I am struggling with science

[cassafraz]

We will be starting school at the end of this month, and I am still struggling with our science choice. I will have a kindergartner, and I am well aware that in k, he probably doesn't need science. However, my husband really wants to be involved, though he is incredibly busy himself with school and work, and wants to teach our son science. They have always just talked about science, and explore things together naturally during everyday life, but he would like some sort of formal "school" work, because our son is so excited to start "school" and my dh would like to be part of that.

 

Whew.

 

Ok. So now the problems.

1. It must be evolution friendly. I am personally on the fence about evolution, but my husband is not. I suppose he believes in "theistic evolution" or something? Who knows. Point is, no Apologia will be allowed.

 

2. It must be easy to implement, as my husband won't have a lot of time for prep work. If it is gathering supplies, I can do that.

 

3. Which leads to number 3. It can not just be "interest-driven". While not opposed to this kind of learning, my son seems to be. He wants to know what is next. To have worksheets. We can go off on tangents, but I don't think we could just go willy nilly.

 

4. I can't decide if we should really split science up the way that most curriculums do: Life, Earth, Chemistry etc. It seems to me that there should be a more cohesive way of doing it. My son is naturally curious about a lot of earth science and physics, not so much about life science. He of course needs life science, but if we start with that, will he lose some of the wonder of science that he feels?Is there something that would allow him to experience all of it a little at a time as it relates to one another? Is that even possible?

 

Curriculum I have looked at but not decided for or against: RSO, BFSU, Mr Q Science, NOEO, Magic School Bus science

Of these, only BFSU seems to integrate the subjects, but I have read that it is not easy to implement, which might kick it to the curb for this season of our life.

 

 

any help?

[MinivanMom]

I don't know. If your husband is feeling enthusiastic about science instruction and he's accustomed to integrating science naturally into his interactions with your son then BFSU could be a great fit. I know it drives some people crazy (especially box-checking, schedule-following types). But if your husband is going to be doing science with your son as he can fit it in on the weekends or in the evenings then the free-flowing aspect of BFSU could wind up being an asset.

 

Would it be possible to get a copy of BFSU for your husband to look at? If he's doing the teaching then you want him to be happy with the style of instruction. Is there any way to let him look at a couple of science curriculums (at a homeschool store or curriculum fair or even at online samples), so that he make the final call?

[Building Up]

Take a look at Sonlight Science. I think it meets all of your criteria.

1) It is evolution friendly. All of the books in levels A and B are from secular publishers. (Higher levels have a book here or there that is not, but could easily be omitted or replaced with a different title.) 

2) It is very easy to implement by following the schedule and opening the book that's listed. They even have a supply kit in the package. This is a truly open-and-go curriculum for me.

3) There are activity sheets and a schedule to follow, but it lends itself  to being able to easily follow a tangent if you want to.

4) SL Science is spiral and covers a variety of topics each year. I personally think this is a plus for the early years.

[Guest]

Nancy Larson Science might fit. It comes with everything you need, worksheets, secular, no prep, etc.. It is a bit $$$, but everything is done for you down to what to say.

 

http://www.nancylarson.com/index_hs2.html

 

Elemental Science has a Kinder program you might look at.

 

http://elementalscience.com/

 

K12 as an Independent has a good science program.

 

https://ecomm.k12.com/ecommerce/public/courseDetails.xhtml?cid=73307

 

Evan-Moor might have some products for you.

 

http://www.evan-moor.com/c/7/science

 

Anything else I think of starts with 1st graders. (And we detest Apologia here.)

[cassafraz]

BuildingUp- With Sonlight, are there actual lesson plans? I don't know that my husband would be willing to teach with just books. I have sonlight p 4/5 and the science is pretty light. Just a few books to read. Is that indicative of the later cores as well?

[cassafraz]

Paradox- Is there a curriculum that you would reccomend starting in 1st? If there is a great curriculum that starts with life science in 1st, I wouldn't want to cover it in K, then still be behind the scope and sequence for a great curriculum. (I guess I kinda like a long range plan. Why do I feel like that is going to blow up in my face someday?)

