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~Amanda~
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LOL :lol: I'm already planning schooling for my little littles. My 3.5 and 2yo. I'm not going to push it too soon; I DO like the look of the elemental science exploring science and intro to science for K4-K; are there any recommendations to do a sort of "prehistory" history? I don't think I'll start until first for following the 4-year cycle; what else would you add in? (I should probably reread the WTM huh?) I know that we'll do kindergarten stuff; colors, shapes, numbers, letters, sounds, writing.... reading. not too heavy.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations as far as having the 2 back to back like that and not having them on separate cycles? it would be easier if I could do them together as far as history and science, but... either one is getting started too early or too late.

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Personally, I like to do a year of geography before starting the 4-yr history cycle. .

 

 

Oh clever girl! Of course!! Thank you for sharing this idea--I would have never thought of it myself but it's one of those "D'oh! I shoulda thoughta that myself" ones!

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are there any recommendations to do a sort of "prehistory" history?

 

I did. There are many books out there, e.g. The First Dog, You Wouldn't Want to be a Mammoth Hunter, Maroo of the Winter Caves, etc. I don't have the title but Usborne has some prehistory history books with very interesting drawings carefully labeled. Prehistoric animals are popular, and vids like Walking with Dinosaurs series. There are some fab photo books of various petroglyphs and cave paintings, and don't forget Otzi the Iceman.

 

HTH

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If you want a simple pre-k geography, I compiled a list of story books that I read with my then 4yo that were set in various countries. We just read the book and labeled the country on the wall map. You can find my list of books on my blog. Some people prefer more hands-on stuff, but this was sufficient for us.

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If you want a simple pre-k geography, I compiled a list of story books that I read with my then 4yo that were set in various countries. We just read the book and labeled the country on the wall map. You can find my list of books on my blog. Some people prefer more hands-on stuff, but this was sufficient for us.

 

What an awesome list of books! Thanks so much!

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If you want a simple pre-k geography, I compiled a list of story books that I read with my then 4yo that were set in various countries. We just read the book and labeled the country on the wall map. You can find my list of books on my blog. Some people prefer more hands-on stuff, but this was sufficient for us.

 

this is amazingly awesome. thank you for sharing!

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I suppose that makes me crazy, too. :D I think I had a rough 13-year curriculum planned out before I was pregnant with DD....

 

I'm certainly no expert in this (DD only just turned 3), but my opinion is that it's not really critical to start history and science at the beginning of the cycle. So just start the older when when it's time, and when the younger is old enough to join let them. Then you only have to worry about doing different levels when the older one is about to start the second cycle, and by that time both of them will hopefully be more independent.

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Consider looking at Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding, K-2 by Bernard Nebel as a science supplement. A good way of describing it is that it's a teach-you-how-to-teach manual for science, so you can use Elemental Science for the worksheets/labs but when your 5 year old comes running to you asking you why gravity doesn't seem to stop rockets or what wind is, you can easily explain the topics in an accurate kid-friendly scientific manner.

 

Some of its criticisms is that planning-wise it's overwhelming when you first begin, because the author is verbose. I figure you have a couple years til your kids come running up to you with those questions, so you'll have time to figure the book out. Also, its make-your-own-schedule sequence can be daunting (but you don't have to worry about that, just read the topics as they're relevant to your Elemental Science curriculum), and the book's primary purpose is teaching kids to think about all those scientific questions that Galileo and Newton pondered but that would send ordinary folks running - What could be better than that?

 

The book is ~$25, but there's a pdf available online from the publisher for $5. It has the best listing of science discussion questions I've ever come across. The author's goal is to turn science from a subject of do-these-worksheets and learn-this-definition to an exploratory examination of the world that is rather in-depth for an elementary schooler. Though the book is designed so that 5-7 year olds can learn these topics, Tracey has said she's caught her husband perusing it to prepare for his high school class!

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Consider looking at Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding, K-2 by Bernard Nebel as a science supplement. A good way of describing it is that it's a teach-you-how-to-teach manual for science, so you can use Elemental Science for the worksheets/labs but when your 5 year old comes running to you asking you why gravity doesn't seem to stop rockets or what wind is, you can easily explain the topics in an accurate kid-friendly scientific manner.

 

Some of its criticisms is that planning-wise it's overwhelming when you first begin, because the author is verbose. I figure you have a couple years til your kids come running up to you with those questions, so you'll have time to figure the book out. Also, its make-your-own-schedule sequence can be daunting (but you don't have to worry about that, just read the topics as they're relevant to your Elemental Science curriculum), and the book's primary purpose is teaching kids to think about all those scientific questions that Galileo and Newton pondered but that would send ordinary folks running - What could be better than that?

 

The book is ~$25, but there's a pdf available online from the publisher for $5. It has the best listing of science discussion questions I've ever come across. The author's goal is to turn science from a subject of do-these-worksheets and learn-this-definition to an exploratory examination of the world that is rather in-depth for an elementary schooler.

 

:iagree: You can read my review of the book on my blog.

 

Though the book is designed so that 5-7 year olds can learn these topics, Tracy has said she's caught her husband perusing it to prepare for his high school class!

 

This is me! But don't let that scare you. Dr. Nebel is amazing at taking concepts that are traditionally considered advanced and making them understandable to little children.

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I, on the other hand, found I did not like BFSU. I came across claims such as you should not Introduce your kids to the periodic table, because they are not capable of understanding it and will get confused by it :confused:

 

Not in this house, baby. I found that comment unbelievably condescending towards my kids, not to mention pedagogically unfounded.

 

We stuck with NOEO plus additional resources for chem, and are moving into Prentice Hall Science Explorer books as a spine for Bio, with lots of other resources because I have to tweak everything ;)

 

Just a friendly dissenting opinion. There were a lot of interesting ideas in BFSU as well, and reading it for $5 was not a waste of time, either. I must won't be teaching from it.

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We started our first four year cycle this year. Last year we did an overview of world history using Child's History of the World as a read-aloud and checking out more books on topics of interest. We also covered some basic geography.

 

I agree with reading through BFSU. We don't use it as a curriculum exactly, but I refer to it often enough that I list it as being used. It's an excellent resource for scientific background information.

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If you want a simple pre-k geography, I compiled a list of story books that I read with my then 4yo that were set in various countries. We just read the book and labeled the country on the wall map. You can find my list of books on my blog. Some people prefer more hands-on stuff, but this was sufficient for us.

 

Wow! Thanks for the great list! I stumbled on this thread purely by accident but I'm certainly glad I did! :)

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