happypamama Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Would the KSE be a good Earth Science program for a 7th grader? I'm going to use Mr. Q Earth Science with my 4th grader, but it's too easy for my 7th grader. However, the 7th grader will do the lab experiments from Mr. Q with us, because I'm not about to try doing two sets of labs. ;) Someone suggested CPO Earth Science for my 7th grader, so I did download that, but I need to see how much it's based on its labs. So that's why I thought maybe the KSE would be a good choice -- not terribly long chapters, doesn't assume you've done labs, a little more challenging for her than Mr. Q (hopefully), and DD likes and uses the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Or would it work better just to have a list of living books to use as the primary science for my 7th grader? Like, I'm looking at the Mr. Q syllabus, and the first two out of nine units are on space, stars, universe, rotation and revolution, ec. So I could have her read chapters from a living book on space. We also have the Handbook of Nature Study, so hmmm, I could use that for her too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 How about Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth? It's a slim volume focused on Earth System Science that I think would be just right for a 7th grader. There is also Dr. Art's Guide to Science, which would have even broader coverage and would include some topics on space, the universe, the big bang, etc. You could also have her read Bryson's A Really Short History of Nearly Everything. I think it's a nice plan - labs together, more in-depth reading for the 7th grader. I'm kind of doing the opposite - my science plan is geared to my 7th grader, and she'll have a more challenging indpendent reading list and more output, but I'm going to do some of the more accessible items as read alouds with both girls, and look for living books and activities at the 3rd grader's level that cover the topics my 7th grader is doing more in-depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 How about Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth? It's a slim volume focused on Earth System Science that I think would be just right for a 7th grader. There is also Dr. Art's Guide to Science, which would have even broader coverage and would include some topics on space, the universe, the big bang, etc. You could also have her read Bryson's A Really Short History of Nearly Everything. I think it's a nice plan - labs together, more in-depth reading for the 7th grader. I'm kind of doing the opposite - my science plan is geared to my 7th grader, and she'll have a more challenging indpendent reading list and more output, but I'm going to do some of the more accessible items as read alouds with both girls, and look for living books and activities at the 3rd grader's level that cover the topics my 7th grader is doing more in-depth. Yep, I have done that kind of thing in the past too. I happen to like Mr. Q a lot because it makes science (not my strong point) easy for *me,* especially with all the littles, so I am going to see how it goes this year with beefing things up for the older one (and hopefully some picture books for my Ker). Ooooh! Dr. Art looks good! And score, the science one is available in Kindle form! DD very strongly prefers to read on the Kindle. DH actually suggested that she read his copy of Bryson's book, but she's not so thrilled about its thickness. I haven't looked at it to see how/if it will correspond well with Mr. Q, though, but thank you for the encouragement to go and do so -- I guess I just didn't really think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Yep, I have done that kind of thing in the past too. I happen to like Mr. Q a lot because it makes science (not my strong point) easy for *me,* especially with all the littles, so I am going to see how it goes this year with beefing things up for the older one (and hopefully some picture books for my Ker). Ooooh! Dr. Art looks good! And score, the science one is available in Kindle form! DD very strongly prefers to read on the Kindle. DH actually suggested that she read his copy of Bryson's book, but she's not so thrilled about its thickness. I haven't looked at it to see how/if it will correspond well with Mr. Q, though, but thank you for the encouragement to go and do so -- I guess I just didn't really think about it. Look for the Really Short History by Bryson - it's not thick at all, and it has lots of pictures. It's a "for kids" version of the thick blue-covered book. I don't know if it works on kindle, but our library has it and it's an easy read for a 7th grader, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Someone suggested CPO Earth Science for my 7th grader, so I did download that, but I need to see how much it's based on its labs. Having used CPO Earth this year, I can tell you that you could easily use the textbook without doing any of the CPO labs. The labs are good if you can/want to do some of them, but they aren't necessarily intertwined or assumed to have been completed in working through the text at all. We ended up using earth science kits from Home Science Tools and TOPS more than anything else. We also have and sometimes use the KF Science encyclopedia, but DS still likes the CPO textbook better, and just said he thinks CPO has more detail than KF. Since you have CPO downloaded, I'd just let your DD take a look and see what she thinks. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the resources you're considering. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Look for the Really Short History by Bryson - it's not thick at all, and it has lots of pictures. It's a "for kids" version of the thick blue-covered book. I don't know if it works on kindle, but our library has it and it's an easy read for a 7th grader, I think. Yep, we really like it here too. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Look for the Really Short History by Bryson - it's not thick at all, and it has lots of pictures. It's a "for kids" version of the thick blue-covered book. I don't know if it works on kindle, but our library has it and it's an easy read for a 7th grader, I think. Even better! Thanks! Having used CPO Earth this year, I can tell you that you could easily use the textbook without doing any of the CPO labs. The labs are good if you can/want to do some of them, but they aren't necessarily intertwined or assumed to have been completed in working through the text at all. We ended up using earth science kits from Home Science Tools and TOPS more than anything else. We also have and sometimes use the KF Science encyclopedia, but DS still likes the CPO textbook better, and just said he thinks CPO has more detail than KF. Since you have CPO downloaded, I'd just let your DD take a look and see what she thinks. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the resources you're considering. :) Good to know -- thanks! I feel very encouraged. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Small update-ish. We borrowed Kingfisher (the yellow one) from the library, and DD loves it. It seems like it would complement Mr. Q well, and everyone can do the labs from Mr. Q. I'm going to go print out corresponding chapters from both the CPO book and the ck12 book to put next to Kingfisher so we can compare them directly. I'm concerned that Kingfisher doesn't have enough detail (but if DD loves it, that's a huge bonus), so I might go with one of the other texts instead or in addition (I'm also trying not to overwhelm her with reading, as she has a lot for other subjects already). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 DD voted for the looks of CPO over ck12 (it IS prettier and more visually interesting), so I think I am going to go with CPO and Kingfisher, and add ck12 or separate books for anything that CPO doesn't cover. Today's plan is to sit down with everything and chart out which books cover which topics. Geekiness at its best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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