Science choices!

[wehave8]

I need to choose a science program for K-gr.3. I am looking at:

RSO, RS4K, or any other recommendations?

 

What did you use and what did you like/not like about it?

Thanks,

Pam

[boscopup]

Young earth, old earth, or neutral?

 

That will help narrow down your choices.

[wehave8]

Young earth, old earth, or neutral?

 

That will help narrow down your choices.

 

Young Earth :)

[Aquinas Academy]

RS4K and RSO are not YE. RS4K is neutral and I think RSO is as well. You might want to look at Apologia.

[Aurelia]

We used Sonlight and I liked that they used real books over textbooks and Ariel enjoyed the human body study. We used the first grade level.

[ProudGrandma]

have you considered Nancy Larson? We LOVE it here at our home.

[wehave8]

RS4K and RSO are not YE. RS4K is neutral and I think RSO is as well. You might want to look at Apologia.

 

I thought Apologia was for older. I heard you can use it for younger, but is it hard to make it work?

[Aquinas Academy]

I thought Apologia was for older. I heard you can use it for younger, but is it hard to make it work?

I haven't used Apologia, I just now that it's very popular. :) Their website says the elementary series is designed for K-6.

[boscopup]

I thought Apologia was for older. I heard you can use it for younger, but is it hard to make it work?

 

What ages?

 

I'm using it some with my son who will be 7 soon. It's hefty. It's not my sole curriculum. We're just using bits and pieces. It's fine for him in small chunks, but it wouldn't be my first choice for a K'er or 1st grader unless they were tagging along with an older sibling.

 

We're mostly doing library books for science right now, but I have BJU Science 3 on its way to try out next year. It's YEC, but I don't know how easy it would be to combine (I don't have to yet), and I haven't used it yet, so can't actually recommend it, but it's one to look at.

[blessedmom3]

I love BJU science ! It makes science fun and interesting . I combine grade 2 for dc ages 5-8 and it works great . The notebooks are fun as well and my dc love them. We also add more books to the subject we are studying ( usually Read & Find out Science) and extra notebooks. I find worksheets online . My K and 1st grader usually draw or write a sentence or two , my 3rd grader narrate in a paragraph or so.

[wehave8]

It would be for boys, ages (soon to be) 4, 6, & 8.

I want to combine if I can and use a rotation type plan (to go back around and repeat so the younger one gets what the older one did).

[boscopup]

It would be for boys, ages (soon to be) 4, 6, & 8.

I want to combine if I can and use a rotation type plan (to go back around and repeat so the younger one gets what the older one did).

 

Ok, I don't think I'd use Apologia for that... maybe in 2-3 years it might work better.

 

You can take a look at God's Design for Science (AIG), although there is kind of a gap between the beginner section and the advanced sections. I was really close to trying it at one point, and then I backed out, but I may still try it eventually... I need to look at it closer again. My local homeschool store has several copies on consignment.

 

I'm intrigued about using BJU for multiple ages like blessedmom3 is doing! I look forward to having this in my hands so I can see how that would work. My 4 year old will probably tag along for science, though grade 2 of BJU would have probably been easier for him to understand. I got grade 3 because it looked like it would fit my oldest best (and I got the TM and student text cheap off Ebay :D).

[FlyingMOm]

Another vote for Nancy Larson!

[jewel7123]

 

I'm intrigued about using BJU for multiple ages like blessedmom3 is doing! I look forward to having this in my hands so I can see how that would work. My 4 year old will probably tag along for science, though grade 2 of BJU would have probably been easier for him to understand. I got grade 3 because it looked like it would fit my oldest best (and I got the TM and student text cheap off Ebay :D).

 

Please let me know what you think of BJU after you look it over. I've dismissed it so far because it mixes up the sciences and topics instead of doing it the WTM way of one science stream per year. So many talk of BJU as being rigorous, but I assume they are referring to the upper levels and not the younger......am I wrong here? Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinion as far as it being in depth and rigorous for the early grades......or not.

[Spetzi]

I think RS4K is not very good. It mentions topics/vocab/people and does not go into depth about them or even explain them fully. I felt it was a bit scattered, but we did enjoy the experiments (Chem).

 

We loved Noeo Physics I.

