Talk to me about intergrated science -- Sonlight, etc.

[Aquinas Academy]

I've been thinking about science and I why I do what I do. For 1st-8th grade I follow the 4-year-cycle of bio, earth/astronomy, chem, and physics. Then in 9th grade I had DD study bio, chem, and physics all in one year. My plan is to continue studying all three in 10th and 11th grade. In 12th she can study whatever science she wants.

I have a few thoughts about this:

1. What I do is completely backwards to the American school system. We start with science being divided and then intergrate it in high school. US schools start with it intergrated and then divide it.

2. Both DD 14 and I have loved doing bio, chem, and physics this year.

3. I think intergrated science makes a lot more sense and I don't know why I don't intergrate elementary science.

I know Sonlight is intergrated and it uses living books (very important to me). Do you like it? Is it easy to do multiple levels? What levels work well together?

Are there any other intergrated science curricula? What do you like/dislike? How do you decide what to study each year? Am I completely crazy? :)

[oraetstudia]

:lurk5:

 

I think I'll probably stick with un-integrated science and get Noeo for next year, but I've been interested in the Sonlight science program too -- ever since I got this year's catalog.

[kolamum]

:lurk5: I've been interested in SL science for a while now and debated it..

 

That said I noticed WP has integrated science too that covers a large span of grades per topic. I liked that it covered many grades because it allowed me to keep children together.

[Aquinas Academy]

Anyone?

If I could get away with just doing one SL level, I'd be sold. However, my kids will be in grades 1, 3, 5, and 8, so I'll need to be doing at least two levels. Do coures D&F work together? What about B&E?

I just had a look at Winterpromise. Unfortunately, the ones for my kids' ages don't seem like they'd combine well.

[BeachyMum]

Anyone?

If I could get away with just doing one SL level, I'd be sold. However, my kids will be in grades 1, 3, 5, and 8, so I'll need to be doing at least two levels. Do coures D&F work together? What about B&E?

I just had a look at Winterpromise. Unfortunately, the ones for my kids' ages don't seem like they'd combine well.

 

We *love* SL Science. My four DC's are slightly different ages, but you could definitely combine. The books are excellent, and the worksheets are typically Sonlight - not exhaustive, not textbooky, just a general review and good for records (if you need such things for reporting requirements). The experiments are what makes the program so good, and so *easy* to for the parent.

 

I am going to be adding Real Science next year, but it will be an add-on that we'll do year-round. The experiments in SL have my dc *hooked* on Science, and this is simply a way to add very solid Chemistry, Biology and Physics components to a more general, literature-based Science program.

 

IMO, the beauty of SL's science in combining is that you can simply select the subject that you want to cover...they are not tied to any cores, and the topics in K (now A) were of interest to my dc who was doing 2 © at the time. If you wanted to combine them all into one core (which I've never done, but it's possible....simply add books and experiments (if scaling up) or add some easier readers if scaling down.

[Aquinas Academy]

Thank you so much BeachyMum!

 

I really want to do Sonlight science, but I'm worried about taking the plunge. If I can just do one core that would be great! I'm thinking E, since we were going to do astronomy next year until I started thinking about intergrated science.

If you don't mind, I have a bunch more questions. :) Do you think SL science is on the advanced or easy side for the ages they recommend (and I realise it's a big age range, but generally speaking)? How much time does SL science take per week? I would like to stick with our current schedule of one hour twice a week. Is that reasonable? Are the Discover and Do DVDs central to the curriculum? How much time do you spend on them each week? I'm not really a big fan of DVD based curricula.

[Mom0012]

I've always used SL Science and I like it. I particularly like the TOPS books that they start using in Science 3 (I guess that's D now?). I do combine my kids, but I only have 2 kids fairly close together. This year they are in 3rd and 5th grades and doing Science 4. Up until now, I haven't used the SL student worksheets. I may add them in next year. I do use the TOPS worksheets.

