FairProspects Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I've been pouring over school district curriculum this week, and whether or not we long-term homeschool or afterschool, we will need to supplement/teach science through Jr. High. I bought SL science for K since Noeo didn't have a K set, but I am still curious. How do Noeo and SL compare for content? Do you like one better than the other and why or why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 :lurk5: I have been wondering the same thing! All I know about them is that Noeo spends a year on one subject and SL covers many different subjects in one year, then comes back again to cover them more in depth in future years. And I suppose there is the secular vs. Christian viewpoint as well. . . . I've been wondering just how heavily Christian SL science is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bookwormmama Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I have done both Noeo Science Biology I and Sonlight Science K and 1. To be honest, I liked Noeo's Science program better. Sonlight has you doing a LOT more than Noeo in terms of work load and their lesson plans are a little more scattered. You study one thing one day and something else the next day. In Noeo, you stay on subject each week and your experiments are scheduled to go along with the unit you are studying. Noeo is a gentle approach to Science, using a Charlotte Mason style, having you do a narration each time you read out of a living book. Many of the books are so captivating and colorful and have great internet links to check out online resources. The experiments have all been a big hit here at our house. Sonlight's experiments didn't always seem to work correctly and my kids would love to watch the Discover and Do DVD for fun, even when it wasn't Science time.. but they would rather watch that than do the experiment themselves because it didn't always work out as it should. Sonlight covers a wide range of topics in a year... from Biology to Astronomy, etc. Noeo covers one main topic ... so Chemistry or Biology or Physics, etc. I liked the cohesiveness of that and I liked that the reading and science assignments were light, and short. My kids LOVED it and chose Noeo again this year over Sonlight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 This is an old thread, but there weren't many responses and I'm wondering the same thing. Please compare the 2 curriculums if you have used them. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 You might want to compare the two book lists because I bought Noeo before I started the SL cores and that ment I have quite a few of the books that would be in the SL science. I like some of the books but not the overall program for Noeo. SL I haven't done although I've looked at the IG sample and used all the books as readers. I'm still looking for something that would work for our family for the years before middle school (which we start early). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in WI Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 We completed the NOEO Chemistry I last year and are currently working through Sonlight Science 4 and Sonlight Science 2. They are really very different programs. In both programs, you work through living books. NOEO is much lighter and takes much less time. This is what we were looking for last year and it was a great fit at the time! We wanted "more" for Science this year and that was why we switched. It wasn't anything bad about NOEO. I highly recommend going to each seller's website where you can compare the Instructor's guides. That should give you a good overview to differences in the curricula. Do you have a specific question about either program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I posted earlier, when I was trying to decide which to use. I haven't used NOEO, but we just started SL Science 2 about a month ago. It seems that, since SL has revamped their science program this year, one of the improvements is that it is less scattered. One thing that makes it seem still somewhat scattered is the fact that the 4- and 5-day schedules are the same, but all the optional books/readings are scheduled for day 5. So right now, we are studying the human body for 4 days, then we study an animal on day 5. To give you an idea, here is what is on the list for what we are studying this year: For the fist two weeks, we spend each day studying a different animal (or group of related animals). Weeks 3-10 cover the human body. Weeks 11-15 birds Weeks 16-24 weather (meteorology) Week 25 solar system Weeks 26-32 mechanical technology Weeks 33-36 geology/dinosaurs The Day 5 readings include animals, "Planet Earth", and a book about different human inventions and discoveries. I think Sonlight's approach to science is more of a spiral method, where NOEO looks more like a mastery program. Others have said that NOEO is lighter than SL, but SL is still pretty light for us. I find myself wanting to do several days reading at once, b/c most days readings take only 5-10 minutes. Experiment days do take longer. And it takes a few minutes for dd to do the activity sheet quesions for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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