Soror Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Ds has said he wants to do tech for science next year. He says he wants to do programming and such. Would you let him do that instead of a traditional science? On one hand I'm thinking at this point why not, so far we've done fairly traditional science, why not him explore his interests more. Originally I had planned to have him learn about science through studying some of the technological advancements and how they work but it sounds like that is not his first preference. We also do nature study as a family, so he will be getting in some biology that way. Any suggestions on what to use? He's done oodles of programming with Lego but that has been an extra so far. I think he wants to try some other programming though. Thoughts, resources? I'm perusing old threads and Amazon now looking at the options... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Programming is not science. It is a very valid field of study, but not a replacement for the study of natural science. If anything, it could replace logic (if you study formal logic). I do not understand how, in the study of programming, it would "become obvious" what science he needs to learn to progress - you can program completely without any science knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Stuff like programming really isn't science, but for that age I think it is not a big deal if you don't do traditional science for a year (although with the nature studies thing it sounds like he'll be doing that anyway). We've been pleased with http://www.homeschoolprogramming.com/ I bought it through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. They frequently have deals on those. Another idea is to get a Raspberry Pi. They have various resources for that one too. You could also do electronics. You could start with something like Snap Circuits or there are other electronic learning things out there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I agree that computer programming is not science. However, if you've already done a bunch of science I see no reason that you can't follow a different trail in middle school and do computer programming instead or go lighter with traditional science. My kids know lots more science that most, but at any point in time we are not always doing science. I have one child who started programming in high school with Python - self taught with edX courses and a textbook. My middle schooler started with scratch (a great free way to start learning concepts) and moved on to visual basic with KidCoder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Well, what do I know, those were just some thoughts, obviously not well-formed :) I need to get out of the habit of posting quickly. It did cross my mind that perhaps it is more in the line of logic. In my not entirely awake and thinking brain I was thinking Computer Science I thought about just letting him do lighter with science, as I said we do nature study as a family and we do lots of science naturally. I also thought about perhaps doing some electronics, dh is very skilled with electronics and programming, so it could be something they do together. Dh would give him a much deeper education in any of these fields than any other course of study I could find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I think middle school is a fabulous time to investigate things your son is interested in. Don't worry about trying to check off all the boxes of subjects unless you have to report to someone. Don't worry if you aren't doing formal science, as long as your child is LEARNING. I would not postpone areas like math however. Have fun learning wherever it takes you - electronics or computer programming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 High school science courses all start from the beginning, content wise. All the science before high school is warmup. If he is ready to start high school science, why not do a year of tech? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I think it's fine as a replacement sort of course. Obviously it's not science, but to me it's a bit like doing a year of geography and not doing history for the year. That's a valid choice, just assuming that you're ready for the next thing in history down the line, which he is. And also, middle school. Who cares what you do for middle school as long as it's something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Well, what do I know, those were just some thoughts, obviously not well-formed :) I need to get out of the habit of posting quickly. It did cross my mind that perhaps it is more in the line of logic. In my not entirely awake and thinking brain I was thinking Computer Science Lol I do the same thing. :) Go for it! That's one reason why I home school. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 My son became interested in Electronics and Computer Science in 7th grade. While we don't study them instead of science, we shift back and forth between the two realms. I let him shelve science for a bit in order to let him focus on programming. He has too many other things going on to work with intensity on both realms at the same time. In this regard, I am really going to miss the flexibility of middle school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Well, I talked to dh and he is going to talk to ds to see if he can figure out more specifically what he would like to do and I think we'll make it a father/son project since ds already understands more than I do in the realm of all that stuff. I guess I'll wait and see what they do to decide how that effects our day. As I said we do plenty of real science, ever increasing depth to our nature studies, he helps dh with electrical, programming and other such things, they have in-depth over my head conversations about how various things work. They build rockets for fun, we watch documentaries, etc. I also might just let him try as his primary science for bits here and there, perhaps like when FLL season is getting really intense or during some projects instead of just planning on the whole year off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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