Tell me about Elemental Science

[NatashainDFW]

Just curious about this curriculum. Pros, cons, worldview?

[Boxing Hare]

I was thinking of using this next year too. I am burned out on Apologia!

 

:bigear:

[Jay3fer]

I bought this and I'm planning to use it next "year" (starting this summer). The worldview, from what I understand, is that it's written by a Christian family, but they have not incorporated elements of Christianity into the curriculum. I haven't found anything specific that reflects a Christian point of view.

 

Pros - it follows the 4-year WTM cycle; it is "light" but thorough at the same time. I have heard great things from parents using it - ie their kids love it and come to enjoy science. As a "skeleton" curriculum, it allows parents to use their own creativity to choose additional readings, colouring pages, experiments, field trips etc.

 

Cons - the books it uses are not necessarily living books in the Charlotte Mason sense, ie story-of-the-world type books that you can curl up and read together; it uses Kingfisher and DK books, which not all parents love because the information is too chopped-up and presented in a flashy manner. Oh... and overall quality. More about this in a second.

 

As I said, I bought it because I think it will give us the freedom to explore what interests us and not spend too much time with what doesn't. It fills in gaps that I wouldn't be able to cover myself and lightly directs your reading so a non-science-based parent like myself can learn right along with the kids.

 

So what do I mean by quality?

 

The biggest con, in my opinion, is that although the book is slick and shiny and nicely self-published, it IS self-published, which means no editing staff, no art staff... just the author herself.

 

It is FULL of typos; absolutely reeks of them - and I am a grammar nerd, so it makes me crazy. They are on the back cover, they are inside, they are everywhere. She seems to have absolutely no idea what to do with punctuation, and I say that as kindly as I possibly can. Many, many pages are filled with inconsistencies - apostrophes are the worst. I'm not questioning her ability to educate - just to punctuate.

 

Also, and this is more minor, some of the art provided is just plain bad, like the human body outline that kids are supposed to paste organs onto. The plant drawings are similarly awful; I may Google better images rather than use the ones provided.

 

Lastly, I bought the book in part because it uses poems to memorize features of each type of thing studied - ie plants, human body, birds, reptiles, etc. But the poems are singularly AWFUL.

 

I have already gone on too long here. I was actually in the middle of a preliminary review of the books when I came across this post here, so I decided to get it DONE and you can read my full thoughts about Elemental Science here on my blog.

 

:lurk5: I do look forward to hearing others' thoughts.

[NatashainDFW]

I don't know if I will be able to deal with the grammar issues. I write for a living and have a hard time reading poorly written material.

[momma_pajama]

We have been using Intro to Science this year and I am super happy with it. The subjects interest my kids (5 and 3) and it is very easy for me to implement.

 

We've been happy with the books she suggested, and the kids love all the notebooking pages. If she didn't actually have a page all ready for me I would never take the time to take a photo, print it, and then let the kids narrate a sentence about the experiment we just did. They adore looking back through their science binder and talking about everything we have done.

 

Without a doubt we will be using it again next year for first grade. Are some of the drawings not of the highest quality? Yes, but it certainly doesn't seem to bother my kiddos. And haven't noticed a grammar problem, but I don't have the best grammar myself, so who knows! :)

[Tree House Academy]

The biggest con, in my opinion, is that although the book is slick and shiny and nicely self-published, it IS self-published, which means no editing staff, no art staff... just the author herself.

 

It is FULL of typos; absolutely reeks of them - and I am a grammar nerd, so it makes me crazy. They are on the back cover, they are inside, they are everywhere. She seems to have absolutely no idea what to do with punctuation, and I say that as kindly as I possibly can. Many, many pages are filled with inconsistencies - apostrophes are the worst. I'm not questioning her ability to educate - just to punctuate.

 

Also, and this is more minor, some of the art provided is just plain bad, like the human body outline that kids are supposed to paste organs onto. The plant drawings are similarly awful; I may Google better images rather than use the ones provided.

