yellowperch Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 (edited) X-posted: How would you do science with a gifted, lazy autodidact 9 yo and a hard-working, grade-level, curious and game 7yo. It’s ten days before our official start of school and still don’t have a plan for science. I’ve looked at a few things, and I’ve liked several of them, but I’m just not sure. I’ve listened to SWB elementary science lecture, and I like the approach of taking one major science area and cramming lots of facts into their eager little brains; discovery, observation and real analytic thinking should really not be the focus. Filling their little brains with lots of nifty nitty-gritty knowledge is. Lots of experiential stuff seems like the life blood of science, but I want this are of study to be more than “wow, cool, look at that.” I want them to learn facts, the scientific process and how to apply learning skills to science. I also want them to have fun and have many aha! moments. (well, who doesn’t?) Both DS and DD love science--I mean, really, what child doesn’t?--and they both have sky-high expectations about what they are going to learn. DD was in school last year, and did five or so science units. DS began homeschooling in the spring. His science was mainly reading and doing some of the activities in the Story of Science conducting his own nature study of the lake near our house (which means he did a few drawing and diagrams, took a few measurements and caught a lot of fish). DD, DS and I all love life science so this is waht we will do for our first all-out, multi-age, full year of homeschooling. The problem is this: DS9 is very well read in science; he simply knows a lot about science, and has a few disparate areas of extensive knowledge. A few things that’ve I’ve liked at first glance seem like they would have too much of a focus on things we already know a lot about. For example, Real Science 4 Kids has chapters on butterflies, frogs and food webs, which we have down cold. (My daughter would gain much from the other chapters but I do need to do science together for them.) I’m really looking for material or an approach that has high level content that doesn’t require advanced academic skills to do the associated work. Does that make sense? I like what I’ve seen of the Ellen McHenry materials (DS11, who goes to school, has been reading through her elements program. He really likes it and wants to try to start an after school club to work on it) but we really do want to do animal studies. We did buy a batch of dissection specimens that I plan to use this year, but I’d like some real guidance about how to do this with young children in a way that is more than simply “cool”. Anyway, If you’ve read this far I can only say thank you. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Our science has to be secular, FWIW. Thank you. ETA: Also, FWIW, DS is not an independent learner, which is to say that he does not have great follow through on assigned work. Edited August 26, 2011 by yellowperch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enviromommy Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Have you looked at Singapore MPH? We chose that for last year after DH (who is a scientist) looked at a bunch of programs and liked that the best. However, I will be honest and say we hardly did any science last year. That was my fault, not Singapore's - I am supremely lazy and disorganized about gathering supplies, and the kids didn't really want to just read and do homework/tests without doing the experiments. Silly kids! ;) This year, I'm struggling with whether to re-start MPH, or just to do The Story of Science. I bought the teaching guide and student quest guide for volume 1, and they look fabulous, very planned out, making it easier for me. Very secular. And goes so well with the chronological approach to history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_midori Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I really like Supercharged Science - we just stared it last month with my 7yo science lover and he REALLY likes doing the experiments!! Unfortunately, most of the extra-cool ones I have to do with him - which means that they don't get done very often. We did, however, just spend a couple days making a neat hovercraft! I will probably drop it after this month (I am on a $ trial right now) and wait until next year when he is a bit older & more able to carry on single-handedly. By the time he is 9, I plan to save up the money to do the Science Mastery program through her website & get all the kits/dvds/etc along with the online escience - I'm so excited! What I like the most about it: - all online - no books to drag out & dig through or chapters to assign. - There are lots of units & he can start at Unit 1 and work his way forward or jump into anything that sounds particularly interesting. (Although you do have a supply list for each unit, so I had my son choose the Unit to work on & I bought all supplies for experiments to be done with that one) - Videos!! The program is online & all of the experiments (and some of the information) are done on video. This is fabulous - I get to watch her do it & just pause to catch up then continue on. I can ask my son "how long was that piece of wire again?" and he'll just back it up a smidge & review! - Written with lots of clarity & every-day, easy-to-follow language but not at all written "down" to a younger group. I find it as interesting & information as my son does. In fact, I'm using several of her info bits & easy experiments in a 1st-4th grade co-op class I'll be teaching :D. I can easily see a high schooler getting lots out of the program, but I can still use it for a 2nd grader. - I like Aurora - she is up-beat without being annoying :) - Even as I sit and consider dropping it due to cost & time, my son walks up to me wanting to finish our hovercraft project and tells me "I love supercharged science!" ... sigh... What I don't like: - Expensive - costly both for the escience online (pd monthly) and costly for the supplies to purchase for the experiments. (Of course, a lot of people will have lots of the supplies on hand - we had a