Nebel's elementary science?

[Mommamia]

I just rec'd this book and I am strongly considering using it for my 8yr old. It looks fantastic, but it also looks overwhelming. To those who have used it(or looked at it) is it as overwhelming as it looks? Were you happy with your year?

 

I'm also looking into NOEO biology and chemistry. Could I incorporate NOEO into our Nebel book....or is that asking for trouble?

 

TIA

[Violet Crown]

Nebel looks overwhelming in part because there's so much explanation. The point is to have the child learn to think scientifically, not (just) to learn scientific facts. Fundamental understandings are established, and then knowledge is built on that. When I first flipped through it, I thought there were many parts we could skip because my rising 2nd-grader had already done the associated experiments and (I thought) therefore understood the principles. But I found she actually had a lot of confused thinking, much of which I had caused by not being systematic. I wish I had my copy with me so I could be more precise.

 

What I did to get the book under control was read through all the introductory material, then paper-clipped that section to get it out of the way. I left free the flow chart diagrams of the necessary order of experiments/discussions, and penciled in the page number for each experiment in the corresponding flow-chart box.

 

Then determine what the first/next few units you want to do will be. Read them carefully, and make sure you understand the concepts. Then get together whatever you need--the materials are very simple and ready-to-hand--and you're good to go.

 

Now we've only done about a dozen units, as we've been slowed down by dd2's issues and a sudden temporary move to the U.K., but dd7 and I greatly look forward to continuing Nebel. She loves it, and I love it (though I kick myself for now having to un-teach her some bad science she picked up from my previously unsystematic approach). Nebel even got a strong endorsement from dd14, who was looking over the page that explained why "potential energy" isn't included in the list of "kinds of energy," and said she had been confused by potential energy when I had taught her about it, wasn't unconfused until she took chemistry years later, and was glad dd7 wasn't being taught wrong things about science. :blushing:

[Tracy]

Are you talking about Nebel's Elementary Education or Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding?

[Rene Austen]

We used BFSU this year, and I was very pleased with it. But, it did indeed take a fair amount of cogitation my part. Some thoughts:

 

*read through the entire book, if you can, to get a baseline on it. Then reread the introductory section.

 

*examine the flowchart and plan how you'd like to follow the threads. There isn't really ONE right way to do it, but, like the pp said, I do think it is important to follow the flowchart, emphasizing whichever thread you want to focus on. For instance, this year we really focused mostly on the biology thread. Next year, we will do almost all of thread D, the earth science stuff.

 

*make a list of needed materials and get them all ahead of time. Having all the needed stuff for the activities in one box was extremely helpful, perhaps crucial, for us (me).

 

*Make a library list of the suggested supplementary books.

 

*For each lesson, it helped me to read it ahead, and then make a list of "talking points" and talk the lesson through casually with my dds. It was fun, and, as a side point, they are more convinced than ever that mommy knows everything! :tongue_smilie: Then, maybe that same day, but more often later in the week, we would do the activities, and then read one or more of the suggested books.

 

*Mr. Nebel suggests having the children make a book (a simple folded booklet) for almost every topic. I wasn't sure about that, but we did it and it was a big success. The girls really like looking back through their little books, and that activity cemented the knowledge in their minds.

 

* Don't feel rushed--I think it helps to plan to only go through 10-12 of the lessons. If you do more, great, but that way you can really linger if the children are particularly interested in a topic. Also, some of the lessons are extremely meaty in the material they're covering.

 

We had a great year with it, and I'm looking forward to using it next year. HTH!

[momto2Cs]

The yahoo group (for BFSU) is immensely helpful too, as both the other posters and Dr Nebel have a wealth of information on how to use the book. There are even examples of lesson sequence in the files.

 

I plan on using this next year, and have made a chart with the lessons in the order we plan to do them. I've correlated books and some dvds (Bill Nye the Science Guy mostly) to support each lesson, as well as a supply list. Having that all done ahead of time means I just need to look ahead a bit for each lesson in order to put the books etc. on hold and have any supplies ready at hand. We may do the folders, or we may do notebooking.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the next two levels too (coming out early fall)!

[Violet Crown]

Are you talking about Nebel's Elementary Education or Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding?

 

Oh--I was talking about BFSU. Somehow I hadn't realized "Nebel" meant anything else.