science he just just READ?

[Peplophoros]

I'm considering getting a ps textbook so my son can just read science and do a notebook page or two a week. We often don't have the energy (with two littles around) for experiments, but my son loves to read about science. He devoured all 3 RS4K pre-level 1 texts in one sitting.

 

Should I just get Houghton Mifflin's textbook, or is there something better he can read on his own?

[Peplophoros]

Oops, title should be "Science he CAN just read."

[boscopup]

I just do library books and good science reference books. We rarely do experiments at this stage.

[Arcadia]

Should I just get Houghton Mifflin's textbook, or is there something better he can read on his own?

 

 

My kids prefer science books to textbooks.

There are lots of recommendations for science books in this thread http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/258500-science-through-living-books/

[happymomofboys]

Should I just get Houghton Mifflin's textbook, or is there something better he can read on his own?

 

 

I wouldn't spend money on Houghton Mifflin's textbook. If that's the content you want him to learn this year, I'd just go on to their website and look at the titles of the chapters, then go to the library and find books on those topics. Library books combined with the extra chapter resources online would be more than enough.

[Julie Smith]

Mr. Q Science. The first book is free online. If you don't want to print it or have him read online you can have him listen to the audio version.

[Pen]

I'd avoid textbooks too. They tend to make science dull, IMO. My ds read all of a, I think, Random House, Science Encyclodedia for young kids, which was mostly pictures, even before he could read much, and has been working through the Kingfisher one, which has more text. Otherwise he gets books on areas of current interest, sometimes from library, sometimes we buy them. A used store near us led to some good finds, including (not exactly science), a big illustrated book called In The Beginning which shows pictures with a little text of all sorts of things from early times to modern. So that when we then saw a Young Indiana Jones where Indy meets a science professor at Princeton working on a rocket, my ds knew right away what and who it was. He also loved the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers, some of which are on science type areas. He also enjoyed reading some biographies of scientists written for his reading level. And if yours loved the pre-level 1 RS4K, why not get the level 1 books which could be read even if you cannot do the experiments?

[kristinannie]

My son is the same way. He could read science books all day! I just found this list and I love it. These are some great books! Maybe your library will have some or you could find them all used on amazon.com like me. :huh: We have a lot of science type picture books and short chapter books lying around that my son is constantly picking up. We will occasionally do an experiment, but I also don't have the time to make it a regular thing!

[tomandlorih]

Check out the Charlotte Mason style curriculums (MFW, SL, HOD, etc) catalogs for science book ideas. I do this for science and history both.

 

Watch Steve Spangler do science experiments on youtube (or the Discover and Do DVD's are great for watching experiments)

 

Watch Bill Nye, Magic School Bus and other science type shows.

 

Watch http://thehappyscientist.com/

 

It might be a little ahead of his grade but AHAScience is an online interactive curriculum and it's only $15 for the year http://www.learning.com/ahascience/

 

I don't know about his reading level but these are free (4th -6th grade South African or 3rd -5th US ) http://thunderboltkids.co.za/

 

Be sure to visit the publisher's page for the different science textbooks.. You can find a lot of the supplementary material for the textbooks available for free.. such as http://www.eduplace.com/science/hmsc/

 

This is a great list of living science books .. http://www.pennygard...sciencebks.html

 

These physics books are free (the color me physics are for elementary .. the others for middle school) http://www.physicsce...ysics/index.cfm

 

Pinterest?? Crazy amount of boards labeled "Science books" over there!! http://pinterest.com...q=science books

 

Oops, edited to add a couple more...

 

My kids love the Cat in the Hat's learning library books http://www.amazon.co...bout that books

 

And my dd learned most of her science basics from the Berenstain Bears Big Book of Science and Nature (although we have them as individual books) Love, love, love these books http://www.amazon.co...ence and nature

 

And here is a thread on this very topic with so many great posts and links.. I'm just going to link to the thread.. http://forums.welltr...ce#entry2568295

 

Editing again to add Studies Weekly. I'm got these for my dd9 next year for fun, supplementary reading and they look really good. http://www.studiesweekly.com/index.php

[Ariston]

The Joy Hakim books might be too advanced, but I'd look into them. They're more readable than a textbook.

[Stuart]

We get library books on subjects and read. Then we follow up with videos and other books. I pick our dictation from our reading. This is the best science for us it yield the most retention. I keep thinking I need a program but every time I buy one I am disappointed.

