BFSU Volume 2 is DA BOMB

[Tracy]

I am glad that you brought this thread up again. I was just taking stock of where we are in BFSU. We started the K-2 book in Jan 2010, and dd was not quite 5yo yet. My focus has not been on science, so we have been taking it slow, and we should be able to finish it up next year. I know that a lot of people supplement BFSU and look for additional reading or projects. We do the activities in the BFSU book but little more than that. We have done only one of the books suggested. We rarely use additional reading material. But not having done much supplementing, I feel like dd has learned a great deal with the BFSU approach. It is hard to remember to bring science topics into everyday life and conversation, as suggested in BFSU, but this is what is really driving our science here.

 

I just wanted to say to those who are intimidated by all the effort they see others putting into BFSU and science in general--it doesn't have to be that way if that is not who you are or not your teaching style. BFSU is a very complete curriculum and does not need supplementing if you don't want to or cannot for whatever reason. (But there is nothing wrong with supplementing if you want to or enjoy doing it. I find it quite refreshing that the BFSU author wholly supports efforts to supplement his program or combine with other curricula.)

[sagira]

I am glad that you brought this thread up again. I was just taking stock of where we are in BFSU. We started the K-2 book in Jan 2010, and dd was not quite 5yo yet. My focus has not been on science, so we have been taking it slow, and we should be able to finish it up next year. I know that a lot of people supplement BFSU and look for additional reading or projects. We do the activities in the BFSU book but little more than that. We have done only one of the books suggested. We rarely use additional reading material. But not having done much supplementing, I feel like dd has learned a great deal with the BFSU approach. It is hard to remember to bring science topics into everyday life and conversation, as suggested in BFSU, but this is what is really driving our science here.

 

I just wanted to say to those who are intimidated by all the effort they see others putting into BFSU and science in general--it doesn't have to be that way if that is not who you are or not your teaching style. BFSU is a very complete curriculum and does not need supplementing if you don't want to or cannot for whatever reason. (But there is nothing wrong with supplementing if you want to or enjoy doing it. I find it quite refreshing that the BFSU author wholly supports efforts to supplement his program or combine with other curricula.)

 

:iagree: Great post! I know I don't need to supplement, but I enjoy Charlotte Mason's Nature Study and we read or I have ds read an accompanying living book on the subject if there are any. Next year we're doing Natural Science (BFSU 3-5) 3-4 times a week, and Nature Study 1-2 a week. I finally got into Handbook of Nature Study, and regret not using it sooner (it has been sitting on our shelf for 4 years).

[MomatHWTK]

Nevermind, found my answer. :-) At $5 it is hard to pass up. :-)

Edited April 28, 2012 by MomatHWTK

[MomatHWTK]

Compiling Links to Documents:

From Halcyon-

Flow charts

Level 1 worksheet (only one lesson done so far)

Level 2 worksheet (same thing)

 

Vol. 1 Lessons D2-D3 (posted by LMD)

 

Author's Yahoo Group Note: There is also a BFSU2 group for volume 2 users.

 

Purchase pdf Note: Downloaded document is read-only.

Edited April 28, 2012 by MomatHWTK

[redsquirrel]

Sigh....

 

BFSU always makes me feel like such a loser homeschooling mom. I can't ever seem to make it work. I did pull it out with CPO earth and space this year. I just plugged in the BFSU lessons from the earth threads. They actually matched up quite well.

 

It's funny, I am not a relaxed homeschooler. I work really hard to get all we can from all our materials. I look at BFSU and it should be perfect for us I have even had people ask me about it because they assume that it is the sort of resource I would use. But I don't. I open it up at least once a month and can never seem to make it happen. I think that I can't just do a lesson because I didn't get the prerequisites done. And if I didn't get those done then what is the point? or maybe I should go back and do those? Clearly, I should just start the entire series from the beginning in order to make it work. And OMG, I have totally blow my kids science education and they are going to flunk their SATS and live the basement forever.

 

Those books just send me into a death spiral of homeschooling madness.

