Questions for those who use Mr. Q science

[Laura Cook]

I like the idea of having a text to read, rather than a few random facts from an encyclopedia as we are currently doing with Elemental Science Bio. I am not to sure about the student pages at the end of each chapter though, I don't think my oldest is going to have the skill or the desire to do them. I am looking to possible do several units from Mr. Q Life to finish out the year and then use it next year. Do you use the worksheets? Do you add anything to Mr. Q? Basically how do YOU use it? Thank you!

[SunnyDays]

We did Life Science this year. DS read it on the tablet, then told me a little about what he read. At first, I had him do the sheets, but after a while, I had him answer orally any questions that he could, and we skipped the crossword/word search pages. We're going to do one more year with Mr. Q as our base, and I will probably have him take some notes on it and do the tests going forward.

[thejourney]

We are using Mr. Q Physical Sciences this year and I have found that unless your child really enjoys word searches doing all the worksheets can be overkill. I introduce the science concept, and then have my ds read the student pages. Next we go over the discussion questions (in the teachers guide) together. Once I am sure he understands the vocabulary and main concepts, I select the worksheets I think will help him best retain the information he has just learned. I usually always leave out the word search, but will occasionally include the crossword puzzle if I think he needs vocabulary reinforcement. I particularly like the comparison, matching and multiple choice worksheets. Not all worksheet types are included with each chapter and after I am done removing sheets I deem unnecessary, he usually ends up completing two to three sheets per chapter. This way we can complete the reading, discussion questions and worksheets and in one lesson (about 1 hour).

 

In the following lesson we will do one of the experiments listed in the teacher's/parent's guide. Sometimes I will skip an experiment if I don't think the result is worth all the trouble (i.e. it requires to many materials!). However, I have usually found the experiments and activities to be quite good. Occasionally I will substitute a science kit we have in place for an experiment or two. For example my ds just happened to get a Mechanical Science Pulley kit for Christmas that fit perfectly into our Simple Machines Unit. It was much easier and more fun using the kit than trying to create a pulley out of a ruler, a wheel, a piece of string, and our kitchen table. I also printed up a bunch of lab sheets at the beginning of the year which we use whenever a lab is marked ESP. You can read about how to run these labs in the teacher's guide. During these labs you form a hypothesis, record your observations, data, and write a conclusion.

 

For each chapter we usually do the student reading/discussion/worksheets, two labs and then depending on how involved the topic is (or how interested my son is) I might add some additional reading from the library or from online sources (like BrainPop). The Mr. Q Blog also has some ideas for additional resources. I don't think it is necessary to add anything to Mr. Q at the early elementary level but it sure breaks up the monotony! That said my son finds the Mr. Q student reading to be quite humorous and it often gets him excited enough to want to read additional books on the topic being discussed. Have fun!

[jillian]

We do them orally and then do a read aloud about the topic or look stuff up at Nat. Geo or whatever

[Julie Smith]

My husband makes an audio recording of the book. Then the kids and I listen and discuss. We add in things or do additional things if interested.

[Sleep-Deprived]

Our experience with Mr. Q sounds very similar to thejourney. My oldest is very self-motivated and I did have him work through many of the worksheets, though I frequently left the crossword as optional. I've worked through the first four curricula (we haven't done his newest Advanced Chemistry, yet). In the beginning I printed out the student and parent books, but I actually find it easier to work mainly from the ipad plus printed pages for labs. The worksheets felt more like busy-work with my younger two - and so I have them answer the questions out loud with me. My oldest liked reading and doing the worksheets on his own (I liked that best too <sigh>). All of my kids have LOVED his silly humor - and they look forward to the experiments. I've taken a number of videos of my oldest son running the experiments - much to the amusement of our friends and family.

 

I have the student books loaded on my oldest son's Kindle - and I love that he reads them during the summer, just for fun.

 

I have supplemented with some of the Science in a Nutshell kits which are pricey, but nice because you don't need a shopping list. That said, Mr. Q is pretty good about using things you have around the house.

[Maela]

We've only been using Mr. Q's life science for a few weeks. We read it together (dd thinks it's hilarious) and then do maybe 1-2 of the worksheets together. The next couple of days, we do 1-2 of the experiments. I REALLY like the ESP ones. I think it's so cool that my child is already learning to run "real" experiments at this age.

 

So far we're both very happy with it.

[Maela]

I also printed up a bunch of lab sheets at the beginning of the year which we use whenever a lab is marked ESP. You can read about how to run these labs in the teacher's guide. During these labs you form a hypothesis, record your observations, data, and write a conclusion.

 

Did you get the lab sheets from the curriculum or did you make up your own?

[delaney]

My older DD(12) loves it. I know it is too young for her but.....well ladies she isn't going to be a scientist. I supplement with videos and Brain Pop stuff. I throw in some other stuff like I just bought The Elements to expand on that topic. She really likes puzzles and stuff and cannot handle hard core science.

[hsmom27]

We're doing the Earth Science this year, and we usually take 2 days to read the material. The second day is largely discussing, drawing a big labeled picture of whatever he was talking about, or physically acting something out, like rotation and revolution . The 3rd day we read a Let's Read and Find Out book on the subject or a closely related subject. The 4th day we do whichever worksheets look interesting or do some notebooking. On the fifth day we do the lab activities. This approach in working well for my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. I feel like they are retaining a lot of the information because they enjoy the humor. Also, because we're not spending more than 20-30 min/day, but we're reviewing all the vocabulary and ideas every day. I've used the physics and life programs in a similar way. I love Mr Q, but prefer McHenry for chemistry.

[Crimson Wife]

My DS did the life science last year and is doing the Earth & space one this year. He's doing more of the worksheets this year than last but still only selected ones.

[thejourney]

Did you get the lab sheets from the curriculum or did you make up your own?

 

I made my own lab sheets using MS Word based on the ESP method chapter at the beginning of the parent/teacher's guide.

[Maela]

I made my own lab sheets using MS Word based on the ESP method chapter at the beginning of the parent/teacher's guide.

Okay; I thought maybe I was missing something! I'll have to try my hand at making my own...