HSMom2One Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 My eyes are glazed over from looking at so many websites! I am at a complete loss on what science curriculum to choose for my dd who will be going into 4th grade. This was our first year of homeschooling and we did not go heavy into science for 3rd grade. Other than a few animal studies here and there, we just haven't focused long. I feel I need to get her caught up a bit, especially because of testing she will have to take after completing 4th grade. My goal is to find a general Christian curriculum that will cover several subjects including plants, animal kingdom, and maybe geology, weather, the planets, etc. We were going to use the Apologia books on the animal kingdom and botony for elementary students, but after reading some other posts on how intense they are for young students I've changed my mind. I'd prefer a curriculum that includes lesson plans that are not heavy on the teaching side. We love to learn together and science is not my greatest strength. Suggestions or ideas anyone? Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 I jumped around from science curriculums quite a bit. While I love *most* of TWTM approach, I didn't like it for science. Meaning, I wanted to cover several areas of science each year. I think BJU is perfect for this. Some may say it is more teacher intensive than others, but I have not found this to be so. The TM is very thorough and daily lesson plans are included. It covers many branches of science each year delving a little deeper each year. I wish I would have started with it loooong ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 That is, Christian Kids Explore. There is Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space, etc. Each text has a variety of topics pertaining to the one general "theme". We did a bit of the Biology this year and it included: Human Body, Mammals, Reptiles, Insects, Birds, Plants, basics of classification of Plants and Animals, etc. It's very well organized and laid out, has fun experiments/activities and easy to teach. REally, with the exception of gathering together materials for experiments and such ahead of time...it is open and go. http://www.brightideaspress.com. Oh, and it doesn't go too in depth on each topic like Apologia does. You'll spend 3-5 lessons on each subject (some more than others). HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Have you considered Sonlight? My son is going to be a fourth grader next year. We began Sonlight Science 3 - Intro. to Biology this spring. It is focused on Biology but also includes other areas of study. He has also used two other levels of SL Science in the past. We really like it. It's very easy to teach with a schedule that tells you just what to do. My son is reading most of the material to himself. He is also using the activity sheets. I love the DVDs that go along with the experiments and activities and the science kits which include almost everything that you will need. I like that it's a Christian curriculum. SL does not shy away from exposing the child to evolution and some other ideas that may seem "non-Christian". We don't have a problem with that because we want our son to be able to defend Creationism without having a panic attack when the topic comes up. I like that SL includes a variety of topics each year, the books are ones that he wants to read anyways, and it's very complete with the DVDs, activity sheets, and science kits. If we weren't using SL, we'd probably be using BJU. We like the real books approach of SL and prefer that to a textbook, thus we choose SL instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfamily5 Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 We used Elementary Apologia Astronomy this year with a 2nd grader and 5th grader. They loved it. We read together, did some experiments, did some of the notebooking (illustrating pictures of the planets and facts we learned about them). It was very gentle and my girls really enjoyed it. We read a little from each chapter twice a week, then the next week did one day of hands on and a second day of our notebook page. I'm going to try Considering God's Creation next year. Mostly because, like you, I was wanting something that touched on a broader scope of things. Here's an overview from the table of contents: creation, universe, earth, non-living things:rock & minerals, weather, the plant kingdom, plant ecology, insects, spiders, fish, reptiles, birds, mammals, amphibians, animal anatomy & physiology, food chains, reproduction, instinct, animal ecology, man: 10 lessons on the various systems. Here's a link to see some sample student and lesson plan pages. I haven't used it yet, so I'm not sure how it's going to work out. Seems to have lots of hands on activities which my girls love and learn alot from. Maybe someone else has used this and can offer more advice. http://www.eagleswingsed.com/products/cgc/samples.html HTH, Patty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BizyPenguin Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 I'm a non-sciencey mom and picked this program b/c science gets done. The student books are engaging and I just use the Christian Liberty Press answer key to go along with it, so it's not teacher intensive this way at all. ABeka is more of a readable science, though, which isn't exactly the best science for older elementary and up. You can kick it up a notch by making sure you do all of the experiments in the book. (There aren't a whole lot, but there are a few for each unit.) You can also supplement with Janice Van Cleave experiment books and you can buy science kits from homesciencetools.com to go with the book you're using. That said, if I were a science mom I'd go with BJ, which is excellent, but too teacher intensive for me. I've also always been very curious about Sonlight science, but have never tried it. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 So many great ideas! I feel better already. I will check these out; some which I've heard of and some that are new. I appreciate you sharing from your own experience. I'm so thankful for this forum! :001_smile: Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 We're using CGC as an overview before beginning the WTM order as well. Our first year of homeschooling, I used a science textbook that was really "beneath" my son. Last year, we did a lot of extra cub scouting stuff. So, like you, we've kind of missed things and need an overview before doing a full year of ANYTHING. We're enjoying CGC as a quick lesson (read a paragraph) with a notebooking activity. We don't do most of the little teacher-student activities it has listed. I'm *so not* a science person!! This is working for us, and we're adding in some science-topic lapbooks because my ds9 enjoys those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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