LEK Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 I am busy planning my daughter's 4th grade year, eek, 4th grade!!! Yesterday I asked her what she likes the most/least and if there is anything she wants more of or to change etc. Apart from us both wanting to change writing (working on that already) the only thing she really wants altered is to do extra science, yes extra lol. Oh and she only wants to only do 1 page of math a day but I told her that is not going to happen lol and she will have to deal with the 2 she is currently doing. We do RSO (chemistry next year) as a family and I am not looking to add anything more to our combined subjects or to my mummy workload so I am wondering is there a secular science that she might be able to work on independently? Does such a program exist? I am not concerned about the area of science covered, the main criteria is that she can work on it independently. Other than this extra science and the yet to be determined writing program I think I am sorted and own nearly everything already :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 We've used Noeo Biology II this year for 4th grade, and although we usually do it together, dd is definitely capable of doing it on her own. Most days involved reading (heavy on Usborne books), vocabulary, and writing a narration or drawing a picture. There are limited hands-on components in the biology course, but they used the Young Scientist Club kits, which she can pretty much follow independently. Other subjects might have more experiments/need more supervision. Logos Press is a Christian company, but Noeo is a secular text for all intents and purposes. I don't recall any reference to anything of a religious nature, except possibly a "head's up" note in the TM when evolution was covered. My dd always want to do more science than we get to as well, and oftentimes we supplement with lots of library books. She's been known to spend several hours with her nose buried in the science encyclopedia! :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEK Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 PeachyDoodle, I will look into NOEO and see if i think she can do it, thanks :) Both my bigger girls spend hours every week reading either science or history encyclopedias or reference books in their own time, they love them so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppleGreen Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 We did some with Pearson's Interactive Science for my 5th grader this year. I chose to add a bit, including science biographies and some fiction that pertained to the chapters. I used it in a couple of different ways, but the common theme was that it was all independent. There were a few interesting experiments that captured my 5th graders attention. Here is a helpful little thing I learned this year: DO NOT buy the Pearson Interactive homeschool set at $60+ a pop. Yes, you get some access to their education framework on-line, but many of the key components are missing-no tests, interactive videos, worksheets for the Explore It/Investigate It sections are available. I called them and told them the access they gave me was pretty useless and had them refund my purchase (I sent back the book, but am still waiting on the refund over 8 weeks later...). Then I bought a used copy of the workbook for about $3.00 on Amazon. It was almost new, with just a very small amount of writing, and was exactly what we originally purchased minus the on-line access. No guilt over the chapters we didn't complete, and we had more than enough with the workbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Galore Park Junior Science? My DD3 (10) does it one her own. She comes to me to answer the questions orally & discuss. She has done some of the hands-on 'stuff' in the book, but much of it she just reads and we talk about it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEK Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Thanks fourisenough, galore park junior science looks like it fits the bill perfectly and is relatively inexpensive too which is a definite bonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 I was going to recommend Galore Park too. It's not super inspiring, but it's independent, secular and gets the job done. When you have more time in a year or so, check out Ellen McHenrys materials. They're more work, but also more fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Since this is in addition to a science program you will be using with her....I would suggest not getting another science "program". If it were me....I'd get What's Science All About (which is a combined book that includes 3 titles: What's Biology All About, What's Chemistry All About, and What's Physics All About). It's a really nice kid-friendly science book. Then I'd get a bunch of science kits...such as the ScienceWiz kits. Those should be able to be done independently. Rainbow Resource has the science book (Amazon has more sample pages) and the ScienceWiz kits. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 What about creek edge press task cards? We just started using the physics cards and they are great. Independent, encourage research skills, and not so involved that they couldn't be tacked on to something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEK Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Since this is in addition to a science program you will be using with her....I would suggest not getting another science "program". If it were me....I'd get What's Science All About (which is a combined book that includes 3 titles: What's Biology All About, What's Chemistry All About, and What's Physics All About). It's a really nice kid-friendly science book. Then I'd get a bunch of science kits...such as the ScienceWiz kits. Those should be able to be done independently. Rainbow Resource has the science book (Amazon has more sample pages) and the ScienceWiz kits. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! DD is going to LOVE that book, I have added it to my wish list. Those sciencewiz kits look perfect too, I might have to get a few of them too :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Why not skip a science program and just let her read great science books? There are so many wonderful books for that age! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=jean%20craighead%20george%2013%20moons http://www.amazon.com/View-Oak-Private-Worlds-Creatures/dp/0316501379/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432545247&sr=8-1&keywords=view+from+the+oak http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_18?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=scientists%20in%20the%20field&sprefix=scientists+in+the+%2Caps%2C176 http://www.amazon.com/How-Build-Time-Machine/dp/0531139999/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432545454&sr=1-4&keywords=how+to+build+a+time+machine http://www.amazon.com/How-Split-Atom-Hazel-Richardson/dp/0531162028/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432545690&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+split+an+atom(these 2 are part of a series) http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=basher%20science&sprefix=basher+s%2Cstripbooks (I have never used these, but lots of people like them) The list is really endless. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 I was also going to suggest skipping a full curriculum and adding in interest-led science with library books. Here are a whole lot to get started with: http://www.nsta.org/publications/ostb/ She may have some projects she wants to do after she gets going on the reading. She's old enough to find and plan the project, with you looking it over for any safety issues and helping acquire supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragilbert6 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Sorry! Deleted by original poster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Evan Moor Daily Science was a big hit last year with my 4th grader who also wanted more science, and likes simple worksheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Have you looked in to Guest Hollow? They have a lot of really good science curricula to choose from and she could read most if not all of the books by herself. http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html#science Some of the books have Christian content and they are clearly labeled as such. I am just not going to buy those ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Living books and discussing what she learned with you. Uzinggo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Science Detective from critical think company. 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.