Greetings from The Happy Scientist

[KS_]

Welcome! I've been an email subscriber of yours for years :)

[Farrar]

Personally, if you're looking at making home school specific units I'll say that I find traditional units as built for teachers with objectives and rubrics and such confusing. I prefer ones I can jump right into if that makes sense - a scripted or read aloud lesson bundled with experiments/worksheets/activities that I can supplement. I find teacher resources are often heavy on organizational aids that teachers have the training to make use of but just get in the way for me. I like open and go - Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World book and activity book and Writing With Skill/Ease programs are very much in that style.

 

:iagree: I just want to second that. I think what many of people want with a science curriculum is something that reads a bit like the Activity Guide for SOTW (Story of the World), which includes a list of two levels of books, questions to ask, crafty and art things to do, map activities, coloring sheets... There's a clear sense that you're not going to do it all. For one thing, some of the activities are for younger kids and some are for older. You pick and choose what works for you, but it builds around a single topic and feels comprehensive.

 

I'd love to see that for science where there's a list of books, a list of videos, worksheets and coloring sheets, review questions, a list of demo type science experiments, and some "ways in" suggestions for further exploration and for kids to discover concepts and ways to play around with the science or observe more (for me, the Boston Children's Museum Activity Books by Bernie Zubrowski are the books that do this best).

 

Of course, a really nice spine is a good thing too. But we've been putting together different things as our main science reading and have really relied on videos as well.

[Jyniffrec]

Thanks for the clarification. Up until recently, my site has been an invertebrate (spineless:tongue_smilie:), but I am now in the process of growing my own spines, as I am having a hard time finding a book that I like well enough to tie in with.

:lol: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (referred to as "BFSU" here) is another one a lot of people use here (it is a secular curriculum). I am currently in the middle of organizing videos and books to go along with it.

 

Welcome to the WTM boards!

[Scrub Jay]

I think what many of people want with a science curriculum is something that reads a bit like the Activity Guide for SOTW (Story of the World), which includes a list of two levels of books, questions to ask, crafty and art things to do, map activities, coloring sheets... There's a clear sense that you're not going to do it all. For one thing, some of the activities are for younger kids and some are for older. You pick and choose what works for you, but it builds around a single topic and feels comprehensive.

 

I'd love to see that for science where there's a list of books, a list of videos, worksheets and coloring sheets, review questions, a list of demo type science experiments, and some "ways in" suggestions for further exploration and for kids to discover concepts and ways to play around with the science or observe more (for me, the Boston Children's Museum Activity Books by Bernie Zubrowski are the books that do this best).

 

 

:iagree: That would be wonderful.

[mom2denj]

I am so excited that you were directed to this forum! I am just around the corner from you! I had never heard of your website before, but I just checked it out and I am very excited to go spend some time over there. Welcome!!

[mom2denj]

:iagree: I just want to second that. I think what many of people want with a science curriculum is something that reads a bit like the Activity Guide for SOTW (Story of the World), which includes a list of two levels of books, questions to ask, crafty and art things to do, map activities, coloring sheets... There's a clear sense that you're not going to do it all. For one thing, some of the activities are for younger kids and some are for older. You pick and choose what works for you, but it builds around a single topic and feels comprehensive.

 

I'd love to see that for science where there's a list of books, a list of videos, worksheets and coloring sheets, review questions, a list of demo type science experiments, and some "ways in" suggestions for further exploration and for kids to discover concepts and ways to play around with the science or observe more (for me, the Boston Children's Museum Activity Books by Bernie Zubrowski are the books that do this best).

 

Of course, a really nice spine is a good thing too. But we've been putting together different things as our main science reading and have really relied on videos as well.

 

This would be amazing!!!

[Susan in KY]

Welcome! We're huge fans also....

 

:iagree:Here, too! Welcome to the forum!

[Happy Scientist]

:I think what many of people want with a science curriculum is something that reads a bit like the Activity Guide for SOTW (Story of the World), which includes a list of two levels of books, questions to ask, crafty and art things to do, map activities, coloring sheets...