[MomatHWTK]

I like online science courses- I just sit and watch with the kids. :001_smile: But, I am going to take a look at this BFSU thing. I already learned a lot about fielding odd questions- I need that with my crew. LOL!

[Halcyon]

Sigh....

 

BFSU always makes me feel like such a loser homeschooling mom. I can't ever seem to make it work. I did pull it out with CPO earth and space this year. I just plugged in the BFSU lessons from the earth threads. They actually matched up quite well.

 

It's funny, I am not a relaxed homeschooler. I work really hard to get all we can from all our materials. I look at BFSU and it should be perfect for us I have even had people ask me about it because they assume that it is the sort of resource I would use. But I don't. I open it up at least once a month and can never seem to make it happen. I think that I can't just do a lesson because I didn't get the prerequisites done. And if I didn't get those done then what is the point? or maybe I should go back and do those? Clearly, I should just start the entire series from the beginning in order to make it work. And OMG, I have totally blow my kids science education and they are going to flunk their SATS and live the basement forever.

 

Those books just send me into a death spiral of homeschooling madness.

 

 

Don't feel badly! I was you, for a long time. Then I decided "Aw, sc**w it, I'm just going to dive in and START." And I did. And I didn't worry too much if I was doing it "right" or if I had all the pre-reqs or what order I should follow or if my kids were asking the "right" questions. I just did it. And it worked. Granted, the worksheets seem to satisfy that anal side of me that asks "Are they REALLY learning??" but I don't think they're necessary at all. FOr me, the big thing was just. simply. starting. Conversations began, questions arose, we talked, we googled, we watched videos on Brain Pop to clarify tricky areas, we did random experiments that sometimes (and sometimes not) correlated to what we were studying. I think letting go is important with BFSU (and that's hard for me) because science ISN'T an easy, sequential, "learn-this-then-learn-that", mapped-out subject. It's necessarily wild and tangential and non-linear. I don't think that's the fault of BFSU--I think that's just the way science is. Trying to put it into a neat little box, which believe me, I have tried to do, doesn't work. You just have to embrace the messiness. :D

[justamouse]

We love them, too!

[sagira]

Don't feel badly! I was you, for a long time. Then I decided "Aw, sc**w it, I'm just going to dive in and START." And I did. And I didn't worry too much if I was doing it "right" or if I had all the pre-reqs or what order I should follow or if my kids were asking the "right" questions. I just did it. And it worked. Granted, the worksheets seem to satisfy that anal side of me that asks "Are they REALLY learning??" but I don't think they're necessary at all. FOr me, the big thing was just. simply. starting. Conversations began, questions arose, we talked, we googled, we watched videos on Brain Pop to clarify tricky areas, we did random experiments that sometimes (and sometimes not) correlated to what we were studying. I think letting go is important with BFSU (and that's hard for me) because science ISN'T an easy, sequential, "learn-this-then-learn-that", mapped-out subject. It's necessarily wild and tangential and non-linear. I don't think that's the fault of BFSU--I think that's just the way science is. Trying to put it into a neat little box, which believe me, I have tried to do, doesn't work. You just have to embrace the messiness. :D

 

Well said. It was exactly my experience.

[Tracy]

Sigh....

 

I look at BFSU and it should be perfect for us I have even had people ask me about it because they assume that it is the sort of resource I would use. But I don't. I open it up at least once a month and can never seem to make it happen. I think that I can't just do a lesson because I didn't get the prerequisites done. And if I didn't get those done then what is the point? or maybe I should go back and do those? Clearly, I should just start the entire series from the beginning in order to make it work. And OMG, I have totally blow my kids science education and they are going to flunk their SATS and live the basement forever.

 

Those books just send me into a death spiral of homeschooling madness.

