Help me choose a science curriculum! Pretty please!

[cyndyinohio]

I would like one I can use with as many differently aged children as possible (the ages I will be schooling are: 5, 7, 9, and 13...all boys). The 5 year old doesn't read yet and the 7 and 9 year olds are at a 2nd grade reading level.

 

My other criteria would be:

 

* a "living book" if possible

* easy to implement (can just pick up and use each day...I don't mind having to make sure I have materials for an experiment if it is easy to see what I need ahead of time)

* interesting for all

 

In coming on this forum I have come across curriculum I have never heard of before and they all sound good but I'm not sure which ones would fit with my criteria. Some I have been looking into are: Science Jim, Real Science 4 Kids, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding , and R.E.A.L. Science. I have also looked at Apologia.

 

Can you think of any other things I should consider when choosing?

 

Thank you for all of your help! I have been homeschooling for some time and never knew about this forum...now I am sucked in. :)

[TXMary2]

The Apologia Elementary series is easy to implement with several ages.

[Kimm in WA]

I second Apologia elementary books for the 5, 7, and 9 yo. I would put the 13yo in Apologia General Science; I think it'd be too difficult to continue to have them all do science together when one is much older.

 

HTH,

Kimm

[MaMa2005]

Science was my main concern when I went to our HS conference. After looking at everything, I wound up with God's Design for Life - The Human Body, The World of Animals and The World of Plants. I liked it because it covers grades 1-8 and I needed a multi-grade curriculum to meet DS's schooling needs.

 

Haven't used it yet, but it looks promising.

[Guest]

Many of the GEMS units from Lawrence Hall of Science can be used over a wide variety of age levels. There are reading suggestions in the backs that cover everything from picture books to chapter books to advanced science, both fiction and non-fiction, so you could pull readings from the library to suit their ages while having them do the hands-on work and some discussions together. Look at the website http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/GEMS and go to the link in which publications/teacher's guides are sorted by age, and you can get some kind of idea what is available and how wide a range it can be used with.

 

If you've done mostly book science until now and don't mind collecting some materials, these are the most engaging, wonderful units I've found.

[cyndyinohio]

Many of the GEMS units from Lawrence Hall of Science can be used over a wide variety of age levels. There are reading suggestions in the backs that cover everything from picture books to chapter books to advanced science, both fiction and non-fiction, so you could pull readings from the library to suit their ages while having them do the hands-on work and some discussions together. Look at the website www.lawrencehallofscience.org/GEMS and go to the link in which publications/teacher's guides are sorted by age, and you can get some kind of idea what is available and how wide a range it can be used with.

 

If you've done mostly book science until now and don't mind collecting some materials, these are the most engaging, wonderful units I've found.

 

I am not familiar with GEMS at all...is it a pick-up-and-go type of curriculum?

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

The Apologia Elementary series is easy to implement with several ages.

 

:iagree:

 

I second Apologia elementary books for the 5, 7, and 9 yo. I would put the 13yo in Apologia General Science; I think it'd be too difficult to continue to have them all do science together when one is much older.

 

HTH,

Kimm

 

:iagree: and I third the Apologia recommendation!:D

[Lovedtodeath]

Science was my main concern when I went to our HS conference. After looking at everything, I wound up with God's Design for Life - The Human Body, The World of Animals and The World of Plants. I liked it because it covers grades 1-8 and I needed a multi-grade curriculum to meet DS's schooling needs.

 

Haven't used it yet, but it looks promising.

That is what I was going to suggest. God's Design has special sections for the youngest and oldest members to benefit from. Our Winterpromise science has it paired with a DK e-book of the same topic which really adds a lot to it with the two page spread of additional information, including internet links, but it is still pretty open and go.

[AK_Homesteaders]

Noeo Science fits your criteria (and mine) perfectly!:001_smile: We used Noeo Science one year, then switched to Apologia because 1) someone gave us most of the books, and 2) because I'd heard so many wonderful things about it. But, it was not a good fit for us. This upcoming year we're going back to Noeo Science. My children and I did not like the textbook format of Apologia. In a way it was nice to study one subject in such depth. On the other hand, my boys got tired of studying SO much of the same topic for the entire year. If we do Apologia again, we'll wait until about 4th grade, and then cover each book a little faster, maybe skipping some to keep it interesting. But, my boys do enjoy looking at the books even though they can't read them yet. I'm guessing that by the time I'm ready to try Apologia again, they will probably have already read the books themselves.