 

Lastly, I bought the book in part because it uses poems to memorize features of each type of thing studied - ie plants, human body, birds, reptiles, etc. But the poems are singularly AWFUL.

 

 

 

Wow. You do know that she posts here, right? Since this is a SCIENCE program and not a grammar program (even though I am a writer/editor myself), the typos do not bother me at all. Self-publishing keeps the costs down...which, IMHO, is so much more impt that the quality of a clip-art image or a few typos.

 

We LOVE elemental science. My youngest does it in ADDITION to his regular science in HOD and he begs me to do it with him on weekends. It is a perfect fit for us. We used Biology this year and have already purchased Astronomy for next year.:D

[Tree House Academy]

I don't know if I will be able to deal with the grammar issues. I write for a living and have a hard time reading poorly written material.

 

I would honestly like a list of grammar issues. There isn't much writing in the student book (Biology is the only one I own and I have the e-book version) - it has notebooking pages and artwork. Any "writing" is in the form of a schedule and instructional information in the teacher guide. Even with my English degree and previous writing/editing experience, I have truly noticed NOTHING that bothered me at.all.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

Self-publishing keeps the costs down...which, IMHO, is so much more impt that the quality of a clip-art image or a few typos.

Nah, we should be so picky that no one but the big public school or already established religious curriculum publishers will ever bother to write anything because it is just not worth it.

[Jay3fer]

I don't know if I will be able to deal with the grammar issues. I write for a living and have a hard time reading poorly written material.

 

Natasha:

 

There are very few actual paragraphs and you are never expected to do any actual reading from the teacher's book itself. Like the SOTW activity book, Elemental Science offers a schedule and a list of suggested readings and activities.

 

As I said, I bought the program and plan to use it. I LIKE it. Please view the samples to get a better understanding of what this curriculum is, because you'll probably like it anyway. :001_smile:

 

For Treehouse Academy, who wrote "I would honestly like a list of grammar issues." there are about six listed in my blog post. I have spotted similar mistakes in all the samples on the Elemental Science website, and - caveat emptor - I spotted some even before I bought the books.

 

I hope the problems won't stop me from using the books because as I've said a couple of times, I like the program and feel it's the best of its kind. That said, I think it was rushed into print when it could probably have been proofread carefully at little or no extra cost other than time.

[Jay3fer]

Nah, we should be so picky that no one but the big public school or already established religious curriculum publishers will ever bother to write anything because it is just not worth it.

 

:001_huh: If I’m going to throw away textbooks and go with a living-books education, it’s because I believe textbooks are stultifyingly awful, and because I have higher standards for my kids’ education. That's not something I can apologize for.

 

I really HOPE brilliant parents and teachers will create curriculum and then brilliant proofreaders will check it over for them and then all us brilliant parents can buy it from them and hopefully make it worth their while. That is what I would like to support with my curriculum dollars.

[NatashainDFW]

The only reason I said that I don't know if I can handle grammatical problems is because of my tendency to correct books while reading. I am easily distracted.

[DaffodilDreams]

We use ES Biology and love it. I find it easy to implement; the resources have been a hit with Dd; the artwork doesn't bother us a bit. I am a huge fan of the student book, and Dd seems to like it, as well. As for editing issues, my background is Eng Lit, and I haven't been bothered at all with grammatical errors. If giant publishing houses and metropolitan newspapers can send items to print without catching every little thing, perhaps we can cut a member of our community some slack? I'm incredibly thankful Paige created ES. I needed an affordable, engaging, doable-for-me, secular science program, and ES covered my entire wish list.

 

Paige, if you're reading this thread, thank you. Thank you for taking time away from your dh and children and creating this curriculum. My life is easier because of your efforts. We just received Earth Science and Astronomy and look forward to using it next year.

[Pata]

No worries folk, I'm am a self-professed science geek, so I know that grammar errors can and will occur, which is why I no longer edit our programs. I have several very gracious people around me who are helping me out with the editing process as we can't afford to hire a professional editor and still keep our prices low.