[NittanyJen]

You could always do something like buying all three strands of level 1 NOEO, and just monster them together-- do a week of bio, then a week of chem, and a week of physics, then back to bio again (or a month of each, or whatever works for you).  In grammar stage, the chunking of it together isn't nearly as important as it will be in logic stage; it's the having fun part.  

 

BFSU drives me crazy.  I had a problem with it when I read that you shouldn't cover the periodic table with young children because it would be too confusing for them :(.  That guy never met my kids, obviously.

 

 

 

 

[Building Up]

BuildingUp- With Sonlight, are there actual lesson plans? I don't know that my husband would be willing to teach with just books. I have sonlight p 4/5 and the science is pretty light. Just a few books to read. Is that indicative of the later cores as well?

Science A and up have worksheets that cover things from the scheduled reading. They also each have experiments scheduled once a week. Level A has changed completely since the edition I have so I can't comment a lot on that one in particular. But Level B has good notes to the parent about the day's reading - and there are 1 or 2 optional additional activities in there too. I understand that the current Science A IG is similar. You can look at samples of the Science IGs for the notes and activity sheets to see if it looks like something your husband would like to work with. For a 5 year old you could use either A or B. I think that B is definitely more full than A, and I would certainly expect A to be a step up from P4/5.

 

I've used all of the SL Science levels up to and including E, and B is still one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to using it again in the fall with my youngest. Two of the spine books are internet-linked Usborne titles, so I also like that as a simple way to go a little further as interest leads.

[Hunter]

Evan-Moor Daily Science 1

 

The meat of this program is in the teacher's notes, NOT the student pages. The student pages are good if he wants to use them, but I taught this book using the book as a teacher's manual, and just discussed the content with the student and created copywork pages for her. 

 

Don't be fooled by the simple looking student pages. This is a meaty program. My student's basic science knowledge advanced so much by using the book. There are monthly big ideas that the weekly topics elaborate on. I made sure to constantly redirect the student back to the big ideas and she got them. Over a year later, she is still telling me about them, and thanking me. She now knows that bananas don't grow in Antarctica and why.

 

Living vs nonliving was REALLY difficult for her! She has NO background in basic astronomy and thought stars were pointy. :banghead:  Seasons--forget it. Solid, liquid, gas--totally new. Gravity--Yeah right. EMDS 1 is good stuff and easy to teach.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

If you can find it used on Amazon or somewhere, the Evan-Moor ScienceWorks for Kids' Learning to be a Scientist sounds perfect for you and that age. I blogged about what we did when we did it, here's the link: http://sceleratusclassicalacademy.blogspot.com/search/label/Learning%20to%20Be%20a%20Scientist

 

I cannot recommend this book enough. It should be easy enough for you to get the materials ahead of time and simple enough for your husband to do without much prep.

[give_me_a_latte]

We did the Elemental Science PreK science for our PreK and K years. (It kind of overlapped....and I missed several weeks in a row...several times ;-) so it shouldn't typically take that long to cover!). It was a great jumping off point. It had enough on its own, but I could beef up topics if I wanted to, or skate by with a bare minimum if the interest wasn't there. It has a fair mix of "experiments", crafts, and tons of book selections to choose from. I think it kept science fun and light while still exposing the kids to real scientific ideas. It was great for the K year!

[Syllieann]

I agree with minivan mom that it sounds like bfsu would fit your dh well. There are some supplies to gather but if you prepare them it should be pretty easy for him. You might just get the ebook to see if your dh likes it. It would certainly be more cost effective than most of the other contenders.

[boscopup]

Elemental Science might be a good choice. You could do their Earth & Space now, I think. RSO's Earth & Space could certainly be done in K also. Don't worry about grade levels on these programs. They're more like grade ranges. Adjust any writing involved (ie, scribe for him if needed), but the books themselves should be doable for a K'er with a parent reading aloud. :)

 

I've used Elemental Science's Introduction to Science, and that is basically a bunch of experiments and some nature walks. Great for younger kids, but you might want more meat. That's why I suggest looking at the Earth & Space, which is designed for 1st-2nd graders. A science loving K'er can do a 1st grade science program. :)

 

 

[llindseymomoffour]

Try www.hookedonscience.org.  There is a page with lessons on a variety of topics, each lesson is quick, and there is a 1 minute video to go along with an experiment to try. 

