cottonmama Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 What I mean is, does anyone use it as an interest-led curriculum? I.e. your kids start asking questions about magnets, and you bring out the lesson "Magnets and magnetic fields" to answer them, presumably working in any prerequisite lessons beforehand. Some moms on another forum were talking about wanting to use it this way, and I'm just wondering how well that would work. Anyone here tried using it this way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 It wouldn't work for my kids. I have never heard them become interested in things such as the center of gravity, why a liquid remains at constant temperature while it is boiling, whether or not a gas has weight, etc. My kids are usually interested in researching animals and digging holes in the yard. If I did interest led science, we would only learn about penguins, sea turtles, whales, tigers, and maybe some kinds of rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmama Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 That makes sense. I wonder, then, if it would work to have a schedule so you get to everything, but then when something comes up that the kids are curious about that's in the curriculum, to rearrange things a bit to let the topic of interest come up sooner? Or is that overly complicating things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Actually, that is really the way the author intended it to be used. On the Yahoo Group, Dr. Nebel often encourages teachers to veer from the suggested order if the children show a particular interest. Following a child's interests are most important, but if they do not get interested on their own, he provides some suggestions for generating that interest. For me, the problem is jumping from the interest expressed by the child into a lesson. For example, my ds4 has been very proudly balancing his silverware on his fingers. I know I could pull out BFSU and turn that into more of a teaching moment, but by the time I am done eating, my mind is on to other more pressing matters, and it doesn't happen. So I praise him for finding the center of gravity, pat myself on the back for teaching my child new vocabulary, and save the lesson for a scheduled time. But for those of you who have the mental capacity to seize the moment, I salute you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 We don't schedule BFSU. BFSU is kind of my "spine" for science. We're so interest-led in science that it is mostly a resource for me to identify any concepts maybe we're sparse on, and I use the flowcharts in BFSU as check boxes in a way, to make sure I'm not skipping anything important, and if I am, try to bring the dinnertime conversation around to one of those things or plan it for an actual scheduled "lesson" or activity. I know this method is pretty unorthodox and uncomfortable for more school-at-home types, but it is working well for us. Once in a while I'll pull out BFSU and do "the next thing" if it seems like we're having a week light on science, but that's rare for us, because both DH and I are science-y types and our lifes wrap it in naturally. If a science topic comes up (like magnetism, to use your example) we often do a BFSU-style discussion with the kids over dinner or during an impromptu moment. Once in a while I realize I'm rusty on a given point of interest and will pull out the book to see what types of activities or books it recommends to reinforce, while the kid look up the topic in a science encyclopedia. Since our homeschooling bookshelf is right behind us at the dinner table, our shelves are pretty well stocked with random magnets and paper clips and magnifing glasses and whatnot, and we're pretty freewheeling about how our days run, this is not as inconvenient as it might sound. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 I don't schedule BFSU at all. Each week, I look at the flowchart and pick the next lesson. Usually I will stay in the same thread for two or three weeks, and then move on to another thread for a few weeks. If something of interest comes up with the kids, I can pick a lesson that relates to it (if we have already done the prerequisites). Sometimes I pick lessons based on the time of year (i.e. some of the biology lessons should be done in spring/summer when you have a garden, and collecting leaves can only be done when leaves are around...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 For me, the problem is jumping from the interest expressed by the child into a lesson. For example, my ds4 has been very proudly balancing his silverware on his fingers. I know I could pull out BFSU and turn that into more of a teaching moment, but by the time I am done eating, my mind is on to other more pressing matters, and it doesn't happen. So I praise him for finding the center of gravity, pat myself on the back for teaching my child new vocabulary, and save the lesson for a scheduled time. But for those of you who have the mental capacity to seize the moment, I salute you. IMO the center of gravity discussion when you child is balancing a fork on his finger is best done after you have already covered the BFSU lesson on center of gravity. This is actually what I think Nebel's plan is primarily, i.e. to teach concepts from his book first and then talk about it on subsequent occasions as examples arise in everyday life. Regardless, this is how I find BFSU works best for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 We don't schedule BFSU. BFSU is kind of my "spine" for science. We're so interest-led in science that it is mostly a resource for me to identify any concepts maybe we're sparse on, and I use the flowcharts in BFSU as check boxes in a way, to make sure I'm not skipping anything important, and if I am, try to bring the dinnertime conversation around to one of those things or plan it for an actual scheduled "lesson" or activity. I know this method is pretty unorthodox and uncomfortable for more school-at-home types, but it is working well for us. Once in a while I'll pull out BFSU and do "the next thing" if it seems like we're having a week light on science, but that's rare for us, because both DH and I are science-y types and our lifes wrap it in naturally. If a science topic comes up (like magnetism, to use your example) we often do a BFSU-style discussion with the kids over dinner or during an impromptu moment. Once in a while I realize I'm rusty on a given point of interest and will pull out the book to see what types of activities or books it recommends to reinforce, while the kid look up the topic in a science encyclopedia. Since our homeschooling bookshelf is right behind us at the dinner table, our shelves are pretty well stocked with random magnets and paper clips and magnifing glasses and whatnot, and we're pretty freewheeling about how our days run, this is not as inconvenient as it might sound. :) :iagree: This is how we use BFSU, too. It's a great resource for me, and it helps me make sure I'm not leaving anything out, but we don't "do" it lesson by lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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