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Amber in AUS

By Amber in AUS,
in K-8 Curriculum Board

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JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst

JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst

Posted
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While it is not a text or curriculum in the traditional sense you could certainly use Delta Education's Science in a Nutshell programs or any of the Janice Van Cleave's books. The Nutshell teacher's guide do contain a brief reading list for each subject covered. The is also the Jason Project-you can check it out at Jason.org.

 

From my experience Winter Promise is not necessarily secular. I have received books from them that focus on creationism rather than evolution for example. (I'm not complaining or criticizing-just letting you know that all their science books aren't secular.)

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Aoife

Aoife

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I personally would not list Noeo as secular. Maybe is adapted but there are clear statements in the beginning of the guide that state otherwise. I just returned a Noeo TM and went with RSO which I am much happier with!

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nmoira

nmoira

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I would comsinder RS4K to be secular... though there have been debates.
I wouldn't use it; I simply don't want to support Dr. Keller's agenda, and I don't trust her. However, at an elementary level it probably doesn't matter, while avoiding evolution in the Level II courses (Gr. 6-8), is far more problematic.

 

What about Ellen McHenry's Chemistry?
The Elements and The Brain are secular, while Carbon Chemistry has a few references to a creator/creationism which can be redacted if desired. I'm considering using CC in conjunction with The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology.

 

Or Hakim's Story of Science?
Definitely secular.
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TKDmom

TKDmom

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Posted (edited)
I personally would not list Noeo as secular. Maybe is adapted but there are clear statements in the beginning of the guide that state otherwise. I just returned a Noeo TM and went with RSO which I am much happier with!

 

I figured if the OP could consider using SL secularly (I do it by ignoring the IG quite a bit and skipping a book here and there), the statements at the beginning of the NOEO guide wouldn't be problematic.

 

ETA: Are you looking for something that you can use secularly or something where the author never includes any Christian views?

Edited by bonniebeth4
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nmoira

nmoira

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I figured if the OP could consider using SL secularly (I do it by ignoring the IG quite a bit and skipping a book here and there), the statements at the beginning of the NOEO guide wouldn't be problematic.
I read the introduction as an exhortation to Christians not to dismiss science. The materials used in NOEO are entirely secular, and NOEO itself is nothing more than a schedule of readings and assignments. That said, we found it to be a bit dry and disconnected.
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Cindyz

Cindyz

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If you have experience with any of these programs, I would love it if you (the collective "you") would head over to the "Red Flags" social group and make some postings. My goal is to have pretty extensive lists of curriculum and the pov from which they are written, as a resource for all of us.

 

Thanks

 

Is there a link for the group? Thanks!

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Alessandra

Alessandra

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If you have experience with any of these programs, I would love it if you (the collective "you") would head over to the "Red Flags" social group and make some postings. My goal is to have pretty extensive lists of curriculum and the pov from which they are written, as a resource for all of us.

 

Thanks

 

Thanks for the tip -- this looks very useful!

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Tohru

Tohru

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Here is a secular list:

http://www.hsfreethinkers.com/curricula

 

Personally, we love the Apologia Elementary Sciences. To make it suitable for us to use, I took a black marker and marked through the religious content, editing all the preachy stuff out of the text...some pages are entirely blacked out, most just have a sentence here or there. lol! The rest of the information is accurate and the book is gorgeous.

 

Although, we are much more tolerant than most people ;)

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saja1029

saja1029

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Here is a secular list:

http://www.hsfreethinkers.com/curricula

 

Personally, we love the Apologia Elementary Sciences. To make it suitable for us to use, I took a black marker and marked through the religious content, editing all the preachy stuff out of the text...some pages are entirely blacked out, most just have a sentence here or there. lol! The rest of the information is accurate and the book is gorgeous.

 

Although, we are much more tolerant than most people ;)

 

I loved those books too...but I was afraid I would have to disregard too much material....so much for reselling that book, huh?? ;)

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lovemyboys

lovemyboys

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I would comsinder RS4K to be secular... though there have been debates.

.........

Or Hakim's Story of Science?

 

This link was recently posted here wrt the RS4K questions. Hidden Agenda? Maybe I should add that I was blissfully unaware of any controversy or question of this curriculum/author.