 

That helped a LOT. I can see I am going to have to order copies of some of the books you are using as spines, to get an idea of what materials to produce to fit with them.

[jennynd]

That helped a LOT. I can see I am going to have to order copies of some of the books you are using as spines, to get an idea of what materials to produce to fit with them.

 

There are a lot ideas going around what is ideal science curriculum, and it seems nobody found one quite yet. Maybe you can come out an "perfect" one.

[WishboneDawn]

:lol: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (referred to as "BFSU" here) is another one a lot of people use here (it is a secular curriculum). I am currently in the middle of organizing videos and books to go along with it.

 

:iagree: I recently bought the 3 books in that series and they're excellent. My one issue is that they don't seems open-and-go friendly. I have to do a lot of reading and work to make real use of them and that ALWAYS seems to be the precursor to me dropping a curriculum. Not that I'm against the work but when it's one of a dozen other programs I'm using with a couple of kids betwen running a house, an infant and outside commitments well, it just gets overwhelming and to easily put aside.

 

Something with the BFSU approach with the SOTW structure and Happy Scientist content.:)

[*Jessica*]

:iagree: I recently bought the 3 books in that series and they're excellent. My one issue is that they don't seems open-and-go friendly. I have to do a lot of reading and work to make real use of them and that ALWAYS seems to be the precursor to me dropping a curriculum. Not that I'm against the work but when it's one of a dozen other programs I'm using with a couple of kids betwen running a house, an infant and outside commitments well, it just gets overwhelming and to easily put aside.

 

Something with the BFSU approach with the SOTW structure and Happy Scientist content.:)

:iagree:

[Scrub Jay]

mething with the BFSU approach with the SOTW structure and Happy Scientist content.:)

 

:hurray:

[Happy Scientist]

Thank you all for the great comments! I have been playing with creating my own "spines". Take a look at the Minerals curriculum unit:

http://thehappyscientist.com/study-unit/minerals

 

If you don't have a subscription, you can log in with

Username: temp1

Password: temp1

Both are case sensitive. That account will be active until Jan 15th, 2012. Feel free to look around the rest of the site while you are there.

 

Am I on the right track with Minerals? I would appreciate knowing what it needs most, to make it really useful.

 

I am starting to wonder if the best approach might be to get a list of the most popular "spines", and then format my resources to each. That would let you pick the one you like, and go to that page for guidance. I already do that with the state science standards for Florida ( http://thehappyscientist.com/state-standards/florida-sunshine-state-standards ), and it would be fairly simple to do the same thing with Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, etc.

[Jyniffrec]

Thank you all for the great comments! I have been playing with creating my own "spines". Take a look at the Minerals curriculum unit:

http://thehappyscientist.com/study-unit/minerals

 

If you don't have a subscription, you can log in with

Username: temp1

Password: temp1

Both are case sensitive. That account will be active until Jan 15th, 2012. Feel free to look around the rest of the site while you are there.

 

Am I on the right track with Minerals? I would appreciate knowing what it needs most, to make it really useful.

 

I am starting to wonder if the best approach might be to get a list of the most popular "spines", and then format my resources to each. That would let you pick the one you like, and go to that page for guidance. I already do that with the state science standards for Florida ( http://thehappyscientist.com/state-standards/florida-sunshine-state-standards ), and it would be fairly simple to do the same thing with Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, etc.

 

Thank you for the access!

 

Your idea of following several different spines would be most helpful. There are some math sites out there that do this for different math textbooks and, as far as I can tell, people use them a lot.

[ravinlunachick]

Thank you so much for the access to your site! After having a chance to look around, I will definitely be subscribing. :)

 

The biggest shortcoming that I see in the Minerals unit is the lack of a good booklist. Ideally, I'd like to have 5 or 6 titles to have in mind when we head to the local library to pick up resources.

[Jennifer3141]

Thank you so much for the access to your site! After having a chance to look around, I will definitely be subscribing. :)

 

The biggest shortcoming that I see in the Minerals unit is the lack of a good booklist. Ideally, I'd like to have 5 or 6 titles to have in mind when we head to the local library to pick up resources.

