ajfries Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 We're taking this week off from school so I'm entertaining myself by planning next year :D I'm stuck on science (for my 6 year old & his little sister tagging along). Originally I was going to just design some unit studies & nature studies, but left to my own devices, I get overwhelmed by my perfectionism and do nothing. Or I burn myself out by planning & find implementation far less exciting. I'd love to try Science in the Beginning, but I think I'd be better off to wait until everyone is older & do it all together. Then I was thinking of doing Evan Moore's Daily Science, but apparently that needs a lot of 'beefing up' (according to an old thread). Which I'm not out rightly opposed to, but again, left to my own devices it may or may not get done. REAL Science Odyssey looks promising but (again, according to a thread on here) there's an experiment every lesson. I don't know if I'm up for that. I could probably skip some, but I'd have to fight feeling guilty about it & giving up completely (what is it with homeschooling making my character flaws stand out?!) BFSU intrigues me, and I love the idea of it, but I find it a bit intimidating. I need a little more hand holding. Cost is a factor. The bulk of my budget is going towards Right Start Math & LOE for phonics, and that's the way I like it :) I don't want to do Science every day, so if that's how the curriculum is designed, it needs to be easy to adapt. I'm not necessarily looking for a lot of depth--this is first grade, after all. Open & go is a plus. I like science, but I'm not science-y if that makes sense. Any wise words or suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meghann Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 We just bought Intro to Science from Elemental Science and it looks really good. They offer schedules for 2 days a week or 5 days a week, but You could adjust it to however many days suits your needs. It was really cheap ($16ish for the pdf file), more muddies and magnets I got used for about $5, and then I also purchased the usborne first science encyclopedia for $10 (it's optional, but I figured it would be nice to have additional readings - we will pick up other books from the library on the subject to keep in a basket and pull out when we feel like). Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 BFSU is cost effective if you have a good library. Out of those for a 6yo, I would choose that. We use it here as well. You can pick a topic or two a week, get library books and do some fun projects with it. I use it very much like unit studies with brief units. For a 6yo you are going for exposure not perfection. With that in mind, I wouldn't worry about beefing up Evan Moore if you go that route. That is the easiest to plan on the teacher end. We tried RSO too, and this mama just couldn't do that many experiments. Here my smallest (age 6) does Sassafras with her older brother (8). They did Zoology and started Anatomy this past year. It is very gentle and simple if you skip the extra books (I only use those with my older). The downside is you spent what sometimes seems like forever on one topic. I use BFSU with them concurrently to interject some other topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I really like the Magic School Bus lesson plan. It's free and written by a homeschooling mom who turned each video into an expanded lesson. (All the videos are available on Nextflix streaming, I believe.) I didn't do the lesson plans, but I have a friend who did and they really liked them. http://www.homeschoolbelle.blogspot.com/2013/08/free-science-plans-using-magic-school.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendag Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 We did this program this year and it worked out wonderful...and it's FREE. They have K-6 completely finished and much of secondary done, although I don't know what we'll be using at that point. There are a few spelling/grammar errors here and there, but the kids and I all love it. There might be some things you need to buy like a microscope, but for 1st grade, many things you will probably already have around the house. It's also very easy to go even deeper if you're kids want to. Science is done 3 days a week. Pre Lab, Lab then Post Lab. The K and 1st grade doesn't take that much time per day though. http://www.msnucleus.org/membership/k-6.html You start at Applied Science and work your way clockwise around the subject wheel (as I like to call it). So after Applied Science, you would move on to The Universe Cycle then Plate Techtonic Cycle, etc. Whatever you choose...enjoy! Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 BFSU works very well for my 6 year old - and even my 3 year old can join in on occassion - I usually read the section. pick out a couple of things to show her (Bill Nye or Magic School Bus or even just short videos on youtube) and then find a couple of books on the topic to read with her. Occassionally I will get her to do a narration and we will do whatever experiments are needed. It took a little to get going and figure out what worked, but that is really fine when your child is 6. I try not to plan much anymore as something will always happen that prevents my plans working - so usually on the weekend I will decide which section/sections we are doing and quickly prepare - the longer I do it the more I realise that if it is not perfect it does not matter - we can cycle round to it again. We are doing plants and soil in midwinter here but BFSU is made so that you are meant to revise often so come spring we will automatically look at it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) . Edited October 30, 2022 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnaj Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 We are going to go with Sassafras for 1st grade (Zoology and Anatomy.) I am thinking about doing block scheduling with Science and History- so we will focus on the Zoology until it is completed, then do SOTW 1, and then Anatomy. I was also considering doing the Evan Moor Daily Science for when we are in our history portion of the year, just to have that, but that probably isn't even necessary. Elemental Science has some nice options, and the Intro to Science is what we did (mostly- we didn't complete it, just when we felt like it because it was just kindergarten) and it's really well put together and inexpensive. If we weren't doing the Sassafras we would be doing that this year completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I did RSO this year with kids (mostly) 5 and 4, with a toddler to boot. We skipped some of the experiments but really most were ver very simple and took 15 minutes to pull together and do. I found it a literature heavy option, but then again I included all the suggested books :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.