 

We just used RS4K for biology this past year. I would say it's one of the most neutral elementary science curricula out there and we've used a number now. The unit is presented, experiments conducted and recorded, very straight-forward. We supplemented with library books and some additional experiments and field trips.

 

Hakim's series is lovely but more of a "history of science" that works well in tandem with your science. She covers theory, inventions, discoveries but the student doesn't explore or experiment, unless the teacher would be very creative in setting things up to mirror the book's path.....

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ourjourneys

ourjourneys

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I see this has already been listed. I also was unaware of any debates about it. We use it and it is a great overview of chemistry, biology and physics. We also put other books with it and do not make this our only science study, but for now we are really enjoying it. I have not seen anything mentioned that would not make it secular. I would be interested in hearing the argument.

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Crimson Wife

Crimson Wife

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I see this has already been listed. I also was unaware of any debates about it. We use it and it is a great overview of chemistry, biology and physics. We also put other books with it and do not make this our only science study, but for now we are really enjoying it. I have not seen anything mentioned that would not make it secular. I would be interested in hearing the argument.

 

If you're talking about RS4K, the books themselves are neutral but Dr. Keller is an outspoken advocate for "intelligent design". Whether or not that bothers someone enough to avoid the program is obviously up to the individual.

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Spy Car

Spy Car

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If you're talking about RS4K, the books themselves are neutral but Dr. Keller is an outspoken advocate for "intelligent design".

 

An outspoken advocate of Intelligent Design who attempts to hide her affiliations and pretends to be "neutral". While admitting in a post on her Yahoo group that she hopes to sow seeds of doubt in her materials over things such as the Theory of Evolution as a roundabout way of winning children to Christianity.

 

Not "secular."

 

Bill

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gingersmom

gingersmom

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Here is a secular list:

http://www.hsfreethinkers.com/curricula

 

Personally, we love the Apologia Elementary Sciences. To make it suitable for us to use, I took a black marker and marked through the religious content, editing all the preachy stuff out of the text...some pages are entirely blacked out, most just have a sentence here or there. lol! The rest of the information is accurate and the book is gorgeous.

 

Although, we are much more tolerant than most people ;)

 

I did the same thing to our books. :001_smile:

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WishboneDawn

WishboneDawn

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If you're talking about RS4K, the books themselves are neutral but Dr. Keller is an outspoken advocate for "intelligent design". Whether or not that bothers someone enough to avoid the program is obviously up to the individual.

 

The problem for me is that a book being "neutral" would definitely put it into creationist or ID territory. If a text is giving a good view of secular science it should in NO way be neutral on the matter of evolution. Excluding mention of evolution is a concession to creationists and bad science in my mind.

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Dmmetler

Dmmetler

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AIMS state specific Science. Basically their past science units, but grouped to meet objectives for one grade level in one book, with physical, life, and earth science sub-groups.

 

I like the topics and the projects so far, but have had to do some tweaking because many of them assume you'll have multiple kids or groups of kids doing the project and sharing their results, and I have one.

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ourjourneys

ourjourneys

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If you're talking about RS4K, the books themselves are neutral but Dr. Keller is an outspoken advocate for "intelligent design". Whether or not that bothers someone enough to avoid the program is obviously up to the individual.

Yes, that is what I was refering to. Thank you for that info. I did not know of her agenda. It is hard to find programs that both fit our childrens learning style and the author is agreeable. I am not so particular about her agenda as long as the books are not flavored by it. Thanks again... :001_smile:

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Alessandra

Alessandra

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Posted (edited)

A good resource for book recommendations is the NSTA (National Science teachers Association) store:

 

http://www.nsta.org/store/?lid=tnavhp

 

I also like the recommendations in Rebecca Rupp's Complete Home Learning Sourcebook (old, but still good) and Books to Build On. The Acorn Naturalists catalogue has some great book ideas too.

 

Experiment books: the Readers Digest series How ___ Works is excellent (recommended in a previous WTM edition). Other books with lots of experiments -- Janice VanCleave and a wonderful, out of print (but available) Boston Children's Museum Activity Book series by Bernie Zubrowski.