 

And actually for those of us with library systems that seem to have converted almost entire to the $4 Spongebob and Dora books - a list of 10-20 or more would be even better!!! :glare:

 

I'm looking for a science curriculum just like History Odyssey. I gave REAL science a real try. We really did.

 

But I found that we spent way more time figuring out how to build things that we did just observing and understanding things. I'm not a mechanical person. I never will be. I understand the idea that if we really knew how to build a thermometer, we'd really truly totally understand temperature changes but in reality all the time I spent trying to figure out where to find the materials and how to build the stupid stuff I could buy from carolina.com for $3 bored the wits out of me and I lost the kids along the way anyway.

[PIE!]

Hello and welcome! I've never heard of your website before - but after a little perusing I can tell it'll be one of our new favorites. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with!

[KristenR]

Thanks WishboneDawn! I am working to take the site to "the next level" by organizing everything into study units, which is a big part of the reason I am here. I hope to find out what this community really needs, and then adapt my library of videos and experiments to fit those needs.

 

At this point, I'm still getting a feel for these forums, their rules and guidelines. I am sure you get a lot of folks that come here to advertise their products, and I will not cross that line into spamming. Before I start asking "What do you want from a science curriculum?" or "What do you think about broad spectrum study units instead of grade specific units?", I want to be sure that I am shooting myself in the foot by breaking rules and annoying people.:)

 

I am thrilled that you would be willing to lend an ear :bigear: to our little (big) homeschooling group here and take suggestions and listen to our concerns. I hope that the powers-that-be here take that into consideration as you walk the line between gaining an insight from homeschoolers and promoting your product.

 

In any event, I started Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding and really love it - however, time and time again it falls to the side as it does take a bit more "prep" work. I start out with the best of intentions when it comes to science. My dh is an amateaur astronomer and big science guy- I myself have always had a preference for science as a subject but for some reason it seems to be the subject most frequently neglected. I had a decent start but it quickly fizzled out.

 

I agree with some of the previous posters that something in the vein of Story of The World would help tremendously and take some of the stress off.

 

If I had to really try to nail down my problem with teaching science I would have to say that it's because of the fact that I love the subject that makes it harder to teach. When it comes to teaching a science topic/lesson, I have a million different ideas, activities, experiments, lessons, videos, field trips, personal stories, living books, etc that immediately pop into my head and I want to share them all. With my young children though a majority of their scheduled school time is spent on reading, writing, and math. When it comes time for science, and I only have a short amount of time, I weigh that against all those "cool" things I want to do and instead decide to skip it and do it later when I have more time. :001_huh: "More time" doesn't happen that often over here. :glare:

 

I don't know if that helps at all- but that's my two cents on the situation in my homeschool. :tongue_smilie:

[Happy Scientist]

The biggest shortcoming that I see in the Minerals unit is the lack of a good booklist. Ideally, I'd like to have 5 or 6 titles to have in mind when we head to the local library to pick up resources.

 

I'll work on that. I tend to be very picky about the books I recommend, but I've been looking at some of the book lists from SOTW, etc., and I'm getting a better idea of what folks are looking for.

[Scrub Jay]

I'll work on that. I tend to be very picky about the books I recommend, but I've been looking at some of the book lists from SOTW, etc., and I'm getting a better idea of what folks are looking for.

 

Both "sciencey" (official term, no? :tongue_smilie:) books and "living books" ala Charlotte Mason would be a nice selection.

[Happy Scientist]

With my young children though a majority of their scheduled school time is spent on reading, writing, and math. When it comes time for science, and I only have a short amount of time, I weigh that against all those "cool" things I want to do and instead decide to skip it and do it later when I have more time. :001_huh: "More time" doesn't happen that often over here. :glare:

 

Just curious. Are there any integrated curriculums out there? Something that ties science, history, math, reading, writing, art, etc., all into one lump. Something along the lines of a history lesson on Ben Franklin, that also involved repeating some of his experiments with electricity, reading some of Poor Richard's Almanac, listening to music from the Glass Armonica that Franklin invented, exploring some of the myths that have grown up about Franklin, etc. I always wished for that when I was in school, which is probably why I like James Burke's Connections series so much.

