me how your kitchen is organized and name the categories during our prelesson discussion time. 

 

Now let's think about Supermarkets such as Lucky or Safeway. How are they organized and categorized? 

kids list the categories and how they are organized

 

Kids may say "produce": I may mention that produce can be subdivided. What are the two possible subdivisions?

 

 

kids may say vegetables and fruits or nuts 

 

When Produce is mixed with other types of foods it is called groceries. 

 

Why do we put things in categories and organize them at the supermarket? 

 

Think time: Think about it for a bit and give me your ideas. 

 

If they need help: How would customers find things?

How would storekeepers keep track of what needs to be reordered or restocked? 

 

 

Let's move back to the table and I have a box for each group to sort.

 

kids sort and then as team discuss how they sorted their items, what characteristics did they focus on 

 

Do you think there is only one way to sort your stuff?

 

Kids sort again, discussing how they want to sort their stuff. 

 

What different categories did you come up with?

the teams discuss again and sort once again

 

Why are categories important? Why is it important to organize things?

 

Kids list ideas and then I add MEMORY as another reason.

 

Our brains cannot handle a lot of different things at the same time. The information may be in our brains but it is hard to get it all out unless the information is organized into some kind of pattern. SO we put things in categories and organize them together to help us remember. We are going to play a game that will show you how categorizing can help us remember things better. 

 

Then play the game: Where we put 20 things on the table and have the kids look at it for one minute and then cover it/hide it and have people list as many things as possible.

 

I have 20 things here and I want you to look at it for one minute. I will cover it with a blanket. Now in two minutes I want you to list all the things that you remember seeing. 

Ok go--older teens help the younger kids scribe. 

How did you guys do? 

There is a secret to this game. Do you guys want to know this secret?

 

Categories! In your mind, try and sort them into categories. 

Then assign the categories to the fingers in your hand. 

 

Let's play this game again using categories now and see how it goes this time. Compare and discuss results. 

 

Now for the next couple of days I want you to see if you can see organization in anything and say something about it when we come back to class. 

 

 

There is another place when organization and categories help you and that is when writing. You may have many ideas but they are all bouncing around your head and make you feel overwhelmed. What you can do is write down all your ideas and then sort them into categories. 

 

I wonder if Once things or ideas are organized, is it bad to change it? 

kids answer. Ask if kids agree disagree or agree and why. 

Changes can happen in any kind of organization and sometimes it can be better way to organize things or ideas. 

 

-----------------------------------

Break time about 5 minutes 

 

Break

 

____________

Then lesson on Solids, Liquids and Gasses

Not going to write the script for that but you get the idea

 

Edited September 29, 2016 by happycc

[fralala]

Thank you! That's awesome.

 

P.S. Wish we were close enough to join your class. Sounds like fun!

[happycc]

Ok update...more tips and tricks with co-ops..

1) State at the beginning you want two days a week to be free: one for the actual class and one as a back up for illnesses and such. They cannot fill that backup day and time with anything else. They can use that time to stay home and do whatever but no classes or other kind of commitment. We have had to have two weeks of no co-op and the other family didn't have another time/day that was available. So that is what I suggest. 

 

2) I am also working ahead a few weeks at a time typing up the scripts/lesson plans for each lesson. But I am finding I literally need to reread each lesson right before the lesson. Like the night before because I cannot remember and the script for some reason just gives me bare minimum.

 

Perhaps I need to type in more. 

 

3) Start collecting materials a week in advance for each lesson. 

 

4) I also printed out in BOLD LARGE the words on paper that are BOLD and Large in the book. And pulled them out as I was presenting the lesson. That way the kids had a visual on it and they used the sheets to write out their notebooks afterwards.

 

5) We are done with all the categorizing icebreaker activities and now they are just presenting their journals at the start of the co- op as a form of review. We may play a short game of hot/cold.

 

Wonder if you all can come up with any fun warm up ice breaker games?

 

I love BFSU lessons but I'm finding some of my kids are needing more visuals and more games. The sorting isn't enough.  They are able to remember the lessons than any other lessons they have done. 

Edited October 26, 2016 by happycc

[happycc]

I want to know who has done all three books of BFSU?

What are your kids like scientifically? 

[daijobu]

I want to know who has done all three books of BFSU?

What are your kids like scientifically? 

 

My kids have!  My older daughter finished and went into 9th grade taking AP chemistry and did very well.  Younger daughter finished in 7th grade, and studied regular high school biology, took the SAT subject test in bio and did very well.  

 

So yes, BFSU will prepare your students for high school level work.   I'm nostalgic for my BFSU days!  

[happycc]

Do you have any tips and tricks of implementation and planning etc, daijobu? 

My high schoolers are coming into this late but my younger kids will get the full benefit. I do see my high schoolers seeing things in a different light and really thinking about the world now and we are only doing K-2 right now. My 12 years old is definitely keeping her space cleaner because she is better at sorting and categorizing things which she has always struggled with. :)

[happycc]

Anyone have a good order for Vol 3?

[Porridge]

I don’t have volume 3, but for the first two books there Is a suggested sequence on the beginning of the book. It’s s large flow diagram.

[Miss Tick]

Anyone have a good order for Vol 3?

"Good" is so subjective....

 

I found that volume 3 had the least need for hopping between threads, and the topics from lesson to lesson were more tightly connected, so another reason to keep the threads in order.

 

We did D14-18, (a bit of American Chemical Society chemistry which we then continued along with) A19-25, D19, C16-25, B23-33, D21