 

As far as the dvds go, they are just small snippets of one of the Holzmann's kids showing you how to do the science experiment, so you only watch for a few minutes at a time. You don't need them, but my kids enjoy them and they made things easier for me.

 

I do think you could easily complete SL science with your current schedule of one hour twice a week except I will say that I don't think it would be as enjoyable to me to do it that way. Just my opinion, but some of the Usborne books are really nicer in small daily doses. There is a lot of information packed into a couple of pages. I don't think SL science is advanced at all, but I have nothing to compare it to.

 

Lisa

Edited May 12, 2011 by LisaTheresa

[8filltheheart]

Well, I guess I do integrated science by change.:D Do you need a curriculum? Could you not just use whole books?

 

FWIW.....I have zero problem doing it in k-8, but I have been reading your thread on the high school board and I have to tell you the idea of juggling multiple textbooks partially per child at the high school yrs makes my head spin. My kids often take multiple sciences in a single yr, but it is whole course. Hats off to you for managing what you are doing!!

[Aquinas Academy]

Well, I guess I do integrated science by change.:D Do you need a curriculum? Could you not just use whole books?

 

Honestly, I would love to just use living books, but the idea of not having a science curriculum terrifies me. :tongue_smilie:I'm totally happy making my own history curriculum, but I can't imagine doing that with science. Could you tell me more about what you do?

FWIW.....I have zero problem doing it in k-8, but I have been reading your thread on the high school board and I have to tell you the idea of juggling multiple textbooks partially per child at the high school yrs makes my head spin. My kids often take multiple sciences in a single yr, but it is whole course. Hats off to you for managing what you are doing!!

What science courses have your DC taken? I would much prefer to have everything organised in one course. The multiple textbook thing is a bit of a pain. :)

[8filltheheart]

Honestly, I would love to just use living books, but the idea of not having a science curriculum terrifies me. :tongue_smilie:I'm totally happy making my own history curriculum, but I can't imagine doing that with science. Could you tell me more about what you do?

 

What science courses have your DC taken? I would much prefer to have everything organised in one course. The multiple textbook thing is a bit of a pain. :)

 

If your search by my name and science on the K-8 board, you'll find out more about how I teach science than you ever cared to know. :tongue_smilie:

 

A one sentence description is that they read 30-45 mins/day from whole books on topics of their choice. I make no attempt to control what topic. They do writing assignments from science about every 2-3 weeks. FWIW, my kids love science. (ok, make that 4 sentences ;) )

 

ETA: I did a search and found this thread about interest-driven education (science is in there) http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173293&highlight=interest-driven

 

As far as high school, my kids have taken:

physics......I highly recommend Kinetic physics. The virtual labs are fantastic. Excellent course. I haven't gotten as far as planning AP physics yet. My ds will be going that route in 2 yrs.

 

ds owns multiple TC physics lectures and many of the books that are recommended in by the profs of the lectures

 

chemistry......I have used so many different chemistry courses that it makes me sick to think of all the $$ I have spent! I think I have finally made my decision as to how I will proceed in the future. Spectrum chemistry combined with PH chemistry. I do not think Spectrum has enough explanation on its own. I added in Plato's chemistry in Dec for ds, and he has already finished over 1/2 of that course, so Plato is not really enough either. I have used TC's lectures with my kids and they are a good supplement.

 

AP chemistry: we are doing this for the first time next yr, online enrollment with Chemadvantage through PAH.

 

astronomy 1--The Cosmos and Understanding the Universe (TC lectures) + every single other astronomy course that TC has. (ds is obsessed with astronomy and physics in case you can't tell!)

 

astronomy 2- The Cosmic Perspective: The Solar System (6th Edition) and Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy (2nd Edition) or http://oyc.yale.edu/astronomy

 

biology-- Campbell's Concepts and Connections

 

anatomy and physiology: Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology + student workbook http://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Anatomy-Physiology-Valerie-Scanlon/dp/0803610076/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1300819370&sr=8-5, + TC lectures, and the Anatomy Coloring book+ multiple dissections

Edited May 12, 2011 by 8FillTheHeart

[BeachyMum]

Thank you so much BeachyMum!