 

Jennifer (and anyone else), if you email me directly an errors you find, I'd appreciate it as I keep a running tab and correct them in the next edition. Oh, and you'll be pleased to know that we now have a professional artist who will be doing our all pictures from now on :).

[Pata]

My life is easier because of your efforts. We just received Earth Science and Astronomy and look forward to using it next year.

 

Thanks Kimmie, this is why I keep at this :).

[GoVanGogh]

We are using both chemistry and physics this year. I am a former journalist, though I also worked for a time as a professional proofreader. I have only noted one typo in the books - and I can't locate it this now this morning - but it was the word "car" instead of "card." No big deal and certainly not one that would stop me from using this wonderful program.

I absolutely love how the books are organized, as it makes it so easy for the teacher to implement. I already plan on using this program for the long-run.:001_smile:

[JeneralMom]

I ordered grammar Biology and Earth Science/Astronomy. I am a scientist who worked as a proofreader/editor for a science journal. So my 2 cents - sure, I noticed a couple typos but it does not detract from how wonderful I think the program is. On a personal note, when I placed the order, I went with a printed combo package and an extra student book. Paige personally emailed me to make sure I had not accidentally placed the order wrong and waited for my response before entering the order. Now that is professionalism and courtesy!!

[TXMary2]

I love ES. We are currently using Biology. I haven't noticed any glaring errors, but I am not stellar at grammar myself. The art doesn't bother me.

 

ES has been a great introductory science for my youngest. I think it is great preparation for our future use of Apologia Elementary. My other kids went through Apologia and we love it, but they only had "school" science before we used it.

[Leav97]

We've used Biology this year and plan on using Earth Science/Astronomy next year. We've really enjoyed the program. I've even thought about doing Intro over the summer just for fun.

 

That said we will probably use the program for K-4 and move on to something else that includes evolution. Or maybe we'll just add that on the side.

[Surfside Academy]

I just ordered ES Chemistry and can't wait to get started. It looks like exactly what I've been looking for. I'm also very interested to see the new Logic stage years as well.

[duckymama]

My son (age 9, 4th grade) has really enjoyed Chemistry for the Grammar Stage. It is a subject he can mostly do on his own. I really wanted to stay with SWB's recs for science, but I was not keeping up with the experiments and write ups. This has been great for us. Now I know that everything is on the schedule and I just need to give him the weeks schedule. We work together on some things (experiments and quizzes), but he is able to mostly just take it and go.

 

We start Physics for the Grammar Stage next. And, will start Biology for the Logic Stage next fall.

 

Thank you, Paige!!

[Heather in VA]

I own the ES Biology Grammar stage, the Earth/Science Grammar stage and I was blessed to receive an early partial copy of the Biology Logic stage that I had planned to use with my middle dd but unfortunately we had to put that on hold when she got a concussion and I had to cut down her reading and writing while her headaches were bad so we've just started that back up again. I absolutely love this program. I buy the download versions so it's possible that what I get and what someone who purchased a book form longer ago is different but while I've found a typo here and there, they have been very few and far between. I love that the experiments are interesting and doable at the same time. Too many programs tout 'doable' experiments that are very doable but boring as all get out. Or the experiments are interesting and I'd love to do them but I'm not spending $30 plus shipping for all kinds of weird supplies necessary for every interesting experiment. Paige has found a wonderful balance between these two extremes. I love that the teacher's guide tells me exactly the purpose of the experiment. It's not that I can't figure that out myself but having it written right there as a scan the upcoming weeks puts that topic in my head for discussion before we get there or to say 'hey we have a Magic School Bus that would be fun to watch related to this' etc.

 

Another thing I really appreciate in the program is it's age-appropriateness. This is especially true with what I've seen so far of the Logic Stage. Too many programs for the 5th - 7th grade level just dumb down more advanced concepts and then put it in a textbook form to make it look more like high school. This does not thrill. My middle dd is very cranky about being treated like a baby or being bored. She does not feel that way with ES Logic. She likes that it is written to her. She likes that it isn't just regurgitating answers. She has to read and think to get the answers to the questions etc. I like the required written summary each week.

