Trivium Academy Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 (edited) Is it possible to cover, for 4th grade: God’s Design for the Physical World: Heat and Energy (35 lessons) God's Design for the Physical World: Machines & Motion (35 Lessons) while reading Exploring the World of Physics by John Tiner ? and then Exploring the World of Chemistry by Tiner God’s Design for Chemistry: Properties of Atoms and Molecules (35 lessons) God’s Design for Chemistry: Properties of Matter (34 lessons) in one year's time? I was looking at the samples at Answers in Genesis's website and it seemed like we could cover a lesson per day (not saying this should be done, just what we be right for us). I also want to read Inventors and Their Inventions by Bachman and possibly The Secret of Everyday Things by Jean Henri Fabre. Edited October 12, 2008 by Trivium Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I asked a similar question a while ago - chemistry and physics in one year for my 6th grader. I don't know if those responses will help you at all, but here's the thread. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56174&highlight=chemistry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Is it possible to cover, for 4th grade: God’s Design for the Physical World: Heat and Energy (35 lessons) God's Design for the Physical World: Machines & Motion (35 Lessons) while reading Exploring the World of Physics by John Tiner ? and then Exploring the World of Chemistry by Tiner God’s Design for Chemistry: Properties of Atoms and Molecules (35 lessons) God’s Design for Chemistry: Properties of Matter (34 lessons) in one year's time? I was looking at the samples at Answers in Genesis's website and it seemed like we could cover a lesson per day (not saying this should be done, just what we be right for us). I also want to read Inventors and Their Inventions by Bachman and possibly The Secret of Everyday Things by Jean Henri Fabre. Jessica, Depends. :D We hs year around and hs 4 days a week and do science every day. Last year we started the God's Design Earth series in November and finished it in August. That would be three books. If you are reading the lessons and Tiner on the same day and hs 5 days a week, then I think it should work. If you only hs 4 days a weeks, or read Tiner alone on one day then I think it might be a little challenging. Each would end up taking closer to 3/4 a year then. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 We would have to do 4 lessons a week to do it, wouldn't we? I'll have to think about this some more. Thanks Heather. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 New question. I didn't want to start a new thread about the same thing so I hope someone will respond. :) Between Elements: Ingredients of the Universe by Ellen McHenry and God's Design for Life- which do you feel would be most appropriate for a 4th grader, first exposure to chemistry? Has anyone use God's Design Chemistry for 4th? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I love the Tiner books, but they might be a little heavy for a 4th grader. Have you looked them over thoroughly yet? The RS4K supplemental books are pitched a bit lighter, and cover some similar material--linking history with the chemistry--as best as I can see from their website. If I were teaching a 4th grader, I would be inclined to go with those and save Tiner for the next run through. Tiner doesn't use scientific terms as much as some texts, but covers a lot of ground. I found that doing RS4K in 5th and then reviewing it quickly and going back through much of the same material more broadly with Tiner in 6th worked out really well. We did earth science simultaneously, and fitted in RS4K Physics as well, so this wasn't all the science that we did, but I did look at the RS4K website before buying Tiner, and felt that Tiner was better for a 5th to 6th grader but that the ancillary RS4K materials would work great for a 4th grader. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 New question. I didn't want to start a new thread about the same thing so I hope someone will respond. :) Between Elements: Ingredients of the Universe by Ellen McHenry and God's Design for Life- which do you feel would be most appropriate for a 4th grader, first exposure to chemistry? Has anyone use God's Design Chemistry for 4th? I have both of these. I haven't USED both of them, but I do have them (self-proclaimed curriculum junkie). I think that the Elements book is really good for 4th grade. I think the God's Design for Chemistry is really geared toward an older student, and, honestly, kinda dry. And, it just isn't as engaging, IMO. Elements is really well-done. And, if she likes it you can do her Organic Chemistry one (haven't seen that). I used a small part of Elements last year in conjunction with the Chemistry section in BJU Science 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Even though I don't own them, I have done quite a bit of research and I believe Elements: Ingredients of the Universe by Ellen McHenry would be a better fit for the average fourth grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forwardbyfaith Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Sorry to put a damper on your plans, but I don't think I would go with the books you are planning. I have both the Tiner books and although good, they are a little bit over the heads of my 4th and 5th graders. I think they would be better for 6-8 grade. We are half way through the Chemistry book and I know dc are not picking everything up. As far as the God's Design series, my friend started out with them this year and she said they are so boring! She could not stand them and dropped them. I have heard that same review about the God's design series from others as well. If your kids have never studied Chemistry before, I would highly recommend RS4K. I am using that this year and really liking it. The experiments are fantastic and really help the reading to "click". I bought the Tiner books to supplement, but I am going to set them aside for a year, plus I did not think they were a real good complement to RS4K content wise. I am going to add in instead The Mysteries and Marvels of Science and just pick and choose through that book what we are covering that week as a supplement. Anyway, I hope you can find something you like. Just given your kids ages and first eposure to Chemistry and Physics, I think the curriculum you are thinking