firedaniels Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 So here I am... In a rural town, a non-atheist, but not quite mainstream "christian". I have a daughter who has grown up around medicince and science both directly (her dad is a doctor) and indirectly (her sister is a cancer survivor). I am at the end of my rope trying to make her fit in one size fits all schooling. She is gifted, learned (wordly and spiritually), so for now this is her choice. I am looking for science curriculum that offers hands on work beyond bending light through a prisim. I am clear that she has already by fourth grade surpassed at least my math skills. She has taken NUMATs and is testing average for an 8th grader (though she is in PS 4th). I have tried everything from building a relationship with the school to funding a district wide science program. I give up, need help, and am looking for direction. I appreciate all those of you who want to pray for her...I do it too, but at this point I am a mama on a mission looking for a curriculum that is going to make her heart sing. Feel free to correct my mistakes - its a forum, so my guess is I won't spend much time correcting them myself. Thoughts? :confused: K We have done k12, Calvert (though not in 3 years) We aren't interested in anything new earth based. Thought there was one I saw that looked to at least bridge the two a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 You might post on the Accelerated Board. The math part is easy - choose a curriculum and do placement tests to see where she fits (testing average for an 8th grader doesn't mean she necessarily needs math at an 8th grade level - too nonspecific). There are a number of curricula that are popular with parents of math-accelerated kids (Singapore and others - I like MM; for prealgebra, there's AoPS). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 CPO Science is a good one. Or My Pals are Here by Singapore. Joy Hakim's science is wonderful, too, and there are student/teacher books. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Have you looked at BFSU? If that's too teacher-intense, she may be able to go through Intellego science units on her own...let her choose which units she wants to do to start. Both BFSU and Intellego are secular and while they are very different approaches, I think they can both provide excellent and varied activities and information. If she's gifted in science, I wouldn't worry too much about following scripted curricula. She will explore and embrace topics on her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albeto Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Thoughts? :confused: K My son is very self-directed in science and has taught himself math just for the sake of having access to more information in scientific fields. He started off reading books that appealed to him and watching youtube videos that explain any particular concept. He gravitated towards cellular biology and now is most interested in neurology. I would suggest you let your daughter find what makes her sit up and take notice, then you'll know what direction to find as far as formalizing a study for her. She'll learn a lot of other scientific concepts as she becomes more familiar with the field that catches her interest the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 So here I am... In a rural town, a non-atheist, but not quite mainstream "christian". I have a daughter who has grown up around medicince and science both directly (her dad is a doctor) and indirectly (her sister is a cancer survivor). I am at the end of my rope trying to make her fit in one size fits all schooling. She is gifted, learned (wordly and spiritually), so for now this is her choice. I am looking for science curriculum that offers hands on work beyond bending light through a prisim. I am clear that she has already by fourth grade surpassed at least my math skills. She has taken NUMATs and is testing average for an 8th grader (though she is in PS 4th). I have tried everything from building a relationship with the school to funding a district wide science program. I give up, need help, and am looking for direction. I appreciate all those of you who want to pray for her...I do it too, but at this point I am a mama on a mission looking for a curriculum that is going to make her heart sing. Feel free to correct my mistakes - its a forum, so my guess is I won't spend much time correcting them myself. Thoughts? :confused: K We have done k12, Calvert (though not in 3 years) We aren't interested in anything new earth based. Thought there was one I saw that looked to at least bridge the two a bit. I don't know anything about NUMATS or what level that really means she is at. But if she has mastered all basic arithmetic, maybe Life of Fred at whatever level she is ready for would be good because he teaches to the child, so you don't have to be able to teach her yourself, and she can progress at whatever rate fits her. It is sort of a quirky approach, so she would probably either love it or hate it. I second Joy Hakim for science, but it is more science history than science doing, and does not so far seem to cover biology (or if it does, I hope someone will correct me on that). You might want to try her with an excellent HS biology program, but just take it slowly. You might want to try out computer virtual labs for chemistry, biology etc. such as through, I believe, Frey Scientific School Specialty? Most of their virtual labs are for HS level, but a few are meant for middle schoolers. If you do, I hope you will share how you found them, since they seem like an interesting way to go (when one cannot set up and does not have access to a real hands-on laboratory--we are also in a rural area, and I am hoping the virtual labs might be a way to deal with this). Frey also carries real stuff as well as virtual stuff. Your daughter might like the catalogue itself. My son used the rock specimen pages to learn about rock types. My son loves science/math dvd's such as The Story of Math and The Secret Life of the Brain. We also like outdoor science things that are perfect for rural areas, like studying about bees, and bee problems like colony collapse disorder, and raising them. Queen of the Sun is an interesting movie on bees to start with if that is of interest. It is possible to simultaneously be very advanced in studying something like bees--and yet is also very suitable to someone still just a child. Things like that might get her heart singing again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIS0320 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 How about SuperCharged Science? It is a monthly expense but I think it sounds super cool and I plan on using it in a few years when I hit my personal max. http://cathyduffyreviews.com/science/supercharged-science.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Your daughter sounds a lot like mine. Look into: Horrible Science (try bookdepository.com for different titles -- they're fun paperbacks) Story of Science (start with Aristotle) Ellen McHenry Cells, Botany, Brain If you want something more workbooky, I'd suggest Galore Park Jr Science or SYRWL Science. Look for samples on the Galore Park website. If you want something more textbooky, try CPO Science. Somewhere is a link to the Life Science online version free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 We took 18 months over 5th and 6th to do all the middle school science requirements using PLATO science middle school science classes, Glencoe Life Science, Conceptual Physical Science and Earth Science and a ton of labs. It was a lot of fun, we followed some rabbit trails and dabbled with Stephen Hawkings works. We followed that by interests led science (more paleontology type stuff) before moving to high school science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Welcome to the board! I just answered a very similar question on the accelerated learners board. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361616 Lots of good answers there; my post is #12. Good Luck, Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 You could also check out The Happy Scientist's website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unity Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 When my boys were in 4th grade, they were also working at about an 8th-grade level for science, so I used Singapore's Interactive Science curriculum. I bought the lab supplies and did all the labs, so it was very hands-on and very advanced. It sounds like your daughter is probably beyond My Pals Are Here, and the Interactive Science is the next in the series: http://www.singaporemath.com/Interactive_Science_s/68.htm It was very challenging for my gifted learners, but exactly what I was looking for. We went through both levels of that program, then did Singapore's O-level Biology, before moving into calculus-based physics. (The boys are now in 7th grade). For math, I second the AoPS recommendation, assuming she's beyond Singapore Primary Mathematics 5b. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedaniels Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Lots of good suggestions! Thanks guys!:auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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