[Truscifi]

First, welcome! We have been subscribers for some time - my son loves your videos! (On a side note, I lost half a bag of flour and almost an entire jar of pepper to something to do with craters last week. :glare:)

 

For those of us who prefer secular science materials, there is not a lot out there designed for homeschool use, so the field is wide open.

 

Thank you all for the great comments! I have been playing with creating my own "spines". Take a look at the Minerals curriculum unit:

http://thehappyscientist.com/study-unit/minerals

 

If you don't have a subscription, you can log in with

Username: temp1

Password: temp1

Both are case sensitive. That account will be active until Jan 15th, 2012. Feel free to look around the rest of the site while you are there.

 

Am I on the right track with Minerals? I would appreciate knowing what it needs most, to make it really useful.

 

I am starting to wonder if the best approach might be to get a list of the most popular "spines", and then format my resources to each. That would let you pick the one you like, and go to that page for guidance. I already do that with the state science standards for Florida ( http://thehappyscientist.com/state-standards/florida-sunshine-state-standards ), and it would be fairly simple to do the same thing with Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, etc.

 

I agree with others that a good booklist would be a big plus - maybe separate lists for 1st-4th, 5th-8th, etc. I really like the look of both the mineral and rock unit studies. It would be great to have additional units added to make an entire earth science curriculum.

 

Just curious. Are there any integrated curriculums out there? Something that ties science, history, math, reading, writing, art, etc., all into one lump. Something along the lines of a history lesson on Ben Franklin, that also involved repeating some of his experiments with electricity, reading some of Poor Richard's Almanac, listening to music from the Glass Armonica that Franklin invented, exploring some of the myths that have grown up about Franklin, etc. I always wished for that when I was in school, which is probably why I like James Burke's Connections series so much.

 

Not that I am aware of, at least not secular. There may be some from Sonlight or a similar company that are more religion-based.

[KristenR]

Just curious. Are there any integrated curriculums out there? Something that ties science, history, math, reading, writing, art, etc., all into one lump. Something along the lines of a history lesson on Ben Franklin, that also involved repeating some of his experiments with electricity, reading some of Poor Richard's Almanac, listening to music from the Glass Armonica that Franklin invented, exploring some of the myths that have grown up about Franklin, etc. I always wished for that when I was in school, which is probably why I like James Burke's Connections series so much.

 

There is a book that ties Story of the World (Volume 1 on Ancients) into science. But I haven't found anything truly integrated.

 

{sigh} Sounds lovely though. :D

I used to dream of "walking" my girls through science by starting back and learning from a historical context. Discover buoyancy with Archimedes, etc....

On a semi-separate note I am reading "They Called Me Mad" and thoroughly enjoying it. Made me wish for a concise (and better footnoted) childrens version.

Edited January 8, 2012 by KristenR

[Farrar]

Just curious. Are there any integrated curriculums out there? Something that ties science, history, math, reading, writing, art, etc., all into one lump. Something along the lines of a history lesson on Ben Franklin, that also involved repeating some of his experiments with electricity, reading some of Poor Richard's Almanac, listening to music from the Glass Armonica that Franklin invented, exploring some of the myths that have grown up about Franklin, etc. I always wished for that when I was in school, which is probably why I like James Burke's Connections series so much.

 

Yes. Moving Beyond the Page is integrated. For younger children, Five in a Row is integrated.

 

To some extent, the WTM is integrated and if one was to do history of science and maybe LivingMath.net's math lessons (which are tied to the 4 year history cycle) then that would be somewhat integrated. Intelligo is somewhat integrated, also along the history lines. And there may be some Christian options I'm not familiar with as well.

 

I think most people who do that are doing unit studies and there are lots of individual unit studies plans out there. Some of them are really all encompassing. But one of the things about unit studies is that the people who are doing it are usually also trying to follow rabbit trails and let the children choose, to some extent, what to study, so it's more on the fly and less of a grand plan. They may do some 3 R's to accompany it is all.

