Anyone not do any written work in science? (Trimming down narrations)

[EKT]

I've been doing narrations for pretty much all subjects thus far. We do WWE and FLL for language arts and I find the narrations very effective in that context and very fun for the kids. We also do narrations in history, and they feel appropriate to the subject matter in that context, too. But by the time we get to science and there are more narrations to be done, the kids are kinda over it. I feel like it's starting to kill their love of the subject matter. (My inclination is that elementary science should just be fun and messy and we should simply enjoy read alouds and Ranger Rick and documentaries, without having to do all this written work on top of that.) 

 

Anyone else choosing not to do narrations for everything? How are you currently handling elementary science? I've felt obligated to do science narrations mainly so I have paperwork to show the state to "prove" we do science, but I'm very tempted to just stop doing writing for science and just provide reading lists, etc. as "proof." Because my kids LOVE science as a subject--they love reading about it--but lately they seem hesitant for me to open another book because they don't want to suffer through the narrations that will follow.

 

In other words, I generally love narrations as a practice, but I'm wondering if anyone else feels it's excessive to do them for everything?

 

Side question: I'd love to hear what you're doing for science in general! 

Edited January 19, 2016 by EKT

[MinivanMom]

We don't start doing written science narrations until 4th grade and then move immediately onto outlining in 5th. Before that my kids narrate science orally. They actually do a fair amount of writing at a young age (journaling, writing stories, etc), but it would be crazy overkill here to write narrations for every subject.

 

Our elementary science consists of reading lots of interesting books, doing the occasional hands-on science project/experiment, visiting science museums, and spending lots of time outdoors.

 

If I had to provide proof for the state, then I would just keep a list of books read and maybe snap a few picture of a museum visit or science experiment. The point is to document that they've learned science, and it sounds like you would have plenty of writing samples in other subjects.

[Arcadia]

When my kids were with a public charter, we needed a work sample per subject per term. For science we just submitted four lab reports per year and everyone is happy. The lab reports aren't very detailed or rigid at the elementary level, just objective/hypothesis, observations/discussions and conclusion. My kids mainly draw and didn't write much for those reports.

 

We did narrations for history and my kids rather sit for the sememster exams than do those. Apparently kids either like or hate those so the teacher was accomodating as long as she has acceptable work samples to placate admin.

[HomeAgain]

We keep a science notebook.  At the end of the unit, a picture is drawn and information gathered during the unit is written on the back.  It is a once every month/6 weeks narration (well, dictation still at his age) and it's all kept together in one handy file.

[Miss Tick]

We use BFSU for science and at the end of each lesson (a day, a few days, a week) we do a summary page for their notebooks. When they are young, K-2, I write a sentence or two and they draw a picture. For the longer lessons this helps consolidate the topic. It is also helpful when we review older lessons as part of new lessons (i.e. reviewing inertia as part of our gravity discussion). As we moved into the second book, the lessons got more in-depth and we needed a more back-and-forth format so I pulled together some worksheets that require a variety of response formats. Constant narration would have caused problems here too.

 

All that said, I think your plan sounds great. I had the impression that SWB's recommendation to write across the curriculum was initially developed before she wrote WWE, and that raked the place of some of the narrations at your discretion.

[lmrich]

I would say at the least have them draw a diagram and label. Practice observation skills and neatness! Through in some reading and making graphs.  I have so many middle school science students who need those skills. 

[AEC]

we did nothing other than mostly unstructured, interest-directed, fun science till DS started HS Bio.  Totally not an issue.  IMO, the only purpose/goal of science prior to HS-level (when you have the math and logic background to dig into it) is to create a sense of joy and interest.  I'd totally NOT stress about written work.

Edited January 20, 2016 by AEC

[73349]

I'll see you science and raise you history. :)

 

We're just sticking with high input, low output in those areas for now. DS enjoys those subjects and seems to learn a lot without producing written proof.

[rebcoola]

We use an ALE and we simply would read or watch whatever and talk about and kept a list.   When we did a project, or experiment  I would snap a pic or take a short video to show our consultant each month.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I did not do narratives for every subject.  Science we sometimes did picture drawing.

 

 

[TX Native]

In regards to narration, I don't ask for narration on every subject everyday. If there were 3 reading assignments from different subjects, I may ask for an oral narration on one or two of those. I do not tell the kids which I will ask them to narrate, so they are supposed to come to me prepared to narrate from any subject. If we do a joint read aloud, I alternate who gets asked to narrate throughout the reading. I try not to create a pattern in what order or how many times back to back they are asked to narrate. Remember, illustrating is a form of narration. That changes things up from just putting narration into words all the time.

