Teeny, tiny, BFSU-related whine...

[egao_gakari]

I love BFSU. I feel like it really teaches the scientific concepts from the ground up and engages the kids' skills of logic and observation. It's essentially a Socratic style of teaching science. But.

 

Lesson planning takes So. Darn. Long! So long! I have basically no science background, so I can't wing these lessons. When he says, "through Q and A discussion, guide the children to reason that blah blah blah," I have to script every question and anticipate every possible reply. I can't work from an outline like a lot of people seem to. AND I have to basically teach myself each concept through internal Q and A/reasoning before I even get to constructing a Q and A for the kids.

 

Last summer, before our first year homeschooling, I prepared scripts for about the first 4 lessons. I figured I would have plenty of time to make scripts for future lessons before the first 4 ran out. Little did I know...! I "wung" a few of the other lessons (badly), semi-planned a few more, and we watched a lot of nature documentaries. And that was science last year. So this summer, I had grand plans for how I was going to script the whole year's BFSU before September. Ha. Ha. So far I've done D-3, D-3A, A-5A, and I'm in the middle of looking up videos about vacuums and pressure and suction so I can finish scripting A-6. The forum at bfsucommunity.com is helpful for some lessons, not so helpful for other ones.

 

I mean, I lesson-plan as a recreational activity, so it's not like this is the world's most onerous task. I know there are other science curricula out there, but I really like BFSU and how DIY it is, for the most part. Right now though, in the thick of scripting with exactly 1 month till we start school, I am wishing it was even an eents more open-and-go!  :banghead:

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

"wung"  haha!  

 

It is tough.  I find the Let's Read and Find Out books that correspond to almost every lesson to be extremely helpful.  They do most of the teaching, actually.  The books often times pose questions of the reader, so as long as you stop there and ask the kids to propose answers... you're good to go.  

[egao_gakari]

I find the Let's Read and Find Out books that correspond to almost every lesson to be extremely helpful.  They do most of the teaching, actually.  The books often times pose questions of the reader, so as long as you stop there and ask the kids to propose answers... you're good to go.  

 

Oo! Thanks for that rec! I tend to select pretty randomly from the correlated reading section based on the title or what's easily available at my library, so I don't know if I've ever actually selected one out of that series.

[Miss Tick]

I hear you! I would pre-read and mark up a semester worth of lessons (approximately) but it turns out the new year break is short! And busy! So I usually spend the spring scrambling to stay ahead.

 

Those "lead through Q and A" things are mainly to encourage class participation. I felt like a short discussion if what they thought and where they were different from our similar to the correct answer was usually sufficient. Also, I love the series, but there are a couple lessons that just aren't good. Maybe it is me, but I couldn't get a good grip on the point of the lesson and it was painful to teach. On the plus side, my second time through the book has been breezy!

 

No matter what you do, though, it does take some prep, and then you get in a groove and suddenly you have to switch threads and start again!

[mellifera33]

I hear you. We finally switched programs because I would prep for 30 min. for a lesson that would last 9 min. Our family does best either using a scripted program or following rabbit trails in areas of interest. 

[Farrar]

I honestly think that's the main reason that people burn out fast on BFSU and it's not a tiny whine at all. It's the biggest drawback of the program.

Edited August 3, 2017 by Farrar

[carriede]

Yep. I loved doing Vol 1 with DS and DD. But I have too many kids now to keep inventing lesson plans. Makes me sad too.

Edited August 3, 2017 by carriede

[nixpix5]

I honestly think that's the main reason that people burn out fast on BFSU and it's a tiny whine at all. It's the biggest drawback of the program.

Yep, this. It is amazing for people with science backgrounds but I have friends that I have drawn up questions for so they could get though lessons. I think it could be more ubiquitously used if it did include a smidgen more handholding.

 

I think it works well to add to other curriculum. If you use the aspects that really hit the scientific inquiry home while using something a bit easier (RSO for example) it rounds out well. It is an ambitious curriculum and personally, I feel it is almost perfect. It is how science should be taught but if not everyone can access the curriculum then it is lost because those of us with science backgrounds already teach this way.