[boscopup]

Please let me know what you think of BJU after you look it over. I've dismissed it so far because it mixes up the sciences and topics instead of doing it the WTM way of one science stream per year. So many talk of BJU as being rigorous, but I assume they are referring to the upper levels and not the younger......am I wrong here? Anyway, I'm rambling, but I'd love to hear your opinion as far as it being in depth and rigorous for the early grades......or not.

 

I'll e-mail you after I look it over! :D I think it was CBD that had pretty good samples (the samples at BJU weren't bad either, though they didn't have samples for some things that CBD did have samples for).

 

I had dismissed it without looking at it before, but then recently I saw some mention of it in science threads as I was searching for other stuff, and I decided to take a look. I actually liked what I saw, so we'll see if it's *close* to what I'm looking for (I don't think I'll ever find *exactly* what I'm looking for ;)). I mainly wanted a TEXT that we could read from, do experiments, etc. Then add books to that. This one looks interesting, and at a grade level up, looks like the right amount of depth for DS. That's just judging from samples though, so we'll see what I think when I get it.

[blessedmom3]

Please let me know what you think of BJU after you look it over. I've dismissed it so far because it mixes up the sciences and topics instead of doing it the WTM way of one science stream per year. So many talk of BJU as being rigorous, but I assume they are referring to the upper levels and not the younger......am I wrong here? Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinion as far as it being in depth and rigorous for the early grades......or not.

 

BJU science is not WTM way at all . But that's why I like it :)

I do LA & history a la WTM , but not science as I have a science degree and a passion for it .

Therefore , I don't think young kids should study in depth science topics (unless they are interested ) but they could benefit being exposed to different topics explained specifically for their ages .

Starting in 7th grade when the dc are more mature and able to grasp deeper concepts , BJU concentrates in one subject at a time , Life science one year , Physical science next , etc

 

At 2nd or 3rd grade I think the science is rigorous enough , but judge that for yourself, here is the SS :

 

Grade 2

GENERAL SCIENCE

What Scientists Do

• Process skills (observing, classify-

ing, measuring, inferring, predict-

ing, communicating), science

tools (hand lens, ruler, balance,

measuring cup, thermometer),

scientific method

EARTH SCIENCE

Earth

• Parts of the earth: the surface

of the earth, globes, volcanoes,

earthquakes, layers of the earth

(crust, mantle, core)

• Movement of the earth: sunrise,

sunset, rotation, daytime, night-

time, revolution, seasons

• Natural resources: conservation,

water, soil, erosion, fossil fuels,

reduce, reuse, recycle

10 800.845.5731

Space Human Body

• Earth in space: rotation; revolu- • Systems of the body: skeletal,

tion; day and night; seasons muscular, circulatory, respiratory,

digestive; food and exercise

LIFE SCIENCE

Living Things

• Living things: living contrasted

with nonliving things, basic

needs (food, water, space,

shelter), characteristics of living

things, life cycles

• Fossils and dinosaurs: Creation,

evolution, fossils, ways fos-

sils form, dinosaurs, kinds of

dinosaurs

• Plants: parts of a plant, what

plants need, seeds, seed disper-

sal, plant life cycle

• Biomes: community, population,

habitat, environment, desert,

rainforest, tundra, forests, ocean,

pond

PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Motion

• Motion: forces, motion, friction,

gravity, weight, magnetism

Energy

• Light and shadows: sources of

light, reflection, colors, transpar-

ent, opaque, shadows

Matter

• Matter and heat: forms of matter

(solid, liquid, gas), changing

forms (freezing, melting), tem-

perature, thermometer

 

Grade 3

 

Earth

• Rocks: how they form (igneous,

sedimentary, metamorphic),

weathering

• Minerals: uses, characteristics of

minerals

• Soil: layers of soil, humus

• Weather: atmosphere, tempera-

ture, precipitation, water cycle,

weather instruments (rain gauge,

weather vane, anemometer),

drought, clouds, wind, meteor-

ologist, weather forecast, storms

(tornado, hurricane, blizzard)

Space

• Solar system: the sun, planets,

asteroids and dwarf planets;

constellations, astronomers,

telescopes

LIFE SCIENCE

Living Things

• Cold-blooded animals: fish, am-

phibians, reptiles

 

