If you use BJU Science, how do you "do" it?

[Rhonda in TX]

I have BJU Science 5. I'm thinking of taking a break from our current science to try it out. I have the student book and the teacher manual. I'll be ordering the notebook pages this week.

 

I've looked at the teacher manual, but I'm still a little confused (or maybe overwhelmed is the right word). I'd appreciate any tips.

[Melissa in CA]

My son loves it! But we use it with BJU's HomeSat so I am not actually the teacher. :D

 

Hopefully someone with teaching experience will pipe in for ya!

[Hoggirl]

We just started this in January, and are not doing the *whole* program but the abbreviated one semester program. I wish I had done the whole thing all year long, b/c I really like it. Anyway, I am assuming that the grade 5 book is set up like the grade 6 book with the entire student text reprinted "within" the teacher's manual. The perimeter of my teacher's manual has questions as well as some additional notes and ideas about demonstrations. With the abbreviated version not all of the lessons are done...mostly the experiment lessons are omitted. My ds usually reads a two-page spread and then we discuss/and I ask him some of the questions from the TM. In particular, the ones with the lightbulbs beside them require more thought than some of the others which are basically regurgitate info. questions. I don't usually ask all the questions. He then reads the next couple of pages and we do the same. If there are activity pages we do those. My teacher manual has a schedule at the beginning that divides everything up into very manageable lessons. The one-semester version just has the lessons that we do marked with astericks. I am having him do the quizzes and the tests. You can get kits for experiments from Home Science Tools. We are doing very few experiments, however. Sometimes I do the demonstrations suggested in the TM, sometimes not. Like I said, I am assuming your grade 5 is the newest (3rd edition) and is set up like the grade 6 book. I am very glad to have finally gone the textbook route for science. I plan to use the Life Science next year in its entirety. I plan to start using the DVD component in either grade 8 or 9.

HTH!

Cynthia

[Verena]

We finished BJU 3 a few weeks ago and here is how it usually went:

I looked over the entire chapter in the TM (BJU 3 has 4 lessons/chapter) and decided how much time we were going to spend on each lesson. I also made sure I had everything for the experiments (I ordered a kit from homesciencetools). We did the lessons out of order- and usually skipped a few experiments that were listed to introduce the chapter.

 

I utilized the TM a lot- asking the leading questions at the beginning, then ds read from the student book, then we answered the questions, then we did the experiment and filled out the notebook pages.

Sometimes we combined 2 lessons, sometimes we only read, sometimes we only did the experiment and talked.

 

HTH!

[Ferdie]

We do science on homesat, but I have taught him a few times when I missed taping.

 

I read the TE ahead of time to make sure I understand the topic and decide on which experiments to do. I gather the materials that we are going to need for the experiments so they are ready to go during the week. I make a list of the pages that he needs to read out of the text and the Study Guide pages that he need to complete for each day. I put that info on his daily check list.

 

During the week, we sit down after he has done his reading and go over the discussion questions in the margin of the TE. Then he goes off and does the Study Guide on his own. I review the Study Guide when he is done so he can do corrections the same day. I also use the quizes and test and the TE will tell you when to assign them. You really don't need the tests but I use them because I want my ds to have experience taking a test.

 

I love BJU science and it is worth the extra. I am learning as much as my children so it has been fun for all of us.

[Zee]

I have the 3rd edition, so the following is based on that. We love Science 5 and have enjoyed it so much, we already have Science 6 waiting in the wings. The way we do it: I assign the reading, ds completes any activity pages. We correct the activitiy pages and then we go through the discussion questions in the TM. I do every question. There are a lot of extra activities in the TM that are not in the Student text or Activity pages. They are optional and we don't do them, due to time. There are also, lots of extra notes to add to your discussion or to help you learn more about the topic. Sometimes I share those with ds during our question and answer/discussion time, but sometimes I do not. I do read them for myself, though. I do give the quizzes when directed in the lessons, and I do give the tests. Otherwise, I think the lessons will walk you through it. If you have any further questions, let me know, and I'll try to answer. BTW - I expect that we will not complete this text this year, so we just plug along. I have set aside 30 min. 3 x a week and 45 min. 1x a week. I really should have scheduled 45 min. 4-5 days a week. There is a lot of material in there. But, I'm not letting it stress me or push me to cover it too quickly. Ds really enjoys this curriculum and is learning the material well and that's the point for me. I expect to cover at least 3/4 of the lessons and we'll finish it up next year. My advice would be to aim for a lesson each day you do science, but if you find you need to stretch some over 2-3 days, then don't sweat it. Just keep plugging. HTH.

[Rhonda in TX]

This does help. I appreciate it!

 

I'm taking a board break for Lent, so I won't be responding any more to this thread. (last minute decision)

 

Thank you!

[Tami]

First off, I get the Home Science Tools kit so I don't have to run around town gathering materials! :)

 

I am lazy, but I do weeks of history alternated with weeks of BJU. When I do BJU weeks, I sit down the week before and read through 4 or 5 lessons (or whatever I plan to cover the next week) to familiarize myself with what will be taught. That is very important! I may make a trip to the library and get books related to our topic, throwing them in a book basket. Block scheduling a couple of weeks for BJU lets me turn it into a mini-unit of sorts. We watch videos and try to plan some type of field trip.

 

I get the kit, so I don't usually have to buy anything. Sometimes I will need paper towel tubes or something like that - but it is always easy stuff that I have on hand.

 

From there, I pretty much follow the Teacher's manual to a "t." My dd loves the questions to get her thinking, and she enjoys all the demonstrations and experiments. It is definitely a multi-sensory curriculum that utilizes all learning modalities! Love BJU!

 

My suggestion is to try block scheduling a 2-week BJU unit if you like to go the unit study route. I let dd pick the unit and we go from there.

 

Hope you like it!

 

: )

Tami

[Denise in NE]

We are doing the 8th grade program this year -without the DVDs or Home Sat- and I wouldn't recommend using BJU science without one of these resources.

It is doable, of course, but my dd is having a difficult time understanding some concepts and having success with the (few) experiments she does.

 

Denise in NE