Edited January 20, 2016 by TX native

[The Girls' Mom]

We did very unstructured science before middle school.  Reading through their choice of library books and doing fun experiments was the main portion of it.  Sometimes they would do a project report on something, usually by making a little book.  I took pictures of their activities and kept any written projects they did.  

 

It worked well for us.  Mine all transitioned just fine into high school level science courses, and I have at least one that is headed into the STEM fields.  

[Jackie]

We do not do written work in science. Or history. Sometimes I'll ask my kid to give something back to me in her own words, but just verbally, and only when I wonder if she heard a word I said. She always did. I don't understand how she can appear to be completely engaged in something else and ignoring me, but be able to repeat something verbatim and paraphrased. It's mind-boggling.

 

I do keep notes for myself on what we did. I take pictures sometimes when she is having fun with science. If I needed a work sample, I might print the pictures and have her caption them with something that sounds science-y.

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

We have lab sheets with our science that require very little writing, that is all I require.  I don't require written work for history either really, it's all hands on fun, though sometimes they will draw a picture and write a short description.  I take pictures of the things we do, this is how we document our learning.

[MerryAtHope]

We did more of a science notebook too, and didn't do daily entries--more like weekly. Sometimes they drew an illustration or something from a nature walk, or jotted down a note, or wrote a bit about a science experiment etc... This was in upper elementary (we didn't do any writing for science in lower elem.) Keep it more casual and fun. I agree, science at this age should be about encouraging interest and curiosity.

[TheAttachedMama]

My kids are 9 and 7.   We do not do any writing in science or history....and GASP...we don't even keep a science or history notebook.   How do I rationalize this?

 

WELL....last year we kept a science and history notebook.   ***I*** loved it because I had this physical proof that we were doing something in these subjects.  :)  So the notebooks were more for me.   They were not really helping my kids in any way.  

 

What do I mean?  Well....  My kids were not the type of kids who would flip through their notebooks and review on their own.   No, they were basically keeping these notebooks to fulfill a requirement.   So, the notebooks were NOT helping them to retain information.   To add to this, all of the writing was really sapping their joy for the subject.   I used to receive cheers when it was time for history and science.   Now, with all of the writing and notebooking, I was receiving groans.   The content was the same.   The method was the same.   The only difference was the notebook.

 

I have heard from numerous moms who are more experienced than me, that retention of history and science in the grammar stage will be low...no matter what you do!   (Memory work, notebooking, reading, activities, daily written narrations, etc.)   In fact, the child is not expected to remember everything you cover in the grammar stage.  Retention isn't the goal.  

 

So what is the goal?  I have heard over and over from experienced homeschool moms, that the goal in the grammar stage is exposure and fostering a love for learning.   You want to hear things like, "Egypt!  I remember when we studied Egyptian history and made a chicken mummy.  That was fun!"  or "Chemistry!  I love Chemistry.  Remember that one lab we did in the kitchen?"  

 

SO---how do you accomplish this goal?  How do you foster a love for these subjects at a young age?   That is going to be different for all children.   For some kids that can mean notebooking...There are kids who enjoy labbooking or coloring pictures and writing blurbs, etc.    BUT for other kids, notebooking might steal the joy right out from under them!   Those were my kids.   :)   So if notebooking is robbing your kids of their joy---stop it!    Find a way to encourage listening and speaking (pre-writing) skills that do not require notebooking.   

 

My kids enjoy memory work.   (is that weird?)  They like singing songs and the challenge of parroting off information.   So I have them memorize a timeline, various sentences and lists, etc.   My kids enjoy snuggling on the couch and listening to me read.  So we do a lot of that.   My kids enjoy giving narrations, so I have them orally narrate when I read history and science.   My kids enjoy projects, activities, and field trips.  So we schedule in those when we can.   My kids enjoy going to the library and checking out books when their is a subject of interest--so we do that in their reading time.   My point is, we find a way to cover the subjects in a way that encourages a love for learning.   Notebooking was great for me.  (It gave me that 'proof' that homeschool mamas love.)   But notebooking wasn't working well for my kids.) 

 

All that said, I do think kids need work in copywork, narration, and dictation at this age.   So you need to be doing that somewhere.   (We cover that in writing.)  And I do think you need someway gauging comprehension in history and science.   So you need to figure out how to work that into the subject.   BUT there are many ways to cover these things that don't involve notebooking and written output.  (oral narrations, review games with the questions, etc.)