A New Science thought??

[Janine in Ca]

I posted that I was tired of homeschooling a bit ago and part of it stems from a science dilemma. We had planned to do an Equine Science (HS/college level text) with our 8th grader but are realizing that the book is too much.

 

Do you think I could do it light and incorporate more horse TRAINING in it? We have some great horse training videos that our daughter is itching to work on with her horse. It's not traditional scope and sequence.....but it's 8th grade too......

 

Janine

[regentrude]

This might not be what you want to hear, but I find it important to get a good foundation for highschool sciences in the years before and do not think that what you have planned would be rigorous and scientific enough.

Riding and equine studies are wonderful; we will use this as an elective- but not to fulfill the science requirements.

Just my personal opinion.

[Janine in Ca]

maybe so...but you haven't seen this Equine Science book...it rivals most biology courses I've seen and is used at the college level.

 

I understand what you're saying and, 4 years ago I probably would have said the same. We've worked hard the past several years and I'm starting to think most homeschoolers have a tendency to be "out to prove themselves" in so many ways ...graduating students early, pushing them to achieve higher and higher aptitudes...basically at the loss of their childhood. Might be fine for some...but I think there is more to life than academics.

 

Thanks for your opinion. I'm still weighing options.

[Janine in Ca]

I just reread my email and wanted to comment that I didn't mean to imply that I thought you, rengentrude, were robbing your kids of their childhoods. It was just a blanket statement based on what I've seen in many...and one of the reasons I would like a "lighter" year for our daughter.

 

Everyone does this thing called "home schooling" a bit differently and there are no pure, perfect or "right" ways to do it.

 

Janine

[Cedarmom]

So your still planning on doing the textbook, just adjusting it to your daughter's level? And then adding some practical things? I think that sounds like a fine idea. You could do biology in 9th (or another science course) . That is what most high school do anyway. If you adjust it to what you think you daughter will enjoy and is capable of doing she'll probably get more out o it.

[Janine in Ca]

I just had a heart to heart chat with our daughter about science and we both agreed that, due to the difficult nature of parts of this equine book...coupled with the fact that she really wants to keep her horse stuff "fun" rather than "work", we won't be doing it as our official science for the year.

 

I think I've decided to go with Rainbow science with her for 8th and possibly 9th grade. She really doesn't enjoy the study of science and, after looking at Rainbow, I think she will enjoy it more than Apologia (which we used last year.)

 

Crossing fingers that it will be easy to implement and a joy for her.......

 

I can already feel this year taking off to a rocky start. It will be a few weeks until we get the science curricula...I guess we'll fill in with some field trips and videos until...or, maybe just have her learn what she wants for a few weeks from the equine book.

 

Thanks for the replies~

Janine

[creekland]

For what it's worth, no college is going to care about what you choose for 8th grade. Even if you were to choose a high school level course, they won't count it. So... have fun! Keep science interesting.

 

Once you hit 9th grade, it matters and you ought to be doing a more typical plan including Bio, Chem, Physics, and some other science elective if your student is college bound.

[JennW in SoCal]

This might not be what you want to hear, but I find it important to get a good foundation for highschool sciences in the years before and do not think that what you have planned would be rigorous and scientific enough.

Riding and equine studies are wonderful; we will use this as an elective- but not to fulfill the science requirements.

Just my personal opinion.

 

I totally disagree. I have graduated one and have another doing advanced science in high school, and all we did through 8th grade was fun, interest based science. Even chunks of high school science are still interest based. Both kids were more than well enough prepared for high school science because it was a topic that interested them and they had absorbed a strong basic knowledge of science through their own reading and projects. They were eager and ready to start a more formal study in high school.

 

To the OP, Rainbow Science, from what I've seen of it, should be a light, interesting yet thorough foundation science course. Have fun with it and add as much equine studies as you can find. I agree about looking into area 4-H clubs, and also suggest to ask about shadowing a large animal vet for a day or a farrier. Real world applications of science can really engage a young teen.