about may not be a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Thank you Cindy, I've had doubts about the academic level myself. I cannot comment on the boring part of whole God's Design series, I only have The World of Plants which I don't find boring at all but a very useful tool and a wonderful academic layer to our studies. I saw RS4K at a homeschool fair and it might be a wonderful text academically but I couldn't stand the layout of it. :D I do have a backup plan for chemistry in case these are inappropriate for dd's level. You've touched on exactly what I'm worried about, I've read through all the posts I can find of users of God's Design and McHenry's Elements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Not sure if your looking for this but, I just got Elements:Ingredients of the Universe, it is AWESOME. I plan on adding it as a Chemistry supplement to my basal course. I have been eying her stuff, and then I read the reviews on RR, I just had to try it. It's probably going to be the highlight to whatever course I add it to. I am guessing we could do it in 4-6 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forwardbyfaith Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Thank you Cindy, I've had doubts about the academic level myself. I cannot comment on the boring part of whole God's Design series, I only have The World of Plants which I don't find boring at all but a very useful tool and a wonderful academic layer to our studies. I saw RS4K at a homeschool fair and it might be a wonderful text academically but I couldn't stand the layout of it. :D I do have a backup plan for chemistry in case these are inappropriate for dd's level. You've touched on exactly what I'm worried about, I've read through all the posts I can find of users of God's Design and McHenry's Elements. Well, everybody's different. :) If you have already looked at some of the design series and it appealed to you, then I would say go with that. I personally have never looked at it, just relaying what my friend mentioned. I hope you can find something that works well for you guys. I hate spending money and then finding it is not a good fit. Ugh! I have done that so many times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Fay, will you be using it with both your 5th and 3rd grader? Do you already have it and do you plan to use it this year? (I see Apologia Zoo on your signature) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesiwins Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Is there a reason why you need to cover both topics in one year? My personal preference is to sit with new information a bit more. Dig further in rather than rush through. My dc are so young that I don't have any of the particular experience you are looking for, but for me I would slow down and flesh out one of the topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 (edited) Fay, will you be using it with both your 5th and 3rd grader? Do you already have it and do you plan to use it this year? (I see Apologia Zoo on your signature) We finished up with the Apologia Zoo. Actually, we finished reading the book and doing the note booking. My kids are meeting weekly at co-op to do the hands-on labs (experiments). My oldest was bored with the slow pace the co-op wanted to go, which is why we finished it so early:) A couple of weeks ago, I decided to do something more comprehensive for my older one. We have been looking at BJU, RS4K and some others as a basal curricula but, I wanted something I could do for my other two, something more fun. We planned on doing the Human Body after Christmas, but because we completed Zoo. so early , we will start Human Body next week. This leaves me with popping in something else for Jan-Apr. That's when I found the Elements book. This way, if I got a Chemistry focused science program for my older one, I would still have something for my younger two. If I used a traditional textbook, I would be able to pop this in during the chemistry portion for extra hands on fun. I did not expect to like it so much or to find how challenging it would be, even for my older dd in 5th. I bought it from RR with much of next years stuff. It is wonderful, some of the concepts are more complex but she has managed to make them very understandable, even to younger ones. I think my kids will be "hooked" on chemistry once we use this. If you want more information let me know, I have been reading through it over the last few days, the song CD is a nice supplement also. I am looking into getting some of her other stuff, it was a pleasant surprise. Edited October 14, 2008 by Pongo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Hi Jessica, For what it's worth, here's my opinion that I give freely because you ask... I used the chemistry books with my very science oriented 3rd grader and my 5th grader. We really enjoyed them; so I think they are quite do-able w/a 4th grader. As for your schedule, you will need to do science 4 days/week to accomplish your goal. Personally, I would leave out the Tiner books which I think are geared more towards older children. I might even consider scaling back on the ambitious goal of four GD books in a year because in the elementary years I never want science to become tedious and task oriented. I like to leave room for fun exploring and a stress-free scehdule. Do I think you could do all four books in a year though? Yes. HTH and enjoy your planning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Thanks Jane! I have a copy of Teaching Physical Science Through Children's Literature, and Tiner's Exploring The World of Chemistry coming from the library via interlibrary loan (hallejuah) so I'll be able to better assess them then. We can cover scientist biographies with other books if Tiner isn't appropriate at this stage. I purchased an used copy of God's Design for Chemistry: Properties of Atoms and Molecules so I'll be able to assess that as well without the full investment. Once I get these books in my hand, I'll be able to determine which course would be best. Thank you all for your help!!! I hope it's obvious how much help everyone is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I set aside an appealing book for when we get to chemistry. It would not be a spine, but might be worth looking at as an add-on: BRANDOLINI, FIZZ BUBBLE FLASH (WILLIAMSON) (Sorry for the caps -- I cut & pasted) 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.