Murrayshire Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I have a set of Pearson Explorer Earth Science that a friend loaned to me to use for my 6th grader(TM and Student text).....I also have an Oak Meadow Life Science lesson book for 6th grade..... I don't even know where to begin....I checked out our NC Essential Standards thinking I may follow that guideline....it incorporates life, physical, and earth science. I really need some advice on how to set up my daughter's science this year using what I have and adding some physical science in there somewhere. Or should I use one or the other (Explorer or OM). Or should I go with something toatally different. Didn't really want to spend any extra money....are there any free science resources and lesson plans that I could follow so I won't be pulling my hair out this year! Thank you and I look forward to some responses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in MN Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 We used science explorer. One way to do it is to just have your child read the chapter, write out or discuss with you the questions from the book (you'll quickly get a sense for which sets of questions you do and don't like), and pick one or two experiments from each chapter to do--the vast majority of them can be done with stuff you have around the house. Our plan was to set aside one day a week to do experiments (a plan that was often ignored by my child, who liked to read the book but thought all experiments were a waste of time). Can't help with Oak Meadow, though I have a friend who used it with her daughter and liked it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 My advice is not to worry about- or even THINK about- your state's standards. You're homeschooling so you can do things your way. Don't worry about which way the public schools would do it. You have them both in front of you- which one do you "like?" Your daughter is of an age to have some good input- why not let her flip through them both, with you, and decide either together or let her decide which one looks more interesting, more fun, and go with it. If she's enjoying it, she's more likely to retain it, you're less likely to stress over it, etc. As for me- I know nothing about Pearson but I LOVE Oak Meadow. I used it in its entirety with my daughter for 4th grade, and I used it for everything but math in 5th grade (science was her favorite subject incidentally), and I'm looking forward to using it for everything but math in 6th grade with her this coming fall. I'm also starting OMK with my son this coming fall. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 I used Oak Meadow with my 2nd grader for '10-'11....I liked most of it...but did supplement alot with it in math, reading, and phonics. If we choose to go with the Oak Meadow Life Science 6th grade, would I just need this Life Science Book on its own or is there something else I would need to purchase? Also, how are the weekly plans set up? There is not day 1, day 2, etc so, how many days will my daughter be doing science? It does seem more hands on than Pearson so that might be a plus for her! Thank you for your help! My advice is not to worry about- or even THINK about- your state's standards. You're homeschooling so you can do things your way. Don't worry about which way the public schools would do it. You have them both in front of you- which one do you "like?" Your daughter is of an age to have some good input- why not let her flip through them both, with you, and decide either together or let her decide which one looks more interesting, more fun, and go with it. If she's enjoying it, she's more likely to retain it, you're less likely to stress over it, etc. As for me- I know nothing about Pearson but I LOVE Oak Meadow. I used it in its entirety with my daughter for 4th grade, and I used it for everything but math in 5th grade (science was her favorite subject incidentally), and I'm looking forward to using it for everything but math in 6th grade with her this coming fall. I'm also starting OMK with my son this coming fall. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I'm in NC, but we don't follow the state standards for science (nor are we doing straight WTM:)). Some states do integrated science for middle school, some focus on one area. This summer (rising 6th grade), we're doing Ellen McHenry's The Elements for an intro to chemistry, then doing Holt's Life Science. Next year, we'll either do Earth Science (likely CPO) or chemistry (the American Chemical Society's middle school chemistry, free and online). We'll pick up the other the following year. You could find a table of contents for one of the texts NC uses and take those topics from the materials you have, then flesh out with materials from the library or online. Here's a link http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/science/units/middle/ So, for free options: MSNucleus http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/ free, online, various levels and topics Ameican Chemical Society's Middle School Chemistry or their teaching guide for inquiry-based science for 3rd-6th http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_SUPERARTICLE&node_id=180&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=9b7402b7-00ae-41e5-8e19-041608134d57 PhysicsQuest from Physics Central http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsquest/ you can see past materials and quests online, keep an eye on the site to register for a free kit for the upcoming year's quest. I put a ton of links to free online homeschooling resources on our group website, which is available to the public http://www.enrichnc.org/homeschoolingresources take a look at the science category for ideas If the kids like engineering, try http://www.teachengineering.org which has lesson plans for various age levels. Free online ebooks for the CPO Science California texts, including physical science. http://www.nhusd.k12.ca.us/node/52 You would need to figure out the answers or get the teacher's manual used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Your daughter is old enough to decide. Ask which she likes. I like my kids to do some kind of lab work. We usually watch some videos as well. I print out some online lab sheets from Donna Young. They can, also, draw pictures when they get to something important like a cell. You can use a notebook for this or get a artisit sketchbook. when they do a labsheet they paste it onto that page. Otherwise they draw a picture with a caption. I am not big on tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I used Oak Meadow with my 2nd grader for '10-'11....I liked most of it...but did supplement alot with it in math, reading, and phonics.If we choose to go with the Oak Meadow Life Science 6th grade, would I just need this Life Science Book on its own or is there something else I would need to purchase? Also, how are the weekly plans set up? There is not day 1, day 2, etc so, how many days will my daughter be doing science? It does seem more hands on than Pearson so that might be a plus for her! Thank you for your help! I believe in 6th grade you can just buy the Oak Meadow Life Science Book. Oak Meadow doesn't set up daily schedules, they give weekly ones. For fifth grade we were usually able to do science 2X a week (Tues and Thurs) and then if there happened to be anything we didn't finish in a given week, we'd just finish it on Friday. OM6 I'm assuming has enough more to it to take