imhim Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 My oldest is (will be this fall) in first grade, and we already started the school year - lightly - but I do not have yet a plan for science for her. I do have one of the Kingfisher books WTL recommends, but I would like to use something with more hands-on experiments that is also planned for me. Any suggestions, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imhim Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 bump Anyone doing any science with their first grader? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I am pondering science for my first grader too. Winterpromise has The World Around Me which looks very appealing. Sonlight has living book science programs too. You might want to check those out. Easy Classical Schedules schedules the Well-Trained Mind Science recommendations- complete with activities/experiments. http://www.easyclassical.com So there are some avenues to explore. For my first grader- I am mainly going to be focusing on interest-led topics thru living books and the science that is included in HOD's Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. I hope this helps! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in the Country Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm doing Start Up Science with my almost 6 yo ds. It's a 4 book series from the Singapore Science people. It has some easy hands on stuff scattered through the books. We're doing circuits this week. :001_smile: I like it a lot, but I think it may be going out of print? Rainbow Resource didn't include it in their print catalog this year. I found them at Christian Book Distributors though. I ordered enough copies for my youngers. I hate it when things go OOP. I hope these aren't going OOP and RR not carrying them anymore is some kind of fluke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hsmomto4 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I am just doing as the book says and reading lots of books on animals and plants. We will do an experiment hopefully once a week as well. We bought The First Animals Encyclopedia and Green Thumbs (I think) and the we have lots of other books at the house. I really want to get a whole years worth of science in with this one as I never have with the others. I've simplified it enough that I really think we can get it done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We did biology via the WTM mostly. Animals, human body, and plants. For animals, we started w/the Kingfisher Animal Encyclopedia and classification. Then we read about different animals. DD did a little report page on different animals for her notebook... We did not do a lot of hands on with this, except we got a pet hamster:) For Human Body, we used the Usborne First Human Body Encyclopedia as the spine. We read a section, and read a couple of library books on it. We followed the online links for games and printouts. She diagrammed the body system she was learning (either drew it herself, or labeled one I printed out,) then wrote a few key sentences or definitions. All of this went into her notebook. She was doing more work at this time, as she was able to focus longer and write longer as the year wore on. We did tons of hands on experiments and games as they came up in our library books. For Plants, we used library books, started a garden, and then did the section on seeds, wildflowers, and trees in R&S's Patterns of Nature. Over the summer, we are doing the Insects chapter from Patterns of Nature. We supplement them all with lots of library books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbows Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 a couple different sciences I looked at: Elemental Science McRuffy Science REAL Science Odyssey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We did the Kingfisher encyclopedias last year for 1st grade. We supplemented with coloring pages that had information about various animals from Enchanted Learning (free!) and a small human anatomy model, and planting a garden. This year we are going with REAL Science Odyssey for earth science as a more experiment based science curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We will be using WinterPromise World Around Me. It is a good, light general science overview. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3babiesmommy Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Winter Promise Shoot, Sprout, Buzz and Bite here for 1st and 3rd grade daughters. I actually had World Around Me ordered until they saw the catalog and were SO excited about bugs and plants, so I called and changed it:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 When I had one first grader to teach - that was my most successful year teaching science. I pretty much followed TWTM. Some of the best books at the age are the "Let's-And-Find-Out-Science" books. I think they even included little activities to do. http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Kids/SeriesDetail.aspx?PSId=224 For the human body, we traced my child's body onto paper and then added each of the systems using construction paper, pictures, even red and blue yarn for blood vessels! Schlessinger Media makes some great videos also with activities to do: Human Body for Children, Animal Life for Children, and Plant Life for Children are the series names. The Burgess Book of Animals was a big hit as well. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We're planning to use Sonlight science 1. I like the living books approach and I'm fairly certain Ariel will be bored with just life science at this age, and SL covers all kinds of topics, plus the new versions are supposed to be better, with the experiements more lined up with the weekly study than they were previously. From looking everything over, I think we'll have fun and learn a lot! