Several PM'ed me about our science program, I've posted it in case others are curious

[FaithManor]

I'm going out on a limb here. I thought I'd first return the three PM's on the topic, but just maybe others might be curious about it. I am a little anxious because, well, the boards have been in a bit "interesting" as of late, and I have to wonder how well-received it will be. I've tried to be helpful in the past and not give too much by way of detail and exercise discrimination concerning what I will share of our personal homeschool experience, graduating our first, etc. But, it seems that a few would like to hear it, and so I'll step onto the thin ice of "rigorous" science or "what happens when a child inherits the dominant mad scientist gene of the father, and the repressed mad scientist dream of the pianist mother".

 

The above mentioned child, our dd whom I will refer to as "R", clearly early on showed an aptitude for science. Though she is herself, a highly accomplished pianist and vocalist, the reality was that she was never going to be competitive at it as I was...science reigned supreme in her mind.

 

When she was young, (she's 20 now), there weren't a lot of science resources available and certainly none that were particularly challenging to a child who began devouring science material as soon as she learned to read and had the added benefit of a crazed, scientific lunatic father constantly saying, "Well, you know....now that you've learned that principle, we can go even further!" Even further usually meaning putting something I owned, something she owned, something in the yard, something somewhere in peril from chemical elements of mass destruction. Though, except for the kitchen floor flood of 2000 A.D., the working boat locks system built inside a large, clear rubbermaid tub, was fairly innocuous. We did have a few projects that were slightly less destructive yet probably just as costly.

 

Please keep in mind when you read this post that what some parents have spent on sports equipment, music lessons (thankfully, I can teach those at home - whew), etc. we've spent on science and probably a lot more. (Don't ask me what happened to my electric skillet in 2004! Don't go there! I still work to bury my angst.) Anyway, I digress...we ended up not using a formal text because the curriculums available were too easy or at least not interesting enough. Instead, I lined our book shelves with books on all kinds of science topics, put a periodic table of elements on the wall, ran experiments out of science fair books, spent a small fortune on science kits and lab equipment, etc. We began exploring and science, even at the 2nd or 3rd grade level, took easily an hour a day.

 

I discovered WTM in 2003. SWB articulated what I'd been feeling all along were the goals of our homeschool except that we knew we would go deeper with science and less deeply with Latin. That's the beauty of homeschooling, tailoring it to your child's natural talents while shoring up the weaknesses. I loved her idea of "specializing" in high school and we devised a middle school plan that would allow dd to be ready for six sciences in high school instead of three or four.

 

DD's high school courses in science were as follows:

 

Biology - Apologia, plus different dissections because we had already done quite a lot of dissecting. I taught science labs at a Lutheran K-8 school in exchange for lab privileges for my children. They had a WONDERFUL lab. This worked out very well for us. Additionally, we used a college text (whose name escapes me because I ebayed the book the very next year), to explore a few topics not covered in Apologia. I also created my own tests because I didn't think Dr. Wile's tests were challenging enough for dd, though they are probably just fine for most students - they are certainly much more difficult than the tests I've seen generated for our local public school and private high school which test mostly vocabulary knowledge and use multiple choice questions only -DD learned science soooooo easily and I also wanted to include questions concerning some of the scientific reading she was doing outside of her regular course work.

 

At the same time, we covered astronomy with my sister's intro-to-astronomy college textbook that she had completed a semester prior(again, I can't exactly remember the name because I gave it back to my sister when we were done so she could sell it on campus). DD definitely only tolerated the biology, though she did very well. She LOVED the astronomy. This astronomy course required that algebra 1 had been completed since there was some math involved. This is common with college texts so if you choose to pursue astronomy from a college text, make sure you don't do it in 9th grade if your student has not yet completed algebra 1.

