SCIENCE.....Please help

[Lori Di]

I am new to home schooling this year and now I am looking back at the year and I feel that my Science was very laid back. I did not do any experiments with my 4th grader. I really do not like Science and that is the reason I didn't do the experiments.

 

Is there a curriculum out there that you do not have to do experiments??

 

Or....do I need to suck it up and do them??? Any suggestions are welcomed and NEEDED. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Lori Di

[hsmom]

My first questions for you would be what is it about science you don't like? Also what is it about science experiments you don't like? Does your daughter like science? What does he want to do?

Edited May 12, 2010 by hsmom

[Lori Di]

My daughter is 8 and she can go either way. She is not asking to do the experiments but I know if we did them she would enjoy it.

 

I do not like the getting the supplies together and .....I guess the work that goes into it.:tongue_smilie: It is just not my thing....the mess.

[Momof1plustwins]

I don't like science either. I loathe experiments.....But my kids love them. So I suck it up and do SOME of them. After all, it's about helping them understand how things work.

 

One of the greatest things about using Sonlight science is that there is a DVD with all the science experiments being done by Justin. I'll get the supplies ready beforehand, then we watch him do the experiment and if it looks like fun, we do it ourselves. But sometimes they are satisfied with just watching him do them. This always makes me very happy ;).

[hsmom]

Now there is curriculums out there that have all the supplies for you, no gathering on your part. How about you try out these. They area fun, not messy, and have everything for you in them. This way you have some experiments, no mess, and she will be happy and your mind will be at easy.

 

http://homeschoolscience.com/

[ThreeBlessings]

I would say you don't have to, but it sure does liven Science up. We didn't do any experiments in the public schools I attended. If your child is going to be in 5th grade they could probably mostly set up and do experiments by their self. There are experiment kits and Snap Circuits sets and microscope sets that are pretty much open and go. What about one of those? I settled on Singapore My Pals Are Here Science and REAL Science Odyssey Earth & Space for the next two years (I think if we use both they'd last through two school years). I'd bet doing one or two experiments a month would make a big difference to the student. I'm sorry I don't have any recs for a experiment free curriculum. I'm sure someone else will chime in. :)

[sagira]

Experiment free curriculum? Lots of living books on the subject, taken from reading lists, or a program like Noeo without the the scientist's kit perhaps.

 

I was a bit anxious about doing experiments, but now that I have a few under my belt, I appreciate the wonder ds gets in his eyes, and the educational value of seeing and proving what I was rambling about.

 

Great suggestion about the Discovery & Do DVDs. I read somewhere that as long as students see the experiments at a young age, it's fine. Not until high school does the ability of doing experiments become truly important.