Amber in AUS Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I am having real trouble locating a secular general science that I like for next year. So far in my list i have - Singapore K12 Winter Promise Sonlight (adapted) Who can you add :bigear: Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Dr Nebel's BFSU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Oak Meadow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Pandia Press R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 How about NOEO Science? I suppose it's not really general science, but it is elementary science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 http://www.elementalscience.com Forgot to add that she has just added an Intro to Science for about the K level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding Mr Q Elementary Life Science (free!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Galore Park Jr. Science is secular I would comsinder RS4K to be secular... though there have been debates. What about Ellen McHenry's Chemistry? Or Hakim's Story of Science? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StillStanding Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Prentice Hall has good science book (k-12) CPO science (middle school) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 We use BFSU and have R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey as a second that we might use. Here's a handy list that describes which curricula is secular or not: http://www.hsfreethinkers.com/curricula/sciences Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 AIMS Education Foundation has good activity books and downloadable activities (math and science) http://www.aimsedu.org/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoife Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Winter PromiseIs this secular? ETA: We're big fans of MPH Science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 (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 July 1, 2010 by bonniebeth4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyz Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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 ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saja1029 Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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?? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvnlattes Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I believe WinterPromise would need to be adapted in order for it to be secular. I used Winter Promise Human Body & Forensics and one of the books is definitely Christian (but that's o.k. with me :)). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyboys Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourjourneys Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Real Science 4 Kids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourjourneys Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Prentice Hall Science Explorer (for middle school) Oak Meadow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted July 2, 2010 Author Share Posted July 2, 2010 Thankyou everyone :D Plenty to look at now. Does anyone know when BFSU 3-5 is coming out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacefully Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Does anyone know when BFSU 3-5 is coming out? Supposedly sometime this summer. There is a BFSU Yahoo group available. Dr. Nebel posts to it regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 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: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourjourneys Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 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: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 (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 July 2, 2010 by Alessandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 The Open University's Discovering Science (s103) (middle school). Block 4 (biology) doesn't teach evolution as an extra chapter, but teaches biology based on the evolutionary process: evolution is thus central to the course's biology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy C Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 We are going to try Connect the Thoughts next year. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Did anyone mention TOPS? (similar to GEMS) http://www.topscience.org/ I especially like that the materials lists are very detailed, so you know exactly what to buy (if you don't go with a kit). And the manuals are very inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Galore Park. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 It's not a curriculum, but the CSIRO http://www.csiro.au/resources/Education.html has some great stuff you can use. Miranda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 I'll buy one of ya'lls securlazied Apologia books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devotional Soul Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 There's also McRuffy science for K-3. I remember reading a while ago that Connecting the Thoughts was made by someone with Scientology. Thanks for this thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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