 

You know, Dr. Nebel put in those prerequisites and flow charts to satisfy those that need that sort of order. But they are by no means an important aspect to the program. Dr. Nebel himself states time and again on the Yahoo Group that the real point, the core philosophy, of BFSU is to capitalize on and draw out children's natural inquisitiveness. If your kids are heavily interested in a particular topic, then that is the lesson you should be starting with. In some cases, you may decide that a prerequisite will be helpful. But I think most of the time, it is very important to dive right in to that subject that most attracts your kid.

 

I spent the first 6 months using BFSU without a schedule and just spiraling through the threads. At some point, I was having a hard time getting it done just because I couldn't decide what to do next. So then I just created a schedule (and there a few in the Yahoo Group's files if you don't want to make your own), and I mostly now just follow that schedule. Occasionally something will come up that interests the kids, and we will veer from that schedule.

 

It is important to remember that the lesson order exists to create interest and capitalize on that interest. It was never intended to be an inflexible list of things to do.

[Mom0012]

So if one was interested in trying this program with older children, would you just jump in at the book aimed at their age level or quickly go through the lower levels?

 

Lisa

[jeri]

Thank you! Can you keep posting them (so I don't have to do the work, ;)

 

For those of you with older kids (e.g. Lisa) I started Book 1 in the fall with two then 11 yos and an 8 yo. I did supplement with experiments from other books and I did make them keep a notebook (composition book) for notes. We are just about finishing up (with a detour through the human body which is more substantive that Dr. Nebel's tour) and I can honestly say that they have learned a lot! I must say, also, that Dr. Nebel really presents things in a logical way. When I said that we are doing the body in a more substantive way, I mean that we are actually doing the whole digestive system, etc. with another book. But I still use his info since it is so logical! Last week when we did the skeleton, I had them make a skeleton and we talked about the bones. But his topic was the structure of animals so we also discussed the general phylum breakdown of vertebrates and invertebrates, watched a worm move, and figured out where mollusks fit into the framework. So they dovetail very nicely.

 

Can't wait to start next year with book 2!

 

jeri

[Mom0012]

Thank you! Can you keep posting them (so I don't have to do the work, ;)

 

For those of you with older kids (e.g. Lisa) I started Book 1 in the fall with two then 11 yos and an 8 yo. I did supplement with experiments from other books and I did make them keep a notebook (composition book) for notes. We are just about finishing up (with a detour through the human body which is more substantive that Dr. Nebel's tour) and I can honestly say that they have learned a lot! I must say, also, that Dr. Nebel really presents things in a logical way. When I said that we are doing the body in a more substantive way, I mean that we are actually doing the whole digestive system, etc. with another book. But I still use his info since it is so logical! Last week when we did the skeleton, I had them make a skeleton and we talked about the bones. But his topic was the structure of animals so we also discussed the general phylum breakdown of vertebrates and invertebrates, watched a worm move, and figured out where mollusks fit into the framework. So they dovetail very nicely.

 

Can't wait to start next year with book 2!

 

jeri

 

Darn! It's probably too late for us then. My son is going into 7th grade next year and I already have SL Science 5 to use which we are all looking forward to. I could possibly do it with my 5th grader though.

 

Thanks!

Lisa

[Mrs Twain]

Don't feel badly! I was you, for a long time. Then I decided "Aw, sc**w it, I'm just going to dive in and START." And I did. And I didn't worry too much if I was doing it "right" or if I had all the pre-reqs or what order I should follow or if my kids were asking the "right" questions. I just did it. And it worked. Granted, the worksheets seem to satisfy that anal side of me that asks "Are they REALLY learning??" but I don't think they're necessary at all. FOr me, the big thing was just. simply. starting. Conversations began, questions arose, we talked, we googled, we watched videos on Brain Pop to clarify tricky areas, we did random experiments that sometimes (and sometimes not) correlated to what we were studying. I think letting go is important with BFSU (and that's hard for me) because science ISN'T an easy, sequential, "learn-this-then-learn-that", mapped-out subject. It's necessarily wild and tangential and non-linear. I don't think that's the fault of BFSU--I think that's just the way science is. Trying to put it into a neat little box, which believe me, I have tried to do, doesn't work. You just have to embrace the messiness. :D

 

:iagree: I had a slow start with BFSU, too. Then I just forced myself do a lesson once per week. After about a month of so, I started to really like BFSU. I raved about our experiments and what the kids are learning. My dh is continually impressed. Even though it was hard to get started, it becomes easier to keep going once you get the hang of it and once you start to enjoy the lessons.