 

I could go on but I've tried many science programs and this is my favorite by far. And it is CHEAP. It's so cheap is worries me that the author isn't getting enough out of it to make it worth the countless hours it has to take for her to keep putting this out.

 

Heather

[jewel7123]

I bought this and I'm planning to use it next "year" (starting this summer). The worldview, from what I understand, is that it's written by a Christian family, but they have not incorporated elements of Christianity into the curriculum. I haven't found anything specific that reflects a Christian point of view.

 

Pros - it follows the 4-year WTM cycle; it is "light" but thorough at the same time. I have heard great things from parents using it - ie their kids love it and come to enjoy science. As a "skeleton" curriculum, it allows parents to use their own creativity to choose additional readings, colouring pages, experiments, field trips etc.

 

Cons - the books it uses are not necessarily living books in the Charlotte Mason sense, ie story-of-the-world type books that you can curl up and read together; it uses Kingfisher and DK books, which not all parents love because the information is too chopped-up and presented in a flashy manner. Oh... and overall quality. More about this in a second.

 

As I said, I bought it because I think it will give us the freedom to explore what interests us and not spend too much time with what doesn't. It fills in gaps that I wouldn't be able to cover myself and lightly directs your reading so a non-science-based parent like myself can learn right along with the kids.

 

So what do I mean by quality?

 

The biggest con, in my opinion, is that although the book is slick and shiny and nicely self-published, it IS self-published, which means no editing staff, no art staff... just the author herself.

 

It is FULL of typos; absolutely reeks of them - and I am a grammar nerd, so it makes me crazy. They are on the back cover, they are inside, they are everywhere. She seems to have absolutely no idea what to do with punctuation, and I say that as kindly as I possibly can. Many, many pages are filled with inconsistencies - apostrophes are the worst. I'm not questioning her ability to educate - just to punctuate.

 

Also, and this is more minor, some of the art provided is just plain bad, like the human body outline that kids are supposed to paste organs onto. The plant drawings are similarly awful; I may Google better images rather than use the ones provided.

 

Lastly, I bought the book in part because it uses poems to memorize features of each type of thing studied - ie plants, human body, birds, reptiles, etc. But the poems are singularly AWFUL.

 

I have already gone on too long here. I was actually in the middle of a preliminary review of the books when I came across this post here, so I decided to get it DONE and you can read my full thoughts about Elemental Science here on my blog.

 

:lurk5: I do look forward to hearing others' thoughts.

 

I for one appreciate the candidness of your review. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and no one should feel they have to censor their opinion simply because an author of a particular curriculum happens to post on this board.

[UmMusa]

where do you buy it from?

[jewel7123]

where do you buy it from?

 

http://www.elementalscience.com/

[ByGrace3]

I just got ES biology for grammar, we will be using it next year and it looks perfect for us! It seems light enough to not be overwhelming yet substantive enough to provide a wonderful science foundation. To me the workbook is basically a laid out notebook a la WTM. (much more exciting imho than doing the same things in a blank notebook) and it is all laid out and affordable. I like using real books instead of a text, and the workbook is just enough hands on to make it fun, without overwhelming me! ;) I am excited about using it!

[UmMusa]

Duh, I should've figured that out before asking!! Hehehe, well, thank you for the link, and I do like what I see.

I'm wondering something. I'll have a 5th grader (Logic stage) and 4th grader (Grammar stage) and wonder if I could still teach both of them Earth and Space yet give the 5th grader more work to make up? What do y'all think? Or should I buy the Logic stage books for him and the Grammar stage books for the 4th grader?

[Elfknitter.#]

How does this curriculum address evolution?

[sewpeaceful]

Wow. You do know that she posts here, right? Since this is a SCIENCE program and not a grammar program (even though I am a writer/editor myself), the typos do not bother me at all. Self-publishing keeps the costs down...which, IMHO, is so much more impt that the quality of a clip-art image or a few typos.

