Seeking Squirrels Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 I have a science-loving 8yo who just can't get enough. I'm looking for something that will go a little deeper for her. We did RSO in 1st and 2nd and while it was good and we enjoyed it, it doesn't seem like it really goes deep enough into the subject for her. She's in ps this year so we're only afterschooling science. We recently started using Mystery Science. She loves it, but she is answering the questions before we even start. While the demos are fun, again, she knows what's going to happen and can explain it before we do it. I think she could handle a much more in depth exploration of the topics. Besides Mystery Science she also watches MSB and Bill Nye, reads science-y books, we're doing a little bit of leftover RSO astronomy from last year, and I just ordered her a steve spangler club box. And she asked for a bunch of different science kit stuff for christmas. She's getting a chem lab experiment station and one on circuits. She does a once-a-month science class at the nearby university, but they don't go very deep, more like a few pinterest-y activities. Oh and she does Kiwi crate which is STEM-y. I am able to be more consistent with something that is laid out for me, so I'd prefer that over just cobbling together library books. Not that we don't love getting extra books on the subject from the library, just that I need a framework for it. Any recommendations? Secular only, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildwood Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 (edited) Ellen McHenry has some good books. She has a neat website with videos, activities, links, etc. PS-my 9-year-old is using Ellen McHenry's The Elements and finds it engaging. Edited December 10, 2016 by Wildwood 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking Squirrels Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 Ellen McHenry has some good books. She has a neat website with videos, activities, links, etc. PS-my 9-year-old is using Ellen McHenry's The Elements and finds it engaging. Just spent some time exploring The Elements and it looks great! I'm definitely adding that one to my list. Thank you :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildwood Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World by Julia Rothman is another one we really like. There are others in the series as well-Food Anatomy and Farm Anatomy. I tried to link them, but for some reason I'm not able. We got ours from Amazon. Anyway, they are really well done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CadenceSophia Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 They are not laid out curricula but Theodore Grey's Elements and Molecules books are great. They go well with Ellen McHemry's The Elements and Carbon Chemistry. My son especially likes to go through the Molecules book with a couple sets of Moly-mods and see what he can build. I use BFSU (1 & 2) as a framework for my science loving kiddo because I can just follow the flow chart down the list, read through the topics and figure out what my kiddo knows and what he is missing. Since I know he will want to be progressing to higher science, I think it is important to keep him balanced in the basics and not ONLY feed the passions (which I totally do too). I rarely present any lesson as in the book but it is an awesome reference if you can find it used inexpensively. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrabuskie Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 I went through this earlier this year. My DS8 has more questions than his grade level science book has answers. I checked out a lot of programs. I finally threw the towel in and decided to look at higher level books. I am using a PS science set for 6th/7th/8th grade. There are 15 books in the series. I buy them used from Amazon and Abebooks for anything ranging from $3.99 to $11. The books are pre-Common Core by Glencoe Science circa 2001-2005. The ones for Physical Science are The Nature of Matter: Chemistry; Motion, Forces, and Energy; Electricity and Magnetism; Waves, Sound, and Light. I pick and choose what to cover, but the material is well presented with clear pictures and diagrams. There are even questions and test prep. There are many labs throughout the text and more listed in the back of the books. Online I found the Physical Science Student Notebook by Glencoe that show how to take Cornell Notes. If you peruse the net by chapter there are teacher resources packs that include all the worksheets, there is even a lab book available for free download too. I purchased the teacher's editions but if you are science oriented they may not be necessary. There are 15 books total. 5 Physical Science, 5 Life Science and 5 Earth Science. I plan to use them from 3rd to 8th grade. Doing a walk through with lower grade appropriate work then in Middle School with the free downloaded workbooks, etc... If you google Glencoe Science 15 books the titles should pop up. If you then google a few titles, a couple of schools have a book or two as a pdf that you could check out to see if it would satisfy your student. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 NOEO Nancy Larson I haven't used either of those so cannot comment on depth Real Science 4 Kids (our family's personal favorite) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CadenceSophia Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 We tried Nancy Larson first grade in first grade. I don't know if there is progression but we found the actual "science" content a joke. My four year old at the time thought it was too babyish science wise but liked the projects. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Prentice Hall Science Explorer series is also very good if you are looking to go higher. We also like K12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking Squirrels Posted December 12, 2016 Author Share Posted December 12, 2016 I wondered about going higher, but wasn't sure if there would be gaps that would leave her lost. Do they start with the basic information? I suppose they would since so many schools don't do much (if any) science in elementary. I just don't want her to get frustrated if it's expected she knows something that we haven't covered. I was excited to see there is a whole book on air in the glencoe series, that is one area she's obsessed with. I found a used book for just $4, so I think I will get it so we can look it over and see what we think. I've looked into NL, Noeo, and RS4K before, but was never too sold on what I saw. I will look again, though. I'm looking into the others recommended, too. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 My science-loving 10yo loves Harcourt. No matter what you choose, I recommend checking a bunch of books out of the library on her favorite topics. Ds has a whole shelf in our living room filled with library books about science, engineering, and Lego/Mindstorm projects. He does beg to do science first every day, but he learns much more from his library books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Ellen McHenry has some good books. She has a neat website with videos, activities, links, etc. PS-my 9-year-old is using Ellen McHenry's The Elements and finds it engaging. This is exactly what I was going to recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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