[warneral]

I don't do it often enough, but when we do a BFSU lesson, we all enjoyed it without too much trouble. I try to get a few library books on each topic and find a brainpop video.

 

I just purchased bfsu2 the other day on the kindle and like it far better than my 5.00 BFSU PDF download b/c the kindle has hot links for each section.

[warneral]

Ps my kids are nearly 8 & 10 and we are starting with bfsu1.

[JadeOrchidSong]

What does bsfu stand for? It sounds great and I might sk grandp to do it along With our geology.

Thanks!

[sagira]

What does bsfu stand for? It sounds great and I might sk grandp to do it along With our geology.

Thanks!

 

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, by Dr. Bernard Nebel. The second book is called Elementary Science Education (for grades 3-5), and the third is dubbed Middle School Science Education (grades 6-8).

[Mrs Twain]

What does bsfu stand for? It sounds great and I might sk grandp to do it along With our geology.

Thanks!

 

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (Bernard Nebel).

There are three levels which build on each other (K-2, grades 3-5, and grades 6-8). You certainly can use the K-2 for kids older than those grades since it is pretty advanced IMO.

[Tracy]

So if one was interested in trying this program with older children, would you just jump in at the book aimed at their age level or quickly go through the lower levels?

 

Lisa

 

The author recommends that you go through the lower levels at a faster pace with older kids, and I would agree with this. Let me reiterate that there are concepts taught in Vol. I & II that most programs do not address until high school. So while much of them will be review, you will want to make sure that you are not missing things.

[warneral]

The author recommends that you go through the lower levels at a faster pace with older kids, and I would agree with this. Let me reiterate that there are concepts taught in Vol. I & II that most programs do not address until high school. So while much of them will be review, you will want to make sure that you are not missing things.

 

Having gone through about 1/3 of BFSU with my 7 and 9 year olds (almost 8 and 10) I agree with this. We are going at whatever pace we can since it is far more of a complete curriculum and goal than what our children would be getting in most schools. The kids enjoy the demonstrations and even if they HAD learned something before, it never hurts to make sure they understand the concept and then it can be a jumping off point for more learning as well.

 

Seeing that there are only 3 books for k-8th grade, there really is no need to feel "behind" in this program.

[Halcyon]

Thank you! Can you keep posting them (so I don't have to do the work, ;)

 

 

 

jeri

 

The link will continue to work. I am going to add two more chapters, hopefully today, as i have gotten a bit behind. I work directly in googledocs so any changes or additions are immediately visible to anyone with the link.

 

Glad theyre useful to you!

Edited April 29, 2012 by Halcyon

[Irishmommy]

You rock, Halcyon!

[Jennay]

Sigh....

 

BFSU always makes me feel like such a loser homeschooling mom. I can't ever seem to make it work. I did pull it out with CPO earth and space this year. I just plugged in the BFSU lessons from the earth threads. They actually matched up quite well.

 

It's funny, I am not a relaxed homeschooler. I work really hard to get all we can from all our materials. I look at BFSU and it should be perfect for us I have even had people ask me about it because they assume that it is the sort of resource I would use. But I don't. I open it up at least once a month and can never seem to make it happen. I think that I can't just do a lesson because I didn't get the prerequisites done. And if I didn't get those done then what is the point? or maybe I should go back and do those? Clearly, I should just start the entire series from the beginning in order to make it work. And OMG, I have totally blow my kids science education and they are going to flunk their SATS and live the basement forever.

 

Those books just send me into a death spiral of homeschooling madness.