[Alte Veste Academy]

I used to dream of "walking" my girls through science by starting back and learning from a historical context. Discover buoyancy with Archimedes, etc....

On a semi-separate note I am reading "They Called Me Mad" and thoroughly enjoying it. Made me wish for a concise (and better footnoted) childrens version.

 

Inventing the Future would be perfect for that. It is a one volume history of scientists and their discoveries for kids, in chronological order. You would still have to find your own experiments but it's a fabulous book, written in an engaging voice.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy

[AimeeM]

First, welcome! We have been subscribers for some time - my son loves your videos! (On a side note, I lost half a bag of flour and almost an entire jar of pepper to something to do with craters last week. :glare:)

 

For those of us who prefer secular science materials, there is not a lot out there designed for homeschool use, so the field is wide open.

 

 

 

 

 

Not that I am aware of, at least not secular. There may be some from Sonlight or a similar company that are more religion-based.

 

Real Science 4 Kids offers a program you can buy in addition to their science books, that ties in LA, Writing, and History to their science. I am not, however, convinced they are secular; despite the claims they are from their loyalists.

[pgr]

:iagree: I recently bought the 3 books in that series and they're excellent. My one issue is that they don't seems open-and-go friendly. I have to do a lot of reading and work to make real use of them and that ALWAYS seems to be the precursor to me dropping a curriculum. Not that I'm against the work but when it's one of a dozen other programs I'm using with a couple of kids betwen running a house, an infant and outside commitments well, it just gets overwhelming and to easily put aside.

 

Something with the BFSU approach with the SOTW structure and Happy Scientist content.:)

 

:iagree:

 

Exactly this!

 

Welcome, Happy Scientist!!!

[mom2denj]

Would it be OK if I shared the temporary free access with some homeschool friends?

[Truscifi]

Real Science 4 Kids offers a program you can buy in addition to their science books, that ties in LA, Writing, and History to their science. I am not, however, convinced they are secular; despite the claims they are from their loyalists.

 

I don't consider them secular.

 

Someone mentioned Moving Beyond the Page - I had forgotten about that one. It is secular if I remember correctly, it just wasn't a good fit for us as I wanted to stick with the 4 year cycles.

[ravinlunachick]

I'll work on that. I tend to be very picky about the books I recommend, but I've been looking at some of the book lists from SOTW, etc., and I'm getting a better idea of what folks are looking for.

 

Thank you. I appreciate what you said earlier about some works watering down topics so much that the real science is removed. It would be nice to have a "scientific imprimatur" of sorts as a guide.

[DaffodilDreams]

Welcome! I'm glad you found your way over here. We love your site, and dd8 spends a lot of time with your videos. She thinks you're a great teacher. Thanks for providing such wonderful resources and for showing people how fun science can be. I wish I would have had you for a science teacher when I was in school!

 

To answer your questions about what we'd like to see offered from you, my dd says more animal science videos. She seems to have a strong interest in wildlife biology at this point, but she also really enjoys your earth science videos.

 

Oh, your outtakes and bloopers are favorites around here, too!

Edited January 8, 2012 by kimmie38017

[Mynyel]

Asking what homeschoolers want in info for their kids is akin to Hoover dam breaking :D

 

Do not say I didn't warn you! :)

 

That said, I would love upper level (think high school) bite sized portions. :) Actually, I like bite sized portions for any level!

[Happy Scientist]

Would it be OK if I shared the temporary free access with some homeschool friends?

 

Certainly! Please ask them to send me any suggestions or critiques.

[KristenR]

Inventing the Future would be perfect for that. It is a one volume history of scientists and their discoveries for kids, in chronological order. You would still have to find your own experiments but it's a fabulous book, written in an engaging voice.

 

LOVE This!!! Thanks for the recommendation! I am adding it to my wishlist as I type!

