Xuzi Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 I'm trying to write up an outline of things I'd like to cover with DD during her first grade year (and first year homeschooling!) and I'm getting myself all fuddled over how to cover the Animal Kingdom, as recommended in WTM. How did you teach about the Animal Kingdom? Did you go by animal type (mammals, reptiles, insects, birds, etc.) or by where they live (savannah, jungle, ocean, forrest, etc.)?? I know when she's in HS it won't really matter which way I did it :tongue_smilie:but if you did it one of those ways, how did it go? Did you end up switching because it was easier to go by animal type than by where they live, or vise versa? Or did your kid (and likely mine) not even care? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 :lol: I figured I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. :lol: I'm just treading into some very uncharted territory for myself and for my family, and I'm going into hyperdrive trying to make sure nobody (read: my family) can say I'm slacking off. I'm SO glad I found this message board. I'll probably have a few other "mountains" to post about before we even get to our first day of homeschool. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Here's how I arranged our Biology study for first grade.. Animals (20 weeks) Week 1: Animal Lives Week 2: Habitats (Forests, Grasslands, Desert, Tundra) Week 3-20 Animal Study (54 animals) Mammals—8 weeks Birds—4 weeks Reptiles & Amphibians—2 weeks Fish—1 week Invertebrates—3 weeks Human Body (10 weeks) Week 1—Basic Building Blocks Week 2—Skeletal System Week 3—Muscular System Week 4—Nervous System Week 5—Senses Week 6—Cirulatory System Week 7—Respiratory System Week 8—Digestive System Week 9—Urinary & Reproductive Systems Week 10—Immune System Plants (6 weeks) Week 1—leaves Week 2—flowers Week 3—fruit/seeds Week 4—nuts/cones/spores Week 5—stems Week 6—roots/review of parts Hope that gives you an idea of how it can be done. Welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Well, we did my own geography/culture/habitat study in first, so we organized it with where they live. The Usborne Living World Encyclopedia and Draw Write Now books 7 and 8 helped in that area. The table of contents for the Complete Book of Animals (available as a sample) is also helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 Here's how I arranged our Biology study for first grade.. Animals (20 weeks) Week 1: Animal Lives Week 2: Habitats (Forests, Grasslands, Desert, Tundra) Week 3-20 Animal Study (54 animals) Mammals—8 weeks Birds—4 weeks Reptiles & Amphibians—2 weeks Fish—1 week Invertebrates—3 weeks Human Body (10 weeks) Week 1—Basic Building Blocks Week 2—Skeletal System Week 3—Muscular System Week 4—Nervous System Week 5—Senses Week 6—Cirulatory System Week 7—Respiratory System Week 8—Digestive System Week 9—Urinary & Reproductive Systems Week 10—Immune System Plants (6 weeks) Week 1—leaves Week 2—flowers Week 3—fruit/seeds Week 4—nuts/cones/spores Week 5—stems Week 6—roots/review of parts Hope that gives you an idea of how it can be done. Welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling! Ah, this isn't that different from what I was coming up with, except that you have the habitat study at the beginning. I LIKE that! I'm stealing this. :lol: I have the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia for a "spine" plus some encyclopedias specifically on animals (don't know the publishers, but they were on the discount rack at Borders), and some Scholastic books on life cycles, and the human body, and a bunch of Magic School Bus and Magic Tree House books. I'm trying to make it fun, but structured (the structure is mainly for my OWN benefit, so that I feel like we're making measured progress). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Ah, this isn't that different from what I was coming up with, except that you have the habitat study at the beginning. I LIKE that! I'm stealing this. :lol: I have the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia for a "spine" plus some encyclopedias specifically on animals (don't know the publishers, but they were on the discount rack at Borders), and some Scholastic books on life cycles, and the human body, and a bunch of Magic School Bus and Magic Tree House books. I'm trying to make it fun, but structured (the structure is mainly for my OWN benefit, so that I feel like we're making measured progress). If you're going to do something that similar you should seriously just buy her curriculum. It's super cheap IMO. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 In addition to the books you mentioned, I'd recommend Zoobooks. I've used them with both my boys when they were doing biology in 1st-2nd grade, and they love looking at the amazing pictures. http://www.zoobooks.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 This year with my 4 and 6 yo we kept it real simple. Getting ideas from National Geographic we did an animal of the week. Each animal has a printable page of info but the best part is their sounds. I really recommend checking that out. My kids LOVE listening to the animal sounds. Next week we are starting a dinosaur unit study. Then we will do the human body with My Body. They get to make a life size model and put organs into it - very cool.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 I would ditto the idea of just buying Elemental Science from Paige:D... she has done all our hard work for us... science is getting done in our house and the kids love it! I switched from another program 1/2 way through Biology and I'm sad I didn't find ES sooner for our animal study... I think the kids would have retained a lot more had we done it with ES to begin with. My dd just took her standardized test and for all the time we spent on insects she answered they have 4 legs! GRRRRRRRRR!:banghead: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paojava Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Not sure if you are interested of not...but Elemental Science has this already mapped out--with easy experiiments and quizzes and all. It's what we used this past year (biology) and what we are using in 2nd grade (earth science). http://elementalscience.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 I would recommend looking at using the One Small Square books for an overview of the habitats. We have thoroughly enjoyed these! :001_smile: And welcome to the adventure of homeschooling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyagain Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Another vote for Paige's Elemental Science here!!! You'll LOVE it! I'll be using it next year for my K'er and 1st grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 My hubby is going to hate me for buying more curriculum (I told him Science was the one I was probably just going to "wing" with books from the library :lol: ) but the Elemental Science certainly does look interesting! I never would have thought of using salt and cardboard to show my child how a camel's foot works! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmarango Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 I am planning on doing the following for my bio studies. Cover the following topics as an intro: putting things into categories, living versus non-living, and biomes. Then, I will start with animal studies: invertebrates (sponges, mollusks, echinoderms, arthropods), vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals). Next will be the section on humans: I haven't decided if it is better to just go through the systems or to divy this up based on the 5 sense. Any thoughts on this anyone? Finally plants: algae and fungi, ferns and mosses, cone-bearing plants, and flowering plants Luckily I have some time to put this together since I have only completed my invertebrate lesson plans. :glare: Let me know if you would like me to PM you with a sample of my plans, although I have to admit, they are rather ambitious since we are super science lovers. No telling how little will actually be done. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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