 

In 10th grade, we used Apologia Chemistry and again, she explored topics outside of the book or topics that were covered but read more from other sources. I think the book was actually quite good and dd responded well to his writing style. She used the Advanced Chemistry book in 11th grade and during that year, as a result of learning her chemistry basics well, taught a public school chemistry class by default. Let me explain this:

 

Dd's closest, dearest friend, an excellent student and one headed for a career in forensic science, was taking first year high school chemistry at her p.s. No Child Left Behind requires that a teacher with "science certification" must teach science classes. This sounds like it makes sense. But, like all regulations, they don't address real world problems. The real world problem being that the only two "science" certified teachers in the high school had managed to graduate from a local university with a rather sad teacher ed department in which one could get a degree in secondary teacher ed science, and never take a math based science class in college! Yep, you read it right! Neither of them had EVER taken chemistry, physics, astronomy, bio-chem, genetics etc. They managed to graduate with only freshman level science classes all of them introductory and all of them non-math. So, the "chemistry" teacher had taken 100 level biology, botany, earth science, life science, introduction to the solar system - a very, very easy class, an overview really and not a true astronomy class - introduction to geology, and introduction to ecology. Previous to this, the trigonometry teacher had been assigned to the chemistry classes, and the calculus teacher had the physics classes. Those classes, under the math teachers who did not possess science certs, were learning. Under the new teachers, whose apparent attitude was to NOT learn the material before assigning it themselves, no one was learning. (This really caused me a great deal of frustration though my child was not in their classes. Seriously, we home school moms many times sit down with the books and thoroughly learn new material so that we can educate our children. The fact that someone who teaches as a profession was too lazy to do so and could continue to get a paycheck for it, made me see RED!!!)

 

The kids were lost. DD's friend, desperate not to get a low grade in a science since she was going into science in college, asked for tutorial help. DD tutored her and taught her ahead in the public school text, and then "A" went back to class and taught her mates. The teacher did nothing but, this is the absolute truth as reported by many students and other faculty members, keep a grade book and read the morning newspaper! Therefore, by default, dd taught high school chemistry based on Apologia chem books and her own exploration of topics in dh's old college chem book.

 

I'll stop here and then post again so that this doesn't get too long.

 

Faith

[FaithManor]

Part 2:

 

Now, as part of our science program, dd had to keep a detailed lab journal, and had to produce an end-of-year science project. The projects had to include a research paper of minimum length and the length increased each year. I believe that the freshman year was 5-6 pages with 2-3 pages added each year so that the senior project was 13-15 pages. DD's senior year, the year of the near space flight weather balloon, she ended up with close to 20 pages because in addition to the research writing itself, she had quite a few diagrams, building plans, etc. to include.

 

Her junior year she used the Apologia Advanced Chemistry and read from a variety of sources as well. We did not help her study for the AP exam nor did we place her in an AP class. She self-prepped and we bought her the Princeton Review AP Chem prep book. She got a 5 on the exam. She began Anatomy and Physiology that year studying from one of her grandmother's nursing texts as well referencing the Apologia A & P book though it was not the primary spine - I just used his tests since I wanted something concrete in the portfolio concerning her A&P studies and her grandmother, at 70, did not want to make exams. So, I can not speak to how well I think Apologia Anatomy and Physiology prepares for college A & P. I really can't. It was not our primary spine; it was only a reference book.

 

Her A & P studies overlapped into her senior year with physics. She used the Apologia physics book. She also read from my 100 level college physics book (though I was a music major, I packed my electives with sciences because I'm a nerdy, lab geek masked as a cultured musician), though I never tested her over the material. Actually, I'd say when it comes to physics, because we were allowing her to get so deeply into a very time consuming senior project, physics received the least attention of all. She used the AP physics prep book again from Princeton Review, and scored a 5. I can honestly say that the day of the test, dh and I were feeling like pretty lousy homeschooling parents because we just did so very little to help her get ready for it. Our boys were just getting old enough that year to really need more time on their own studies (there is a 5.75 year difference between dd and our next oldest) and I was being STRETCHED hugely by our youngest who is precocious in math and science and an excellent reader, but lags in history grammar/writing. That little boy, he was giving me a "RUN for my money".

 

On some levels, I still feel a little guilty because it seemed like dd only really had direct teaching in "Classical Rhetoric with Aristotle", the bane of her existence. Otherwise, except for Pre-Calc/Calc with her dad, she was on her own. Believe me, when she hit pharmacology, pathophysiology, etc. in college, I thought, "This is it. She's going to come home angry with me because I blew it. I really blew it and she wasn't prepared and now her GPA is suffering. She's going to resent me." Whew - it didn't happen. She carried 95% and higher through those classes. That was one of those times when I had to realize that I can't do it all and I can't be perfect and gaps happen and KIDS ARE RESILIENT AND ADAPT SO WE HOMESCHOOL MOMS SOMETIMES NEED TO JUST BREATHE!!!!!!

 

I'll continue in Post 3.