 

LOL..you made me laugh because this is exactly how I feel. A death spiral of homeschooling madness - perfect description. Yet, I am irriated by our "just get it done", never get into anything indepth, no connection between topics approach we are doing now. I had Volume 1 and sold it. Now I'm considering getting Volumes 1 and 2 and starting over with my K'er and 3rd and 4th graders at the same time.

[Halcyon]

LOL..you made me laugh because this is exactly how I feel. A death spiral of homeschooling madness - perfect description. Yet, I am irriated by our "just get it done", never get into anything indepth, no connection between topics approach we are doing now. I had Volume 1 and sold it. Now I'm considering getting Volumes 1 and 2 and starting over with my K'er and 3rd and 4th graders at the same time.

 

Go for it. Just don't worry that you're "doing it right". There is SO much meat in each lesson, I swear we could spend a month on each lesson (and sometimes we do!!) The layout IS annoying, I know. But what helps me is to have the order I want to do the lessons in printed out (I found my schedules on the Yahoo Groups) and then just look at the very next lesson I will be covering. I highlight important things, make sure _I_ understand what I am teaching, find a few youtube videos or whatnot as needed, and that's it. Then when we read, I begin to understand what aspects my kids are most interested in, and we go to the library to get books on that topic. For example, after B14, my older was interested in how wounds heal, so we watched some videos on the topic from Youtube (way above his level but he did learn a lot just from watching) and we talked about blood clotting disorders and how that might affect a person, limit their activity, etc. We learned about clotting factors and sequed into talking about losing a limb...why can't we regenerate limbs, why can certain animals do it but not us, what would it take to generate a limb in a lab, is anyone doing this now, and found this article from 2009. We got some books out on stem cells, again way above his head, and I think he even found a BrainPop video on the topic. It got him thinking, in other words.

 

You can see why science lessons go on forever around here. It's the only subject, so far, that I have been able to "let go" control of....I start the lesson and see where it leads, and I have my "spine" (that's BFSU) so I know where I want to go _next_ but I just don't know where the _current_ topic will lead us. So I have a road map but we have lots of day trips. :D

Edited April 30, 2012 by Halcyon

[Jennay]

Go for it. Just don't worry that you're "doing it right". There is SO much meat in each lesson, I swear we could spend a month on each lesson (and sometimes we do!!) The layout IS annoying, I know. But what helps me is to have the order I want to do the lessons in printed out (I found my schedules on the Yahoo Groups) and then just look at the very next lesson I will be covering. I highlight important things, make sure _I_ understand what I am teaching, find a few youtube videos or whatnot as needed, and that's it. Then when we read, I begin to understand what aspects my kids are most interested in, and we go to the library to get books on that topic. For example, after B14, my older was interested in how wounds heal, so we watched some videos on the topic from Youtube (way above his level but he did learn a lot just from watching) and we talked about blood clotting disorders and how that might affect a person, limit their activity, etc. We learned about clotting factors and sequed into talking about losing a limb...why can't we regenerate limbs, why can certain animals do it but not us, what would it take to generate a limb in a lab, is anyone doing this now, and found this article from 2009. We got some books out on stem cells, again way above his head, and I think he even found a BrainPop video on the topic. It got him thinking, in other words.

 

You can see why science lessons go on forever around here. It's the only subject, so far, that I have been able to "let go" control of....I start the lesson and see where it leads, and I have my "spine" (that's BFSU) so I know where I want to go _next_ but I just don't know where the _current_ topic will lead us. So I have a road map but we have lots of day trips. :D

 

 

I'm pondering.....lol

I can do what you referred to above in our History studies....go on rabbit trails and then come back to a base...and then go off again..why can't I do it with Science? Maybe I can only do one subject like that at a time?

I just hate to buy it and not use it. Again.

[lindsrae]

:iagree::iagree: This is probably why _I_ find it more engaging :D My son finds it....challenging...LOL.

