Linda...inOwasso Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 First, I'm not a science enthusiast. This is our first year of home schooling and in addition to loving it, I am staying on top of everything with relative ease, except science. I understand it (for the most part), but I just don't enjoy it. So, I'm contemplating starting Singapore Science for next year (3rd) and beyond. Science is the only subject that I do not want to have to pull books and/or resources together for -- I want it done for me. Can anyone foresee a problem with this strategy? Many Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Singapore science is a great program and you won't have to dig through the library looking for books. If you use My Pals are here you only need the text, workbook (answer are included), and the Activity Guide. Levels 4 and 5 have a Higher Order Thinking Skills book as well. My dd asks to do this science. I would keep the levels of science fairly close to the levels of math because there is a lot of critical thinking involved in these books. So if your child is doing 3rd grade math do level 3 science. Hope this helps.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 and it is great! Tue, I have to find a few items for some of our "energy" activities tomorrow (I need to have ds, 16, make an electric circuit for me with some wire, batteries etc.) but most of it is workbook/activity book stuff. the text is clear and colorful, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie in London Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'm thinking of using this as well and wondered, do I need to get the teacher's edition of the text or activities? Thanks, Debbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda...inOwasso Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Thanks so much guys! Sounds like a winner to me :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I haven't needed the TM for either level 3 or 4. The workbook does come with an answer sheet and the activity books are fairly self-explanatory. There were a few times in level 3 when we dealt with unfamliar plants but we kinda just glossed that over.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I use i-Science and love it. I prefer it to My Pals Are Here. I'm a biology major, and use i-Science and then Interative Science with my kiddos. I just put all my kids in public school, but I told them they'll still do Singapore math and science. LOL. Once a homeschooler, always a homeschooler, I guess! Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Singapore Science has the potential to mesh with WTM a little more than you might think. You don't have to give it all up. For example, 3rd grade science spends the the first half of the year on biology, the last quarter on human biology and the last quarter on magnetism. So, instead of a full year of biology, you spend 3/4 of a year on biology. In the fourth grade there are four main topics that are covered and each segueys into the next. There aren't enough activities, lessons, worksheets, and tests to have science every day of the year, and you have plenty of time, perhaps half the year, for outside reading and summarizing for a science notebook. In general, (and I'm not totally confident when I say this) but it seems that their science program is on a two year rotation of life science, physical science, and chemistry excluding earth science. There is one cycle for 3/4, another for 5/6 and one last one in 7/8. People who think that an entire academic year is too much to spend on an entire topic but still want to spend a lot of time on a single topic might find that this provides the amount and depth of coverage they are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I use i-Science and love it. I prefer it to My Pals Are Here. I'm a biology major, and use i-Science and then Interative Science with my kiddos. I just put all my kids in public school, but I told them they'll still do Singapore math and science. LOL. Once a homeschooler, always a homeschooler, I guess! Ria What in particular do you like better about i-Science? We are using i-Science 3 as a review/fill in some gaps this semester but planned to start MPH 4 in the fall because I think I am going to like the Higher Order Thinking Skills book and the fact that they have tests available for MPH. I am one of the ones who prefer a mix of disciplines during the year. It seems to work better for my daughter (and more likely that I will follow through!;)). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I, too would love to know Ria's thoughts on this. Also, has anyone found MPH to be a bit lacking in depth for the age level? I have looked at it for my two scientist wanna bes but thought it too simplified at the grade levels I was looking at. 4th and 5th. Do you go up one level instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friederike in Persia Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 We're using Singapore science year 2 and 3 and whereas I agree with nearly all you've written above, the one thing I'm missing is experiments. Are they suggested somewhere and I haven't seen them? Are you not doing any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 My Pals are Here year 4 has a ton of experiments in the activity guide. I've been typing up my lessons plans and there are some really neat stuff that we will be doing this year. But the focus of this level is states of matter, the water cycle, the breathing cycle, the circulatory system and water conservation. The level 3 didn't have a lot of experiements because you were mainly dealing with biology although we did spend some time outdoors observering plants and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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