 

Faith

[8filltheheart]

I'm posting this w/o having read part 3:tongue_smilie:

 

Faith,

 

Reading about your dd reminds me a lot of my 15 yos. He has notebooks full of theories, plans, etc. He reads all kinds of science books for fun and loves to explore topics deeply.

 

That said, none of my other kids are like him (so far). He pushes himself b/c he loves to learn and wants to **know**. My other kids have needed, um, the shove from behind to accomplish what I think is necessary.

 

FWIW, I have found that one of the differences between "bright" and "gifted"in my children is that questioning/searching/exploring. My oldest did lots of experiments/construction/engineering on his own, but in a different way than my youngest ds. (more hands on vs. researching. Very much the applied engineering type. :001_smile: My youngest ds lives in the world of theory :tongue_smilie:) I believe both of them are in the gifted category. My bright kids are just not quite as independent (as in unique, exploring from their own perspective) thinkers. They learn easily and well, but don't really dig on their own. They can go that way with a little nudging in the right direction.

 

For my avg kids, they are simply not up to this type of learning/testing/etc. They need more teacher direction/hand-holding/direct instruction.

Edited June 26, 2011 by 8FillTheHeart

[FaithManor]

Post 3:

 

DD graduated with the following credits:

 

Math - Geometry, Algebra 2, Trigonometry, and another round of Pre-Calc for a semester plus one semester of calculus. I counted it as Pre-Calc only because we did not complete the calculus book and knew she wouldn't be able to because time spent on her senior project was actually worth more in merit money than calc on the transcript. We all have to make choices. In this case, there was only so much time in the day and she also needed down time - time to relax, enjoy other things, expand other horizons, and hang with her best friend. So, we let the finishing of calc go.

 

English - Four years. Now, dd is not a great English student. She's good, she's above average, she is not talented in English. So, the first two years, since Rod and Staff did not have high school English at the time, we used the grammar portions of the Abeka high school books. I didn't like the comp portion so we used the "The Elegant Essay" and dh's old college writing book which he really liked. I made up my own writing assignments. We also had a lot of cross-over assignments - the research writing for science and history as well. She produced a fine 9th grade history project on the funerary customs of the middle kingdom of Ancient Egypt. I did not assign other writing for English when she was working on the 9 page research paper she churned out for history. I saw it as part of a larger picture. English is probably an area that SWB would have said we were not being as "classical" or "rigorous" as she. At first I was a little nervous about it, but in the end our combined efforts across writing in history, science, and logic, produced a solid writer who would have no problems in college. The second two years she studied literature with the only grammar review being the Princeton ACT Prep books. I did not list literature as honors level. Just English Literature 1 and 2. She read and wrote about more than I ever did in high school. She read and wrote less than many of the classical homeschool moms describe here on the boards. My writing skills, very well shaped in college, are beyond hers. That's okay with me. Gaps happen...if they don't, all kids are just cookie-cutters of each other. They know a little bit on a lot of subjects, but nothing in true depth. That was not our goal for high school. She was a scientist through and through. So, we let her run with that.

 

Latin - Henle Year 2. 1 credit - that's it.

 

Spanish 1 and 2 - Pimsleur - maybe someone else has implemented it better than we did. DD did well and yet I don't feel she has any major grasp of the basics of the language. I'm looking at different options for our sons. That said, going into STEM, every college was happy to see the Latin and never questioned not having year 3 of Spanish. However, I do think things are getting even tougher and by the time ds is ready to apply to college, he'll definitely have to get in three years of foreign language not counting Latin. So, we'll switch things up for him.

 

History - WTM through and through with a Great Books Study that was worthy but not as rigorous as SWB describes. Spielvogel was the spine...she hated it, I hated it, we survived the man....he's just so DRY! I'm starting ds, my 9th grader, in a self-designed American History course this year while we wait for SWB's third history volume to come out. He'll then use her third and fourth books for the remainder of high school along with the Great Books Study and of course a US Government course as well as econ. Four credits total.

 

The six sciences.

 

Music Theory - "Bruce Benward in Theory and Practice". One half of the book equates to one high school credit. That book is a challenging college text that is spread over two college semesters.