an extra day, so I'm assuming 3X a week for science and again just finishing up at the end if the week if there's ever a week where we don't get to everything. But no sure on that yet til we actually get started and see how it goes. I think it's just the kind of thing where once you get into the swing of things, you get an idea of how much time you want to spend on it and how many days you need and so on, but I suppose you could read through the lesson and decide what you think you want to aim to get done on a given day and then figure out from there how many days you think you will need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saja1029 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 We did OM6 Life Science this past year. We usually completed it in 3 or 4 days a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 We did OM6 Life Science this past year. We usually completed it in 3 or 4 days a week. Would you think that I would need any other resource from Oak Meadow besides the Life Science Book?....since you've already have done the program and all. Answers to the test questions for each lesson is not in the student book I have of course.....would I need some other teacher resource/manual to use along with my daughters book? Make since? Thank you for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 I believe in 6th grade you can just buy the Oak Meadow Life Science Book. Oak Meadow doesn't set up daily schedules, they give weekly ones. For fifth grade we were usually able to do science 2X a week (Tues and Thurs) and then if there happened to be anything we didn't finish in a given week, we'd just finish it on Friday. OM6 I'm assuming has enough more to it to take an extra day, so I'm assuming 3X a week for science and again just finishing up at the end if the week if there's ever a week where we don't get to everything. But no sure on that yet til we actually get started and see how it goes. I think it's just the kind of thing where once you get into the swing of things, you get an idea of how much time you want to spend on it and how many days you need and so on, but I suppose you could read through the lesson and decide what you think you want to aim to get done on a given day and then figure out from there how many days you think you will need. Thank you so much....you have been loads of help!:001_smile: You seem to really know and enjoy OM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 Your daughter is old enough to decide. Ask which she likes. I like my kids to do some kind of lab work. We usually watch some videos as well. I print out some online lab sheets from Donna Young. They can, also, draw pictures when they get to something important like a cell. You can use a notebook for this or get a artisit sketchbook. when they do a labsheet they paste it onto that page. Otherwise they draw a picture with a caption. I am not big on tests. And thank you as well.....We do plan on adding in some discovery education videos on certain topics and Lyrical Science Human Body along with OM 6......I think my daughter is leaning more towards OM than Pearson.....Should she keep a binder like lab notebook so she can just add to it as she goes along? Thank you again!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 I'm in NC, but we don't follow the state standards for science (nor are we doing straight WTM:)). Some states do integrated science for middle school, some focus on one area. This summer (rising 6th grade), we're doing Ellen McHenry's The Elements for an intro to chemistry, then doing Holt's Life Science. Next year, we'll either do Earth Science (likely CPO) or chemistry (the American Chemical Society's middle school chemistry, free and online). We'll pick up the other the following year. You could find a table of contents for one of the texts NC uses and take those topics from the materials you have, then flesh out with materials from the library or online. Here's a link http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/science/units/middle/ So, for free options: MSNucleus http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/ free, online, various levels and topics Ameican Chemical Society's Middle School Chemistry or their teaching guide for inquiry-based science for 3rd-6th http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_SUPERARTICLE&node_id=180&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=9b7402b7-00ae-41e5-8e19-041608134d57 PhysicsQuest from Physics Central http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsquest/ you can see past materials and quests online, keep an eye on the site to register for a free kit for the upcoming year's quest. I put a ton of links to free online homeschooling resources on our group website, which is available to the public http://www.enrichnc.org/homeschoolingresources take a look at the science category for ideas If the kids like engineering, try www.teachengineering.org which has lesson plans for various age levels. Free online ebooks for the CPO Science California texts, including physical science. http://www.nhusd.k12.ca.us/node/52 You would need to figure out the answers or get the teacher's manual used. Appreciate ALL of these links....I haved saved them and will read through them! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saja1029 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Would you think that I would need any other resource from Oak Meadow besides the Life Science Book?....since you've already have done the program and all.Answers to the test questions for each lesson is not in the student book I have of course.....would I need some other teacher resource/manual to use along with my daughters book? Make since? Thank you for your help! The answers to the questions/discussions and the test answers are in the teacher's manual. The only other resource we used were some netflix videos. We are planning on using OM7 Earth Science next month. I was thinking about getting Discovery streaming (through the homeschool co-op) because there are loads of Earth science related videos. That's an idea, as well:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 We are planning on using it this year. I usually use a binder. But, I am trying a sketchbook this year. I think they are nicer to keep everything together in and I would like to keep them. Binders are so bulky and annoying to pack away or carry around. We have a lot of science kits around. I will get a few more to fill out any areas. My guy loves science kits and really wants to be a biologist or park ranger. I will get any extra supplies from hometrainingtools and delta science in a nutshell kits. I haven't gotten a chance to look over my curriculum yet. So, I am not cerrtain what supplements yet. I know we want to do a worm bin this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Here are the notebooking pages The boys like. http://notebookingpages.com/archives/1088. I thnk I said donnayoung, but I was wrong. I print off a stack of all the different ones. They pick one. They do an experiment and fill it out while they do it. This year they will spiral bound sketchbooks and just paste it on a page for the day. Other days they might draw a picture of something important. I figure a 100 page sketchbook should give them enough pages for a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 Oh thank you so much for the link!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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