BFSU users

[cmarango]

I just joined the yahoo group and have not yet been approved so I was curious if those of you who have used the book could help me out. I posted the preliminary lesson plan flow on my blog and I would like to know if there are any rearrangements that you would make. My intent is to use this program as a K4/K5 science program and therefore I have left the majority of life science lessons for last. My hope is that this would make a good introduction to our biology studies in first grade.

 

Thanks for any help.

[Tracy]

I am a little confused as to why you want to leave the life science for the end. BFSU is written to be very flexible, so doing that shouldn't be too much of a problem. But it is also written to bring out the connections between the different areas of science, something that you will miss out on if you leave all of the life science for the end of your studies.

[Snowfall]

I am a little confused as to why you want to leave the life science for the end. BFSU is written to be very flexible, so doing that shouldn't be too much of a problem. But it is also written to bring out the connections between the different areas of science, something that you will miss out on if you leave all of the life science for the end of your studies.

 

I agree. We're doing it all at once, along with RS4K Pre-Level Chemistry and RSO Life. The whole benefit of BFSU is that it's integrated. :)

[cmarango]

I had planned on leaving life science towards the end because we do a lot of nature study now. Actually most of the topics (excluding the physical sciences) we have already touched upon in our everyday life. For example, we have already talked about life cycles and we have raised many butterflies and looked at many ants and ladybugs. My dd has also been interested in the human body lately so we have covered bones, muscles, digestive system, and circulatory system.

 

So, BFSU is simply a way to address the topics a little more in depth than we already have. I wanted to leave the physical science things for when she is a little olde and I thought that leaving life science for last would be a way to introduce the biology studies (WTM way) in first grade (biomes, what is a species, etc).

[Snowfall]

I guess to me it didn't matter that we'd already covered it, because the whole point of the book being laid out the way it is, is to show that the sciences are interrelated. If you split it up into discrete topics you sort of defeat the author's intent. However, only you know what's best for your family, and maybe your way just works better for you. :) My daughter is probably a lot like yours. We covered body systems, the senses, life cycles, evolution, fossils, the composition of dirt, erosion, mapping, cardinal directions, rotation and revolution of the earth, seasons....probably lots of other things, too. We did all that before we ever touched BFSU - she's just a sciency kid. Mainly we focused on life science topics, though. She loves animals.

[Tracy]

IMO, BFSU is not really compatible with the WTM way of doing science. However, if I were inclined toward the WTM way, I would use a classical science program and supplement with BFSU. I just think that trying to use BFSU classically would be too much tweaking when there are so many great classical programs out there. But OTOH, if you are a tweaker, then I suppose that anything you use would get tweaked.

[Capt_Uhura]

I've just listened to SWB's Science MP3. I think BFSU fits in nicely with a classical curriculum. If I remember correctly, and someone feel free to correct me if I'm in error, the elementary years are for immersing your DC in science, following their interests, reading living books. BFSU is a roadmap for that. Helps you to see the connections. You pick the books, read them w/ DC, write down DC's narration and observe, observe, observe.

[Tracy]

I've just listened to SWB's Science MP3. I think BFSU fits in nicely with a classical curriculum. If I remember correctly, and someone feel free to correct me if I'm in error, the elementary years are for immersing your DC in science, following their interests, reading living books. BFSU is a roadmap for that. Helps you to see the connections. You pick the books, read them w/ DC, write down DC's narration and observe, observe, observe.

 

I certainly think that BFSU can fit in with a classical curriculum. But most of the books recommended in BFSU are not living books, and narrations are not included in the curriculum.

 

The part that I find incompatible is the emphasis in BFSU in making connections. Dr. Nebel believes that people get joy out of making those connections, and that is the reason that BFSU strays from the classical sequence of science study. The rotating sequence is designed to help a child to foster those connections, thus finding greater joy in the learning process.

 

Though I think it would take a lot of tweaking to use BFSU classically, there are certainly reasons to do it. No matter what sequence you teach the lessons, BFSU will help a child to make connections. And I would use BFSU just because of its implementation of the Socratic method.

[sagira]

I think the Let's Read and Find Out Science books are living books, which are recommended extensively in BFSU. They are lovely and engaging. The process of writing down what you know in the little booklets and discussing, pondering situations and solving problems, wouldn't all those count as narrations? I know in the CM method they would. "Tell me what you know about.." is what I ask ds all the time while we do our lessons in BFSU.

 

I was overjoyed to finally find a curriculum that incorporated all four of the sciences, as that's the way I was taught in my country. Furthermore, I agree with Dr. Nebel that it is a joy in seeing all the connections. It brightens up my ds too.

[TracyP]

I have not been able to implement BFSU (yet) but one of the many things I liked was I thought it fit very well into a classical model. I agree with what Sagira wrote. For clarification, it should be pointed out that TWTM is one way to implement a classical education. And even in TWTM they write that in the elementary years especially it is not necessary to follow the bio, earth, etc path.

[Tracy]

The process of writing down what you know in the little booklets and discussing, pondering situations and solving problems, wouldn't all those count as narrations? I know in the CM method they would. "Tell me what you know about.." is what I ask ds all the time while we do our lessons in BFSU.

 

 

Yes, absolutely. But since it is a K-2 curriculum, I am not sure how many children in that age range can actually do them. My dd5 certainly is not ready for them yet. So I am left looking for other ways to do narrations or none at all.

 

For clarification, it should be pointed out that TWTM is one way to implement a classical education. And even in TWTM they write that in the elementary years especially it is not necessary to follow the bio, earth, etc path.

 

I had not realized this. I just remember reading the science section and thinking that I couldn't wait until 4th grade to teach physics. I guess I will need to go back and read it again.

[cmarango]

Thanks for all of the food for thought. I'm not sure that I have been clear about our intentions for this program and I also have another question for everyone, if you don't mind.

 

I suppose we are a bit different since we are a math/science family...I don't think that a day goes by when a science topic is not talked about. We are also planning on schooling year round. BFSU is going to be a kindergarten program for us. I am leaning on this program to make sure that there have been no major gaps in my explanations thus far. For example, although we have talked about the Earth's rotation we have not done the light on the globe demonstration. I think little things like this will be very helpful to cement the facts she already knows. I do not intend to take more than a year and a half to cover this book and when we are finished we will begin doing our bio studies (animal and plant classification).

 

As for narrations later on when we do in-depth biology studies, it is my understanding that the student gives just a few facts about the topics. For example, when we were watching a film about stars my dd took away the fact that stars are made of gases, stars can "die", and that the sun is our closest star. Is that enough for a narration?

 

I am much more inclined to lead her in the Socratic discussions/scientific method and I am not sure how useful narrations are. Would you consider them to be vital?

[Tracy]

I am much more inclined to lead her in the Socratic discussions/scientific method and I am not sure how useful narrations are. Would you consider them to be vital?

 

I have always thought of narrations as retelling of something that is read, but there are others that have been doing WTM and CM for a long time that can chime in on this better. It seems to me that a narration is the repeating of something heard or read, hopefully in one's own words so that you can see the student's level of comprehension. A Socratic discussion has similarities to narrations, but its goal is not only to test comprehension but to facilitate further understanding. So in some ways, the Socratic discussion includes narrations. OTOH, narration is meant to lead to writing skills, whereas Socratic discussions are meant to lead to speaking skills. So if you leave out narrations, then you are missing out on developing some preparatory writing skills.