 

Art - Well, that was a challenge. Big time! We ended up with lifepacs (which we hated), plus some art lessons and assignments from my sil who has an art degree, plus some art history from Jensen's History of Art for Young People. She earned a credit and she was diligent. We gave her an A. As for the quality of the program we threw together, the jury is out. It was certainly enough for a STEM major who won't be taking any fine arts in college. But, I'm stepping up my prep and design work for ds because he has quite a talent in art. Additionally, now that MIT has it's opencourseware available, he'll be completing "The Art of Color" and that makes me feel much better about awarding art credit. If it's good enough for MIT, it's good enough for me! At least, at the present time, that's my philosophy.

 

Heath and nutrition. Grandma, the nurse, worked with dd on this. I had nothing to do with it. They had a blast together and granny has done a huge amount with health education in under-privileged areas of the US and other countries in her retirement. So, the day that she said, "R, has earned her credit and she gets an A", I issued the credit no questions asked. Apparently, granny has some work set aside somewhere for a portfolio in case we were ever asked. It is the subject I had the least to do with in all of our homeschooling years and it was pure joy for me to not worry about it.

 

Introductory Logic, Logic, and Classical Rhetoric with Aristotole - 3 credits total.

 

She graduated with 27 credits - well, I suppose I should dig out her transcript because she may have had 28 and I'm missing one of her electives.

 

DD is now a pre-med student and a soon-to-be fully qualified paramedic. She adores trauma medicine, but I think her interest in attending med school is waning. She loves the field work, which doctors do not do. Additionally, she'd like to have a marriage and family before she turns 40! As she puts it, "My brain gets wonky when I think about having babies and studying for med school exams at the same time. Something will have to give. Either I ignore the babies or I ignore my studies. I don't see how I could be all I want to be to both and I really want to have some babies mom!" So, I think she will complete her pre-med and then continue levels of certification as a paramedic, or head out of state to one of the two "paramedic to certified nurse midwife" programs she's been researching or possibly pursue a physician's assistant program. She is very family oriented and her real "jazzed up" moments are when she's working to rescuciate someone inside an upside vehicle or trying to stop the pre-mature labor of a mom en route to the only nicu within a 75 mile area. She shines at this. So it's entirely possible that her pre-med degree will be as far as she goes in college. I'm completely fine with that. She has found her niche and she's amazing at it! We need paramedics with her drive and passion. She's also considering Red-Cross swim lessons so she can get her life-guard certification and then pursue water-rescue and water-paramedic licesnses. These are very intense certification programs. Additionally, she's managed four levels of FEMA emergency management certs and would like the other seven, but the last three are tougher. So, I see her interests as non-traditional medical school interests.

 

I hope this answers the questions of those who PM'ed about how we pursued sciences. I could probably be more detailed about lab journal requirements, research paper specs, etc. if you would like me to post that in another thread.

 

Happy Science!

Faith

Edited June 26, 2011 by FaithManor

[calandalsmom]

I cant imagine who wouldnt find that helpful. I think ideally that is how science should be- interesting and passionate and hands on! Sounds fun!

[Lovin Learnin]

Thank you, Faith. You have no idea how valuable this is to me. Even though my daughter is only a rising 5th grader I like to PLAN. It is so very helpful to see how others have done it. DD wants to homeschool through high school but I'm not so sure. High school frightens me (my boys were public-schooled). I feel like I get one shot and I don't want to screw it up. I love reading how you know where your daughters gaps were and how you addressed them, and that they didn't matter as much as we fear.

 

Thanks a bunch. Posts like this give me hope that I can do this.

[Create Your Ritual]

Thanks for sharing that. It reminded me of Lewelma's science at the Logic Stage Boards ..

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263107

 

Her posts, and yours, have really put it in perspective for me that science is more than just reading books and doing weekly experiments. Our co-op is now planning on having it's first official science fair this coming year. Lewelma's dc are in middle school, but I think your approach and hers are very similar and it's nice to see how someone continues the idea into high school. I also appreciate you saying what career path your dd is moving towards, and how things are going for her. Ultimately I am learning it matters less if one chooses Apologia, BJU, CPO, etc. but if their interest is peaked and they are able to put it into practice over the course of many weeks.

[Create Your Ritual]

repeat... deleted

Edited June 27, 2011 by SaDonna

[Jane in NC]

There is something that I think Faith needs to add to her thread. As I have noted elsewhere, Faith and Nan have families that live science. Faith's kids are on the farm, Nan's on the sailboat. They construct rockets, cannons, all sorts of devices as part of normal life.

