Singapore MPH science users...I think I'm going to need some help

[Nakia]

I have all I need for MPH for my 3rd grader for next year: the 5 books and activity guides, teacher guide, homework book, more notes, and higher order thinking skills book. Um...can I just say I am overwhelmed? I know this is supposed to last for two years. So do I just pick out 2 units to use for 3rd grade and leave the other 3 units for 4th grade? Also how exactly do I plan the lessons out? I am not good at putting my own schedule together. Can you tell? LOL! I would really appreciate your help!!!

[tarahillmom]

My third grader will have gone through three this year. We will do the rest next year. As far as lesson planning goes the teacher's guide is somewhat helpful, but it is possible to do it without. There for each section there is the textbook and the activity book which acts as a lab book. The homework book covers all sections and is more of a review. Once you get it and look at everything it is a little less overwhelming. My kids have really enjoyed Singapore Science. I hope this helps.

[Nakia]

Thank you. I actually do have all the materials in my possession. I have looked over it some, but it is very overwhelming. Would you mind sharing what a typical week looks like for your 3rd grader?

[Dana]

According to their suggestions, you'd do Diversity & Cycles in 3rd grade; then the next three books in 4th grade.

 

However, we're only managing to get through Diversity this year. Oops. :)

You'll definitely move faster if you manage to do science every week. (Although we are doing science... just more outside zoo classes than text work.)

[whitestavern]

We are moving through it quickly because we do it daily, so will be finished with all of it in less than a year. I did this because i wanted something to "fill any gaps" my dc might have had through the last few years. We've jumped around a little with different programs/topics and I wanted something consistent to finish up the grammar stage.

 

Anyway, I follow the TM and do one segment a day. So I started with lesson 1.1. Next day we did lesson 1.2 , etc. Once we completed 1.3 (or whatever the last unit in a segment is) we did the homework, HOTS and test, however it was listed in the Assessment segment at the end of the unit. We'd do one of those each day. The HOTS I did alongside the kids because it was challenging to them. We discussed it and I helped them to figure out the answers. Some were challenging to me! Once we finished with those things, we began 2.1 and so on. It worked well for us to do it this way. Science lasted anywhere from 20 min to an hour plus per day, depending on the experiments.

[Nakia]

Anyone else? :D

[Sugar Fly]

Bump :-)

[Nakia]

bumping again :D

[usetoschool]

We are moving through it quickly because we do it daily, so will be finished with all of it in less than a year. I did this because i wanted something to "fill any gaps" my dc might have had through the last few years. We've jumped around a little with different programs/topics and I wanted something consistent to finish up the grammar stage.

 

Anyway, I follow the TM and do one segment a day. So I started with lesson 1.1. Next day we did lesson 1.2 , etc. Once we completed 1.3 (or whatever the last unit in a segment is) we did the homework, HOTS and test, however it was listed in the Assessment segment at the end of the unit. We'd do one of those each day. The HOTS I did alongside the kids because it was challenging to them. We discussed it and I helped them to figure out the answers. Some were challenging to me! Once we finished with those things, we began 2.1 and so on. It worked well for us to do it this way. Science lasted anywhere from 20 min to an hour plus per day, depending on the experiments.

 

This is exactly the way we did it - every day. We would spend about an hour per day on it and got through all of it in a little over a year. We were doing it for the same reason - to fill in gaps and make sure everything was covered. Just open the teacher's manual to lesson 1.1 and read. It looks intimidating but really is pretty easy and flows pretty well once you start. There is a routine to it and everything is spelled out. Doing it every day does sometimes make for a lot of worksheets and paperwork though so you might want to skip days or go more slowly if your kids aren't into that sort of thing.