 

Asking what homeschoolers want in info for their kids is akin to Hoover dam breaking :D

 

Do not say I didn't warn you! :)

 

That said, I would love upper level (think high school) bite sized portions. :) Actually, I like bite sized portions for any level!

 

 

:iagree: There is something nice about a lil' nugget of information to tie your lessons and reading together.

[Happy Scientist]

I can't tell you all how much I appreciate your time and suggestions. Based on what I am hearing, I am balancing between two options for making my site more useful for the homeschool community.

 

1. Continue building my curriculum units, adding more resources such as reading lists, suggestions for exploring further, etc. The route takes longer to develop, but I get to make sure that the science is correct, not watered down, and understandable.

 

2. Identify the most popular spines for science, and then key the resources on my site to fit those spines. So you could go to the Building Foundations of Understanding Science, Vol.ll page, and see that before you start chapter 2, you should watch this video, then read the first two pages, read this article on my site, do this experiment, then read the next three pages, then watch this video, etc. This would let me key the resources on my site to the spines you already use.

 

Of course, I will probably do both, but there are only so many hours in a day, and The Happy Scientist is a "one man band" with me doing everything from video editing to web design, marketing to tech support.

 

Option 2 will be faster, but there will probably be conflicts. I won't dumb the science down by claiming that there are only three states of matter, or that a rock is an aggregate of minerals. Those are two examples from the list of things that I always check when looking at science books. I worry that it could get confusing if the book says one thing, and then I tell them that the book is wrong.

 

Any thoughts?:bigear:

[Jyniffrec]

I can't tell you all how much I appreciate your time and suggestions. Based on what I am hearing, I am balancing between two options for making my site more useful for the homeschool community.

 

1. Continue building my curriculum units, adding more resources such as reading lists, suggestions for exploring further, etc. The route takes longer to develop, but I get to make sure that the science is correct, not watered down, and understandable.

 

2. Identify the most popular spines for science, and then key the resources on my site to fit those spines. So you could go to the Building Foundations of Understanding Science, Vol.ll page, and see that before you start chapter 2, you should watch this video, then read the first two pages, read this article on my site, do this experiment, then read the next three pages, then watch this video, etc. This would let me key the resources on my site to the spines you already use.

 

Of course, I will probably do both, but there are only so many hours in a day, and The Happy Scientist is a "one man band" with me doing everything from video editing to web design, marketing to tech support.

 

Option 2 will be faster, but there will probably be conflicts. I won't dumb the science down by claiming that there are only three states of matter, or that a rock is an aggregate of minerals. Those are two examples from the list of things that I always check when looking at science books. I worry that it could get confusing if the book says one thing, and then I tell them that the book is wrong.

 

Any thoughts?:bigear:

 

I am a BFSU user. I have been combing through your videos over the last day or two and am finding that the "Topics Discussed" column integrates very well with matching the lessons and videos up. I am having no problems with that. I do have the Kindle versions, though, and all I have to do is search my Kindle with a keyword ("electromagnetic waves", for example) and it gives me all the places where the phrase is mentioned in the 3 three BFSU volumes. I just have to narrow down which ones are the most appropriate.

 

One question, though. In the "Topics Discussed" column, do you list the topics in order of importance?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thanks for the clarification. Up until recently, my site has been an invertebrate (spineless:tongue_smilie:), but I am now in the process of growing my own spines, as I am having a hard time finding a book that I like well enough to tie in with.

 

You may want to cite 2-3 different books that have material related to what you are covering. Unfortunately, children's non-fiction material tends to go out of print frequently or have significant revisions in new editions. It would be a shame to put a lot of work into tying your lessons to one book, only to find that the book is now unavailable.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thank you all for the great comments! I have been playing with creating my own "spines". Take a look at the Minerals curriculum unit:

http://thehappyscientist.com/study-unit/minerals

 

If you don't have a subscription, you can log in with

Username: temp1

Password: temp1

Both are case sensitive. That account will be active until Jan 15th, 2012. Feel free to look around the rest of the site while you are there.

 

Am I on the right track with Minerals? I would appreciate knowing what it needs most, to make it really useful.