 

In younger years my son spent much of his free time fiddling with rockets and Lego robots. In high school, he spent many hours rebuilding discarded computers--one for his own use, one for the bird rehabber, etc. He spent countless hours assisting the rehabber with wounded owls, hawks and pelicans as well as cast netting for food for injured shorebirds. He drew insects and made flies (for fly fishing) using his entomological knowledge.

 

4-H is a great organization for kids who want to apply science to life. Kids can learn about wildlife, forestry, animal husbandry, horticulture, etc. This is stuff that may not necessarily makes it way on to a transcript but provides an avenue for making science real and fun.

 

Jane

[cathmom]

Thank you! I will print this out and digest it thoroughly.

[8filltheheart]

There is something that I think Faith needs to add to her thread. As I have noted elsewhere, Faith and Nan have families that live science. Faith's kids are on the farm, Nan's on the sailboat. They construct rockets, cannons, all sorts of devices as part of normal life.

 

In younger years my son spent much of his free time fiddling with rockets and Lego robots. In high school, he spent many hours rebuilding discarded computers--one for his own use, one for the bird rehabber, etc. He spent countless hours assisting the rehabber with wounded owls, hawks and pelicans as well as cast netting for food for injured shorebirds. He drew insects and made flies (for fly fishing) using his entomological knowledge.

 

4-H is a great organization for kids who want to apply science to life. Kids can learn about wildlife, forestry, animal husbandry, horticulture, etc. This is stuff that may not necessarily makes it way on to a transcript but provides an avenue for making science real and fun.

 

Jane

 

This is actually a much better way of discussing what I was trying to get at in my post. Some kids/families gravitate to this type of education naturally. Others don't. I personally know that ***I*** could not replicate it for my children that are not naturally inclined in this manner to begin with.

 

I don't know how to describe it in a post other than that when you see it, you know what it is. As an individual, I do not possess that it. So, we don't just do those sorts of things as a matter of course. Some of my kids, otoh, do. They do do those things naturally and continuously.

 

I think for those that don't "live" this way, involvement in something like 4H is a great idea. But, some things are very difficult to replicate when it is simply like breathing for someone else. :tongue_smilie:

[FaithManor]

Faith's kids are on the farm.

 

4-H is a great organization for kids who want to apply science to life. Kids can learn about wildlife, forestry, animal husbandry, horticulture, etc. This is stuff that may not necessarily makes it way on to a transcript but provides an avenue for making science real and fun.

 

Jane

 

Hey Jane, I wish we lived on a true farm because I'd love the acreage! But, unfortunately, we live on 1/2 an acre. Now, we do have some show ducks, six laying hens, and a huge garden. I am nursing two very stubborn, very rebellious, completely uncooperative apple trees. Our cocker spaniel pup dug up my grapevine and raspberry canes, but he's left the strawberry patch alone. Our horse is boarded at a facility and it's becoming too expensive for us to keep her so I am looking for a new owner for her. We raised our scrumptious piggies in a barter and trade agreement with our friends who do have a big farm. They actually provide our 4-H club with their flying field for model rocketry.

 

Dh and I do lead a 4-H science club and dh is the superintendent of youth sciences for our county. We have seriously re-worked and re-vamped that program. But, he just took that volunteer position two years ago. 4-H varies from county to county. So do your research. Some counties have NO superintendent and no science clubs. Some counties have only livestock clubs. Some others do a fair amount in science. Our county probably has more science going on then any other county in Michigan because of dh and I and the fact that the new extension office director is a science nerd, so we get lots of support. We are assisting with a two day science camp this summer at a nature center. There are also lots of science workshops at the Kettunen Education Center for 4-H in Cadillac, Mi. Again, it varies so much between states and counties that you really need to ask around before joining.

 

Now, I will add that our children now have an in home lab that is quite elaborate. A local private, preparatory high school got into a bad state financially....basically, every time the school board or parents wanted a new program, they borrowed money. Instant gratification is what they pursued and eventually all of those loans came back to haunt them. They had a 1/2 million dollar mortgage plus loans on sports equipment, music equipment, etc. With the economic crisis and many parents not able to afford $400.00 a month for K-8 or $500.00 a month for high school, their student base dwindled from 600 to 60 in a matter of three years. They couldn't make the payments and got evicted. The bank sent someone in to run a sale on everything in the building to prepare it for auction and this guy had NO IDEA what science equipment might be worth. We bought easily $4000.00 of glassware, supplies, chemicals, element samples, ....you name it for $225.00.