Edited August 3, 2017 by nixpix5

[Mrs Twain]

That is why we switched to Mystery Science.

Feel free to join the Post-BFSU Club!

[ExcitedMama]

At least you tried it! I am also not all science inclined and BFSU is gathering dust after having never been used! I bought it because of the great reviews but after skimming it I seriously doubted my ability to implement it and never tried. If you need something to have on hand for those times when you want to do science but aren't ready for BFSU check out the Berean Builders series. We are using Science in the Beginning and I can't say enough good things about it. I love just opening it up and not having to prepare or supplement. It's super easy to use and it actually makes sense!

[LMD]

"wung" haha!

 

It is tough. I find the Let's Read and Find Out books that correspond to almost every lesson to be extremely helpful. They do most of the teaching, actually. The books often times pose questions of the reader, so as long as you stop there and ask the kids to propose answers... you're good to go.

I found this too! Thank you for saying this! I would work to teach a lesson, we'd read the supplementary book after and it would be exactly the same info - better articulated lol.

So yes we often ended up flipping the lesson, reading the book listed at the end, then winging it through the lesson.

[Cake and Pi]

This is my biggest beef with BFSU.  I have an engineering background, which involved a fair amount of science or applied science, but I still cannot seem to wing those lessons.  I spend too much time visually digging through the text trying to figure out what to do or say next and then I've lost my kids' attention.  So I, too, find I must script the lessons.  

 

We did a year and a half of Mystery Science, which was fun and got done, but it just wasn't as deep as BFSU and we ran too low on new content to justify paying for another year subscription.  We're giving BFSU a try again now after previous failure.  I don't have an infant anymore, so I find I can often write up scripts for the next lesson or three the night before.  But I agree wholeheartedly that it is a very taxing, annoying process.

[Jackie]

I'll add my whine to the pile. I managed the first volume with very little prep. The second and third volumes are kicking my butt, though! I more and more find myself looking at the topics, using BFSU as a guide/reference, and finding other sources for the actual teaching.

[SparklyUnicorn]

It didn't work for us for the same reason.  And the worst thing is I could never find any of the books listed at our library.  It really is easier to have stuff ready to go or heck even just reading library books on various science topics worked better. 

 

 

[mellifera33]

This is my biggest beef with BFSU.  I have an engineering background, which involved a fair amount of science or applied science, but I still cannot seem to wing those lessons.  I spend too much time visually digging through the text trying to figure out what to do or say next and then I've lost my kids' attention.  So I, too, find I must script the lessons.  

 

We did a year and a half of Mystery Science, which was fun and got done, but it just wasn't as deep as BFSU and we ran too low on new content to justify paying for another year subscription.  We're giving BFSU a try again now after previous failure.  I don't have an infant anymore, so I find I can often write up scripts for the next lesson or three the night before.  But I agree wholeheartedly that it is a very taxing, annoying process.

 

Your post makes me feel better--I have a MS in a science field, and I still had trouble implementing BFSU!

[fralala]

This post made me laugh. I am searching for an adjective for that laugh, somewhere between 'deranged' and 'rueful', but cannot find it.

 

I do still use BFSU as a wonderful outline and double-check, but I no longer curl up with it, a packet of index cards, a pen, my laptop, and a stack of library books on the weekend. I would love to do that, though, and will probably have time to do so once my children have graduated. In any case, I find that following the topics outlined and getting books recommended by the NSTA,, but only skimming the lesson AFTER we've read the books and done any demonstrations/experiments to see if there was anything we missed, makes me feel far less intimidated by BFSU. There is nothing out-of-reach about teaching elementary science-- the concepts ARE basic and we do know (most of) them-- but at times this wonderful resource does make it seem impenetrable. (And thank you, folks with strong science backgrounds, for confirming that it's not just us artsy folks balking at the lesson descriptions.)

[bwdiaz]

I really have to say that I do wonder what I'm doing differently from others that I don't find this so stressful or time intensive. This is not a criticism of the experience you guys are having. I'm honestly befuddled because I see this complaint about BFSU a lot but it just isn't that way for me. I'll share what I do and maybe it will help someone out there.