[Um_2_4]

Thanks for all the links! I am planning my own science units for the coming year and several of these will help. My DS has always read science books for fun, so I am skipping buying a planned curriculum for next year and going based on chapters from most physics books.

 

(Oh and if anyone is interested the happy scientist is on Homeschool buyer's coop for 50% off (I got it using my smartpoints, it's only 1000)! I am going to use those videos to supplement the readings.)

[Hunter]

I read aloud textbooks all the time, or give them to students to just READ. Not everyone hates textbooks, or finds them dry.

 

I look for textbooks at Amazon that were written in the early 2000s. Often they are only $0.01. They are written at the perfect reading level and cover topics that are grade appropriate. My early readers especially like to read textbooks for science.

 

I just look at what is popular currently, and then search for older editions. I'm not home to see what I have, and my collection is always being added to and disappearing anyway. I collect the books the same way as I collect literature. I buy whatever is cheap and don't worry about getting copies back.

[Peplophoros]

I read aloud textbooks all the time, or give them to students to just READ. Not everyone hates textbooks, or finds them dry.

 

I look for textbooks at Amazon that were written in the early 2000s. Often they are only $0.01. They are written at the perfect reading level and cover topics that are grade appropriate. My early readers especially like to read textbooks for science.

 

 

 

I tend to agree. I looked at the Houghton Mifflin texts and they didn't seem any more boring than the science encyclopedias my ds loves! The one advantage of having the text is that I don't have to keep returning it to the library (major fines for this household!).

 

Thanks for all the great reading lists! We'll just keep reading good science books and leave well enough alone!

[Holly]

Simply Charlotte Mason has a nice list of living science books: http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/scmguide/science/

 

--We use Apologia, but skip many of the activities. I think you could do this with just about any program.

[PachiSusan]

ha ha - I thought this was going to be a vent about how he can't remember what he JUST read!! LOL

[Chrysalis Academy]

Here is a list of books we "just read" for science this year. This was 5th grade, so some may be a little above his reading level, but they'd be good read alouds. Most of these were available at our library.

 

Using the Microscope/Intro to the Microscopic World

• The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope – Kirsteen Rogers
  
• Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek: First to See Microscopic Life – Lisa Yount’
  
• Hidden Worlds: Looking Through a Scientist’s Microscope – Stephen Kranmer
  
• Broll, Brandon. Microcosmos: Discovering the World Through Microscopic Images from Maynard, Christopher.
  
• Micro Monsters: Life Under the Microscope 20X to Over 22 Million X Magnification
  
• Rainis, Kenneth G. and Russell, Bruce J. Guide to Microlife.
  Danbury, Connecticut: Franklin Watts, 1996
  

Cells

• The Way Life Works – Mahlon Hoagland
  
• The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher – Lewis Thomas
  
• Rebecca Johnson – Mighty Animal Cells; Powerful Plant cells
  

 

Bacteria, Viruses, & Fungi

• Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives - Farrell, Jeanette.
  
• Parade of Life: Monerans, Protists, Fungi & Plants – Prentice Hall Science
  
• The Good, the Bad, the Slimy: The Secret Life of Microbes – Sara Latta
  
• A World of Microorganisms – Robert Snedden
  
• The Benefits of Bacteria – Robert Snedden
  
• Pond Water Zoo: An Introduction to Microscopic Life – Peter Loewer
  
• Explore the World using Protazoa – Roger Anderson
  
• Morrison, Gordon. Pond. Walter Lorraine Books, 2002.
  
• Paul DeKruif – The Microbe Hunters
  
• Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution – Lynn Margulis
  

• Tales from the Underground: A Natural History of Subterranean Life – David Wolfe
  

• Magical Mushrooms & Mischievous Molds – George Hudler
  
• Molds, Mushrooms & Other Fungi – Steve Parker
  
• Fungi – Alvin Silverstein
  
• Fungi – Judy Wearing
  
• Fungi – Elaine Pascoe
  

 

Botany

• Plant Projects for Young Scientists – Salvatore Tocci
  
• Botany Projects for Young Scientists – Maurice Bleifeld
  
• Plants – Janice VanCleave
  
• Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life – Molly Bang
  
• Anatomy of a Rose – Sharman Apt Russell
  
• Botany for Dummies
  
• Essential Atlas of Botany
  
• Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History
  
• 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names
  
• Photosynthesis – Alvin & Virginia Silverstein
  
• The Botany of Desire – Michael Pollan
  

 

 

Entomology

• Adventures with Insects – Richard Headstrom
  
• MP Insects Reader
  
• Insectigations – 40 Hands-On Activities to Explore the Insect World
  
• Life in a Bucket of Soil – Elsie Wrigley
  

[Hunter]

 

I tend to agree. I looked at the Houghton Mifflin texts and they didn't seem any more boring than the science encyclopedias my ds loves!

