If you were/are less structured with science...

[Sarah0000]

At what age/stage did you find a full science curriculum helpful and why?

What supplemental resources did you and your children enjoy? What types of resources do you think prepared your children best for formal science study later? 

Did you use a guide or checklist or were there any skills or knowledge in particular you'd recommend covering before starting a structured science sequence in later grades? In particular, did you care about learning and reviewing science content vocabulary? Did you explicitly teach the scientific method and to what extent did your children use it?

Thanks

[MerryAtHope]

In the lower elementary years, we mainly did science twice a week, and in upper elementary it was daily. We either read or did a project or demonstration, or sometimes we did a nature walk, went to a museum, went to an outside class, and so on. I used Sonlight, Apologia, NOEO, and other science books I came across if I was interested in them, or we checked things out of the library or found things online. If they had an interest, we followed that for awhile (when ds was interested in sharks, our local children's museum happened to have a class and dissection on sharks, so of course we had to do that!) I introduced them to vocabulary and things like the scientific method, but I didn't test or have an expectation that they would retain anything long term. My goals were exposure and fun and to generate curiosity and interest in a variety of science topics.

When my youngest was in 5th, I had her "unschool" science one year so I could focus my time on other things. I had her help me choose a variety of books and gave her these guidelines--she was to do something for 30 minutes each day, but she could choose to read, go outside and nature journal, do an experiment or project, work on a science fair project, write or draw a diagram in her notebook, etc... Any supplies she needed had to be put on our shopping list at least a few days in advance (her responsibility). She was to gather supplies or think of a substitute supply or ask for help.  At least once a week she needed to put something in her science notebook, and on Fridays she was to give me an update on what she had done that week for science. She had a great year, loved the freedom to explore, and really gained an interest in science!

Have fun! I really think you have a lot of freedom to pursue interests in science. I liked having some curriculum on hand to use if we didn't have a rabbit trail to follow at the moment--but it was fun to be able to follow interests when we wanted, too.

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by MerryAtHope

[HomeAgain]

We are not as structured with science as we were with my oldest.  He had 4x a week, written plans in a full curriculum.

The youngest (8yo) uses BFSU.  It's gentle but allows us to have a lot of rabbit trails.  I try to schedule it 1x a week, but sometimes it's 1x every 2 weeks.  Each volume is meant to last 3 years so I'm not worried about it.  We have a LOT of Usborne books and Magic School Bus he likes to read, kits for astronomy, physics, and electricity, videos for anything he could want to watch....this summer we spent our time reading a few pages every day of a Quark Chronicles book on botany and looking for examples. Last year he did an animal study each month with Burgess books that covered animals in our backyard.

Our plan is to use a standard science text around late middle school.  Before then I really want to be able to tie more to history/nature rhythms/what he's interested in.  I figure our next go through history I'll include the Hakim books as part of his weekly scheduled reading and pull together units based on what are big achievements in science during the different civilizations/time periods.

[8filltheheart]

Very unstructured. Zero experiments. Zero vocab study. No checklists. No specific subjects studied. Completely interest led, reading, discussion based approach until high school credits. My kids have had no trouble transitioning to formal science, lab reports, scientific theory, etc, even my more avg students like my current 11th grader.

[Ellie]

15 hours ago, Sarah0000 said:

At what age/stage did you find a full science curriculum helpful and why?

What supplemental resources did you and your children enjoy? What types of resources do you think prepared your children best for formal science study later? 

Did you use a guide or checklist or were there any skills or knowledge in particular you'd recommend covering before starting a structured science sequence in later grades? In particular, did you care about learning and reviewing science content vocabulary? Did you explicitly teach the scientific method and to what extent did your children use it?

Thanks

We didn't use a formal science until younger dd was 15, and then she did biology with a small group and a teacher.

I think learning in general, and being interested in lots of things, and having lots of experiences, whether they're related to a specific subject or not, prepares children for formal...anything.

[Janeway]

My child loves science and I want to keep it this way. I did not do formal science at all when my older children home schooled so they both started formal science at high school and have been earning A's in it. I know a lot of home schoolers who waited until high school for science and did well and even went to college for science.

[Lori D.]

No formal science program until 9th grade here.

16 hours ago, Sarah0000 said:

At what age/stage did you find a full science curriculum helpful and why?

We switched to a textbook program at 9th grade as I am not a Science major, and I wanted to make sure our science was completely credit-worthy for high school credit.
 

16 hours ago, Sarah0000 said:

What supplemental resources did you and your children enjoy? What types of resources do you think prepared your children best for formal science study later?

During the elementary/middle school grades, we enjoyed:
- informational/nonfiction books from the library and purchased books
- science videos (elementary grades = Magic School Bus, Bill Nye, etc. / middle & high school = Mythbusters, NOVA, etc.)
- hands-on kits (early elementary = magnets, sun print paper, paper-making, mid/late elementary = Wild Goose, Educational Insights, K'Nex, etc. / middle school = TOPS Science, etc.)
- hands-on experiment books
- trips to museums, tours of science facilities, homeschool group science demos, etc. 

DSs really loved Science (me too!), so we did Science 4x/week all through the elementary/middle school years -- usually some reading on all days, and then 2x/week doing hands-on or other supplement (field trip, video, kit, hands-on, etc.).
 

16 hours ago, Sarah0000 said:

What types of resources do you think prepared your children best for formal science study later? 

Similarly to any subject -- go with the types of resources that are the best fit for YOUR child to keep interest alive -- interest is the best prep for formal study, IMO.
 

16 hours ago, Sarah0000 said:

Did you use a guide or checklist or were there any skills or knowledge in particular you'd recommend covering before starting a structured science sequence in later grades?

No. But just for my own organizational sanity, I very roughly used the 4-year WTM Science cycle spread out over 6 years as a "guide", just so we would have the opportunity to touch on a wide variety of science topics. I used the table of contents of various science programs and science encyclopedias to list sub-topics under each of the major branches of science as a list to draw from, and then researched resources that were age-appropriate that plugged in under the topics, to make it super-easy to plug in a "unit" of study into our schedule. I personally found it hard to get around to doing a subject (looking at YOU, Art!) if I didn't have a structure to help me plan for the week.

While we tended to follow one overall Science subject through all of its sub-topics, we jumped to other Science subjects whenever DSs expressed an interest in a different topic, and followed that until interest waned, and then would return to my "master list", for lack of anything of higher interest.
 

16 hours ago, Sarah0000 said:

In particular, did you care about learning and reviewing science content vocabulary? 

No. But DSs seemed to naturally absorb a lot of science terms and processes just from our readings and watching science videos. One unrelated thing we did that may have helped a bit with science vocabulary was doing a Greek/Latin roots-based vocabulary program (English From the Roots Up) when DSs were mid- to late-elementary grades, so learning roots helped make science vocabulary more immediately understandable and accessible. 
 

16 hours ago, Sarah0000 said:

Did you explicitly teach the scientific method and to what extent did your children use it?

No. We did formal labs and formal lab reports when we did high school Science.

BEST of luck in finding what works best for you and your DC for your Science studies through the years! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited January 1, 2019 by Lori D.

[Jackie]

We were structured very early (preschool), then unstructured afterwards. DD is currently considering doing a formal high school science class online next year because she’s interested in some advanced topics and will need to be outsourced for them. If she does, then we will not have done formal, structured science between BFSU K-2 and high school level.

She loves science, though. She reads nonfiction and covers much science and history through her reading. She attends/views science lectures for fun. She has attended a variety of science workshops. She has worked through quite a number of the Thames and Kosmos kits. The Private Eye has been interesting both as a science and poetry supplement.