Do you follow the TWTM cycle for sciences? Why or why not?

[IsabelC]

What the heading says ;)

 

I won't take up your time with a long bio, but just briefly we have come from an unschooling perspective but moved towards a little more structure as this seems to work better for us and our children, particularly our ds. I love a lot of things about TWTM, particularly the emphasis on reading and the approach to history and literature (I was one of those students Jessie and Susan mention who studied Mesopotamia and ancient Greece and Rome, but never worked out which order they happened in :001_huh: ).

 

However, the suggested format for science, while it appeals to me in theory (because I love the idea of the whole curriculum fitting together logically) doesn't seem right for us. For starters, we have already covered most of what is suggested for 1st grade (this was actually a pleasant surprise, given that ds is behind in most areas:)). Secondly, we do a lot of science in our 'unschooly' time. Ds is so enthusiastic about his 'experiments', particularly his work in electronics when he has his dad help him weld circuit board connections together. I would hate to kill his love of science by saying, when he asks a random question, 'sorry, we don't cover that for another three years because it's physics'. Third, the suggested way to study the animal kingdom is by looking at books and making note pages, whereas we usually do it by direct observation. (Eg yesterday, ds found a spider in his room. After catching it, we identified all its body parts, checked whether it had vertically or horizontally moving fangs, discussed where it lives and how it hunts, noted that even though it does not spin a web it nevertheless has spinnerets, and then after releasing the spider outside we read a book about spiders and insects. We reviewed the four main differences between arachnids and insects, and when ds mentioned that spiders were similar to crabs we looked at a classification tree to see that crustaceans are also arthropods. Then he got interested in the page about bees, which led to another book to find out more about what the queen bee does. (And all this before breakfast. :lol:)This is just one example, but it's the sort of stuff we do probably about every second day.)

 

So anyway, we're thinking of pretty much ignoring the science curriculum and continuing with what we're already doing.

 

Is there something I've missed? Some compelling reason for doing science systematically? If you think my take is wrong here, please go ahead and convince me :mellow:

Edited September 14, 2009 by Hotdrink

[LittleIzumi]

See, that's the unschooling I wanted to do. But I work FT 2nd shift and am too tired to be that creative :blushing: but if I could, I would. (How did I end up on a classical board again? :lol: I want to unschool until they are middle school-ish and then switch to classical. I wonder if that would explode their minds, if I actually had the energy for unschooling.) I see no problem with unschooling for science. Our science program this year is Magic School Bus books and whatever springs from there.

[LanaTron]

No reason at all, IMO. If you keep doing the types of things you are doing, then maybe begin some type of "formal" science in 7th or 8th (or not until high school, even), your dc will be fine, as long as they have the reading/writing/thinking skills necessary for high school sciences.

[Rosie_0801]

If you're looking for a little more structure, you may want to check out Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding. I haven't got my mitts on a copy yet, but that's what I'm planning to use as a spine. The WTM science rotation doesn't do it for me either.

 

:)

Rosie

[s.z.ichigo]

I'm doing the cycle.

Go through everything. Do it three times over. It just makes sense to me, for the same reason the history cycle makes sense.

[Laura Corin]

It sounds like you are doing a great job - I'd just keep going for now. With Calvin (no scientific interest) I cycled through chemistry, physics and bio in elementary school. Hobbes is much more curious, so I'm following his lead. This year, we are combining geography and animals for the whole year.

 

Laura

[Pata]

We follow the WTM cycles for science because it makes sense to me and it works for us. That said, if your son is interested in science and he's learning, I see no reason to switch what your doing just so you can say that you are following the WTM cycles ;).

[Melissa in Australia]

I do the 3 cycles like WTM with some modifications.

for first grade I cover biology more the way you do. we went through all the animal classifications , just basic ones, like insects, amphibians, mammals, reptiles etc.. Each science day we would catch an animal form the section that we would learn about ( if it was small) or look at books of an animal if it was big. We would read up about it, and then my first grader would draw a picture about it, and give me a narration about that type of animal and how it is classified

eg. birds have wings and feathers. They make nests and lay eggs they keep them warm until they hatch. birds can fly. I would write the narration down under the picture.

