................... Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Science- the entire lesson was on global warming the ozone layer and CFC's. The discussion was on the Ozone layer and CFC's. Geography- the entire lesson was on pollution, deforestation, etc. Really. It's not that we mind discussing all these things, but it's just so much overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 And for art, you can paint with zinc oxide on black paper. ;) Just kidding. They were probably trying to tie things together... kind of a unit study thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 One day on those topics is overkill? How much would you find appropriate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Did he just not like studying the same topic across several subjects, or is it the particular topic that irked him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 LOL umssami, you are probably right. They try to tie things in a lot. To the others...it's too hard to explain. It just seemed depressing, "scary", ridiculous to impress all of this on a 6th grader, and on top of that we don't buy fully into the CFC causing global warming theory anyway. At this age, I think I'd rather just spend time in Science learning about, oh, i don't know...Science. And then in Geography it might be nice to study where countries and cultures are located. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 If you buy a mainstream, secular program, expect to get mainstream, secular science. It is science, whether you personally buy into it or not. I don't know Calvert's specific line up, but 6th grade is often environmental and earth science studies. One day seems pretty minimal for such a big topic at this age. And while it's a depressing topic in some ways, I would expect all but perhaps the most sensitive of 6th graders to be able to deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 To the others...it's too hard to explain. It just seemed depressing, "scary", ridiculous to impress all of this on a 6th grader, and on top of that we don't buy fully into the CFC causing global warming theory Well, if it said that, it's wrong, but I rather doubt it did. CFCs are tied to ozone depletion, which is an entirely different thing than Global Warming, which is tied to "greenhouse gases" like CO2. One leads to an increase of ultraviolet radiation being let through the atmosphere leading to increases in things like skin cancer, the other leads to infrared radiation being trapped inside the atmosphere leading to a rise in global average temperature. People are often conflating these two entirely different ideas which have both different causes and different effects, which would argue for more time on this topic, not less... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 The Global Warming was in the Geography. The OZone depletion and CFC's was in the Science. Sorry for the mix-up. I still feel like these are stupid issues to cover at this age. Sorry. Especially in Geography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 If you buy a mainstream, secular program, expect to get mainstream, secular science. It is science, whether you personally buy into it or not. I don't know Calvert's specific line up, but 6th grade is often environmental and earth science studies. One day seems pretty minimal for such a big topic at this age. And while it's a depressing topic in some ways, I would expect all but perhaps the most sensitive of 6th graders to be able to deal with it. I just needed a place to vent. Obviously I expect secular mainstream Science from Calvert. I guess I'm just not a fan of the 6th grade Science anyway. I mean, you are correct. It's over and nobody had a mental meltdown over sensitivity to it. But back to my venting, I just think that we could not possibly enjoy Science any less this year. :glare: And this used to be one of his favorite subjects, and is his favorite subject in his free time as far as non fictions books and documentaries. And meanwhile, we are using mainstream secular Science with my dd and loving every minute of it. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 Well, if it said that, it's wrong, but I rather doubt it did. CFCs are tied to ozone depletion, which is an entirely different thing than Global Warming, which is tied to "greenhouse gases" like CO2. One leads to an increase of ultraviolet radiation being let through the atmosphere leading to increases in things like skin cancer, the other leads to infrared radiation being trapped inside the atmosphere leading to a rise in global average temperature. People are often conflating these two entirely different ideas which have both different causes and different effects, which would argue for more time on this topic, not less... I see your point. Obviously I learned the difference and still mixed it up. And I like your logic- more time, not less. But since all CFC's have now been banned (right?) would 6th grade really be the time to harp on it? I don't know. Maybe I am not much of a Scientist. So far the ONLY Science program we have really loved is the A Closer Look series. And Usborne Books. They are cool. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 If you're doing Calvert independently, I would just drop the science in favor of DIY'ing it. I mean, if it's not working for you, it's not working. I've heard such mixed things about Calvert science. I know a couple of people who think it's a joke - just woefully lame. And others who seem to think it's amazingly solid and rigorous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 If you're doing Calvert independently, I would just drop the science in favor of DIY'ing it. I mean, if it's not working for you, it's not working. I've heard such mixed things about Calvert science. I know a couple of people who think it's a joke - just woefully lame. And others who seem to think it's amazingly solid and rigorous. Well here's where I need the "sheepish" smiley. We signed up for ATS and are really trying to stick with it till the end of the year. I want to assess whether the grades and input from the teacher will motivate my son to work harder and me to be more consistent. And the Science is the main area in which I would be likely to not be consistent. So....thus the sheepish grin. I am complaining about something I have no plans to change at least for this year. However, thanks for thinking about it and listening to my vents, because this will factor in big time into whether we stick with the ATS next year. I think it's working because I would have dropped Prentice Hall Science by now if we weren't enrolled!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASDAQ Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I'm doing the 3rd and 4th grade science from Singapore this year (via SGBox), and very happy with it. If the 5th and 6th science is this good, I will be very pleased. I find science a really hard topic. First, it tends not to be as important to me because it's not as pressing as English or second language or math. It tends to require finding little bits of things, which isn't my strong suit. And then . . . the curricula. My heavens, the curricula. It seems that 95% of what's on the home school market is YEC or otherwise explicitly Christian. The public school stuff, OTOH, has a weird, diluted, trivial flavour about it. I don't want a day-of-random-facts or flavour-of-the-month science course. They are wed (of course) to the provincial standards, which means they have shoehorned in a bunch of stuff about Native beliefs. You think I'm kidding. I am not. Science is not the time that I want to discuss what Native peoples of BC thought about waves. I also don't want the heavy duty the-earth-and-everything-on-it-are-all-doooooomed science that I got as a child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 I'm doing the 3rd and 4th grade science from Singapore this year (via SGBox), and very happy with it. If the 5th and 6th science is this good, I will be very pleased. I find science a really hard topic. First, it tends not to be as important to me because it's not as pressing as English or second language or math. It tends to require finding little bits of things, which isn't my strong suit. And then . . . the curricula. My heavens, the curricula. It seems that 95% of what's on the home school market is YEC or otherwise explicitly Christian. The public school stuff, OTOH, has a weird, diluted, trivial flavour about it. I don't want a day-of-random-facts or flavour-of-the-month science course. They are wed (of course) to the provincial standards, which means they have shoehorned in a bunch of stuff about Native beliefs. You think I'm kidding. I am not. Science is not the time that I want to discuss what Native peoples of BC thought about waves. I also don't want the heavy duty the-earth-and-everything-on-it-are-all-doooooomed science that I got as a child. exactly, exactly, exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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