 

I am starting to wonder if the best approach might be to get a list of the most popular "spines", and then format my resources to each. That would let you pick the one you like, and go to that page for guidance. I already do that with the state science standards for Florida ( http://thehappyscientist.com/state-standards/florida-sunshine-state-standards ), and it would be fairly simple to do the same thing with Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, etc.

 

You might want to look at some of the topical charts that folks have made for using different history spines. This is just an example of what might be an approach to take.

 

(SOTW is Story of the World, an elementary history series published by Peace Hill Press. CHOW is Children's History of the World. TOG is Tapestry of Grace. VP is Veritas Press.)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

And actually for those of us with library systems that seem to have converted almost entire to the $4 Spongebob and Dora books - a list of 10-20 or more would be even better!!! :glare:

 

QUOTE]

 

It can be a great help if you list the Dewey system call numbers for the books that are suggested. That will help get a user into the right area of the library, even if the library doesn't have the particular title in question.

[Haiku]

I like option 2. Our science spine is The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia. Thanks for the temp access to your site. In my copious free time :lol: I will check it out. I know my dd9 has watched some of your videos in the past.

 

It's nice that you are soliciting our opinions and working toward a program that meets our needs. :)

 

Tara

[southernm]

I can't tell you all how much I appreciate your time and suggestions. Based on what I am hearing, I am balancing between two options for making my site more useful for the homeschool community.

 

1. Continue building my curriculum units, adding more resources such as reading lists, suggestions for exploring further, etc. The route takes longer to develop, but I get to make sure that the science is correct, not watered down, and understandable.

 

2. Identify the most popular spines for science, and then key the resources on my site to fit those spines. So you could go to the Building Foundations of Understanding Science, Vol.ll page, and see that before you start chapter 2, you should watch this video, then read the first two pages, read this article on my site, do this experiment, then read the next three pages, then watch this video, etc. This would let me key the resources on my site to the spines you already use.

 

Of course, I will probably do both, but there are only so many hours in a day, and The Happy Scientist is a "one man band" with me doing everything from video editing to web design, marketing to tech support.

 

Option 2 will be faster, but there will probably be conflicts. I won't dumb the science down by claiming that there are only three states of matter, or that a rock is an aggregate of minerals. Those are two examples from the list of things that I always check when looking at science books. I worry that it could get confusing if the book says one thing, and then I tell them that the book is wrong.

 

Any thoughts?:bigear:

 

I prefer option one. I like the thought of everything on one site. I hate having to go buy other books to go along with a curriculm. Take elemental science for example...I bought the curriculum, plus the two suggested spines to go with it. Turns out, the curriculum was not for us and I'm stuck with books that I don't need. Im using mr. Q right now. I would love to see something like that, but with your videos, photos, and resources added in.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'll work on that. I tend to be very picky about the books I recommend, but I've been looking at some of the book lists from SOTW, etc., and I'm getting a better idea of what folks are looking for.

 

You might also consider if there are older books that you consider helpful. For history, many families have found that older (sometimes much older) books have better written selections for young people. Thus, books like Famous Men of Greece by Pollard and Haaren that have been republished from their out of copywrite turn of the century editions.

 

Similarly, The Handbook of Nature Study has been a public doman available book used to great effect by a classical homeschooler and blogger for nature study.

 

Given that science knowledge develops at a different pace than historical understandings, there may be older books that are unacceptable because statements made in them have since been found to be untrue. On the other hand, I snapped up a 1960s copy of All About Radio and Television because the first half of the book is about wave propagation and constructive/destructive interferance that makes the book valuable to me, even though our home television no longer operates on vacuum tubes.

 

For example, does a book like Stories of Rocks and Minerals have value for what it says about the minerals, even if some clarifying notes have to be added?

[foxbridgeacademy]

Big fan, and I always recommend your site to other HS'ers. I bought your program through HSBC as did my sister and several friends (after I raved about the videos).

My only suggestion is to make more curriculum units. A lot of HS'ers use Happy Scientist as a supplement, you could turn it into a whole curriculum, I think the possability is there.

