VickyO664 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I am looking for a new science curriculum for the fall. Currently, we are using McRuffy Science grade 1 for my kids, grade 1 and K. We don't love it. It is dry and boring, and the experiments are blah. We will finish up with it but I am ready to start looking. This is our second year homeschooling, first year doing science. I am a science major (microbiologist/chemist) and want something that really teaches kids concepts, vocabulary, etc. Not "fluffy science". Cost is a factor as is prep time. I want something with little prep and inexpensive lab materials, preferably. I was looking at R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, Real Science 4 Kids (kind of pricey and would use one book for a whole year), and Apologia. Would you recommend any one of these? Or a different one I haven't mentioned? Thanks! I don't want to waste my money again on something we don't like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 For a scientist, with young kids I would recommend Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) by Bernard Nebel. It interweaves science topics, so you aren't studying life science one year, earth science the next, rather you can go back and forth at will between 4 topics: nature of matter, life science, physical science, and Earth and space science. Book one is geared for K-2. We did it in 1st and 2nd. We just started book 2 this year. Cons - the black and white format means it is cheap, but there are no pictures. Internet image search will be your friend. The text is written to the teacher, is a bit chatty, and sometimes spends a lot of time setting up arguments you won't need (i.e. my kids did not need to be convinced that air was made of matter) It requires some prep work. Back on the plus side, the author is really active in the Yahoo groups and will answer questions. There are flow chart suggestions out there too (although I just made my own). Somewhere you can get an e-copy of the book for $5, but if you are considering it, I highly recommend the $20 hardcopy. In the end, if you do want to try it I would be happy to share my flow chart and more implementation details. Just pm me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 For a scientist, with young kids I would recommend Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) by Bernard Nebel. It interweaves science topics, so you aren't studying life science one year, earth science the next, rather you can go back and forth at will between 4 topics: nature of matter, life science, physical science, and Earth and space science. Book one is geared for K-2. We did it in 1st and 2nd. We just started book 2 this year. Cons - the black and white format means it is cheap, but there are no pictures. Internet image search will be your friend. The text is written to the teacher, is a bit chatty, and sometimes spends a lot of time setting up arguments you won't need (i.e. my kids did not need to be convinced that air was made of matter) It requires some prep work. Back on the plus side, the author is really active in the Yahoo groups and will answer questions. There are flow chart suggestions out there too (although I just made my own). Somewhere you can get an e-copy of the book for $5, but if you are considering it, I highly recommend the $20 hardcopy. In the end, if you do want to try it I would be happy to share my flow chart and more implementation details. Just pm me. I was a micro/chem major as well, and I second the recommendation of BFSU. It is more work than other choices, but I absolutely love how he weaves the different disciplines together. I do however, prefer the PDF - if you have a tablet. You can get the $5 copy at Outskirts Press. If nothing else, you can preview the PDF before spending money on the hardcopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Ditto. Dr. Nebel all the way. I build powerpoints out of the chapters, and yes, it is a lot of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Another bio/chem major here...I fourth(?) bfsu. Very conceptual and easy to implement for someone with your kind of background. If you join the yahoo group you can download the supply list and the booklist. I spent an hour or so gathering things and putting them in the box so they are at the ready. I spent another hour or so cross referencing the booklist to my library's catalog. Now I just click on everything I need for the month and my friendly librarian has them ready when I take the littles to story time. I also just use the $5 PDF on the iPad, but that's more of a personal preference. The hard copy, at $25ish is still a good deal for three years worth of material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I also agree that BFSU is fantastic. I do it in the lamest way possible and it is still great. I am the worst example of how to use BFSU but my kid is still learning a whole lot. I did own the PDFs of book 2 & 3, but I now know I hate PDFs in a book that involves flipping around and back and forth. It just makes me NUTS. Plus, then my computer's hard drive died a horrible death and I lost the PDFs. So, I will be getting the second book for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia7278 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I used RSO Earth with kids that young and I wouldn't do it again. It's too much. Try to find something geared for their ages. For example, something like Abeka or BJU for that grade. I know those are Christian currics, but they were the ones that popped into my head. I'm sure there are secular ones as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Personally we like REAL science odyssey life mixed with Mr Q for human body. It's fun enough, easy to put together, and they are learning. I also add in a lot of library books. My background is in nursing. So I'm sciencey but not a scientist. ;) I haven't tried anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 BFSU is the best one out there. Unfortunately, I suck at science. I use it as a loose guide then use Brain Pop, the library and watch a lot of Discovery channel documentaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I have use RSO and I find it too light and not very well written. It is a little awkward to read aloud. I am going to recommend BFSU. It is a little chatty but if you have access to a library and YouTube it is super cheap. $5 for 3 years. You can't beat that price! The science is intergrated. Like science really is. And the concepts build upon each other. It seems confusing at first. But there is a lot of help on the BFSU yahoo group. Someone has even posted most of the first book as simple lesson plans. Check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedogfarm Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I also wholeheartedly recommend BFSU. You just have to DO IT, but it's not hard. I like how it goes over scientific concepts without restricting you to biology for the whole year. I do not go hogwild with BFSU and the lesson really do not take a long time (there is only so much discussion sometimes b/c there are only two children!). BUT I do try to bring the concepts up in every day life to reinforce and usually we bring up the topic at dinner to discuss with Dad. I also