 

I have an 8 year old daughter starting book 2 and a 6 year old daughter starting book 1. The 8 year old did book 1 over two years for first and second grades. I just split the book in half for each year and it worked out that we averaged about a lesson every two weeks. I do not have a science mind or a science background. I also don't have teaching experience other than homeschooling.

 

I don't pre-plan lessons way in advance though I am more on top of supplies with book 2. With book 1 I looked at lessons Friday afternoons, highlighting or underlining things to say or ask and putting stars by important concepts. If a lesson had a pre-requisite I go back and glanced at it to remind me what was covered. If I remember or have time I'll check the library catalog to see if they have one of the recommended books.

 

Then, I'd plan about 10-15 minutes the following Monday to introduce the topic. I did not script anything. I just read directly from the book to my child and talk about it with her. I'd prop the book open in front of me and I'd talk her through it formally then and then bring it up informally 2 or 3 times out in the world whenever it naturally occurred to us.

 

Library day is Wednesday so if the library did have a recommended book we got it and read it during circle time Thursday morning. If not, and my daughter seemed like she wanted more info, then we'd use that time to google it, watch a you tube video, or look in our Kingfisher or Usborne science encyclopedias for more info.

 

Sometimes, I had things on hand to do the demonstration during that initial Monday lesson. Sometimes I didn't and it was really no hassle to present it the following week. I usually used that second Monday to have her draw a picture or write something about it in her science notebook which was just a composition book that has the big empty space on top for pictures and lines below for writing. I allotted 15 mins for that.

 

That's it. Seriously. Read the lesson, get a library book, sometimes prep a demo, sometimes not. Most of the program has been remembering to talk about the ideas when we come across them. My daughter made great connections from lessons she learned months apart. Maybe she's science minded, I'm not sure.

 

So timewise, I'd say book 1 took me 20-30 minutes a week of prep/gather/look up stuff time and it took us three fifteen minutes of formal sessions per lesson and several informal moments discussing or observing things outside lesson time just scattered here or there.

 

We do Shiller for Math, which I love, and we did Jot it Down stuff from Bravewriter (which I abandoned) and both of those take or took way more time and brainpower on my part than BFSU. Our foreign languages (Spanish, Hebrew, Latin) constitute way more moving parts for me than BFSU also.

 

I feel like people overthink BFSU. It's not meant to be so complicated. Is there anyway I can help those of you who'd like to stick with it?

[Wheres Toto]

Yep, this. It is amazing for people with science backgrounds but I have friends that I have drawn up questions for so they could get though lessons. I think it could be more ubiquitously used if it did include a smidgen more handholding.

 

I think it works well to add to other curriculum. If you use the aspects that really hit the scientific inquiry home while using something a bit easier (RSO for example) it rounds out well. It is an ambitious curriculum and personally, I feel it is almost perfect. It is how science should be taught but if not everyone can access the curriculum then it is lost because those of us with science backgrounds already teach this way.

 

I have a biology degree and years of teaching science in various situations (zoo docent, 4-H STEM, nature clubs) and I still found BFSU hard to implement.  I even tried using it in combo with all three level one RSOs for a while.

 

If I remember correctly, one of the issues I had with Level one was there was a lot of "look for opportunities to point out....".  That's really hard to plan ahead in my experience.

[bwdiaz]

If I remember correctly, one of the issues I had with Level one was there was a lot of "look for opportunities to point out....". That's really hard to plan ahead in my experience.

I understand and agree with you. I didn't plan it out. I do bullet journal and I'd just make a note in my weekly spread, "watch out for ...". So I guess I just saw the reminder frequently enough that I was able to remember when the opportunities came.

 

That tension, of sort of meta "watching for" insight isn't an easy skill, I admit. However, I don't think it's something only a sufficiently science oriented person can develop. My degrees are in religion and Jewish studies. I think maybe I'm just over analytical. I hear moms able to make these connections in history and lit all the time, which, despite my degree, and surprisingly I don't do those as often as I should. I actually think BFSU helped me in this regard since it straight out told me to do it, lol.

[nixpix5]

I really have to say that I do wonder what I'm doing differently from others that I don't find this so stressful or time intensive. This is not a criticism of the experience you guys are having. I'm honestly befuddled because I see this complaint about BFSU a lot but it just isn't that way for me. I'll share what I do and maybe it will help someone out there.