 

We LOVE elemental science. My youngest does it in ADDITION to his regular science in HOD and he begs me to do it with him on weekends. It is a perfect fit for us. We used Biology this year and have already purchased Astronomy for next year.:D

 

 

:iagree:

 

The author graduated from an incredible university with a Chem degree - the university is one of the top in science in the nation. The author KNOWS science and has a clear passion for it. She has a VERY good grasp of what is age appropriate for work load, comprehension, all of it. She has selected some great books that pull in the interest of a 1st grader and a 3rd grader -even me, mom, has enjoyed the books. So the body parts don't line up perfectly - whoptie doo. We opted to use Draw Write Now for the animal art. The rest of the art is more than acceptable and much better than I anticipated for a homegrown elementary science program - especially since she has chosen Usborne and Kingfisher type books for the kids to read for their assignment - beautiful professional artwork runneth over in these books. Paige has done a GREAT job and we have thoroughly enjoyed our year of science. I have already purchased ES Earth Science for next year and gotten the books. I count the days until Chem, the author's passion.

 

Elemental Science has been a grand slam hit in our house and we couldn't be happier.

Edited March 17, 2011 by sewpeaceful

[EJCMom]

We are using Intro this year, plan on using Biology next year, and plan on using the entire series at least through the grammar stage.

 

Pros: Easy to implement, encourages a love of science in children, is flexible, is inexpensive, and includes fun and engaging experiements.

 

Cons: I'll have to get back to you. Like I said, we're just this year doing Intro, and I haven't discovered any yet. ;)

[robsiew]

I have to ditto that we love ES. Science gets done every week here! The experiments have been fun and most of them work out really well. Having the pages predesigned is a key to making the program work for us. The kids and I both enjoy it and I find it SO easy to implement. I have found following WTM recommendations to be the best way for ME to implement homeschooling and I am so grateful to Paige for making science SO EASY for me! I especially LOVE the new lapbook options coming out. My son isn't really into lapbooking so the notebook works great for him. My dd LOVES lapbooks so that fits her! And again... all the hard work is done for me!

 

As far as your logic/grammar stage question... I would say you could do either. I'm choosing to put my Logic stage child into logic stage though, even though he hasn't completed the grammar series. For me, it's just easier to have all the work already done for me instead of trying to revamp something not directly logic stage.

 

That being said, if you don't mind revamping I think it would be easy enough to use different books and get a little deeper using the grammar stage with an early logic student.

 

I do have to say... Logic Bio looks absolutely wonderful and I am SO excited to get it!:D

[imhim]

I used Earth Science and Astronomy for my second grader this year.

I like the notebook. Has room to paste the graphic and to write a sentence.

In my humble opinion, it is only apropiate for the very young.

YOu also have to buy the supporting books - which are evolutionist in content - I did not care for them, I used a lot of "Truth Be Told" instead. The Fossils one I could use very little because of its evolutionist content. I used it along side a Christian book on fossils, to show my children the difference in beliefs.

 

I did not use it at all for Astronomy, as I am doing my own thing, using Christian curricula (like Considering God's Creation and others).

 

The typos did not bother me, as English is my second language.

 

I will use something a bit more "meaty" - is that a word? -for third grade chemistry.

 

I think it is useful for little ones but since our beliefs did not allign with the supporting books, it has been frustrating.

[Heather in VA]

I used Earth Science and Astronomy for my second grader this year.

I like the notebook. Has room to paste the graphic and to write a sentence.

In my humble opinion, it is only apropiate for the very young.

YOu also have to buy the supporting books - which are evolutionist in content - I did not care for them, I used a lot of "Truth Be Told" instead. The Fossils one I could use very little because of its evolutionist content. I used it along side a Christian book on fossils, to show my children the difference in beliefs.

 

I did not use it at all for Astronomy, as I am doing my own thing, using Christian curricula (like Considering God's Creation and others).

 

The typos did not bother me, as English is my second language.

 

I will use something a bit more "meaty" - is that a word? -for third grade chemistry.

 

I think it is useful for little ones but since our beliefs did not allign with the supporting books, it has been frustrating.