Warm-blooded animals: birds,

mammals, instincts and learned

behaviors

• Plants: parts of a plant, photosyn-

thesis, chloroplasts, chlorophyll,

stomata, uses of plants

• Ecosystems: characteristics

of living things, environment,

population, community, habitats,

producers, consumers, decom-

posers, herbivores, omnivores,

carnivores, food chains, food

webs, predator, prey, changes in

ecosystems, resources, balancing

ecosystems

• Cells: microscope, cell sizes and

shapes, one-celled living things,

parts of cells, tissues, organs,

systems

Human Body

• Ear: parts of the ear, how sound

travels through the ear

• Skin: epidermis, dermis, char-

acteristics of skin, melanin, fin-

gerprints, nerves, blood vessels,

sweat glands, pores, oil glands,

skin care

PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Motion

• Motion: forces, friction, gravity,

weight, magnetism, motion,

work, energy, kinds of energy

Energy

• Sound: vibrations, causes of

sound, sound waves, speed of

sound through matter, reflected

sound waves, echoes, absorbing

sound waves, characteristics of

sound (pitch, volume, quality),

using sound

Matter

• Matter: properties of matter,

mass, balance, volume, graduated

containers, states of matter (solid,

liquid, gas), changing states of

matter, evaporation, condensa-

tion, properties of water, physical

changes, mixtures, chemical

changes

Edited May 12, 2011 by blessedmom3

[jewel7123]

BlessedMom3, thank you for such a detailed response. I guess in my mind I was thinking random topics from all the sciences = shallow and lifeless, the very reason why I dislike textbooks and prefer to use whole books in the first place. I am intrigued by BJU though, especially since it comes from a creationist point of view, and also because I hear so much on this board about it being rigorous and in-depth. Apparently many homeschool science curricula are lacking in those areas.

[Oakblossoms]

I hate RS4K. I am so glad I didn't waste my money on it. It is pretty expensive for what you get.

 

How much time do you have for Science?

Do you want hands on?

 

I buy kits now and it saves me time and energy.

 

So far science successes have been:

unit studies

Magic School Bus

Bill Nye

Reading from the elementary Apologia Books

Main Lesson Books for recording everything

Thames and Kosmos Stepping Into Science Kits

Delta Nutshell kits

 

The Delta kits journals are too much for the younger ones. But, I just use a main lesson book. Draw a picture. Do a narration. You can write for the younger ones. They can use that for copywork as the grow. Then they write their own. By middle school age they can graduate to experiment pages.

[Oakblossoms]

I think it is notebookingpages that has free science experiment sheets. I print out a stack at the beginning of the year and let them pick.

[mom31257]

I've used RSO Life this year with my 2nd grader ds and think it's a great program for young elementary. I am YE, but that hasn't been addressed either way, so I'm fine with it. My understanding is that RSO Level 1 won't address evolution, age of earth type issues, but the higher levels will whenever they are finished.

 

I used RS4K Chemistry Pre-Level 1 last year. I really enjoyed it too, but it was a much shorter program than RSO.

 

RSO might be a little too young for the older one past next year, so if you want something to use for several years I wouldn't choose it.

 

I haven't used it yet, but I would look at Apologia if I were you. I'm going to be using their Astronomy book (borrowing from a friend) next year toward the end of the year to add in more of that topic to Christian Kid's Explore Earth and Space.

[sewpeaceful]

Didn't read the other responses. Elemental Science Biology was a HUGE hit here (for me AND for them). Great balance of study and experiments. No more than 10-15 minutes a day. I did grab the Draw Write Now books that correlated with the animals studied so I was able to sneak in art that way. I was able to use it for a 1st and 3rd grader simultaneously by simply having the 3rd grader write slightly longer narrations.

 

Good luck with your search!

[wehave8]

I hate RS4K. I am so glad I didn't waste my money on it. It is pretty expensive for what you get.

 

How much time do you have for Science?

Do you want hands on?

 

 

 

 

I love (boys do, too) hands-on!

I'm able to spend 3 days/week, and about 1 hr. each for those days.

 

I'm leaning towards RSO for K-3rd and then AIG for 4th-8th.

 

Pam

[boscopup]

I'm leaning towards RSO for K-3rd and then AIG for 4th-8th.

 

That sounds like a good plan!