fair amount, and she clearly says you probably can't easily do ALL the experiments so you should pick & choose based on what supplies you have. We just tend to go all out on stuff, and my son LOVES experiments - also, I was doing a month $1 trial & wanted to give it plenty of opportunity for success. By far the most expensive supplies were for the 1 "big" hovercraft project - motors, wires, propellers, etc - and that did turn out very cool!) - We aren't using it as often as I'd hoped to, and probably not often enough to make the cost worthwhile. That is really my fault, though - since he loves science, I end up scheduling it at the very END of the day as a "when you finish all this stuff" thing, so a lot of the time it gets booted to the next day... and the next... I really just need to rearrange our schedule better & set aside a time that he would normally do break/play for doing this. - Not as teacher-free as I had hoped; it is great that I can send him over to watch a video or two & read a little bit on any subject he chooses, but I was really hoping he'd be able to do most of the experiments himself. To be fair, he IS only 7, and he CAN do many of them himself - he just REALLY likes to have mom interact on everything! - Not as many educational videos as I had hoped - lots of experiment videos (LOTS), which are educational, but I was hoping more of the actual information would be in video format. I might just not have hit on many, though - the website is huge! - No way to track what he has done by marking it off. Not a big deal at our stage, and not a big deal if you start at Unit 1 and move forward, but difficult if you skip around to different units/steps. Probably it doesn't matter, though, since they would recognize the information or might want to see it again. Maybe there is some way that I haven't found yet, too! Shew. Before doing SS, we did Real Science 4 Kids (that I still want to work through, since I have all the books), Young Scientist Club kits (which were fun but very "mom-intensive" and no real "this is why it works" learning), Elemental Science (boring... boring), and living books (great, but expensive if purchased new & a pain to keep choosing & getting used/library). This is definitely the one I like best! Maybe I've talked myself into keeping it up for awhile :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Have you looked at BFSU? It is inexpensive and has very meaty lessons yet is very age appropriate. The philosophy is very different from WTM, though. It seeks to help the children find their own answers and to help them to make connections between the different subject matters. You could easily have them working together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmarango Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I started putting together our own bio plans because I couldn't find anything in-depth enough for my dd. I do like to throw in some of the BFSU plans, but I was looking for something that placed a heavy emphasis on observation skills (truly foundational for later years) and worked through the animal/plant world a la TWTM. We use DK Animal Encyclopedia as our spine and supplement with library books for each topic. I bought the intermediate dissection kit from Home Science tools and there were some dissection guides that came along with it. There are certainly picture atlases out there that would be very helpful (the HST guides are sufficient but are in b/w). My only advice is to think about what you really want to gain from dissection. For me I just wanted my dd to be comfortable handling specimens and trying to identify basic structures (for ex, we counted tentacles on our squid, examined the suction cups, and located the ink sac). Best of luck finding what works for your family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowperch Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 I am posting a new question about dissection. I'm thinking I may start the year by diving into dissection, and see where that brings us. I want to prepare so that we can get the most out of the experiences, and make it intellectually meaningful as well as pizzaz-y. Do any of you know of any resource for doing dissection with younger kids? I'd love something with big bright diagrams and colorful illustrations and clear instructions. The dissection manuals that came with the specimens we have put me to sleep. My thinking is now that I will go WTM style. I would love to read the BFSU books, but the pair of them are $50-plus. Are they a must have resource for serious science families? The library doesn't have them. I have been eyeing them for some time, but I have to keep my budget under control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Keep in mind that each one contains 3 years of lessons. That's 6 years of lessons for less than $60. (Though, admittedly, you would go through the first one faster with the ages of your kids.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmarango Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 What specimens do you have? How many dissections have you done yourself (your comfort level)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 My thinking is now that I will go WTM style. I would love to read the BFSU books, but the pair of them are $50-plus. Are they a must have resource for serious science families? The library doesn't have them. I have been eyeing them for some time, but I have to keep my budget under control. Watch Amazon. Earlier this year (January?), I picked up the BFSU book for $13.67 from Amazon. It was just mega on sale for a week maybe. I actually just traded it back in for $14.15, making a profit. :lol: The book wasn't what I really wanted to do with science (too much planning involved for me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Take a look at Classic Science by Scott McQuerry (sp?) We've been using this secular science program for a few years. I do go deeper in some areas via various materials, flashcards, projects, etc... http://www.eequalsmcq.com/ClassicScienceLife.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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