 

So, we got lucky! But, check out your local schools. Ours are absolutely desperate in these economic times for volunteers to do a number of little tasks that paid personnel used to do. They are willing to trade lab time for volunteer work. If you want to take your science to the next level, this is an excellent way to do so. Two hours of sitting and listening to 2nd and 3rd graders practice reading will garner you two hours of lab access in the elementary building and even it has lovely microscopes, specimans, basic chemistry and physics hardware/glassware, etc. Most of it is drawing major dust because the rush to prep for standardized testing has left the teachers with little time to utilize it.

 

I'd also like to say that one way we have sparked the kids imaginations is that we subscribe to National Geographic, Scientific American, Popular Science, and Astronomy magazine. From the time they were little, I read aloud from these publications and dh and I had a policy that they could interrupt at any time and say, "What does that word mean? How did that work? I didn't understand that? Can I see the picture again?" etc. It took longer to get through the article, but we made sure to get it down to their level as much as we could which then makes little imaginations run wild.

 

Faith

[FaithManor]

This is actually a much better way of discussing what I was trying to get at in my post. Some kids/families gravitate to this type of education naturally. Others don't. I personally know that ***I*** could not replicate it for my children that are not naturally inclined in this manner to begin with.

 

I don't know how to describe it in a post other than that when you see it, you know what it is. As an individual, I do not possess that it. So, we don't just do those sorts of things as a matter of course. Some of my kids, otoh, do. They do do those things naturally and continuously.

 

I think for those that don't "live" this way, involvement in something like 4H is a great idea. But, some things are very difficult to replicate when it is simply like breathing for someone else. :tongue_smilie:

 

Absolutely, this is very true! I could never replicate what others do in historical analysis, or art history, or photography.....variety is the spice of life!

 

I hope I have not offended anyone. That was not my intent. My purpose was that I've been pm'ed by several people asking how we went about accomplishing what we have in science and I thought it might serve boardies for me to post it here so that any others who are interested would be able to read it. I function under no illusion that every one can or should do what we did/do. I do know there is a lot of concern for some homeschoolers that they have these science oriented kids and even STEM passionate kids and that homeschooling for science isn't possible or can't be well done. It can! It can be well done and doesn't have to be what I described either! I guess I just hoped to spark some confidence and imagination for those looking at stepping up their child's science studies or for those who are afraid they may be doing their STEM aligned child a disservice by homeschooling them through high school.

 

Faith

[Jane in NC]

Now, I will add that our children now have an in home lab that is quite elaborate. A local private, preparatory high school got into a bad state financially....basically, every time the school board or parents wanted a new program, they borrowed money. Instant gratification is what they pursued and eventually all of those loans came back to haunt them. They had a 1/2 million dollar mortgage plus loans on sports equipment, music equipment, etc. With the economic crisis and many parents not able to afford $400.00 a month for K-8 or $500.00 a month for high school, their student base dwindled from 600 to 60 in a matter of three years. They couldn't make the payments and got evicted. The bank sent someone in to run a sale on everything in the building to prepare it for auction and this guy had NO IDEA what science equipment might be worth. We bought easily $4000.00 of glassware, supplies, chemicals, element samples, ....you name it for $225.00.

 

Our glassware came from retired scientists. Boxes of stuff will move from their labs to their basements and eventually they want to get rid of it. Once I was given a motherload of glassware which I then shared with homeschooling friends.

 

We don't have a dark room but have the equipment courtesy of a program that was getting rid of theirs. They thought that no one would do film photography anymore but I suspect my husband will have a blast with it in his retirement.

 

I'd also like to say that one way we have sparked the kids imaginations is that we subscribe to National Geographic, Scientific American, Popular Science, and Astronomy magazine. From the time they were little, I read aloud from these publications and dh and I had a policy that they could interrupt at any time and say, "What does that word mean? How did that work? I didn't understand that? Can I see the picture again?" etc. It took longer to get through the article, but we made sure to get it down to their level as much as we could which then makes little imaginations run wild.

 

Faith

 

I'll add Muse for upper elementary/middle school aged kids to your magazine list. Discover is also great.

 

Listen to Science Friday on NPR.

 

Also, take your kids to library book sales and let them have a go at the adult science books, not just the kid selections. My son would always come home with the strangest things from library sales but they inspired him in weird ways.

 

Also, 4-H initially sponsored our FLL robotics team. That program will probably take more money than most 4-H organizations have these days, but they can help a group become organized and perhaps give ideas for the necessary fund raising.

