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Posted

Next year my kids will be in 1st and 3rd grades. I know what we're going to do for math and LA, but I have no clue what else to do. We loosely did ancients for history, so we'd be looking to do medieval history next year. I'm looking for something that loosely schedules read alouds and has a few easy hands on projects added in. Something similar for science would be great.

 

Ideally I'm looking for something that won't break the bank. Also, I'm not a fan of buying PDFs. I don't have a good device to use them on and I don't really enjoy printing them myself.

 

Any ideas??

Posted

Have you looked at SOTW2 and the AG?  You just 'read the next thing' in the book a couple times a week. The AG has activities for every week and you can pick and chose what looks appealing to you and there are also suggested fiction and non-fiction books for additional reading. The AG also has weekly colouring pages and mapwork.  I don't think it is overly expensive, compared to many. You just need the book, SOTW 2  and the AG in hard copy, not PDF.  If you have a halfway decent library many of the suggested books should be there.  I always sat down at my computer every summer and did an online search of my public library of the suggested books and made a note of what they had and what they did not. If there was something that felt vital (very rare!) then I would buy it from Amazon. But, other than that I just stuck to what was available at the library. I should add that the additional reading is not necessary. Some weeks we did extra, some weeks we didn't. It depended on if I got to the library or if we had time.

 

I used the books through several children, I just copied the student pages (the colouring pages, map work, some of the activities have templates, etc) from the back as needed. But, if you like, you can buy a separate hard copy of just the student pages to save yourself the copying. That can be worth it some days, lol.

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Posted

In a similar vein to SOTW, there is A Child's History of the World.  You can get a workbook to go with it.  It is one volume and I've used it with kids in both grade 1 and 3. It's also possible to use it over several years if you want to add in other books along the way, or do some other history. I prefer it to SOTW, I find the writing style more enjoyable and it's a little tighter.

Posted

In a similar vein to SOTW, there is A Child's History of the World. You can get a workbook to go with it. It is one volume and I've used it with kids in both grade 1 and 3. It's also possible to use it over several years if you want to add in other books along the way, or do some other history. I prefer it to SOTW, I find the writing style more enjoyable and it's a little tighter.

We've actually been listening to this on audiobook. Do you have a link to the workbook?

Posted

We're doing Mystery Science next year for 1st and 3rd grades.  It's all planned out, video based (on the web), with a fun and easy activity each week.  There's only a few pages to print each week.  You could easily grab some books from the library to go along with whatever you're dong in MS, though they do have a reading or two (and usually supplimental outside videos) in the "extras" for each mystery/activity.  It's $99 for the year, but free through June if you wanted try it out to see if it's something you might like.  https://mysteryscience.com

Posted

We're doing Mystery Science next year for 1st and 3rd grades. It's all planned out, video based (on the web), with a fun and easy activity each week. There's only a few pages to print each week. You could easily grab some books from the library to go along with whatever you're dong in MS, though they do have a reading or two (and usually supplimental outside videos) in the "extras" for each mystery/activity. It's $99 for the year, but free through June if you wanted try it out to see if it's something you might like. https://mysteryscience.com

That looks awesome! Although the pricing I'm seeing is $129/year.

Posted

Wayfarers by barefoot meanderings..

 

 

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Posted

And for something similar for science maybe Pandia Press?  It is mostly hands on but with lots of possible books to read. She suggests a lot and then you can see what is available at your library.

 

If you don't want to do lot of hands on, I had a great time doing elementary science as in TWTM.  You chose a topic, such as life science, and then just get one or two library books and buy a children's science encyclopedia (I think the specific one for life science is in TWTM, it was great) Then you read a two page spread in the encyclopedia about...whatever animal type it is, such as amphibians... and then you read a book or two from the library about amphibians. Then you ask the child to tell you one or two things they remember about amphibians and then have them draw a picture. You put this in their science notebook and call it done. 

 

We did first the first three years of science that way and it was actually very, very good. Much better than I expected, in fact. My kids always did lots of other science-y stuff like watching science documentaries and keeping nature journals etc, so it was fine.

  • Like 1
Posted

That looks awesome! Although the pricing I'm seeing is $129/year.

 

Hmmmmmm.... it's still listed as $99/yr under pricing for me when I look?  Maybe it's different if you've signed up for the free trial?

Posted

Hmmmmmm.... it's still listed as $99/yr under pricing for me when I look? Maybe it's different if you've signed up for the free trial?

Looks like that's the classroom price for next year. I think the homeschool price is $129. 🤔

Posted

Wayfarers by barefoot meanderings..

 

 

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I've been looking at this for a while actually. Do they have hands on ideas for history? I'm not too keen on purchasing three guides for the year, but I guess it's something to keep thinking about.

Posted

We've actually been listening to this on audiobook. Do you have a link to the workbook?

 

Here it is in the Rainbow Resource catalogue.  I should say I never used the workbook, only reading and narrating.  But I have heard other people here say they liked it.

Posted

We've used a lot of the OUtdoor Hour Cahalleng for our science.  I've never paid for any of it, I've only used the free stuff.  Usually I pick some things to do in different seasons though we do a lot more in the summer.  Then I supplement with library books and we watch more videos in the winter.

Posted

We love K12 but you said books...

 

 

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Posted (edited)

I've been looking at this for a while actually. Do they have hands on ideas for history? I'm not too keen on purchasing three guides for the year, but I guess it's something to keep thinking about.

They schedule SotW for grammar stage and you can use the SotW activity guide for hands on history. Wayfarers also schedules geography, science, bible, logic and more depending on the age of your students.

Edited by Verity
Posted

Hmmmmmm.... it's still listed as $99/yr under pricing for me when I look?  Maybe it's different if you've signed up for the free trial?

I was signed up for the free trial through June.  I just got an email that said I can get it now through 4/30 for $89, 5/1 through 5/30 for $99, or in June for $129.  At least, that's the way I understood it.  I'm currently debating whether or not to purchase.

Posted

Honestly, go outside and look at stuff. Maybe draw pictures. Look things up in a field guide. Find an older adult interested in nature or history and hang out with them. Go to the library and take out books with colourful pictures on topics that interest your kids, and read them together. Teach them some oral narration, and chat about what you are reading. They are so little, but will remember and learn what inspires them.

  • Like 1
Posted

Honestly, go outside and look at stuff. Maybe draw pictures. Look things up in a field guide. Find an older adult interested in nature or history and hang out with them. Go to the library and take out books with colourful pictures on topics that interest your kids, and read them together. Teach them some oral narration, and chat about what you are reading. They are so little, but will remember and learn what inspires them.

Yes, this is mostly what we end up doing. This is why a daily schedule doesn't work well for us. What I ended up doing was making a list of topics for medieval history based on the Usborne book, then adding books and a few activities to go with some of those. I like to have a general direction to go in. I'm really loving the Mystery Science recommendation as well. I did a couple with my kids and they really enjoyed them. So I think I've got it all figured out!

 

Thank you, everyone!

  • Like 1
Posted

I was signed up for the free trial through June.  I just got an email that said I can get it now through 4/30 for $89, 5/1 through 5/30 for $99, or in June for $129.  At least, that's the way I understood it.  I'm currently debating whether or not to purchase.

I signed up for the free trial too. Thru April 30th it's showing a renewal price for $89.

 

We did one of the mysteries and my daughters really liked it. They are going to be in 1st and 3rd grade next year, so I'm going to try it out. The video we watched was really fun and the experiment wasn't complicated, but still informative. Both girls seemed to grasp the concepts. Everything is there, so it's easy for me and they liked it, so win win!

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