 

I really want to do Sonlight science, but I'm worried about taking the plunge. If I can just do one core that would be great! I'm thinking E, since we were going to do astronomy next year until I started thinking about intergrated science.

If you don't mind, I have a bunch more questions. :) Do you think SL science is on the advanced or easy side for the ages they recommend (and I realise it's a big age range, but generally speaking)? How much time does SL science take per week? I would like to stick with our current schedule of one hour twice a week. Is that reasonable? Are the Discover and Do DVDs central to the curriculum? How much time do you spend on them each week? I'm not really a big fan of DVD based curricula.

 

I don't think it's particularly advanced...but it's also not dumbed down, if that makes sense. Because it's a literature approach, I find that the children can take as much or as little information away from the lesson as *you* guide them to. As for the amount of time we take, I can honestly tell you I have no idea, lol. :D There are weeks where we get some Science read every day, but those are rare. Typically we do Science 2-3 times per week.

 

For perspective, I use HST+ to manage the numerous IG's, schedule, supplements, etc that we have across all the kids. I don't use it to keep me glued to a daily checklist, rather to make sure I cover the plethora of topics/subjects/supplements within a 1-2 week period. My kids *love* books, and they aren't interested in just reading 1-3 pages. If their interest is piqued, they want to keep moving - which I think is a good thing. Therefore, we may typically cover 2 or 3 'lessons' in one day. In that sense, I think the timing would work well for you.

 

As for the DVD, it's simply examples of the experiments. The kids *love* it, and they think it's cool that they get to watch an experiment and then do it themselves. And (*ahem*) it's been a good tool to assist this non-Sciencey mum look like she knows what she's doing! It's definitely *not* a DVD-directed program...I personally don't care for those, but have been thankful to have these as reference for the 'labs.'

Edited May 12, 2011 by BeachyMum
Typos, typos, typos!

[Aquinas Academy]

If your search by my name and science on the K-8 board, you'll find out more about how I teach science than you ever cared to know. :tongue_smilie:

 

A one sentence description is that they read 30-45 mins/day from whole books on topics of their choice. I make no attempt to control what topic. They do writing assignments from science about every 2-3 weeks. FWIW, my kids love science. (ok, make that 4 sentences ;) )

 

ETA: I did a search and found this thread about interest-driven education (science is in there) http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173293&highlight=interest-driven

 

As far as high school, my kids have taken:

 

Thank you so much! Looks like I have lots of reading ahead of me. :)

 

I don't think it's particularly advanced...but it's also not dumbed down, if that makes sense. Because it's a literature approach, I find that the children can take as much or as little information away from the lesson as *you* guide them to. As for the amount of time we take, I can honestly tell you I have no idea, lol. :D There are weeks where we get some Science read every day, but those are rare. Typically we do Science 2-3 times per week.

 

For perspective, I use HST+ to manage the numerous IG's, schedule, supplements, etc that we have across all the kids. I don't use it to keep me glued to a daily checklist, rather to make sure I cover the plethora of topics/subjects/supplements within a 1-2 week period. My kids *love* books, and they aren't interested in just reading 1-3 pages. If their interest is piqued, they want to keep moving - which I think is a good thing. Therefore, we may typically cover 2 or 3 'lessons' in one day. In that sense, I think the timing would work well for you.

 

As for the DVD, it's simply examples of the experiments. The kids *love* it, and they think it's cool that they get to watch an experiment and then do it themselves. And (*ahem*) it's been a good tool to assist this non-Sciencey mum look like she knows what she's doing! It's definitely *not* a DVD-directed program...I personally don't care for those, but have been thankful to have these as reference for the 'labs.'

This is so helpful, thank you! I am leaning toward SL, but I need to read more about what 8FillTheHeart does before I rush out and buy. :)