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BFSU or Singapore Science My Pals Are Here 3/4. In the latter, the younger can do the text and activity books with you, maybe some of the workbook, and the older can tackle the Higher Order Thinking Skills.

 

BFSU is great to use for both.

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Singapore MPHs. It's truly secular and any experiments (put two slices of bread, one moists, one taosted, in baggies. Seal. Wit for mold) are easy or easy to skip. With HOTS and the homework books it's also a good intellectual challenge.

 

ETA: Holy Corw. Apologies for my spelling!

Edited by WishboneDawn
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Singapore MPHs. It's truly secular and any experiments (put two slices of bread, one moists, one taosted, in baggies. Seal. Wit for mold) are easy or easy to skip. With HOTS and the homework books it's also a good intellectual challenge.

:iagree:

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I am using Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia ($20 with free shipping on Amazon) as a spine and having my daughter's, ages 5 & 7, narrate each section for their science notebooks. I also have my older daughter define vocabulary words from each section. Then we get library books that go with each section and read them. Plus we use have been using the new 21 Super Simple Science experiments (http://www.gravitaspublications.com/), it is also sold on Amazon for $15 with free shipping.

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We tried one of the MPH books and I was painfully disappointed. I found it exceptionally weak. I'm a sciency type. My then 3yo already knew everything in the book.

 

Is BFSU more challenging?

 

Were you also using HOTS and the Homework book? The texts and activity books are pretty light but I think HOTS and HW more then make up for that. Another approach would be to use MPH as a light spine and add in lots of nature walks, hands-on stuff and reading. We're actually doing all that.

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Singapore MPH us deceptively simple. The workbooks and HOTS books add the bulk of the critical thinking, and I find the HOTS is going to challenge my rising third grader (ds will be 8 then). The way the concepts are presented, the variety.. There's a reason students in Singapore outscore their American counterparts in science year after year :)

 

TM adds a lot too, but is not completely necessary.

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I am using Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia ($20 with free shipping on Amazon) as a spine and having my daughter's, ages 5 & 7, narrate each section for their science notebooks. I also have my older daughter define vocabulary words from each section. Then we get library books that go with each section and read them. Plus we use have been using the new 21 Super Simple Science experiments (http://www.gravitaspublications.com/), it is also sold on Amazon for $15 with free shipping.

 

I like that idea!

 

And welcome to the boards. :)

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BFSU is more challenging and science-y - it's more discovery oriented for kids and about building up a solid foundation. But it's less open and go and definitely experiment based. There's not a workbook or textbook, for example.

 

RS4K... well, I don't really like it that much, but it's very fact and vocabulary driven and introduces concepts that are often saved for older kids. But it is more open and go and it is textbook and workbook based. You could also look at Elemental Science or The Lab of Mr. Q.

 

I keep wishing that there was as secular science program that was based on a single, living book style spine with an accompanying supplements and experiments guide... like SOTW but for science. I guess those three programs I mention above are meant to be like that, but I don't like the textbooks much. Oh, you could also look at Ellen McHenry's stuff, though I've heard some secular homeschoolers say it wasn't totally secular (though almost).

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RS4K... well, I don't really like it that much, but it's very fact and vocabulary driven and introduces concepts that are often saved for older kids. But it is more open and go and it is textbook and workbook based.

 

It's also more of a "neutral" text then truly secular. I tend to avoid those on principle but not everybody has my hangups.:)

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BFSU is more challenging and science-y - it's more discovery oriented for kids and about building up a solid foundation. But it's less open and go and definitely experiment based. There's not a workbook or textbook, for example.

 

 

BFSU is its own textbook. No workbook though, definitely. I simplify the experiments to use whatever I have on hand. For sound, the text recommended rubber bands of various lengths to learn pitch and marbles to shoot into one another along a track to show atoms bumping into each other, carrying the sound vibrations to the ear. For the rubber bands I used one balloon & stretched it to various lengths while dd noted how the sound changed from plucking it. For the marbles I got smallish balls from the playroom & rolled them into each other on the kitchen floor. Same experiments, just using whatever I have here.

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BFSU has only the text book which is actually a teacher's guide. There are no images or pictures - it is not meant to be read by the child. It is quite challenging and it is discussion based. The child only does the activities, discusses the science with the parent/ teacher and can do additional writing/ recording/ making charts, etc. Plus it is cheap.

 

I have only started it, but I find it complete and excellent so far.

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Singapore MPH us deceptively simple. The workbooks and HOTS books add the bulk of the critical thinking, and I find the HOTS is going to challenge my rising third grader (ds will be 8 then). The way the concepts are presented, the variety.. There's a reason students in Singapore outscore their American counterparts in science year after year :)

 

TM adds a lot too, but is not completely necessary.

:iagree:

 

And even though the first level is designated 3rd grade, it's assumed to be the first exposure to a more formal science so it starts gently. I like that MPH is integrated science which builds on the fundamental concepts of cycles and energy across disciplines as the course progresses. It's certainly not "factoid" science; neither is it a substitute for nature studies (nor is it meant to be).

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BFSU is its own textbook. No workbook though, definitely.

 

We did our own thing for science, but I think BFSU is cool. I have it and I like it. But I would not call that a textbook. To me, a text is a book you give the student whereas BFSU's book is clearly for the teacher.

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We did our own thing for science, but I think BFSU is cool. I have it and I like it. But I would not call that a textbook. To me, a text is a book you give the student whereas BFSU's book is clearly for the teacher.

 

True. It is more of a teacher's guide, but very detailed. :)

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I've been using public school texts as a spine, a la SOTW. For example, right now we just finished using Holt Science and Technology Earth Science for my just-finished-fifth-grade dd. Most days, she read a section of the text & answered the review questions at the back. We supplemented most chapters with library books or DVDs (Bill Nye was a frequent visitor to our homeschool this year!! :) ). There were some labs in the books, we did some of them and didn't do some of them, but to be quite frank, it depended more on how busy mommy was that day than anything else... My 5 year old, who LOVES science, didn't work on the spine with us, but he often 'sat in' on the labs and supplements. It was very simple to implement, dd liked it, it was entirely secular, and quite cheap - I got a used text on Amazon for about $10. I'm planning on doing something similar until she's old enough to go to the local community college for 'real' lab classes. Just another option to consider!!

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I had a sort of underwhelmed feeling when I looked at the MPH samples on singsporemath's website, so maybe I should look at HOTS (what an unfortunate acronym). I find something a bit irritating about Singapore with all these $4 books that somehow you need like 20 of. I was horrified to discover I bought BFSU two years ago and have yet to really implement it!!!

 

Farrar, I love the stuff on your blog about science. Thanks for sharing. I'm getting ready to implement some of your ideas, having tracked down the old books. My son told me he hates books that tell you what will happen in the experiment. And that is the fundamental flaw of so many books: predictable and dull, dull, dull.

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Farrar, I love the stuff on your blog about science. Thanks for sharing. I'm getting ready to implement some of your ideas, having tracked down the old books. My son told me he hates books that tell you what will happen in the experiment. And that is the fundamental flaw of so many books: predictable and dull, dull, dull.

 

Aw, shucks. Thanks :001_smile: We sure had fun with science this year. Now... to somehow replicate for next year...

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We use and love BFSU. To me it's a good mix of recommended books, discussion, and hands-on activities. I don't find it difficult to use, but take that for what it's worth as it's the only science program I've ever used. We're about a quarter into the book.

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