We did a similar thing with plants, making great leaf , flower, grass, etc. collections we then looked at the human body, and again just covered basic things like skin hair basic body functions like what the liver and heart do etc.

After all this, we moved on to earth science as recommended in WTM, and basically follow the scope and sequence of WTM, but with a little less writing.

[Renee in NC]

Sort of. We should have done bio this year thought and we are not. We've ended up with Oceanography and Astronomy instead! (The beach and space shuttle have guided our studies.;))

[Aurelia]

I don't. There's so much stuff kids are curious about, and while Ariel is definitely interested in biology now, I don't want to limit her knowledge. (I also have little to no interest in earth science and astronomy, so I would be dreading 2nd grade.) I think general science makes sense, for us. We also do nature study and answer questions as they come up. My only problem is finding a good, secular science program. I'm having to modify Sonlight science because I don't really agree with their "new earth" view, but it was the most solid I could find.

[Nestof3]

No, I prefer to cover science more in depth focusing on life science when they are young.

 

Nathan studies some things on his own as well; right now it is rocks, but for a while it was the African Savannah, then birds, etc. He also collects caterpillars and bird eggs and then uses a field guide to find out what they are. For the caterpillars, he then keeps them for a while and feeds them whatever the field guide tells him to.

 

For Aaron, we studied science in a unit study/thematic fashion with a little more haphazard. I just made sure he was prepared for the high school sciences, which he was.

 

Here is my plan. Though subject to change, I want to have an idea of when I plan to cover each subject. We are a little off in that we are doing mammals right now, and then we'll finish up the biomes. I focus a lot on taxonomy and vocabulary so that science will be easier when they are older. I find vocabulary memorization is one of the difficult things about higher sciences.

 

So right now, we've been studying the common traits among mammals, and today we'll finish up our study on their teeth, study horns vs antlers, and practice using a dichotomous key and matching animal tracks. We will then move on to study the monotremes, the marsupials and then the placental mammals, studying at least one animal from the major orders. We will complete a Mammal lapbook/notebook along the way.

Edited September 14, 2009 by nestof3

[Haiku]

Yes, I plan to follow it because it does what, imo, the grammar stage is for: an overview of science with the opportunity to focus on some memorizing of facts.

 

That's not to say that we don't do all sorts of other science, as well. My dd (2nd grade) has to read one science book independently every week. The book is of her choosing. Rarely does she choose a book that correlates to what we are studying at the time, which I think is great. We might be "doing" biology but conducting chemistry experiments for fun. The more the merrier, imo!

 

Tara

[Satori]

I'm using the Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding and just getting lots of read-along books. I think it really builds a great foundation! It's for K-2, but the next volume for mid-elementary is coming out spring 2010.

 

We are just kindergarten now, and I'm going to try to hit all these science foundations and *then* think about doing the 4-year rotations the classical way. Still waffling back and forth.

[Crimson Wife]

I use the general themes biology, earth science & astronomy, chemistry, and physics. For the first two years, we did unit studies. This year, we're using Ellen McHenry's "The Elements". Next year for physics, I'm considering doing units from the "Engineering is Elementary" curriculum.

[Night Elf]

I think you can have it both ways. In the WTM, page 16 (newest edition) explains why science is broken into 4 years, to sort of match the history periods. Just because your son has an interest in certain topics doesn't mean he can't do a formal study in other topics. Apply the same logic to history. If you're studying ancient history, you don't stop your son from being curious about the medieval period.

 

But if you're happy with the way you're doing science, then keep on doing it. No one follows the WTM suggestions entirely. I firmly believe you should always make curriculum & homeschool methods fit your family, rather you working to make your family fit the curriculum & methods.

[Haiku]

I firmly believe you should always make curriculum & homeschool methods fit your family, rather you working to make your family fit the curriculum & methods.

