Smithie Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I am really excited about the possibility of a science co-op for secular homeschoolers in my town. Another mama has offered to be the coordinator, and I'm trying to help her by digging up curriculum samples to bring to the organizing meeting. Apart from REAL Science for Kids, what else should I look into? Remember, this is strictly for the Earth-is-4.5-billion-years-old crowd. Our kids get a lot of exposure to God-centered or God-presupposing modes of thinking just because of the region we live in, so we want a science curriculum that is just.about.science. We are thinking of doing Biology this year, but could switch to Physics or Chemistry if doing so would give us a really great curriculum choice for this secular mixed-age group setting. Thanks in advance, mamas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jec3113 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey is good too. We are doing Chemistry this year with another family, kids age 6-10. Same boat as you in wanting secular science... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 The Rader sites are good: http://www.biology4kids.com/ If you look at the bottom of the page, you'll see that they also have sites for astronomy, chemistry, earth science, and physics linked there. There's also a geography site by them. MSNucleus.org has lessons online for middle schoolers, too. They have more biology related stuff than chem/physics at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceinMD Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 secular mixed-age group setting. Well, not just because I have these listed on the For Sale board (ahem), but because they lend themselves, in my opinion, to multilevel co-ops, I'd recommend Great Science Adventures. I believe that they are recommended for K-8, at different mastery levels. http://www.commonsensepress.com/greatscience/about.htm (I have The World of Space, The World of Plants, The World of Tools and Technology, and The World of Insects and Arachnids available. :) Feel free to PM, if you're interested, although the website has some samples available.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allearia Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey is good too. We are doing Chemistry this year with another family, kids age 6-10. Same boat as you in wanting secular science... :iagree: We love this series. Lots of hands on animal studies, would be great with a group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschnee Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 I ran a science club for 4 years for that age group and I wrote all my own labs. I wish had know about GEMS guides and TOPS learning systems at that time; I would have used those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 A co-op my friend is heading up decided to use the Janice Van Cleave books and center their curriculum around science experiments. She has a biology one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosy Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Evan-Moor also has some good stuff in their ScienceWorks series. We used their Simple Machines curr and it was terrific! It's designed for classroom use and is reproducible, has some experiments, not enough depth for home use but perfect for co-op (and geared toward a secular setting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithie Posted July 20, 2010 Author Share Posted July 20, 2010 Thank you thank you thank you! SO many options I was not aware of... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranberry Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 You could look into Nebel's "Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding" (BFSU). It lends itself very well to a larger group. It may require a bit more planning and prep on the part of the teacher, but IMO it is a top notch curriculum. And the author regularly can assist on the yahoo group. It's also cheap and will not require lots of materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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