 

If anyone is interested I am in the very, very initial stages of making worksheets for Level 2. I am making them for Level 1 also. Only one lesson done so far, but it might help others whoo haven't taken the plunge see what sort of content Nebel expects the child to know in Level 2. I hope to complete 1-2 worksheets a week in each program, so perhaps they'll be useful for someone who is pacing it as we are :)

 

Level 1 worksheet (only one lesson done so far)

Level 2 worksheet (same thing)

 

Thank you forever! Do you have a blog where we can follow your progress or another way to receive updates?

[Halcyon]

Thank you forever! Do you have a blog where we can follow your progress or another way to receive updates?

 

I do have a blog but ive neglected it since earlier this year so i removed the link from my siggie ntil i update it lol. Hopefully i will this weekend, as we have lots of fun things to report. I will put links to the docs there. And i'll post the link in my siggie, too.

[Mom-ninja.]

Don't feel badly! I was you, for a long time. Then I decided "Aw, sc**w it, I'm just going to dive in and START." And I did. And I didn't worry too much if I was doing it "right" or if I had all the pre-reqs or what order I should follow or if my kids were asking the "right" questions. I just did it. And it worked. Granted, the worksheets seem to satisfy that anal side of me that asks "Are they REALLY learning??" but I don't think they're necessary at all. FOr me, the big thing was just. simply. starting. Conversations began, questions arose, we talked, we googled, we watched videos on Brain Pop to clarify tricky areas, we did random experiments that sometimes (and sometimes not) correlated to what we were studying. I think letting go is important with BFSU (and that's hard for me) because science ISN'T an easy, sequential, "learn-this-then-learn-that", mapped-out subject. It's necessarily wild and tangential and non-linear. I don't think that's the fault of BFSU--I think that's just the way science is. Trying to put it into a neat little box, which believe me, I have tried to do, doesn't work. You just have to embrace the messiness. :D

 

 

I know this is an old thread, but I had to say thank you for this particular post. I've been researching science curricula for days (weeks, years) and blech I'm sick of it. I like the philosophy of BFSU. I bought the book, became overwhelmed, and sold it. We've tinkered along with other programs. The past two years have been flops. My science loving ds is losing some of his excitement for science. I want it back. I'm squashing it by giving him text and worksheets and less hands on. I want science to be open and go and neatly done so I can check it off as complete. It's not working for him.

 

So this post above is making me believe that I can let go and jump in. Right?

[JadeOrchidSong]

I don't do it often enough, but when we do a BFSU lesson, we all enjoyed it without too much trouble. I try to get a few library books on each topic and find a brainpop video.

 

I just purchased bfsu2 the other day on the kindle and like it far better than my 5.00 BFSU PDF download b/c the kindle has hot links for each section.

 

Do you have a subscription for Brainpop app on you iPad? I have the free one, but I would like to access more things on it. It is quite expensive, $6.99 a month? Also how do you use kindle version for BFSU? Do you need to print any thing to do this? Thanks!

Edited July 3, 2012 by aomom

[warneral]

Do you have a subscription for Brainpop app on you iPad? I have the free one, but I would like to access more things on it. It is quite expensive, $6.99 a month? Also how do you use kindle version for BFSU? Do you need to print any thing to do this? Thanks!

 

I believe you can pay $2/month for up to 4 movies per day which is what I'll be doing when my subscription runs out.

 

I have the kindle version ofbfsu2. Which I will try. I had the 5$ ebook. But don't care for it as it is hard to navigate. The paper copy is nice

[Tracy]

So this post above is making me believe that I can let go and jump in. Right?

 

Yes. Seriously, just jump in. The very first lesson is about categorizing, so it doesn't matter what materials you have or don't have. Use legos or silverware or books or canned goods. We even used this lesson to talk about how sections of cities are categorized into residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural areas. My dd loved driving around and telling what zone we were in.

 

I used BFSU for six months without any kind of plan. I would just read the lesson the day I would teach it. If I didn't have the materials, I would subsitute or teach another lesson so I would have time to get the materials. There were very few times I needed to make a special effort to get materials, though. One time, I needed balloons, for instance. Another time, I needed thermometers.