 

I just wanted to make a few comments on this. First, it is important to remember that this program is patterned after the WTM suggestions. In WTM Biology is 1st grade, Earth/Astronomy in 2nd, Physics and Chem after that. I find that ES grows in grade level along these lines. While I don't own Chem or Physics yet I have read at the samples and evaluated the accompanying books and they do increase in expectation and level as they increase, as you would expect following the WTM prescription.

 

As far as evolution goes, yes the associated books are secular. I have not found this to be a big issue. The Rocks book uses the term 'millions of years ago' a few times but more often says 'ancient' or 'a long time ago'. I just quickly explained to my daughter that while some people believe it was millions of years ago and we believe it was less that we all agree it was a long time ago. She was fine with that. The vast majority of the information in the program and in the books are religion-free.

 

I do not want to imply that there is something wrong with deciding that it isn't Christian enough. And obviously some people prefer not to purchase books that contain evolution information regardless. Every family draws that line at different places. I just wanted to point out that it's mostly neutral rather than it's purpose being to teach evolutionary content because some people are ok with that.

 

Heather

[sewpeaceful]

I just wanted to make a few comments on this. First, it is important to remember that this program is patterned after the WTM suggestions. In WTM Biology is 1st grade, Earth/Astronomy in 2nd, Physics and Chem after that. I find that ES grows in grade level along these lines. While I don't own Chem or Physics yet I have read at the samples and evaluated the accompanying books and they do increase in expectation and level as they increase, as you would expect following the WTM prescription.

 

As far as evolution goes, yes the associated books are secular. I have not found this to be a big issue. The Rocks book uses the term 'millions of years ago' a few times but more often says 'ancient' or 'a long time ago'. I just quickly explained to my daughter that while some people believe it was millions of years ago and we believe it was less that we all agree it was a long time ago. She was fine with that. The vast majority of the information in the program and in the books are religion-free.

 

I do not want to imply that there is something wrong with deciding that it isn't Christian enough. And obviously some people prefer not to purchase books that contain evolution information regardless. Every family draws that line at different places. I just wanted to point out that it's mostly neutral rather than it's purpose being to teach evolutionary content because some people are ok with that.

 

Heather

 

 

:iagree:

[UmMusa]

Ok, after further investigation, there is no Logic Stage Earth and Astromony.

I need science for OLDER kids!!! Waaaaaaaah!!!

[iona]

do those of you who use elemental science, combine kids in one study (biology or chemistry) or do you have different areas of study for each child?

 

i copied this from the es website

 

Exploring Science: K4-K5 (coming soon) ~Intro to Science: K5-1st grade

~Biology for the Grammar Stage: 1st-2nd grade

~Lapbooking through Biology: K5-5th grade

~A Foundational Year of Biology: K5-2nd grade (coming soon)

~Biology for the Logic Stage: 5th-6th grade (coming soon)

~Earth Science & Astronomy for the Grammar Stage: 2nd-3rd grade

~Chemistry for the Grammar Stage: 3rd 4th grade

~Lapbooking through Chemistry: 2nd-7th grade (coming soon)

~Physics for the Grammar Stage: 4th-5th grade

 

 

i will have a 1st grader and a k5er next year. the intro to science would match up with their ages more, but the biology would match up with the wtm recs if we did ancients. how do you deal with these situations? do you find it easy to combine kids, or does the increase of complexity or difficulty in the various subject areas make this trickier to do?

 

 

thanks

Edited March 17, 2011 by iona
clarity (yes it could be worse)

[hopeallgoeswell]

i will have a 1st grader and a k5er next year. the intro to science would match up with their ages more, but the biology would match up with the wtm recs if we did ancients. how do you deal with these situations? do you find it easy to combine kids, or does the increase of complexity or difficulty in the various subject areas make this trickier to do?

 

 

thanks

 

Paige is VERY available and more than happy to answer any questions you may have. If I were in the same shoes as you, I would ask myself two questions: 1. Do your children have an "overview" year of science; and 2. Is it important to you for them to have an "overview" year? You could always do Intro starting this summer, a bit accelerated and biology directly after, working through the next summer. So many good choices. Good luck!

