How often do you do science?

[DawnM]

Several of our hsers use an outside class for science and it meets 3 hours once every 2 weeks. Many of them do not do science other than that.

 

So, do I need a daily science or would once or twice a week be enough?

 

If only 1 or 2 days per week, what science is easy to implement yet fun and workable for a non-sciencey mom?

 

Middle school level.

 

Thanks!,

 

Dawn

[Sunshine State Sue]

We did 2x a week in 6th grade, but by 8th grade, we were doing 3x a week. About an hour each day with one day more hands-on and the rest of the days more reading.

 

Are you looking for Christian or secular science?

[DawnM]

Sue,

 

Probably more Christian. We are more old earth, but it really doesn't matter to me if they present a literal 7 days or not, we just discuss.

 

My son actually would like to do WP http://www.winterpromise.com/sizzle_solve_survive.html

 

but I have found WP materials to leave me frustrated and wondered if there is any other science program out there that would cover living green/sustainable living.

 

I also thought perhaps this would be better left for an older age and we could do something else for now.

 

So, you see I have no idea what I want!

 

Dawn

[razorbackmama]

My 6th grader does science 3 times a week. My 8th grader does it everyday.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

We do science daily. We always have and my boys will also starting in 1st grade. So far all of my kids just love science.

[Hockey Mom]

My boys are science fanatics. We do an outside science class once a month for 3 hours, and we do a formal science class four days a week, for one whole semester.

[Mommybostic]

We do a formal science class twice weekly. I also a have a book called "Things to do Before You Die." There are different neat experiments and things you can do in there. These are just fun little things that we do that are still lots of fun, and educational! I even trick him into using his TV rations for programming on any of the Discovery Channels, though I'm sure some would say this isn't a great way to learn.

 

I'm sort of a science person myself, so maybe it comes a little easier, but I would absolutely say that twice a week would be a minimum.

[Mom22ns]

I did 4 days a week in 5th-6th grade and 5 days a week after that. I love science!

[mcconnellboys]

We try to do science two days a week for 90 minutes each day. That doesn't always happen with our other outside activities, so I also have my son using a science workbook of some sort most every day (it only takes about 10 minutes at most, usually) to help cement concepts and keep them fresh in his mind.

 

Some online programs that you might look into:

 

http://eequalsmcq.com/homeschoolers.htm - free biology and a charge for his other programs. Elementary in nature, but includes worksheets, experiments (teacher's manual), tests, etc.

 

http://msnucleus.org/membership/index.html - both elementary and secondary (middle school) offerings on many topics. Free, online (or print off). Teacher's keys available, too. Lots of labs and tests, etc. They do offer kits now that you can buy to go along with the programming, but you don't have to do that....

[NanceXToo]

We "do science" twice a week, using Oak Meadow's Environmental Science book for 5th grade. My daughter really loves it (but it is secular).

[SilverMoon]

We do science twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The rest of the week we do history in the same time slot.

 

Right now my logic stage kids are thoroughly enjoying ACS's Middle School Chemistry. (Well, so are my grammar stage kids, but they only do the experiments with us.)

[Paula in PA]

We started doing science 5 days a week last year. My dd is big on science.

[TrixieB]

I have found WP materials to leave me frustrated and wondered if there is any other science program out there that would cover living green/sustainable living.

What about Thames & Kosmos Power House?

 

Or the smaller version Green Essentials kit?

 

There is also Wind Power, and Hydropower.

[Matryoshka]

We have a 1.5 - 2 hr hands-on lab every other week, and then they do bookwork (reading, assessments) about 3-4 days a week.

[TheAutumnOak]

We do science daily...We are using Elemental Science and using the five day schedule...We do almost everything daily though at this point...

[Halcyon]

we do elemental science twice a week for abut an hour each time. We do a bit of outside reading too: biographies, general science books, science encyclopedias, and they watch MythBusters once a week. We also have some science kits that they play with, along with snap circuits.

[Hunter]

It is SO easy to include some type of informal science every day, in the form of a DVD, picture book, 5 minute nature study, etc, and interestingly enough, often these are the most effective in terms of long term retention.

[SailorMom]

Five days a week - hands on, oh - about once a week to once every other week (depending on the unit).

Each day looks very different, though. We are doing regular science, but we also do historical science research through Trisms. So - about twoce a week it is DS researching and writing a few paragraphs - which I know is much easier than most science curriculums :)

[luvnlattes]

We do science 2x a week. We started ClassiQuest Biology after the break. Today will be the first day of week 3. It's taking about 90 minutes each time. So far I really like it, but it's still early in the game. :)

Edited January 18, 2011 by luvnlattes

[specialmama]

We do about 3 or 4 sessions a week. Yesterday we spent 2 hours on it, 2 hours on LA. Nothing else got done. :tongue_smilie: I like to do that sometimes. But really, we usually spend 30-45 min on science.

[LauraQ]

In 5th grade the kids did science about 3-4 days a week, <1 hour per day.

 

In 6th grade ds did science about 4 days a week, <1 hour per day.

 

In 7th grade he now does science 4 days a week, but takes just at or over an hour each day.

 

In 8th grade dd did science 5 days a week, and could usually finish in about an hour.

 

We are very science-oriented around here and the vast majority of our early science education was very Charlotte Mason-ish and fell outside of their normal science work listed above--field trips, nature walks, growing things, gathering/collecting things, spontaneous experiments, just-for-fun experiments from various books, etc. We don't really do a whole lot of textbook work for science until about 8th grade, and then we get really serious (5 days a week, an hour a day, longer if needed, plus extra labs, field trips, special projects).