Science in 7th and 8th

[nrself]

If your child was going into 7th next year with no formal science, what would you schedule? I'm assuming he will complete a regular, full science schedule in 9th-12th. Should we just jump in with a middle school curriculum, do the next two years ala WTM chemistry and physics, or cram an overview of all into the next two years?

 

Thanks,

Nicole

[Mandy in TN]

If your child was going into 7th next year with no formal science, what would you schedule? I'm assuming he will complete a regular, full science schedule in 9th-12th. Should we just jump in with a middle school curriculum, do the next two years ala WTM chemistry and physics, or cram an overview of all into the next two years?

 

Thanks,

Nicole

I am not certain what you consider a full high school science schedule. I am also not sure what you mean by no formal science.

 

If I were expected to school a child with little science knowledge beginning in 7th grade, I would do a general science in grade 7 and a physical science in grade 8. I would cover basic high school biology and chemistry at some point in high school. Depending on math ability and science background, I may would do a year of high school earth science in grade 9. I am not convinced that everyone needs physics, so unless there was an interest I would consider stopping there or looking at environmental science or human anatomy or something other than physics if I decided to do a 4th year of science.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[nrself]

What I mean by no formal science is no textbook or other formal curriculum. Just a "living books" style of study (books, videos, nature study, and some experiments) with a history of science kind of focus. We started SOTW late so we'll be in year 4 next year, and if we changed nothing we'd be studying science from 1850 to the present, and just adding in extras as we go along. But I'm wondering if we should get more formal since it will be my oldest's first year of middle school. Are there are things we need to cover prior to a textbook based high school level biology, earth sc, astronomy, chemistry, physics curriculum? Or is this kind of background enough?

 

What are y'alls thoughts?

 

Nicole

[Erin]

There's a philosophy in grade school/middle school science that I've always adhered to-- All you really need to do is make sure you don't turn them OFF. At this age you're trying to instill a love of learning, not so much a head full of knowledge and facts (I know. I diverge with SWB on this.) So you're right on track, really.

 

What I would do if I were you, I would go with Earth Science this year, Life Science next, and Intro to Physical Sciences in 9th. Even if he goes to school for 9th, that's probably what he'll do anyway as it's a typical requirement. But yeah, it's time to start building that foundation for secondary sciences.

[lewelma]

Have you read this thread? http://forums.welltr...reading-skills/

 

I think that it is exactly what you need. In it I discuss what skills your student needs to succeed in high school science. The thread is long, but worth your time.

 

Ruth in NZ

[bethben]

I've been tossing around a multitude of ideas for next years science also. I gave ds a few options to pick from for physical science (Apologia, Prentice Hall concepts in action, and exploration education advanced). He chose PH CIA. It's a hefty textbook, but uses lots of real life examples and pictures. I read the thread mentioned above and am glad it has some tips for how to study a textbook. I've come to realize that the downfall in homeschooling is that I can't be the expert teacher on everything. I can't devote hours and hours to lesson planning for just one subject. BUT, what I can give him is the ability to learn himself and the ability to teach himself. My ds wants the easy way- just tell me what I need to know and I'll do just that. But life doesn't always give you that path for learning. So, textbook, here we come. A bonus about the CIA text is that it only has 21 chapters so it can give him the time he needs to really learn it.

 

Beth