 

Exactly. If I wanted that I'd send my kids to school. (Full disclosure: I do have one kid in school.)

 

Tara

[Laura W.]

No. We started off covering a variety of topics each year in the younger grades, and I'm finding that's really best for our family. I want to make sure they study all the main branches of science during the logic years, but I'll do it in the order that works best for us, not necessarily the WTM order.

 

Blessings,

 

Laura

[Aletheia Academy]

IMO, I think you should carry on with what has been working for you and your ds. I wonder, though, whether you would find it worthwhile to implement a brief survey of the suggested area of study each year. That way you would know that you hit each area within the WTM time-frame, but also allowed ds to explore his interests.

 

For example, whatever year in the cycle you are on, maybe pick up a Janice VanCleave experiment book for the designated area-chemistry, physics, astronomy, whatever...and some library books here and there...and otherwise just continue doing what you have been doing.

 

Our approach is similar. In these early years, I want to focus more on the CM nature study approach, but I will do exactly what I described above to make sure my dc at least have been exposed to the WTM cycle of sciences. I will pick up more rigorous, structured study of science in the logic stage.

[Strawberry Queen]

I would agree in general. I have followed the wtm rec's for science because my eldest is not curious about anything aside from animals. She would study animals for the rest of her grade school career if she could. In order to balance out her learning I have her do the work in other areas.

 

What you could do is to have a sheet that outlines each of the main topics for the first cycle and then check off when your son covers those on his own. That way you'd be able to add in info if he seems to be covering only one discipline.

 

HTH

[silvermine]

I follow the cycles for historical figures, whether they are political figures, science figures, math, music, art, etc..

 

But for teaching actual science, I don't think historical order really makes a ton of sense. It's good to know (eventually) how scientists went from point A to point B, but I don't think it helps kids to go in the same order. We use Nebel's book, which actually goes in more of a physics - chemistry - biology - body order. Basically, the complete opposite of what TWTM recommends. But it is in order of building up from fundamental particles and forces to bigger and bigger structures. So it makes perfect sense -- it is in an order.

 

And we also do random things. Just like if he wanted to read a book about knights when we were studying Egypt I would never tell him no... well, he likes mixing liquids and solids, so I can't say "No, honey, we won't do extra chemistry this week because it's Doggy animal week right now!"

[mcconnellboys]

If you're doing science this systematically on a regular basis, then I would by all means continue it. You might consider keeping some items that cover whatever time period you'd be in for science on the side to use during any down times when you're scrounging for something to do for science....

[IsabelC]

Thanks experienced people for all your thoughts and suggestions.

And yes, the great thing about home schooling is that we can be eclectic if we so desire. I think I might try introducing just one session per week as per the guidelines, and use it as a chance to start on 'writing up' what we do. We'll probably leave it for a term or two though, as we have been working on targeting specific areas one or two at a time. (This term's big one is reading, which is going really well, as he has gone from barely reading at all to only a few months behind the average for his age:001_smile:)

 

 

Our approach is similar. In these early years, I want to focus more on the CM nature study approach, but I will do exactly what I described above to make sure my dc at least have been exposed to the WTM cycle of sciences. I will pick up more rigorous, structured study of science in the logic stage.

You caught me out: I am a closet Charlotte Mason wannabe (except every time I see CM I do a double take because I automatically read it as cervical mucous. I have definitely spent too much time on pregnancy type forums!)

 

You might consider keeping some items that cover whatever time period you'd be in for science on the side to use during any down times when you're scrounging for something to do for science....

Good point, but tbh I can't see us ever having to scrounge! Ds would certainly skip reading and writing in favor of all day science if I let him, but we have loads to do. Half his books are science related, plus he has 501 Experiments, plus he is a member of a science club and gets their magazine, not to mention that his Grandma keeps emailing new experiments for him, and then he does electronics and computer building with his Dad. He definitely likes science and technology a lot more than I do!