In the end though I wouldn't change anything else...

 

You should post this on the K-8 curriculum board also.

Edited January 9, 2012 by foxbridgeacademy

[WishboneDawn]

If I had to really try to nail down my problem with teaching science I would have to say that it's because of the fact that I love the subject that makes it harder to teach. When it comes to teaching a science topic/lesson, I have a million different ideas, activities, experiments, lessons, videos, field trips, personal stories, living books, etc that immediately pop into my head and I want to share them all. With my young children though a majority of their scheduled school time is spent on reading, writing, and math. When it comes time for science, and I only have a short amount of time, I weigh that against all those "cool" things I want to do and instead decide to skip it and do it later when I have more time. :001_huh: "More time" doesn't happen that often over here. :glare:

 

I don't know if that helps at all- but that's my two cents on the situation in my homeschool. :tongue_smilie:

 

That's my issue exactly!! I have enough knowledge to love the subject but not enough to do the essential and practical editing that's required. As a result there's to much going on in my head but too often hardly anything going on for the kids.

[WishboneDawn]

I don't consider them secular.

 

Someone mentioned Moving Beyond the Page - I had forgotten about that one. It is secular if I remember correctly, it just wasn't a good fit for us as I wanted to stick with the 4 year cycles.

 

Yup. There's a real issue with homeschool science. A lot of the "secular" programs are nothing of the sort. I think a homeschool science curriculum is automaticaly excluded from the realm of secular if it excludes mention of evolution or claims to be neutral on the matter. Real Science 4 Kids has that problem. Really, that means that pretty much the only secular science programs availible for us secular homeschoolers are ones designed for schools like Singapore My Pals are Here which can be a struggle to adapt at times as well.

 

I actually can't think of one secular science program designed specifically for homeschoolers.

[Jennifer3141]

And actually for those of us with library systems that seem to have converted almost entire to the $4 Spongebob and Dora books - a list of 10-20 or more would be even better!!! :glare:

 

QUOTE]

 

It can be a great help if you list the Dewey system call numbers for the books that are suggested. That will help get a user into the right area of the library, even if the library doesn't have the particular title in question.

 

 

Our library system just isn't stocking a lot of classical literature anymore. The flip side of that is that I'm getting some great deals as they clear out inventory but it's not a matter of finding it there - they no longer carry many of these books. I am deeply in love with both Abe books and amazon's used stuff though. :)

 

We have a library loan program that supposedly goes out of our system - I've had success with one book from a list of about 40 in the past YEAR. It's not worth it for me to even try the library sometimes. I'll search the internet program at our library and move on when I find very little. :glare:

 

But if anyone ever needs a Spongebob $4 reader - let me know!!

[Leav97]

 

2. Identify the most popular spines for science, and then key the resources on my site to fit those spines. So you could go to the Building Foundations of Understanding Science, Vol.ll page, and see that before you start chapter 2, you should watch this video, then read the first two pages, read this article on my site, do this experiment, then read the next three pages, then watch this video, etc. This would let me key the resources on my site to the spines you already use.

 

 

I would love this. The only thing preventing me from using BFSU is the lack of planned schedule. I don't have time. It needs to be mapped out for me.

[ChrisB]

You should post this on the K-8 curriculum board also.

:iagree:

[Happy Scientist]

One question, though. In the "Topics Discussed" column, do you list the topics in order of importance?

 

Thank you for your help with this. No, the site is set up so that when I add a new video, it automatically creates the entry on the category page. It saves me a HUGE amount of time, but it means that the "system" decides what order to put the topics in.

[Happy Scientist]

You may want to cite 2-3 different books that have material related to what you are covering. Unfortunately, children's non-fiction material tends to go out of print frequently or have significant revisions in new editions. It would be a shame to put a lot of work into tying your lessons to one book, only to find that the book is now unavailable.

 

I run into the same problem recommending good books for different subjects. So many of the newer books are too watered down, and their science is sloppy. The really good books are have often been out of print for decades.