[NeonCat]

Thank you so much, Faith.

[8filltheheart]

Absolutely, this is very true! I could never replicate what others do in historical analysis, or art history, or photography.....variety is the spice of life!

 

I hope I have not offended anyone. That was not my intent. My purpose was that I've been pm'ed by several people asking how we went about accomplishing what we have in science and I thought it might serve boardies for me to post it here so that any others who are interested would be able to read it. I function under no illusion that every one can or should do what we did/do. I do know there is a lot of concern for some homeschoolers that they have these science oriented kids and even STEM passionate kids and that homeschooling for science isn't possible or can't be well done. It can! It can be well done and doesn't have to be what I described either! I guess I just hoped to spark some confidence and imagination for those looking at stepping up their child's science studies or for those who are afraid they may be doing their STEM aligned child a disservice by homeschooling them through high school.

 

Faith

 

Oh, gosh, NO!! Please don't take my post in that manner at all!! I think your posts are wonderful!!

 

I was really more reflecting on my own family. My kids are all so very different that when it comes to academics it is hard to believe that they are related. What you describe is perfect for some but not all.

[bugs]

Thanks Faith. Though I would most likely not follow everything you've done, I can take away several diamonds from your Monte Cristo treasure!

 

I LOOOOOVE reading different approaches and perspectives.

[mjbucks1]

I guess I just hoped to spark some confidence and imagination for those looking at stepping up their child's science studies or for those who are afraid they may be doing their STEM aligned child a disservice by homeschooling them through high school.

 

 

 

 

A BIG THANK YOU!!! This is exactly what you have done for me :). I have been questioning myself a lot lately, but you have given me a great deal of confidence!!!

 

Blessings,

Michelle

[jibaker103]

Faith, thanks for taking the time to share with us how you incorporated science into your homeschool life! It has been awe inspiring and insightful. You have given me a lot to ponder!

[Joan in GE]

Thank you so much for sharing this Faith! This is very challenging and helps me see beyond textbooks!

 

Joan

[Colleen in NS]

I'm going out on a limb here. I thought I'd first return the three PM's on the topic, but just maybe others might be curious about it. I am a little anxious because, well, the boards have been in a bit "interesting" as of late, and I have to wonder how well-received it will be. I've tried to be helpful in the past and not give too much by way of detail and exercise discrimination concerning what I will share of our personal homeschool experience, graduating our first, etc.

 

First of all, I *thoroughly* enjoyed reading your posts here in this thread. It really, really helps me to read about what other people actually do/did with their high schoolers. I can still picture Nan sitting out on a dock with her boys, feet dangling in the water; or shoulder to shoulder on the couch, reading aloud with them and talking about the book with the help of TWEM. So, I NEED these kinds of descriptions to understand what people are talking about when they talk about "doing science" or "discussing literature."

 

Second (there's no third, lol), I'm just going to stoop to begging here again - PUHLEEZE those of you who have BTDT with providing a high school education for your kids - please don't hesitate to post your experiences just because things "get interesting" in other threads. Just act confident when you post, because there ARE people out here reading what you are writing, because these boards are where we learn things we can't seem to find places to learn IRL.

 

Thanks for all the detail you put into this thread, Faith. You and Jane got me thinking about how I can meet some scientists and possibly glean some more lab materials! We do know a community college technology professor - he has given ds some small bits of electronics gadgets to play around with. It's threads like this that remind me to keep looking!

[GVD22]

What a delightful read! Thanks for taking the time to post.:)

[Holly IN]

Really enjoyed this!!!! Very very helpful to see this in others. Please I am begging literally for others to post their high school experience no matter what!! I learn from all of you that do post high school experience.

[Carol in Cal.]

Great, Faith!

 

I would add, this is the difference between teaching a child and teaching a curriculum. I believe that as much as I am a curriculum junkie, it is the skills and knowledge that I teach BEYOND the curriculum that is the most effective. When I look for resources I'm really looking for the best possible teacher for my specific child AND my specific interests, knowledge, and capability.

 

That's why TWTM is so helpful in teaching how to teach literature and history--because it teaches the teachers how to approach, organize, and teach the material. It's not a curriculum, and so it leaves us with the freedom to customize--and the means to do it well.

[FaithManor]

Bumping this once before it disappears in case someone else is interested.

 

Faith