 

I have an 8 year old daughter starting book 2 and a 6 year old daughter starting book 1. The 8 year old did book 1 over two years for first and second grades. I just split the book in half for each year and it worked out that we averaged about a lesson every two weeks. I do not have a science mind or a science background. I also don't have teaching experience other than homeschooling.

 

I don't pre-plan lessons way in advance though I am more on top of supplies with book 2. With book 1 I looked at lessons Friday afternoons, highlighting or underlining things to say or ask and putting stars by important concepts. If a lesson had a pre-requisite I go back and glanced at it to remind me what was covered. If I remember or have time I'll check the library catalog to see if they have one of the recommended books.

 

Then, I'd plan about 10-15 minutes the following Monday to introduce the topic. I did not script anything. I just read directly from the book to my child and talk about it with her. I'd prop the book open in front of me and I'd talk her through it formally then and then bring it up informally 2 or 3 times out in the world whenever it naturally occurred to us.

 

Library day is Wednesday so if the library did have a recommended book we got it and read it during circle time Thursday morning. If not, and my daughter seemed like she wanted more info, then we'd use that time to google it, watch a you tube video, or look in our Kingfisher or Usborne science encyclopedias for more info.

 

Sometimes, I had things on hand to do the demonstration during that initial Monday lesson. Sometimes I didn't and it was really no hassle to present it the following week. I usually used that second Monday to have her draw a picture or write something about it in her science notebook which was just a composition book that has the big empty space on top for pictures and lines below for writing. I allotted 15 mins for that.

 

That's it. Seriously. Read the lesson, get a library book, sometimes prep a demo, sometimes not. Most of the program has been remembering to talk about the ideas when we come across them. My daughter made great connections from lessons she learned months apart. Maybe she's science minded, I'm not sure.

 

So timewise, I'd say book 1 took me 20-30 minutes a week of prep/gather/look up stuff time and it took us three fifteen minutes of formal sessions per lesson and several informal moments discussing or observing things outside lesson time just scattered here or there.

 

We do Shiller for Math, which I love, and we did Jot it Down stuff from Bravewriter (which I abandoned) and both of those take or took way more time and brainpower on my part than BFSU. Our foreign languages (Spanish, Hebrew, Latin) constitute way more moving parts for me than BFSU also.

 

I feel like people overthink BFSU. It's not meant to be so complicated. Is there anyway I can help those of you who'd like to stick with it?

This is great! This will probably really help someone who google for a way to approach it.

[daijobu]

I don't know if this will help much with preparation time, but for whatever reason this really helped me.  It was advice posted way back on the old BFSU yahoogroup.  

 

Take the thick book to an office supply store and for a couple of bucks they will cut off the binding and 3-hole punch the whole thing for you.  Now you can put it into a binder and staple each lesson independently of each other.  (I needed to do a bit more photocopying as sometimes the first page of lesson 2 would be the back page of lesson 1.)  

 

For some reason, being able to pull out 1 or 2 or 3 lessons at a time (a few neatly stapled pages) made it seem more manageable and less intimidating.  The top lesson was the current one, and the next 2 were future lessons to be prepped (ie, ordering library books and materials, reading through and possibly practicing the demos).  

 

I followed the sequence posted by other moms on the internet.  Although he recommends it, I never spontaneously went out of order because the time was right.  We just went in sequence straight through the 3 books.  HTH.  

[Porridge]

I have a strong science background but it took me a good 3 years to begin to wrap my head around BFSU. This year, I *think* I have found something that will work for us... It's been working well for the past 3 weeks ... we'll see how I'm doing in January ;)

 

Like Daijobu, I find it helpful to either slice off the binding or in some other way give myself permission to totally mark this baby up. I've told myself it's not a book I plan to try to pass on to others once I'm done.  

