AimeeM Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I can't seem to find anyone at the school Autumn will be attending for 7th and up, what their science sequence is :confused:. Would I be setting her up for failure (when she enters brick and mortar catholic school next year) using Ellen McHenry units along with TOPS units? Do I *need* a spine for middle school science? I should mention that my husband's degrees are in science related fields (physics, computer science, and a year in med school) and while he will be around to consult (and wants to do some projects with her), he travels for business and I will be the primary "instructor" for science. I'm not very... scientific :D. We are STEM focused and science is the field Autumn wants to go into; I'm just not sure if a spine is necessary with the aforementioned programs, or if they are sufficient (with a science encyclopedia for reference) on their own for middle school science? Between the EM units and TOPS we will be covering some life science, chemistry, and physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Assuming you're in the U.S., it would be very rare that all the kids entering a grade had had the same science instruction (and retained the same information). Even within the same district or the same school, different teachers could be teaching wildly different topics. Keep in mind that high school and first year college biology/chemistry/physics are all introductory level and expect no previous exposure to a topic, so I think you're safe for 7th grade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I think that would make a great 7th grade year. Tops units are great for the middle school age. You might want to toss in one Tops unit on math. They have Math Lab and a unit on Probablity and a few more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 I think that would make a great 7th grade year. Tops units are great for the middle school age. You might want to toss in one Tops unit on math. They have Math Lab and a unit on Probablity and a few more. I was looking at the math units too. I think they would work well with our 6th grade math (CLE)... just to give a bit "hands on" to our program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I can't seem to find anyone at the school Autumn will be attending for 7th and up, what their science sequence is :confused:. Would I be setting her up for failure (when she enters brick and mortar catholic school next year) using Ellen McHenry units along with TOPS units? Do I *need* a spine for middle school science? I should mention that my husband's degrees are in science related fields (physics, computer science, and a year in med school) and while he will be around to consult (and wants to do some projects with her), he travels for business and I will be the primary "instructor" for science. I'm not very... scientific :D. We are STEM focused and science is the field Autumn wants to go into; I'm just not sure if a spine is necessary with the aforementioned programs, or if they are sufficient (with a science encyclopedia for reference) on their own for middle school science? Between the EM units and TOPS we will be covering some life science, chemistry, and physics. Frankly, I would say that a spine would be good, especially since your dd wants to go further in science. It is difficult to select without knowing what the school is doing! Some schools do integrated science, and some do one subject per year. For example, our local schools do physical science, life science, and earth science, one science per year. I have only seen the samples of The Elements, but, judging from what I have seen in our schools, elements are only a small subset of physical science. Have you looked at middle school science texts? The Saxon website has some recommendations. I've seen people here using Science Fusion, CPO, Holt Science & Technology (my personal favorite). There are a number of free programs on line, such as CK_12. (If you are buying a textbook, consider getting an older edition used -- I can recommend textbooks.com.) Adding, I love TOPS! Great supplement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Frankly, I would say that a spine would be good, especially since your dd wants to go further in science. It is difficult to select without knowing what the school is doing! Some schools do integrated science, and some do one subject per year. For example, our local schools do physical science, life science, and earth science, one science per year. I have only seen the samples of The Elements, but, judging from what I have seen in our schools, elements are only a small subset of physical science. Have you looked at middle school science texts? The Saxon website has some recommendations. I've seen people here using Science Fusion, CPO, Holt Science & Technology (my personal favorite). There are a number of free programs on line, such as CK_12. (If you are buying a textbook, consider getting an older edition used -- I can recommend textbooks.com.) Adding, I love TOPS! Great supplement. My husband would have a fit if I mentioned buying an older science textbook, lol. With that said, I do think I agree with you that we need a spine. Behold and See 6 is integrated and covers physical, earth and space, and I think some life science. That with the TOPS units should give a solid in physical science (especially if I can somehow fit in the hands on components in Ellen McHenry's books - we already did The Elements, but her Carbon Chemistry book would be a nice supplement); if I can fit in her Cells and The Brain units, we have a very solid in life science when combined with the spine. The hubby is also going to take on physics and computer science with her on some level (since he has degrees in those fields). At this point, I'm just not sure where to fit it all in :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Oh, Behold & see sounds like a nice choice, since your dd will be at a Catholic school. BTW, I was only suggesting an older book to save $$, but I do see your dh's point. (And by older book, I meant an edition one or two before the current one, not something with theories that have long since passed, lol.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Oh, Behold & see sounds like a nice choice, since your dd will be at a Catholic school. BTW, I was only suggesting an older book to save $$, but I do see your dh's point. (And by older book, I meant an edition one or two before the current one, not something with theories that have long since passed, lol.) Most Catholic schools use secular science texts but Behold and See does look nice and the chapters are short, so I might still try to squeeze in the extras, cutting pages where I can (when things will be covered by either McHenry or TOPS). Unfortunately, although hubby and dd are science inclined, I'm so NOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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