Science Curriculum for multi-grade CLASSROOM setting?

[ShareBear]

I'm teaching this fall in a small start-up Christian school (not classical per se).  I will probably have just five or six students, but they will range in age from 6-12 (2nd-7th grades). I'm working up a curriculum proposal to present to the school board, and would love some feedback.

Bible I've got figured out--we'll stick with a workbook series we used last year.
Math--we used Math Mammoth last year, and will probably use it again this year, but I would like to supplement with Life of Fred.

Grammar--we used A Beka last year, but I am going to propose that we move to Rod and Staff.
History--we'll use SOTW Medieval as a spine, but this will have to be heavily supplemented for the older students.

 

Science--now this is where I'm stuck.  I'd like to pick a topic and do basic lectures/demonstrations/experiments together as a class, then split the students up to do reading and homework assignments that are differentiated according to ability level. 

 

My first thought was that we could do chemistry, or perhaps a combination of chemistry and physics.  I was looking at Apologia's Chemistry and Physics text for the older children, and Ellen McHenry's The Elements for the younger students. But now I'm second-guessing that idea.  The Apologia book likely wouldn't be challenging enough for my 7th grader (who reads high school level science textbooks for fun, haha) and The Elements would probably be a bit too much for my 2nd graders.  Plus The Elements wouldn't be enough material for the whole school year.  I could type up simplified reading assignments for the 2nd graders loosely based on the Apologia text, but that would take a LOT of time.

 

Perhaps there are other texts that would be more suitable, or perhaps I should toss the chemistry idea and try another subject, like biology.  What would you do?  I'm all ears. :)

ETA: almost forgot to add that school meets just three days a week, and I assign homework assignments to be done on the in-between days (though the homework assignments will probably focus more on the 3R's).

 

Edited July 7, 2016 by ShareBear

[macmacmoo]

would Science in the... series work?

[kiwik]

I'm doing bite sized physics with a group of 5 to 9 year olds. Ellen McHenry is aimed at 9+ I think.

[ShareBear]

would Science in the... series work?

 

This is what the last teacher used.  While I like the way it's written, I'm not in love with the chronological format--I think it jumps around too much.  Also, I think it's still a bit too simple for the oldest student, and a bit too much for the youngest, which is why I'm hoping to use at least two if not three different textbooks for the different grade levels (rearranging chapters as needed so that the topics line up).

 

Seems like it would be easier to find resources to simplify for the younger students, and add challenge for the oldest, if we were sticking to one field of study.  For example, If we're studying plants this week, and the sun next week, then I have to have more and less challenging materials on hand in BOTH botany and astronomy...

[HomeAgain]

If you had internet access I'd choose Mystery Science.  It's open ended enough to encourage the children to think (no matter the age), but scripted enough for a classroom.  It also covers a wide age range.  We used up through the 5th grade lessons with my K'er last year.

 

If not, I'd look at BFSU Vol. II.

[Ellie]

I did that once, although the school was five days a week. :-)

 

The first year I tried to do science with the group, but I realized that (1) the older children really need to have science at their level, and (2) I needed to be able to give some children assignments they could work on independently while I worked with other children, and science and math were good for that, and (3), all of the children really don't need to be studying the same thing.  :-)

 

Rod and Staff's science goes through eighth (there is science after that, but it's the original, older publication, and dry, dry, dry). There is a second grade book, but it's also old and requires higher reading skills than some of the children coming into your school might have. The "new" series (which is over 20 years old, but still new compared to the other science books, lol) begins at third.

 

ABeka's science texts are pretty good, too. It's the only ABeka subject I care for. :-)

 

And you know of course that R&S's English series covers more than grammar. Kudos for wanting to use it. IMHO, R&S's English series is superior to ABeka's.

[ShareBear]

The first year I tried to do science with the group, but I realized that (1) the older children really need to have science at their level, and (2) I needed to be able to give some children assignments they could work on independently while I worked with other children, and science and math were good for that, and (3), all of the children really don't need to be studying the same thing.  :-)

 

Interesting.  I agree with (1) and (3), but I was hoping to minimize (2) because I have some students who would have trouble staying on task if, say, I were in the other room doing an interesting experiment with other children.  Last year's teacher did split the students into two groups and teach them separately, but then they only made it halfway through their science books last year...in order for us to really progress through the material, I have to really make sure that everyone is staying on task all day rather than "spinning their wheels" while they wait for me to get back to them. 

 

I'm heading to our local homeschool store later today.  Hopefully looking through their materials will give me more ideas. :)