[boscopup]

My absolute least favorite was RSO.  The activities we tried were a total useless flop.  The first one we tried was making a weather station.  It had one make a weather station using paper plates and plastic cups.  How useful do you think a weather station made out of paper plates is?   Total rubbish.  I had to buy so many dumb supplies and the activities really didn't work very well.  Yeah I'm still a bit bitter about the program.  LOL

 

:lol: I wasn't thrilled with RSO either. We really love Science Wiz kits for "experiments/activities". They always work for us.

 

[Hunter]

I cannot imagine handing BFSU to a guy. :lol: But is WAS written by a guy, so what do I know?

[Recovering Sociopath]

We just did Mudpies to Magnets at the K level. It's high interest and fun for the kiddos, the books are cheap, and the experiments are all done using household items.

[rachelpants]

What about combining Core Knowledge with BFSU?

 

Core Knowledge 5 senses:

http://www.engageny.org/resource/kindergarten-ela-domain-2-the-five-senses

 

Core Knowledge Plants:

http://www.engageny.org/resource/kindergarten-ela-domain-4-plants

 

CK Seasons and Weather:

http://www.engageny.org/resource/kindergarten-ela-domain-8-seasons-and-weather

 

...you get the idea :) There are also more "units" under 1st & 2nd grade....make them into unit studies :)

 

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[Tanikit]

I've loved BFSU with my Ker this year - I do come from a scientific background and it did take a few weeks to figure out how to do it so it would work for me and my DD but the prep has been fairly minimal (it is not open and go though if that is what you are looking for). 

 

If your husband is going to be doing it then I would probably suggest picking 4 or 5 different choices and then letting him look at those and choose himself - maybe ask him if he had anything in mind before settling on a curriculum at all - he may have enough ideas without using anything to fill a K year.

[momto2Cs]

At that age, we loved the Let's Read and Find Out science series. So much so, in fact, that I even made a whole plan for them!

[Mom in High Heels]

Science!  I shake my fist in your general direction!  We struggled with science for years until I stumbled upon Elemental Science.  Indy really enjoys it, I like the way it's laid out, and most importantly, it gets DONE.  It's not expensive either.  We just finished the logic stage Earth and Space and it was wonderful. For the next school year, we'll be doing ES logic stage Biology.  I've already looked at it, and really like it.  

[Embassy]

Real Science 4 Kids may fit. It has a textbook and lab manual and the Pre-Level can be used in Kindergarten. It doesn't teach evolution, but it doesn't teach against it either. I've used Pre-Level Chemistry with my older kids and I'm using it with my youngest this year.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

At that age, we loved the Let's Read and Find Out science series. So much so, in fact, that I even made a whole plan for them!

Excellent! Thank you for sharing! I'm bookmarking that!

[cassafraz]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I went ahead and bought the kindle version of BFSU to peruse more. It sure does seem to be a favorite. The more my husband and I talked, the more he seemed to want something that was more inclusive of different threads of science. We both agree that if the desire at this point is to introduce the subject and let a natural curiosity develop, it might be hard if we limit it to one area, ie:physical or life, a year. I wish some of these other programs offered a "general" science option that could be covered in several years. I might look more into the Elemental Science, but I worry that after the introduction, we are going to be right back where we started... looking for something that has different threads incorporated at a time.

 

Hmmm... we will see!

Thanks so much for all of your input. Here's to hoping BFSU clicks!

[Hunter]

The Evan-Moor Daily Science workbooks are a 6 year general science program, that includes all threads every year. It's actually a lot like BFSU in scope and sequnce, but in workbook form with less hands on and more material directed to the student. The content is similar but the delivery is different.

 

I know the first impression looks cheesy, but it's good stuff.

[kirstenhill]

I cannot imagine handing BFSU to a guy. :lol: But is WAS written by a guy, so what do I know?

 

Totally depends on the guy...my DH loves it...he was about to start writing his own science curriculum until he found it and said that it was the best thing out of the many programs I showed him.  He taught it for about the first two years we used it, and i had so much better of an idea of how to teach it after watching him do it.  I feel like I can teach pretty much anything from Vol. 1.  Vol 2 on the other hand still leaves me quaking in my boots.  Maybe DH will have to take back over again...LOL!