 

Instead of trying to set aside 2 large blocks of science time each week (which somehow just never happened in the past), I'm doing a "science question of the day." I took a few hours last week while the kids were in camp to go through all the lessons I plan on hitting this term and highlighted (or wrote in the margins) the question that I wanted us to ponder.  I broke each lesson down into anywhere from 2-5 of these questions.   We talk about the question over breakfast. It's taken us anywhere from 5-20 minutes. I don't put too much pressure on myself to get the hands on demos done because many of the demos demonstrate things they will have already observed in daily life.  (Of course, that will change as we get into microscopy, etc. down the line, but for this year I've specifically chosen topics that don't absolutely require the hands on parts to make it easier for me). We're finishing up the last few lessons of Book 1, then moving on to Book 2 soon.  

 

Someone (I wish I knew who to credit) created a very helpful spreadsheet that organizes all the lessons, material needed, library books, etc.  Does anyone know whether it's ok to share the link to that spreadsheet?

 

 

 

[bwdiaz]

Instead of trying to set aside 2 large blocks of science time each week (which somehow just never happened in the past), I'm doing a "science question of the day." I took a few hours last week while the kids were in camp to go through all the lessons I plan on hitting this term and highlighted (or wrote in the margins) the question that I wanted us to ponder. I broke each lesson down into anywhere from 2-5 of these questions. We talk about the question over breakfast. It's taken us anywhere from 5-20 minutes. I don't put too much pressure on myself to get the hands on demos done because many of the demos demonstrate things they will have already observed in daily life. (Of course, that will change as we get into microscopy, etc. down the line, but for this year I've specifically chosen topics that don't absolutely require the hands on parts to make it easier for me). We're finishing up the last few lessons of Book 1, then moving on to Book 2 soon.

 

This is such an awesome idea. Sort of a cross between just adding it to circle time and informal lesson. I've personally been pondering how I'd like my daughter to go deeper as she starts Book 2, so I wanted to let her pick longer and more in depth readings from the recommendations to narrate or notebook. However, I was trying to balance time because I don't want school taking up her whole day in third grade. If I moved her lesson time to small chunks over breakfast that would free her up for a reading chunk. Sooooooo, helpful!

 

Someone (I wish I knew who to credit) created a very helpful spreadsheet that organizes all the lessons, material needed, library books, etc. Does anyone know whether it's ok to share the link to that spreadsheet?

 

I don't personally know if you can share it but I've seen it too and I believe it was in a thread somewhere here on the forum. So if we can find that then it wouldn't be wrong to link to the forum post and people can click through. Edited August 9, 2017 by bwdiaz

[Porridge]

I've personally been pondering how I'd like my daughter to go deeper as she starts Book 2, so I wanted to let her pick longer and more in depth readings from the recommendations to narrate or notebook. 

I've also been thinking through how to provide a structure which will allow my older to go deeper in science readings. I haven't figured that one out yet. It's partly because I need to pre-screen the library books. Some are just too dry. Many are too basic. I haven't had time to do that. I'm actually at this point thinking of just getting a straight up science textbook, (middle school level, because she's capable) and having her read the relevant parts. My hope is that in this way, the content would at least be "in depth" enough and I wouldn't have to pre-screen a hundred "living books."  This idea, of course, assumes that the content of a middle school science textbook would be of a certain quality and depth. That may be a faulty assumption... I haven't researched or gotten my hands on any middle school science texts yet, so I don't know. There's a big part of me that just wants to forego any required "academic" type science reading, and have her read natural history, history of science, epidemiology type books (Holling C. Holling, Gail Jarrow, etc) and save the textbooks for later. She also likes Ellen McHenry, which she reads through on her own.

[Porridge]

If I can get my act together, I'll post the "questions-of-the-day" that I pulled out of each lesson...

[knitgrl]

I really have to say that I do wonder what I'm doing differently from others that I don't find this so stressful or time intensive. This is not a criticism of the experience you guys are having. I'm honestly befuddled because I see this complaint about BFSU a lot but it just isn't that way for me. I'll share what I do and maybe it will help someone out there.

 

Then, I'd plan about 10-15 minutes the following Monday to introduce the topic. I did not script anything. I just read directly from the book to my child and talk about it with her. I'd prop the book open in front of me and I'd talk her through it formally then and then bring it up informally 2 or 3 times out in the world whenever it naturally occurred to us.