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imhim Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Thank you all, for sharing all this resources with me! This really helps me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey Mom Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 My first grader is doing the BJU Grade Kit, so Science is a part of their program. However, I went ahead and ordered the science materials for the experiments to go along with it (we're very 'hands on' here). Science is DS's favorite subject so we're all pretty anxious to start it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I researched science to death and in the end decided to do it mostly by following the WTM recs. I was influenced by a few things. It seemed best to keep it simple this year and I couldn't find a curriculum that I loved. I agree with the idea that at this age it's mostly about exposure and just feeding their natural interest in science. Also, as a "science person" and with a son who LOVES science I realized it will always be a strength in our house and I didn't need to make it more complex. My son often picks out science books on his own and pretty much only wants to watch vidoes like Bill Nye or Popular Mechanics for Kids or the DK series when he is given the opportunity to watch videos. We've actually started this summer with animals and it's going well. We pick an animal each week, read about it and do a narration. We've gone on field trips to lots of animal locations and I have a few experiments planned (today we are going to do one taking temperatures looking at the difference between warm-blooded animals and cold-blooded). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonesloonybin Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We use a combo. We have REAL Science (life) and we are using living books and Nature study to round it out. We are doing it out of order though. We will follow the order of my 9th graders biology book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterbabs Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We're also using a combination of things. We have the Solomon Resource Science guides with several books of experiments and adding in CLE science. That last is actually something of a surprise to me because we hadn't intended to do so. But we had almost the entire 6th & 7th grade science fall into our laps ($1 for each LU and answer key, with only about five LUs missing between both grades) and the science is VERY thorough. I'm not sure why that surprised me, but it did. :tongue_smilie: So we're probably going to pick up the first grade science as well. We don't really need it (the Solomon Guides are for k-8) but I think it will work well for my worksheet/workbook lovong kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm doing Start Up Science with my almost 6 yo ds. It's a 4 book series from the Singapore Science people. It has some easy hands on stuff scattered through the books. We're doing circuits this week. :001_smile: I like it a lot, but I think it may be going out of print? Rainbow Resource didn't include it in their print catalog this year. I found them at Christian Book Distributors though. I ordered enough copies for my youngers. I hate it when things go OOP. I hope these aren't going OOP and RR not carrying them anymore is some kind of fluke. I bought these as well to use with my ds6 and dd7. I hope they aren't going out of print. I didn't get enough for my youngest to use when he gets to this point. Looks like I am going to be buying some more this weekend :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) You could borrow my nature reading list (I'll finish typing it up asap)! http://sproutsfromtherootsup.blogspot.com/search/label/Nature We did fun nature projects or arts/crafts to go with the books. Here's a few sources for projects... 175 Amazing Nature Experiments 101 Great Nature Experiments Janice VanCleave's Play & Find Out About Nature Edited July 23, 2009 by momto2Cs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulubelle Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 We also have done some searching and decided to keep it simple and go the WTM way. We are gathering the resources now. We also got an experiment box for plants and animals called Flip 4 Science. We will integrate it through the year. My husband has been really good at reading the WTM and seeing what I miss. Keep it interesting and simple. I tend to want to overdue everything! Last Fall we did weather and I did it way too much and killed his love of it! Little bits of information at this stage go a long way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imhim Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Wow! Thank you, now my problem is how to choose a program. Also, momto2cs - thanks for the blog!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm going try it the way TWTM recommends, too. I used to teach jr. high science and haven't been overly thrilled with textbooks. I've got 2 first graders this year, so we'll see how it goes. They love doing experiments, nature walks, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manamana Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Elemental Science gets my vote for a wonderful WTM-style science curriculum at a great price. We'll be using it for the first time this year for 2nd grade Earth Science/Astronomy. You can look at samples at http://www.elementalscience.com. It's written by a homeschool mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in St Louis Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 and I was always struggling to pull together experiments, etc. By the time it was "time" to do plant study, I was kicking myself BIGTIME for not ordering REAL science....today I got REAL science to use in the fall and did a happy dance as the truck pulled away! One less stress for mom! The program looks great -- exacty what I would have wanted to pull together if I had the time/knowledge. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aletheia Academy Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 We're going to be using Janice Van Cleave's Science Around the Year. http://www.amazon.com/Janice-VanCleaves-Science-Around-Year/dp/0471330965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248408613&sr=8-1 We'll also be doing nature study, more like a CM approach with observation, sketching, journaling. The following year, we will probably use the WTM plan for animals/human body/plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommydearest Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 NOEO science. Just received books and experiment kits in the mail and we are so excited to get started! I love that everything for the year is included and it appears to be very interesting and fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CareBear Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 When I had one first grader to teach - that was my most successful year teaching science. I pretty much followed TWTM. Some of the best books at the age are the "Let's-And-Find-Out-Science" books. I think they even included little activities to do. http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Kids/SeriesDetail.aspx?PSId=224 For the human body, we traced my child's body onto paper and then added each of the systems using construction paper, pictures, even red and blue yarn for blood vessels! Schlessinger Media makes some great videos also with activities to do: Human Body for Children, Animal Life for Children, and Plant Life for Children are the series names. The Burgess Book of Animals was a big hit as well. Hope that helps! Love this idea of tracing the body and adding in the parts, I think I am going to steal it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Elemental Science gets my vote for a wonderful WTM-style science curriculum at a great price. We'll be using it for the first time this year for 2nd grade Earth Science/Astronomy. You can look at samples at http://www.elementalscience.com. It's written by a homeschool mom. Thanks! Elemental Science is written to follow the WTM recc's, but on a shortened 5 day schedule. In other words you do science everyday for 10-15 minutes, instead of two 30 minute sessions a week. I've found that doing science that way holds a child's interest better. That said, the plans do contain information on how to schedule your week in two longer sessions. The teacher's guide schedules readings, narrations, experiments, ongoing projects and vocabulary. The student workbook has all the pages your student will need to get it all done, including pictures for the narrations. Hope that gives you a beter idea of my program. If you have any more questions about Elemental Science, I'm around to answer them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 My older two will be doing RS4K Biology 1. So, our 1st grader will be kind of following their schedule. I'll just check out library books on the subjects they are studying. He will do notebook pages as he wants. I'll probably just have him use a sketchbook. I'll check online to see if I can find printables (such as enchanted learning) to paste in his notebook. We already do things like nature walks, collect bugs, plant seeds in an old aquarium. Last year we raised tadpoles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooke3193 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I hope to do TONS of science. I am planning on doing the Outdoor Nature Hour every Monday. I will also do units from Usborne's Science Activities (vol 1) and Real Science 4 Kids pre-chem. We will also cover units on plants, weather, baby chicks, bees, and more. In addition, I have the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia, 75+ National Geographics, the Planet Earth series on DVD and miscellaneous other books and magazines for her to read at her leisure. Some "toys" we have include a telescope, microscope, magnifying glass, snap circuits. I'm hoping that almost everything we do will be hands-on. I want to continue what we began this summer: we took a trip to the creek last week, have been on nature hikes, been to various zoos, caught lightning bugs, watched a sheep's brain get dissected, and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leigleigh_bird Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I second the NOEO science recommendation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I'm doing Start Up Science with my almost 6 yo ds. It's a 4 book series from the Singapore Science people. It has some easy hands on stuff scattered through the books. We're doing circuits this week. :001_smile: I like it a lot, but I think it may be going out of print? Rainbow Resource didn't include it in their print catalog this year. I found them at Christian Book Distributors though. I ordered enough copies for my youngers. I hate it when things go OOP. I hope these aren't going OOP and RR not carrying them anymore is some kind of fluke. I am using this with my ds6 and dd7. I don't think it is going oop though. I ordered mine from Singapore just a couple of weeks ago and the singapore site didn't say anything about it going oop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I'm also planning on using Noeo Biology 1 next year with my then 1st grader. It looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABE Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 We're loving Elemental Science Biology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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