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Pick up and go science?


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Is there such a thing?

I have such a problem just getting it fit into our week with my 2nd grader. Should I just try reading from a bunch of Usborne books? Or should I order an Abeka? I am so bad about this. I even made tons of lapbooks, ready to go, just fill in the blank for Animals, and haven't touched it. I'm terrible, I know!

 

What do you use for Science that covers different subjects through out the year but is interesting and not too textbook-y?

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Is there such a thing?

I have such a problem just getting it fit into our week with my 2nd grader. Should I just try reading from a bunch of Usborne books? Or should I order an Abeka? I am so bad about this. I even made tons of lapbooks, ready to go, just fill in the blank for Animals, and haven't touched it. I'm terrible, I know!

 

What do you use for Science that covers different subjects through out the year but is interesting and not too textbook-y?

 

One idea is Rod and Staff's Patterns of Nature. It covers many different nature topics, and is really easy to use. There is a teacher's guide but you don't need it. This would be a Christian resource obviously, but it's not preachy.

 

Another idea is The Complete Book of Science which is also a pick up and go curriculum, and covers a wide variety of topics. This is secular and quite inexpensive as well. I'd probably add in a library book or two for each section, just to fill in a bit more, but this is probably as simple as it gets :)

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If you want non textbook you could use Science in a Nutshell, I love these. I use a textbook at grade level to give me a s & s and I will read from the textbook little snippets, then I move to the kits. As they got older, I added readers by simply looking in the library for books on the topic we were studying. I seem to do much better when I am in control of picking and choosing the topics they want to go deeper into. Last year, my Ker was so interested in the eye we spent 4 weeks on it!:001_huh: She knows more about the eye than her siblings, they moved on because my dd gets "queezy" on human body subjects.

 

Good Luck!

 

I wanted to add I have used all the Apologia Elementary books because the classes are offered at co-op. We also used NOEO Physics it was okay, my kiddos liked it better than I did. But with all that I still go through a traditional s & s for testing reasons.

Edited by Pongo
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Science is the thorn in my side. I have yet to find a science program that works for us. We started out with a curriculum this year and it is just not working so I have decided to just read through some Usborne books and fill it out with living books. I also have experiment books hiding somewhere in my bookshelves so we will put them to use as well. I always like to use the Usborne books that are internet-linked as that fleshes things out very nicely.

 

After 4 years of homeschooling, I have finally come to the conclusion that we do not do well with science curriculum. We are a 'do-it=yourself-science kind of family.

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If you're a do-it-yourselfer, you can also take a look at this science plan.

 

Plan:

 

http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/bkssci.htm

 

Booklists:

 

Main focus birds:http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/bkssa1.htm

Main focus Insects: http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/bkssb1.htm

 

Second grade resources:

 

http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/grade2.htm (scroll down for science & nature)

 

The way everything is planned you would just "pick up and go" as you follow along.

 

HTH

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Have you thought about Sonlight science? It is not textbooky and it uses a variety of books to teach science concepts. It is a bit jumpy in the younger grades, but that seems to bother parents more than the children. Your year is planned out for you; it is open and go. If you buy their kit it will even come with the science supplies you need to do the experiments. I've heard that the Discover and Do DVDs are big hits with the kids.

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We've had a good experience wtih Sonlight science. It contains almost all of the supplies you will need (you provide items like a bowl or tape or water and stuff) and there is a schedule that tell you what you need to do each day. PLUS you get activity sheets to test the kids' knowledge on what they have learned.

 

 

Kelly

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What is NOEO? I can look it up..

 

Do it yourself? I'm not sure. I'm not DOING anything! :blushing:

I am interested in the Science in a nutshell kits. I remember seeing them at a friend's house and forgot about it!

 

I'll also look into SL. I used SL before but not their science. Don't they use a lot of usborne? We love usborne books here so we'll have to take a look. thanks for your suggestions!

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I'm a non-science mom who has had great success with this curriculum. It's more of a read-able science, but there are just enough experiments to make things hands-on without going overboard, IMO (and we don't do them all). You can get by with just the student book and answer key. Anyway, good luck choosing.

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