bethben Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I am once again rethinking my science - mostly because #2 homeschool child needs a science program next year. Can you all help me figure out what I really want? My ds #2 is a very science thinking kid. I've done a mishmash of curriculums for him, but despite all that, he really has a good science foundation. Ds#3 is very different of course - I still haven't figured out his bent - he's an out of the box thinker. I'm curious about the whole nature study thing. BUT, I live in Minnesota where winter exists 6 months out of the nine month school year and I know myself well enough to know we will not go outside for nature study. I also don't school in the summer due to how my family is set up, so I'm thinking of a compromise with Apologia explorer series. The big question is - will this program prepare him (and dd) for upper level sciences (if you're going to answer this one, you need to have a child in the upper level sciences)? What about nature studies? What about the WTM cycle? They all appeal to me! Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas_mom Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I am in the same boat as you but ds will be in Grade 4 next year. :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Bump - Someone has thought of this I'm sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Can you do nature study informally during the summer without calling it â€schoolâ€? I don't think Apologia vs WTM science matters in those early years. Elementary is about exposure, learning to enjoy science, etc. High school science courses will start at the beginning, and your children will have those pegs of knowledge from whatever you've done in elementary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Trying again:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Bmom Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 My kids are younger but we do nature study in the snow. This winter, we studied(at a basic level) the birds who stay in the yard during the winter. We are doing one a month. We also do animal tracking in fresh snow. We found fox prints, and read The Adventures of Reddy Fox. We ars starting our spring seeds in the house for our summer garden. We do nature study all year... But we school year round pretty much, at least so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Get a used copy of Stokes Nature Guides: A Guide to Nature in Winter by Donald Stokes and a used copy of Discover Nature in Winter by Elizabeth P. Lawlor and you should be good to go! http://www.amazon.com/Stokes-Guide-Nature-Winter-Donald/dp/0316817236/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328973283&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Nature-Winter/dp/081172719X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328973476&sr=1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Here are two inexpensive field guides too: http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Weed-Finder-Plants-Nature/dp/0912550171/ref=wl_mb_hu_m_13_dp http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Tree-Finder-Identifying-Deciduous/dp/0912550031/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 My youngest son did the Apologia books when he was in about 4-6th and learned so much from them. Things he is still using today in 9th grade. He has pulled the books off the shelf to prove points or back up an answer he working on. While he used the books he would walk around with it saying "did you know?" all the time. He is using Apologia Physical Science now in 9th grade. He is understanding and retaining the info. Not sure how this will help in the long run for college, but the fact that he retained the info from the Elementary Apologia books and is pulling from that knowledge bank now, years later has got to mean something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.