 

I have not used the book recommendations very much, because I don't feel that they add much to the lessons. Perhaps they will be more helpful when we get to Volumes 2 and 3, but at the first level, children learn science best through experience rather than reading.

 

The reason that I eventually made a schedule was that I felt that I was spending too much time just deciding which lesson to do next. The problem with having the schedule, though, is that some of the lessons I just don't want to teach, and I then tend to put it off. (This is not because of the BFSU lessons but just because I hate teaching anything about biology. My kids just don't get into many of those "B" threads, so they are not so fun to teach.)

 

Dr. Nebel provides the flow chart only as a guide. He never intended for there to be a stringent schedule to follow, because his core philosophy is to follow the interests of the children and relate what they learn to their own world. Think of it as a guide to both helping your children follow their interests as well as generating that interest.

[Halcyon]

I know this is an old thread, but I had to say thank you for this particular post. I've been researching science curricula for days (weeks, years) and blech I'm sick of it. I like the philosophy of BFSU. I bought the book, became overwhelmed, and sold it. We've tinkered along with other programs. The past two years have been flops. My science loving ds is losing some of his excitement for science. I want it back. I'm squashing it by giving him text and worksheets and less hands on. I want science to be open and go and neatly done so I can check it off as complete. It's not working for him.

 

So this post above is making me believe that I can let go and jump in. Right?

 

 

Yes. :D

 

You just have to let go. You can do it. Talk talk talk, experiment, watch videos, draw diagrams, pictures, notebooking stuff, talk some more, watch a youtube video demonstrating an experiment and then try and copy it, then find that you don't have the ingredients so experiment with another ingredient, find out that it works EVEN BETTER and realize.....I'M A SCIENTIST! :)

 

Let me know how it goes. We'll continue with BFSU2 next year, along with CPO Life Science....whew. Science!

[sassenach]

Can I do BFSU2 if we haven't done 1?

[Halcyon]

Can I do BFSU2 if we haven't done 1?

 

Yes. But I would buy the 5$ pdf of BFSU1, so if you hit a topic in 2 that you realize you need to back up a bit on, you can go to volume 1 and find the related "pre-reqs". For the most part, I think a science-oriented 4th grader who hasn't done Volume 1 but HAS done science would be absolutely fine using BFSU2.

[Tracy]

Can I do BFSU2 if we haven't done 1?

 

Dr. Nebel recommends going through Vol. 1 first, even with older children, only at a faster pace, because subsequent volumes build on Vol. 1. Having gone through much of Vol. 1, I would have to agree. It is as meaty a science program you are going to find for that age, and you will want to make sure that you don't miss anything foundational. Fortunately, it is inexpensive. You can get a PDF for only $5, and the book is only $25, which is just a fraction of what you would normally spend for a year of science.

[Tracy]

For the most part, I think a science-oriented 4th grader who hasn't done Volume 1 but HAS done science would be absolutely fine using BFSU2.

 

:iagree:

[sagira]

Can I do BFSU2 if we haven't done 1?

 

The author suggests for the older student to go quicker through Vol. 1 but not to skip it entirely as there may be concepts he may have missed out on or misunderstood. BFSU is very strong in concepts. Here's where the ebook is beneficial, as it's inexpensive.

[Chrysalis Academy]

For the most part, I think a science-oriented 4th grader who hasn't done Volume 1 but HAS done science would be absolutely fine using BFSU2.

 

I think this is the key. If your dc is interested in science and has done some science in the past, you will be able to skip much of vol. 1, just picking up a few lessons by way of background for vol. 2. The concepts are important, but many are actually fairly basic observations of how the world works, things that may be new to a 5-6 yo, but will be pretty clear to a sciency 9 or 10 yo. We skipped many of the vol. 1 lessons, and doubled up on some, and have been fine with vol. 2. At the beginning of each lesson, it lists the background lessons you should need, so you can just check their knowledge of that concept with a quick discussion, and if they get it, move on.

 

If you haven't done formal science in the past, you may wish to do much of vol. 1, but fast-forwarded with an older child.