 

Curriculum topic kits: Delta Science in a Nutshell, Boston Museum of Science's Engineering is Elementary, GEMS -- you can buy the TM and put the kits together yourself. The new WTM has a lot of kit ideas. Snap Circuits has a TM available. K'nex Education also has a series of kits with TMs.

 

http://lawrencehallofscience.org/gems/gemsguides.html

 

Workbooks: Singapore, Evan-Moor, Carson Dellosa. School Specialy Publishing has some good resources too.

 

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education Coalition has a lot of links.

Edited by Alessandra
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radiobrain

radiobrain

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Also, RFWP has Dr. Dave's science manuals. I have not held them in my hands, but I think it is safe to assume that they are secular, and good.

 

Also, on a side note.... if you were to buy Apologia or RS4K USED, then your $$ doesn't go to support an ID or creationist company. I have to say, that the Apologia books are really good, but if I were to sharpie out all the things that I don't want to, not only could I not re-sell it (except to another secularist like me, but no one would sell me their crappy copy, so I doubt it is easily salable) but my sharpie would run out of ink halfway through! :D

 

Science is the sticky HS wicket.

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SophiaH

SophiaH

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Not a boxed curriculum, but we did two GEMS units, and I have to say that I am very, very impressed. My ds just finished his K year, so I selected the Sifting through Science and Matter: Solids, Liquids and Gases to supplement our readings and videos on the properties of matter. These are not really single, stand-alone experiments which so many of the inquiry-based science modules seem to be. Rather, these units encourage a prolonged investigation into science concepts. The activities relate to each other -- I could just see my ds making connections for himself. Very cool!

 

As KarenAnne has mentioned several times, gathering all the materials was a challenge. There were lots and lots of things on the materials list. This was by far the hardest part of implementing the lessons.

 

...

 

That said, these probably are not the best choice for moms who want open-and-go. This is definitely not that. Also, while I love inquiry-based science education, I chose to supplement with lots of readings. When ds was ready for a definitive "answer" for the challenging materials, we read a bunch of books to help us better define each state of matter. I strewed a bunch of books that were related to this topic under the posters, hoping that ds would want to take a look. Yup. Sure enough, he would ask to read those books, even on our non-science hs days. I did not want his only exposure to science concepts to be activity-based. I wanted him to read lots of information too. I

 

Another problem is that even if one did all the GEMS units, it probably isn't a complete science curriculum. But, if you are comfortable with creating your own science program or you want to supplement another, GEMS is an awesome resource.

 

Has anyone seen or used the new GEMS Curriculum Sequences? They currently have:

*GEMS Space Science Sequence for 3-5

*GEMS Space Science Sequence for 6-8

 

And are working on:

*GEMS Ocean Science Sequence for 3-5

*GEMS Ocean Science Sequence for 6-8

 

with plans for other topics. The Space Science Sequence was developed in with NASA and other scientists.

 

I emailed them about the possibility of making kits for 1-2 students instead of just the kits for 32 students that they currently sell for these Curriculum Sequences. I might do something like this if I didn't have to gather all the materials.

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Mandy in TN

Mandy in TN

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Here's a handy list that describes which curricula is secular or not:

http://www.hsfreethinkers.com/curricula/sciences

 

Great Science Adventures is listed as not secular. I would like to add to that. Although Common Sense Press (the publisher) is not secular, most of the Great Science Adventures books were written by Dinah Zike. Anyone who has even flipped through The Earth Science Book knows she isn't a young earth creationist. So, if you are a secular homeschool family with a child who likes to lapbook/ notebook, the titles written by Dinah Zike may be a good fit.

 

HTH-

Mandy

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radiobrain

radiobrain

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We are going to try Connect the Thoughts next year.

 

Amy

 

please keep a look out for typos or weird things that might be wrong. I purchased a little writing thing from them and it made some big deal about "Authoring" and defined it as the act of when you are writing something (paraphrase, by me). I thought this was odd, did a bit o' research and came up with the only definition of Authoring as when you are writing computer programs or software. I didn't bother with the rest of it.

 

Not that you shouldn't use it, as I am going on only one thing.. that has nothing to do with science, just keep an eye out for things that might not be quite right. :D

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