MistyMountain Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 In my city they don't do history at all. They do social studies in elementary school and only do little season appropriate lessons like about Martin Luther King. Science gets the series short staff here. Only half of the kids in the city can pass a basic science proficiency test. Low income schools score dismally. One school only has 9% proficiency. Yikes! Dd's school does better but although they list science I don't see much at all and it isn't connected. They covered much more of those topics when I was growing up on the east coast in school. I am very unhappy with the fact these things are just skipped over in our schools. I think being exposed to it early sets the foundation for later. Kids can learn about science and history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uff Da! Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 For history, the schools just covered in a haphazard manner as there is no state standardized test for history for K-5. For science the neighborhood school use FOSS (Full Option Science System) by Lawrence Hall of Science. How well it is implemented depends on the homeroom teacher for K-3. For 4th and 5th grade, there is a dedicated science teacher. The annual science fair is run by the PTA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 My kids go to an "exemplary" Lutheran school. I say that because one would think they do everything well. But I think they de-emphasize science and social studies. (History will be part of SS at some points, it is not a separate subject). They theoretically have a class in each once a week, but I think it gets the short shrift and probably gets skipped when schedules get tight. They have only done a small fraction of each book so far in 2nd grade. In 1st, they did like 2 chapters in the 1st semester and then they did several chapters in a month at the end of the year. Looks like this year might end up similar. I am not a fan of how these subjects are organized, anyway - especially social studies, which seems very haphazard in the elementary years. I don't get the impression that they are doing anything to reinforce or expand concepts. There has been one science project (habitats) but it seemed to be more of a thing to check off the list. The school just opened a science lab this year, but my kids have never been to see it. I provide my kids with a lot of books, DVDs, and experiences relevant to science and social studies. They may not be learning exactly what's in the 2nd grade standardized tests, but they are learning. Honestly, it's not my biggest concern at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckymom Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 In my son's school science alternates with social studies throughout the year. Neither seems to be covered exceptionally well in the classroom at the K-3 level (he's in 3rd this year), I think because they're so busy making sure they've covered their bases in math and language arts. That said, they actually learn some history and science during language arts. Especially this year, they've done a lot of reading on various nonfiction topics in language arts, and learned about both science and social studies in that manner. It's been a great way for Squirrelboy to learn, but I'm sure it doesn't work for everyone. Based on what I've heard from his friends on our street who are 5th graders at his school, they do seem to ramp up on history and science in the upper grades. In 4th they do a study of early American history and in 5th they do a long study and a major project on Native Americans as well as a study of Kentucky state history. World history doesn't seem to be covered at all, but that's not unusual at any level in the U.S. and has been for quite awhile. I went to school in one of the most highly regarded districts in Michigan, and I think I got a great education overall, but I think I learned the history of colonization to the civil war about six different times. On the science end, just this year they added a STEM lab to the specials rotation. This means that every six school days they have an hour dedicated to science and engineering. It's been wonderful and is always the highlight of the week for Squirrelboy when he has it. In national rankings, Kentucky scores very low in science education (I think we're number #37), and our district is actively working to improve science education. We visit a lot of science museums as a family and read and talk a lot about science and engineering at home. DH is an engineer and Squirrelboy has always loved science. His teachers have always commented that he has a lot of science knowledge. History is harder to work into our daily lives, in part because I'm the only one in the family who's interested in history for its own sake, but we read historical fiction books haphazardly, visit the occasional history museum, and I try to mention any historical connections we encounter. I've thought about getting SOTW on audio and listening to it while we drive around town, but I haven't done so yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 DS goes to an private school with high academic focus. They do Geography for half a year (American state study) and American History for half a year (discovery of america-columbus/American wars/civil rights/presidents etc). They typically do one lesson a week. They also do one chapter of science every 2 weeks. They have an annual science fair project that they work on for 2 months at school time. But, none of it is that involved or stimulating in my opinion. Seems like superficial attempts at teaching these subjects. (I am a tough critic and maybe this would amount to a lot for some others ?) We use our own resources and afterschool DS when we can: SOTW, American presidents, educaional videos (How the states got their shape, Lewis and Clark expedition etc), Evan Moore Daily Geography, BFSU science, Boston Children's Museum Activity Books by Zubrowski. We also throw in programming the Mindstorms, snapcircuit projects etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beishan Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I don't know what exact materials my son's school is using for science and social studies. However, I start to hear him talking geography, histroy related things when he comes home recently. I bought him a globe puzzle last December and we put it up during holiday. He loves to stare at it and try to find the location of the cities/states/countries we visited in the past. My son also mentioned that teacher let them watch Liberty Kids. (so I bought the DVD as well) They also read some books for social studies. For science, they mainly work on life science and they also use Brain Pop Jr. My son loves to watch those science DVDs as well. We have Magic school bus collection at home. He loves them and read all the MSB books as well. We borrow DK eyewitness DVD and books from library. Also utilize Amazon prime streaming to watch popular mechanic and other educational programs for free when we have time. We visit Science Center 2-3 times per year (free museum program from Bank of America). We also have NJ Aquarium annual pass and normally visit 4-5 times per year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 My kids watch the magic school bus dvds and sometimes they watch Peter Weatherall. My son likes Popular Mechanics and the kids all love Brainpop. I read them science books based on what interests them. My son loves reading about how things are built like boats, tunnels, trains, buildings and planes etc and right now I am reading my daughter books on the human body. They all like Magic School Bus books. I am reading the Story of the World to my 5 and 7 year old and my oldest is finally getting into it. She actually wanted me to ask questions so the activity book is on the way. I have read them books on history that interest them but I am going to focus on ancient times for now. We have liberty kids but I will wait to do more modern stuff. I just looked up my states science ranking and yep we are near the bottom. The state I am from is one of the top 3. I totally remember getting a good education in science and I did get a much better one. I really wish the kids in this state had better. I bet it is even worse at other schools. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Coast School Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Long story short? TERRIBLE. This is one of the main reasons we choose to afterschool. They don't get any history in elementary. NONE They get some "social studies"=drivel They get about 6 lessons in science TOTAL for the whole year in elementary. All that being said, they do an awesome job at reading and language arts and a pretty good job at math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nart Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Since No Child Left Behind and the high stakes testing in English Language Arts and Math started I think many elementary schools drastically decreased science and history. The schools where I work the only year that science is really emphasized is in 5th grade because California students have to take a science test along with math and English Language Arts in the spring. My son's school just got a half a million dollar grant and the school is spending a substantial amount of money to hire a full time science teacher and turn one room into a science lab. It will be interesting to see what ends up happening. The past year he has gotten minimal science and social studies lessons. Just some random worksheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Over time, the question is periodically raised whether it's even a good idea to spend time on science/social studies during the primary years. Nowadays they seem to be making a greater effort to include these topics in the reading curriculum also. So while I pat myself on the back when giving my kids the opportunity to learn more science / history / geography, I'm not really sure it needs to be a priority in school right now. As long as they learn what they need over time. But if they are going to do a half-assed job of it, I would really prefer that they didn't waste our time at all. The kids have unit tests and it's clear they don't know the material. So they have to teach the chapter to themselves home. What's the point of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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