Science that gets done

[Emba]

This semester was my first homeschooling, and I was mostly focused on reading and math, because those were the problem areas that led to homeschooling.  DD is now 4th grade, will be 5th next year.  I chose the Christian Liberty Press third grade science this year, because it was cheap and I was in a hurry.  It's terrible.  Lots of experiments, which I like, but they don't always work, aren't explained well or sometimes even really connected to the lesson.  I've been supplementing a lot, but the fact is, even though I only try for science once a week, it hardly ever gets done.

 

DD has some major gaps as far as science goes. We just figured out she didn't know what gravity was.  I can't lay it all at the school's feet, since I am well aware that they could have learned about gravity and she was staring out the window, or talking to a neighbor, and just didn't absorb the information.

 

So I feel like I definitely want science next year to be a bigger part of our homeschool.  She says science is her favorite subject, because she loves the experiments, but I feel like she also needs some written work to help cement the information in her head.

 

So I've been looking at several things.  I want a Christian, creationist curriculum.  Lots of experiments would be good, but using things that are easy to find, cheap.  I like the looks of some of the Apologia books, but I want general science, not something so

 

I've looked at things like CLE, PACE, and Alpha Omega Lifepacs because even though I might need to supplement more for experiments, I think having the ability for her to work independently on science might help it get done.  I ordered a sample PACE.  It's so cheesy, and I'm not in love with it, but I think the color and the recurring characters would appeal to her.

 

So does anyone have any suggestions for me?  I've also looked at Jay Wiles's Science in the Beginning.  Has anyone used that?

[HomeAgain]

Eh, don't worry about gravity.  It's just a theory. ;)
 

In our house, especially in the beginning of hs'ing, science that got done meant that it was scheduled, complete, and flexible.  We ended up going with Noeo because one box delivered everything except water. LOL  And it could be scheduled either 2 or 4 days, so we didn't feel hemmed in.

[TKDmom]

I think Science in the Beginning could be a good fit for you. I used it for a trimester, and I thought the experiments were well done and did an awesome job making abstract concepts easy to understand.

 

Ultimately I dropped it, because I don't love to mix science and religion and the tone made me uncomfortable. It was very accessible, just more overtly religious than me. :)

[Emba]

Do I remember right that Science in the Beginning has a notebooking component?  Did you do it?

 

ETA - And if so, could you tell me if you thought it helped with retention/understanding?

Edited May 26, 2016 by emba56

[OneStepAtATime]

If you aren't against presenting YEC as a fact then you could look at Apologia's Young Scientist stuff.  The books are colorful and the experiments are interesting and there is a notebooking component that DD actually liked.  We dropped it because of the YEC thing but I did like the format and so did the kids.

 

https://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=Science/11&category=Apologia+Science+(K-6)/2701

[TKDmom]

Do I remember right that Science in the Beginning has a notebooking component?  Did you do it?

 

ETA - And if so, could you tell me if you thought it helped with retention/understanding?

 

There isn't a notebooking component by the author. The publisher has a link to a lapbooking unit for sale by someone else. I tried the lapbook. It wasn't very useful for us (ds 10 and 8 t the time didn't like the extra work), but if you like to use lapbooks, it might be helpful. I'm always disappointed with lapbooks. They always seem to be a pretty way to display extra worksheets.

Edited May 26, 2016 by TKDmom

[daybreaking]

Based on your comments, I think you would love Science in the Beginning.  I, too, have been very frustrated with science experiments that don't work.  I have been impressed with how every single experiment we've done in Science in the Beginning has worked and has only used materials we have around the house, so there is minimal prep on my part.  The experiments have been very helpful in explaining the concepts being taught and having an experiment every lesson has helped keep my daughter's interest, thus helping with retention.  My daughter is 9 1/2 and, for us, the lessons are just the right length.

 

You can make notebooking as involved as you like and could simply have a 3-ring binder with both white paper and lined paper.  I didn't want anything too involved, but I thought it'd be cute for my daughter to have a bit more than plain paper, so we've been using the "Printable Notebook" linked to on the Science in the Beginning page, under downloads.  (This is different than the lapbook.)  I only use about half the pages, though.  If you peruse the notebook, you'll see there are pages interspersed that have three boxes with lines next to them.  I'm assuming they're meant for taking notes.  I ignore those and only print out the pages that correspond to the questions after each lesson in the textbook.

 

HTH 

 

[Bookworm4]

I thought of Science in the Beginning as well when I read your description. Another option may be the God's Design for Science series. I understand they updated it earlier this year and each lesson is supposed to have an experiment or hands on work and they have papers/worksheets/notebooks that you download for the student. I haven't seen it in person, but reading about the updates made it sound appealing.

[momee]

We are Christians and I was looking for a God centered curricula that would get done.

 

Nancy Larson was where we landed and while it isn't what I'd call Christian at ALL - it does get done.

 

It's interesting, easy experiments and some worksheets to solidify learning but nothing over the top in terms of writing.

 

We've liked it alot.

[SnMomof7]

ACE got done here for a few years.

[Holly]

106 Days of Creation/Considering God's Creation gives a nice science overview, following the 6 days of creation.  However I don't think gravity is covered.  ;)  CGC has some great NB pages, that help reinforce the information.  SCM wrote 106 Days as a companion to CGC, and with a 5th grader, both books would be helpful.

 

We are currently using Christian Kids Explore.  I like that we can do as little or as much as we want each week.  There is an experiment, worksheet, and reading.  In addition, it suggests library books to gather up on each unit.  

 

Apologia is another solid program with lots of great experiments.  It's a bit more involved, and I felt we did best with daily lessons, since the readings can be a bit long otherwise.  You may also like AIG's God's Design series.  

[J-rap]

At that age, we used just general science workbooks.  They were all-in-one (per topic) and succinct.  I'm talking about books like this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Grades-5-Pat-Ward/dp/1580370667/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465139817&sr=1-1&keywords=science+workbook+grade+5+plants

 

We didn't use that one in particular, but ones similar.  (I just can't think of the publishers.)  They were easy to use and my kids thought they were fun.  We could always expand on them with short videos from the library (online, nowadays!), field trips, etc.  They're secular, but we are Christian, and they're pretty basic.  

 

Another curriculum we used one year that worked with multiple ages and covered multiple topics that my children loved was this one, which does have a Christian emphasis I believe:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Scientists-Aprentice-NOP-Hilary-Welliver/dp/1892427001

 

I think it's out of print now, but there are still new copies available on Amazon.  I'm pretty sure it's one you could do just once/week!