 

 

I tried just reading it to my daughter and she absolutely HATED it. To the point where she said she hated science, which is definitely not the place we want to take her. I am finding that if I write up an outline, use supporting books from the library and find a demo or worksheet from someplace else (dd actually likes worksheets), it is more enjoyable for her.

[rachellvd]

I've been using BFSU for a few years, and I've found it easy to implement. I use the kindle version of the book, which I find much easier to navigate (2 taps to get to the flow chart, or any lesson in the book). I read and maybe highlight, but I don't script the lesson. I just explain it and do the demonstrations. If I lose my train of thought, or want to make sure the kids understood the lesson, I go to the list of discussion questions at the end of the lesson. I used to use the recommended books and look up YouTube videos, but I found them to be mostly redundant, and they made the lesson longer than was comfortable for small kids. With just brief lessons with the recommended demonstrations, I found that the kids remembered the material and integrated each lesson with other concepts, even over long periods of time.

 

So I am just reading the lesson content on my own and narrating it to my kids, like they do with their own reading.

 

That said, curriculum is nothing more than a tool, and if it's not a useful tool for you, you should definitely move on without any guilt. There are so many good resources out there.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited August 11, 2017 by rachellvd

[carriede]

I really have to say that I do wonder what I'm doing differently from others that I don't find this so stressful or time intensive. This is not a criticism of the experience you guys are having. I'm honestly befuddled because I see this complaint about BFSU a lot but it just isn't that way for me. I'll share what I do and maybe it will help someone out there.

 

I have an 8 year old daughter starting book 2 and a 6 year old daughter starting book 1. The 8 year old did book 1 over two years for first and second grades. I just split the book in half for each year and it worked out that we averaged about a lesson every two weeks. I do not have a science mind or a science background. I also don't have teaching experience other than homeschooling.

 

I don't pre-plan lessons way in advance though I am more on top of supplies with book 2. With book 1 I looked at lessons Friday afternoons, highlighting or underlining things to say or ask and putting stars by important concepts. If a lesson had a pre-requisite I go back and glanced at it to remind me what was covered. If I remember or have time I'll check the library catalog to see if they have one of the recommended books.

 

Then, I'd plan about 10-15 minutes the following Monday to introduce the topic. I did not script anything. I just read directly from the book to my child and talk about it with her. I'd prop the book open in front of me and I'd talk her through it formally then and then bring it up informally 2 or 3 times out in the world whenever it naturally occurred to us.

 

Library day is Wednesday so if the library did have a recommended book we got it and read it during circle time Thursday morning. If not, and my daughter seemed like she wanted more info, then we'd use that time to google it, watch a you tube video, or look in our Kingfisher or Usborne science encyclopedias for more info.

 

Sometimes, I had things on hand to do the demonstration during that initial Monday lesson. Sometimes I didn't and it was really no hassle to present it the following week. I usually used that second Monday to have her draw a picture or write something about it in her science notebook which was just a composition book that has the big empty space on top for pictures and lines below for writing. I allotted 15 mins for that.

 

That's it. Seriously. Read the lesson, get a library book, sometimes prep a demo, sometimes not. Most of the program has been remembering to talk about the ideas when we come across them. My daughter made great connections from lessons she learned months apart. Maybe she's science minded, I'm not sure.

 

So timewise, I'd say book 1 took me 20-30 minutes a week of prep/gather/look up stuff time and it took us three fifteen minutes of formal sessions per lesson and several informal moments discussing or observing things outside lesson time just scattered here or there.

 

We do Shiller for Math, which I love, and we did Jot it Down stuff from Bravewriter (which I abandoned) and both of those take or took way more time and brainpower on my part than BFSU. Our foreign languages (Spanish, Hebrew, Latin) constitute way more moving parts for me than BFSU also.

 

I feel like people overthink BFSU. It's not meant to be so complicated. Is there anyway I can help those of you who'd like to stick with it?

I don't think the book itself is too hard to implement.

 

I DO think it's hard to implement for moms with lots of kids. I would do something similar to what you have described except I have a toddler who now knows how to climb onto the table and only takes one nap a day.

 

That said, I don't get much else done right now either. :\