 

Noeo Science uses fantastic living books, can be used with various ages, the teacher's manual is set up to do science 4 days per week, although you can double up and do it only twice a week), and all of the reading and activities are planned for you. If you buy the whole "kit" from them, it comes with all the teacher's manual, all the books and the experiment kits. In each experiment kit there are several activities and experiments, so it's actually much more than it looks. What I mean is that when you look at their site and see that there are 5 or 6 experiment kits, that doesn't seem like much for an entire year. But, each of those 5 or 6 kits contains the materials for several experiments and activities. Also, several of the books have additional activities you and your children can do if you want to do more than the planned activities. The way they have it scheduled makes everything fall into place so well.

 

My boys absolutely LOVE the books. Another thing I really loved about Noeo Science was their customer service. Since you have such a wide age range, I'd either call them or send an email and ask them to suggest a way to handle it for all of them. Even if you spread it out to give the older ones a more challenging level, Noeo would still be very easy to handle that way. They have three courses for level 1 (Biology 1, Physics 1 and Chemistry 1, which are recommended for grades 1-3 ---- one course each year), and then the level 2 courses in each subject for grades 4-6. They also now have a level 3 Chemistry and are working on that for Biology and Physics.

 

The choices can certainly be overwhelming. Each one has its strengths. The challenge is finding what works best for your family.

[cyndyinohio]

How do you pronounce Noeo...like it looks?

[AK_Homesteaders]

I always just thought the vowels were pronounced as long vowels, and the emphasis was on the first syllable. But, I was wrong. Here's what the company says (I just copied and pasted it from the Noeo Science website: http://noeoscience.com/index.html

 

(The original Greek word, noeo, is translated here as 'understood')

Noeo (no-eh'-o)

 

1. To perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding.

2. To think upon, heed, ponder, consider.

(Source: The New Testament Greek Lexicon)

 

3. Train the brain.

(Source: our 8 year-old son)

[Guest]

I am not familiar with GEMS at all...is it a pick-up-and-go type of curriculum?

 

No, there is a material-collecting stage, and sometimes xeroxing to prepare for multiple kids. All is laid out in great detail in the front of the teacher's guide: a list of things you need (classroom size; downgrade according to the numbers you have), xeroxes, whether you need to set up anything.

 

Once this hunting and gathering stage is over everything is set up for you and you just get going. Some of the units you lay out materials and the kids just go at it themselves, and you sit there smiling and reacting to their discoveries or joining in if you feel like it, or even doing something else. Other times you guide discussion (it's scripted or set up for you). You decide at what point you might want to incorporate books from their reading suggestions, and how many books. There are assessment activities but not tests in the conventional sense.

 

Some units are much easier in the materials-gathering stage than others. But even with the ones that I felt gave me the most running around and hunting, I felt it was so much worth it once the unit got going. I've used just over half of the guides with my daughter over the years and with a co-op, and only at the end, when my daughter was outgrowing them, did she find one of them boring (Invisible Universe). The rest of the time it was everything I had dreamed of science doing for kids, and many times once the unit was set I up I got to sit there watching the kids; they even cleaned up.

 

If you want to try an easier set-up one over the summer to see what it involves, I'd suggest something like Bubble Festival or Bubble-ology, Oobleck, or Dry Ice Investigations, which require relatively few materials and will engage a wide span of ages.

[cyndyinohio]

Anyone else??

 

I wish I could see some of these in person! They all sound great!

[cseitter]

We used Rainbow Science this year and my DS really liked it. I'm not sure if it fits all of your criteria but it is a good curriculm with elementary levels as well.

[helena]

In a few year you should check out Winter Promise Sea & Sky (they have a young learners guide too).

http://www.winterpromise.com/sea_sky.html

[jen_white]

Can't go wrong with Apologia. In our homeschool journey, we've done every single book. Love them all. They well prepared my students for the SAT.

The elementary books are great!

[Makita]

I like GEMS - they have a variety topics that integrate well into larger subjects (earth science, physical science, life science, etc.) I've used many of their units in the classroom, grades 4-6, with great success.

 

I also write a science curriculum for the logic stage. There are free samples and I'd be more than happy to answer questions. Science Logic

 

I've been teaching the units to local homeschool groups and my daughter (7 years) has sat in on many of the lessons. She understands the majority of the concepts but of course her output is different than the older students.