 

Textbooks are still BOOKS after all. They are not evil. :lol: I think cheap older student textbooks used as independent readers are one of the most underused resources in the homeschool community. It's hard to find living books and encyclopedias written at the k-3 reading level. Many student appreciate science content written at their reading and comprehension level.

[EKS]

If your son is a good reader, you might want to try the Science Explorer books. They are intended for middle school, but some of the topics are accessible for a younger crowd (some earth and life science).

 

I agree with the PPs that getting science books out of the library would be an excellent choice as well.

[PachiSusan]

 

Textbooks are still BOOKS after all. They are not evil. :lol: I think cheap older student textbooks used as independent readers are one of the most underused resources in the homeschool community. It's hard to find living books and encyclopedias written at the k-3 reading level. Many student appreciate science content written at their reading and comprehension level.

 

Thank you for so many times when you are such a voice of reason!!!!

[Holly]

 

Textbooks are still BOOKS after all. They are not evil. :lol: I think cheap older student textbooks used as independent readers are one of the most underused resources in the homeschool community. It's hard to find living books and encyclopedias written at the k-3 reading level. Many student appreciate science content written at their reading and comprehension level.

 

My DD thinks they are very evil, but I remember doing math problems in an old textbook from a garage sale...for fun! :leaving:

[lewelma]

Textbooks are still BOOKS after all. They are not evil. :lol: I think cheap older student textbooks used as independent readers are one of the most underused resources in the homeschool community. It's hard to find living books and encyclopedias written at the k-3 reading level. Many student appreciate science content written at their reading and comprehension level.

 

I completely agree. I just started a thread on the process a student needs to go through to have the ability to read textbooks by high school. You start with nonfiction and slowly over the period of years increase the difficulty. http://forums.welltr...reading-skills/

 

Ruth in NZ

[pitterpatter]

I have a couple of science textbooks...current Harcourt ones for the first and second grade levels. They are horrible, IMO. The info is so brief and there is no context. It's like reading a list of facts. My thought when reading them was that I couldn't understand how a child could remember any of it.

 

This is my thought. If you truly have no energy and no desire to study science with your child, but still want a little science in his diet, I would do something like this. (Honestly, I'm confused about the RS4K comment you posted.)

 

1. Follow the four-year cycle because focusing on only one aspect of science is easier to organize. (i.e. Life Science is broken down into three categories...human body, animals and plants.)

2. Find a good age-appropriate science encyclopedia to use as a spine so you can go in a logical order. (i.e. Study cells first, life cycle next, then the body systems.)

3. Read whatever Let's-Read-and-Find-Out science book(s) aloud that goes along with the topic you're studying.

4. On a different day, play whatever Magic School Bus or Bill Nye DVD goes along with the topic you're studying.

5. If you want your child to read appropriately leveled non-fiction books along with this, determine your child's reading level and then visit http://www.arbookfind.com/. Check out whatever books from your local library that are appropriate.

6. At the end of most Let's-Read-and-Find-Out books, there are a couple of simple experiments. Maybe do one of these ever once in a while.

 

I know this still takes some energy and organizing, but...

[Alte Veste Academy]

Just a few of our favorites...

 

Inventing the Future http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670915025/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Dr Art's Guide to Science http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Arts-Guide-Science-Connecting/dp/0787983268/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365958405&sr=1-1&keywords=dr+art%27s+guide+to+science

 

A World in a Drop of Water http://www.amazon.com/World-Drop-Water-Exploring-Microscope/dp/0486403815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365958473&sr=8-1&keywords=A+world+in+a+drop+of+water

 

Life in a Bucket of Soil http://www.amazon.com/Bucket-Dover-Childrens-Science-Books/dp/0486410579/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365958547&sr=1-1&keywords=life+in+a+bucket+of+soil

 

Ever last volume of the Scientists in the Field series http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Scientists+in+the+Field+Series

 

The Elements http://www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Visual-Exploration-Universe/dp/1579128955/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365958762&sr=8-1&keywords=The+elements

 

Lots of people love the Basher science books too, although they never really grew on us. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Basher+science+

 

Some of the best books we have found were discovered perusing library shelves. Pick up, flip through, read a sample... If you don't want to put it down, take it home. :)