jnaj Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 We are still narrowing down our science for the year, and my daughter has let me know she is not a fan of Sassafras Zoology (we are going to do Anatomy for the first semester- THAT she is excited about.) I'm trying to figure out what we will be doing after we finish Anatomy, and she told me she would like to do Astronomy. I was hoping to get some recommendations. We prefer secular, but open if it's a good program for a 1st grader. Thanks for any thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad astra Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I haven't used it but you might want to take a look at this. K-2 Earth and Space: Astronomy | Intellego Unit Studies - Core Curriculum and Independent Study : http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I haven't used it but you might want to take a look at this. K-2 Earth and Space: Astronomy | Intellego Unit Studies - Core Curriculum and Independent Study : http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=16 We used this and enjoyed it, although definitely supplemented with loads of library books. The problem is is not enough really for a whole semester. You could stretch it like we did, but Intellego has a nice earth science unit that we used concurrently as a nice tie-in. http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_9_10&products_id=15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Have you looked at REAL Science Odyssey Earth & Space? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnaj Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't heard of Intellego. I am trying to find samples on their website, but I haven't been able to find any. Considering it is a unit study, do you do it everyday? How does it flow with you other subjects? Whitehawk- I briefly looked at that, but was thinking it was a year long course so didn't look into it further since we are looking for something shorter. I like the studies of the Earth and solar system, but do not want to do weather (we did that this past year, and honestly I am weathered out!), although I guess we could always skip that portion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad astra Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't heard of Intellego. I am trying to find samples on their website, but I haven't been able to find any. Oh, I just realized that Intellego only offers a preview of the Evolution Unit (http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/samples/K-2Evolution.pdf) in K-2 Science... bummer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnaj Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 Oh, I just realized that Intellego only offers a preview of the Evolution Unit (http://www.intellegounitstudies.com/samples/K-2Evolution.pdf) in K-2 Science... bummer! Thank you for posting that. At least I get get a feel for what Intellego's programs are like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Whitehawk- I briefly looked at that, but was thinking it was a year long course so didn't look into it further since we are looking for something shorter. I like the studies of the Earth and solar system, but do not want to do weather (we did that this past year, and honestly I am weathered out!), although I guess we could always skip that portion? Units 1-8 are weather, 9-21 are rocks & related topics, 21-33 are the solar system, and 34-36 are other space topics. Each is meant to be a week. You could just start at #21 and have a semester's worth of activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieCotton Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 We are using Intelligo right now as a guide or intro into content, for my sons 7, and 8 and it's pretty good. My boys want to go deeper so we've added the Nat Geog Kids Space Encyclopedia, DK's 1 Million things about Space, and a box full of Seymour Simon content readers, and other ones (all from the library which I love so I don't spend more money), and use my night atlas. The photos are so engaging I wish every subject was this easy. We have a few other very large reference books that I pull from here and there. (Again, library). Then we do a notebook page, and illustrate the topic. Since this isn't a hard push we do it 4 times a week. I have topics planned for the next 4 months, but any time schedule can be created with Intelligo. We are adding more topics than they cover, but only because we want to. It's been awhile but I'm sure I can send you a few pages as a sample if you want to see the unit study. Just let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Several months ago I downloaded a PDF from Currclick.com that was Elemental Science Lapbooking through the Solar System. It was free then, but it's now $4.50. It looks good, but I can't critique it because we never ended up using it. I discovered my boys didn't like Lapbooking, so we never got to it! It is rated for your daughter's age though. It is broken down into 11 weekly lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 and/or + library books + Bill Nye the Science Guy + a trip to the planetarium http://bluehouseschool.blogspot.com/search/label/Earth%20Science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnaj Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks everyone! Great ideas here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basketcase Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 We did astronomy last year. The kids loved it! We went to a planetarium, a meeting of a local astronomy club (to get access to telescopes), and did some stargazing. These were good books: Usborne Book of Astronomy and Space Janice VanCleave's Astronomy for Every Kid (some of the experiments/demonstrations are too advanced for 1st grade) These were our favorites: Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey (Yes, the author of Curious George! His original astronomy book is aimed at slightly older kids. Also adorable, it's called The Stars). Basher Astronomy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnaj Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 and/or + library books + Bill Nye the Science Guy + a trip to the planetarium http://bluehouseschool.blogspot.com/search/label/Earth%20Science This is awesome. I think I am going to go this direction with this! My daughter was looking at your blog with me, and got really excited about it :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SereneHome Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I did RS4K Astronomy - and supplemented with tons of books. It's pretty simple, I did it with a 5 yr old, so not sure if your DD would get bored with it, but it's colorful and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking Squirrels Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 We did astronomy last year in k. I used DK first space encyclopedia and Evan Moore exploring space as our main resources and then looked up a bunch of lap book activities and added books and videos from the library. DD loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 This was our second year using similar materials. My DD has greatly enjoyed it all. There are a lot more activities in the Investigating Science book that we didn't do. Space was our final unit this past year. I was researching chemistry for next year when I discovered the Thames & Kosmos Space Exploration kit. I was itching to try one of their kits, so I bought it and ended up using it a lot to get my money's worth out of it. Unless you can get a really great deal on it, I'm not sure I would recommend the kit. A lot of the activities in it are very similar to ones in the two books. This is awesome. I think I am going to go this direction with this! My daughter was looking at your blog with me, and got really excited about it :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnaj Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 This was our second year using similar materials. My DD has greatly enjoyed it all. There are a lot more activities in the Investigating Science book that we didn't do. Space was our final unit this past year. I was researching chemistry for next year when I discovered the Thames & Kosmos Space Exploration kit. I was itching to try one of their kits, so I bought it and ended up using it a lot to get my money's worth out of it. Unless you can get a really great deal on it, I'm not sure I would recommend the kit. A lot of the activities in it are very similar to ones in the two books. It looks like the books have a lot of activities in them. I think that, along with lots of books and videos (and my daughter has been begging to go to the observatory) should be good for a 1st grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Oh, yes. There's more than enough. It looks like the books have a lot of activities in them. I think that, along with lots of books and videos (and my daughter has been begging to go to the observatory) should be good for a 1st grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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