do that with history too. Also something to think about: adding on your own "science" spine for each child. For example, my daughter LOVES animals so everyday for independent work she reads a page or two of Margaret Waring Buck's book and then either does a sketch or finds an example of what she read about that day. Today for example, she is reading about winter weeds. Part of her assignment is to find an example of a winter weed, identify it, and then we'll press it and it will go in her Nature Study book. Tomorrow she's reading about animals that hibernate. She'll have to sketch one and add a fact to it. If you live in the Northeast, all of Margaret Waring Buck's books would be a wonderful add on. The sketches are all in black and white and they are so accessible and very easy to make part of your school day. Since your children are so young you might want to read the page and then invite them to make a drawing of the animal/plant/tree or whatever and that can be the start of their independent work. My son is just finishing a book on the story of geology and next he'll be using a book on microscopes and each day he'll have a little reading assignment. Since he's a year older, he has to answer some questions and sometimes sketches. For example I'll give him a 10 page span to read and for the next 2-3 days I will have him answer 2-3 questions per day usually asking him to explain a topic (not simply: who was the father of geology but something like: How were the Appalachian Mountains formed?). By doing both BFSU AND this approach I am catering to my children's interests while covering quite a bit of science as well. We do BFSU one to two times/week and the independent work daily. This independent work helps me to work with ds and dd one-on-one in math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Maybe this falls under the category of any curriculum that gets done is good, but after trying a couple of other things, we settled on Abeka. My daughter likes the coloful book and that she can study several science concepts in one year. We have only been using it for two weeks, but we have already made a terrarium and a large magnifying glass using a bucket of water. Right now, science is her favorite subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Agree that BFSU is the spine off which you hang everything else. Disc stream, youtube, brainpop, etc. DD was recently engrossed in a Great Courses neuroscience series. It was only loosely tied to the bio thread we're in on BFSU, but that's cool, twisty side road we found. Although I still use Disc Steam (DW's free sub), I'm tending to encorporate more targeted YT clips rather than one big 30 ninute segment designed as a class presentation. It evolves, but that's prob the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickyO664 Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Thank you all so much! I am definitely going to check out BFSU. Many of you mentioned it covers 3 years ...?!? How does that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Thank you all so much! I am definitely going to check out BFSU. Many of you mentioned it covers 3 years ...?!? How does that work? It covers 8 years over three volumes. Amazon has all 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 The first volume is designated K-2. But, the trouble is that it really is the foundation of the other books. You aren't expected to just jump into the second book. I am doing the entire K-2 book with my third grader this year. I told you that I am the worst BFSU person ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) Quote Which science curriculum do you love? Edited October 30, 2022 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I've homeschooled first grade four times, and will do it a fifth time this fall. I haven't found a first grade science curriculum I love yet, though the simple WTM recommendations were enjoyed. My current kindergartner mentioned interest in learning American geography, some animals, and gardening. We'll continue with Green Thumbs for gardening, add CLP Nature Readers as an animals spine, and I'm still looking at geography options. I totally agree with this. For years 1-3 I followed the suggestions in TWTM as sort of my 'minimum science' and it went really well. Was it all we did? No. There were big brother's science to check out, there was self led exploration, there was that two year David Attenborough obsession, there was the bug thing. There was a whole lot of age appropriate science going on but TWTM guidelines gave us something to point to and say "there, we did science three times this week". It was easy and he loved it. He especially loved it when he knew more than what was in the book and could go on and on and on about whatever. it was pretty funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeegal Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Elemental Science has been a success in my house. It well planned, the experiments usually work, it gets done, and the kids learn science. I've tried others, but none was successful on all 4 points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Elemental Science has been a success in my house. It well planned, the experiments usually work, it gets done, and the kids learn science. I've tried others, but none was successful on all 4 points. I am finding this too. We are just finishing up ES Biology and I was considering changing programs, but I think I might stick w/ it b/c it gets done. I have BFSU but I can't bring myself to use it. I like open and go. I don't find BFSU open and go at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Ditto. Dr. Nebel all the way. I build powerpoints out of the chapters, and yes, it is a lot of work.I would pay for your BFSU powerpoints. Seriously! We completed BFSU 1 and began volume 2. It's a great curriculum if you are willing to put some time into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I would pay for your BFSU powerpoints. Seriously! . I'd sell them if they didn't start in vol 3, thread B, weren't riddled with typos, and weren't (prob) copyright infringement! Maybe that could be my post-hs gig. I'd have to give Dr. N a cut... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickyO664 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 Now I am looking at Elemental Science, too. :) Love all the suggestions, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickyO664 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 I guess the hardest part for me is wanting to see it before I buy it. We live in the boondocks of KY and no one local uses much for science. (!!?!? I know, right?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I'll be honest: with my K/1st grade aged kiddos, we read The Berenstain Bears Big Book of Science & Nature and supplement with non-fiction from the library. :p Oh, and the Magic School Bus dvds & Brain Pop. Sciece = done. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
energy2c Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I just had to open this thread. I just had to search other BFSU threads. Before I knew it I clicked buy on Amazon and joined the yahoo group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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