[hopeallgoeswell]

We are half way through Chemistry.

I love the simplicity of ES. I love that Paige has taken TWTM recs and scheduled them for me!!!!! I love the list of supplies. I love that I do not have to buy more than a few books for the whole year. I love the student pages; they are what I would have created if I were that creative/organized. I have not found any type of worldview in the chemistry program. The customer service cannot be beat!

 

I will be doing Intro to Science next year with my 5 yo.

[sewpeaceful]

do those of you who use elemental science, combine kids in one study (biology or chemistry) or do you have different areas of study for each child?

 

i copied this from the es website

 

Exploring Science: K4-K5 (coming soon) ~Intro to Science: K5-1st grade

~Biology for the Grammar Stage: 1st-2nd grade

~Lapbooking through Biology: K5-5th grade

~A Foundational Year of Biology: K5-2nd grade (coming soon)

~Biology for the Logic Stage: 5th-6th grade (coming soon)

~Earth Science & Astronomy for the Grammar Stage: 2nd-3rd grade

~Chemistry for the Grammar Stage: 3rd 4th grade

~Lapbooking through Chemistry: 2nd-7th grade (coming soon)

~Physics for the Grammar Stage: 4th-5th grade

 

 

i will have a 1st grader and a k5er next year. the intro to science would match up with their ages more, but the biology would match up with the wtm recs if we did ancients. how do you deal with these situations? do you find it easy to combine kids, or does the increase of complexity or difficulty in the various subject areas make this trickier to do?

 

 

thanks

 

Here is what I do:

1st, I didn't start the classical cycle this year. My oldest is off cycle being in 3rd grade and my youngest is on cycle being in 1st.

 

I group both kids together for history and science. I use the following model for both subjects:

 

Read assignment to both kids at the same time and discuss it. I use narration questions out of SOTW and randomly choose which kid will answer which forces both of them to pay attention. My youngest has better language skills than my older so in our house, it is a fair playing field.

 

Time for the writing part. They take turns coming up with the main idea of the day's reading (one day my youngest has to come up with it and another day my oldest has to come up with it). This is tough for both. Once the main idea sentence is verbalized, I write it on the white board.

 

My 1st grader copies the sentence and is finished.

My 3rd grader may copy the sentence but then must come up with 2 more supporting sentences of her own.

 

I use the guideline of 1 sentence per grade level because, according to TWTM, they are to be writing short paragraph summaries (or 3-4 sentences bulleted) in both subjects every day in 4th grade.

 

By doing it this way, both kids are following TWTM model, my youngest is learning high level info and my oldest is being forced to dive deeper. Some days we do have to find another resource to get a juicy tidbit, but that is only occassionally.

 

This model has worked INCREDIBLY well for us. Now that we are in second semester, OCCASSIONALLY, I raise the stakes and make the 1st grader write 2 sentences and the 3rd grader write 4 - but only on days where summarizing to 1 sentence is near impossible. :)

 

We will follow the same model next year. I picked up, per Paige's suggestion, the Usborne Science Encyclopedia and a few other suggested books to help supplement my oldest. This works very well for us, as it has for other families on other boards.

 

Good luck and I hope a few of my ideas help.

[5Wizards]

My Ker has loved Intro. to Science. I'm purchasing Logic stage Biology for my 9 year old next year as the samples seem decent (we're currently using RSO, which I also love, but I don't know for sure if their Logic Stage Bio. will be out in time for me or not). I still haven't decided for sure whether I am going with RSO or ES for grammar stage Biology next year after Intro. to Science....decisions, decisions!

 

In case anyone doesn't know, the Logic stage Biology is on sale this week for $5 off. It's already such a good deal, but I jumped at that extra $5! :tongue_smilie:

[Hedgehogs4]

I don't know if I will be able to deal with the grammar issues. I write for a living and have a hard time reading poorly written material.

:iagree: