[Fun Physics for 8yo boy?]

My s10 does occasional experiments but he gets so much out of watching videos and TV Shows (all that has been mentioned and Science of Stupid). He is happy enough with that for now.

 

We are also doing Elemental Science for the Logic Stage (middle school) and we do an experiment a week. It's not super exciting but he likes it well enough as well as I let him watch tons of videos on science topics he chooses -- from all you mentioned to ASAP Science and more (can't remember all of them!). And he has most of the books everyone mentioned. Backyard Ballistics is his new favorite but mom and dad are not too motivated to go get all those materials (that are not so easy to find where we live). 

 

When he was younger, we subscribed to SuperChargedScience. We did a ton of experiments in the beginning. He found those fun. After a while he just started watching all the video experiments. I couldn't keep up with getting all the stuff we needed for the experiments and he was happy to just watch and go through the program faster. They have lots of physics stuff in there. 

 

While we were in the States this summer, we picked up a Lego car kit and he chose a bunch of motors and stuff. He plans to build the car and then add on and turn it into a remote control car. And he got the Radio Shack Make It Robotics Starter Kit. Pricey stuff but we only get to the US once every 2 years.

 

Oh and he might like this!

Last year, my ds took a FREE online class about physics "How Things Work" from University of Virginia. 

Here's the link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/how-things-work

Designed for non-science students, this course is a practical introduction to physics and science in everyday life. It considers objects from the world around us, identifying and exploring the scientific concepts upon which they're based. Because it starts with objects and looks within them for science, it is the reverse of a traditional physics class. Instead of the usual principle-driven physics class, How Things Work is case-study physics. In this pilot semester of How Things Work, we will explore the basic laws of motion in the context of six familiar objects or activities: (1) Skating, (2) Falling Balls, (3) Ramps, (4) Seesaws, (5) Wheels, and (6) Bumper Cars. Despite their simplicity, these topics will bring us in contact with some of the most important concepts in physics, including inertia, energy, and momentum.

The videos are entertaining and my son would laugh out loud occasionally. 

 

 

@dmmetler: where can one find the Disney Imagineering videos?

 

Have fun!

Thank you so much GThomas! I'm looking into all these things, and the class looks great! 

[Fun Physics for 8yo boy?]

DD liked the Cartoon Guide to physics and the Manga guide to physics. Both are a little technical, but the cartoon format helps. She also liked Why Things Work and Life of Fred Physics (we did a lot of little experiments based on LoF.).  We also did the Disney Imagineering video series and Knex Rollercoasters as part of a co-op while doing physics at home, which overlapped nicely (I think both could be done at home) and a physics of toys class at Mad Science, which DD enjoyed (but I don't know how much she learned from that she hadn't already gotten in other ways).

Thank you dmmetler! Cartoon Guide to Physics and the Manga Guide to Physics both look very fun, thank you for these and all of your other suggestions as well! I'm checking them out, and they look great. 

[Fun Physics for 8yo boy?]

Perhaps Backyard Ballistics is more what you're looking for.

 

 

Not a physics curriculum, but The New Way Things Work by David Macauley could be fun to work through.

 

Bite-size Physics by Science Jim is an easy to use curriculum with frequent experiments.

 

 

My kids have found science super interesting without constant experiments, fwiw.

 

Backyard Ballistics looks fantastic! 

 

And Science Jim has some great stuff on his facebook page. 

 

Thank you SilverMoon! I'd never seen those before. 

[I Really Want to be an Unschooler]

If you're looking for a how-to of unschooling and feeling better about screens, have you seen Sandra Dodd's huge unschooling web site? Here's the "screen time" page: http://sandradodd.com/screentime/  - She has a compelling argument for looking very closely at what your kids are doing with screens, get so interested in it that they talk to you about it; they're probably learning more from it than is immediately apparent. 

 

[Fun, challenging math for 8yo? Suggestions please?]

Thank you so much to everyone who has spent their precious time responding to this question! 

[Fun Physics for 8yo boy?]

Hi,

 

My son is very bright but hasn't been interested in science projects or nature study so far. He is fascinated by things like watching a Nova show about the multiverse theory, Brain Games, Myth Busters (although he wasn't very interested in doing the experiments from their book), Fetch... 

 

Anyways, last year we did lots of chemistry experiments but I felt like he was just humoring me by doing them and not all that interested. Science should be super fun and absorbing, so I'd like to get it right this year. 

 

I asked him if he'd rather mix a couple things together and have them change, or run a light bulb with a lemon and he said the latter. So I was thinking about getting him a physics course with weekly experiments. But now that I'm reading my question I wonder if I should be trying to find him interesting videos about theoretical something?

 

Any suggestions appreciated. 

[Fun, challenging math for 8yo? Suggestions please?]

In general, I think you need to just accelerate.  

We're going to try Beast and a few of the 'fun time' suggestions - thank you so much, great parents! 

 

I feel dumb asking this question, but how do you accelerate? Do you speed through the level he would have been at and then start the next, or just skip ahead? 

 

Thank you! 

 

~ Grateful mom. 

[Fun, challenging math for 8yo? Suggestions please?]

Thank you so much for all of the great ideas! 

[Fun, challenging math for 8yo? Suggestions please?]

Hi,

 

This year I'd like to give my 8yo son math that's right for him, not just standard for his grade / age. But I don't know how to find that. Suggestions? 

 

Here's our history: 

This is our 2nd year homeschooling. Our DS is very bright and has a good aptitude for math concepts, but hates drills and memorizing tables and has been completely bored by formal math training. 

 

It seems like all the math he saw at public school in 1st grade and that I found for him last year at home was about facts, and none of it was about thinking hard. But it's the thinking hard that is interesting to my son.

 

Last year I went through a lot of different 2nd grade math curriculum pulling out ideas he hadn't seen yet. But most days I would just end up saying "Lets just get through this concept as fast as possible and you can get back to java programming". There were very few times (like maybe 2) when I actually gave him a concept that he had to think about. After trying a bunch of curriculum he didn't like, we ended up just going through the public school's 2nd grade math books in 3 months... 

 

It seems like such a shame, I think he could love math if it were just meaty concepts and then reasons for the memorization.

Suggestions please?