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What are you doing for 8th grade science?


pattimiller747
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Even though I have a science/engineering background, we seem to struggle with science. It seems like it takes so much effort to do science and most of our experiments fail. We did Real-Science-4-Kids and do field trips to the museums and other science outings, but I don't feel like we're doing a good job. Does anyone have a good science program they recommend?

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We do a lot of things here for 7th grade science. We use OM Physical Science as our base. We add experiments from Supercharged Science, Science Jim, The Happy Scientist, and Exploration Education. I only hs one child, so I have the time to do this. Science is his favorite part of the day. We spend a couple of weeks on each topic (3-4 times a week). Lots of fun, hands-on stuff!

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Check out Noeo Chemistry 3 (just google noeo science). They plan to have another level 3 for next year, I can't remember which one, but my 8 and 10 year old are learning so much from Physics level 2. They use Usborne and living books, plus great experiments. It follows a classical with an emphasis on Charlotte Mason style (the lessons aren't too long, narration is used through notebooking, and real books are used as opposed to textbooks).

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Dd was insistent that she not use a textbook oriented program. She is using "Exploring the World of Physics", "The Cartoon Guide to Physics", 'Explorabook", "Lights and Mirrors", and a new book, "The Manga Guide to Physics". We have the Physics Discovery kit too, though she hasn't started it yet.

 

She also helps out at a monthly science class where the students study natural science, we plan to participate in the feeder watch program again this winter (birds), and of course, whatever other science experiences that may come up.

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Since dd is in 5th grade this year, using TT 7 and LOF for math, and Noeo Chemistry for science…we plan to use The Rainbow for the next two years (6th and 7th). This way 8th grade will possibly be OM 9th grade Environmental Science or maybe Singapore Science Matters.

If I were you I would choose The Rainbow!:D Look at the reviews. It is the curriculum that we are the most excited about. :tongue_smilie:

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Dd is using Prentice Hall Science Explorer books. I print out worksheets from the accompanying CDs and give tests from the test bank CD. It's definitely a textbook approach, but knowing how to learn from a textbook is a good skill and dd finds it interesting. Basically, it is easy to implement and gets the job done, which is all I needed this year.

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We're using Rainbow Science from Beginnings Publishing. It is a 2 year program for 7th and 8th. There are 2 lessons and a lab each week. If you did science every day, you could get through the whole program in a year. It would be full but covers everything. There are 4 sections, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth/applied science. There are free quizzes on their website. The quizzes cover material from 4 lesson and 2 labs.

 

My daughter likes science better than she ever has. The program is very self explanatory, although I am involved. If we weren't doing this, we would be using BJU. We will use BJU for high school.

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We use K12's physical science--having three kids at different levels, this was an easy way to be sure that my 8th grader was getting the material covered. It has enough labs, and we have Kosmos and Thames Physics Pro workshop which is supplemental--more interest and more hands-on. May add one of their chem sets to supplement and allow him to follow some interests.

 

For $22/month for a class it is not expensive and you don't have to buy textbooks/test masters, etc.

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I am currently changing my mind daily on this subject!

 

At this moment, I am planning for my 8th grader (next year) to use PLATO middle school science. There are 3 topics -- Earth, Life & Chemistry, and I plan for her to use them over spring 7th grade through 8th grade, so she'll be ready for full year high school level stuff after that.

 

I want some actual hands-on stuff to complement the PLATO, so. . .

 

I also plan for her to do hands-on stuff, some mixture of TOPS, NOEO, or possibly McHenry's Elements. . . Exactly which books/things for what subjects will depend on what science curricula I choose for her younger sibs, as I plan to mix them together to a large degree for the lab portions -- with the 8th grader tagging along on the experiments with her younger sib(s) as they all love experiments. . .

 

I still have a lot of planning to do! But, I am thrilled with the new options for secular science that have become available in the last couple years!! Yay!!

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Plato's 3 science courses are good introductions to high school level material. They are available through homeschool buyers coop.

 

My advanced science and math ds completed all three last yr and is now taking a high school phyics course without any problems (he has almost a perfect 100).

 

Those courses are the only science "textbook" exposure he had prior to this course. We are more of a follow your passion science people before 8th grade. They pick topics they are interested in and read in "whole" books for 30-45 mins per day.

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