Momof3plus Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Hi, as the title says I’m looking for an easy, get it done science programme for my soon to be 3rd grader, 1st grader PK and a newborn tag along! We’re coming to the end of elemental biology for the grammar stage which has been okayish. I usually print everything off. The kids have found it okay and enjoyed all the experiments/demonstrations. I think 20 weeks in zoology was too much and I was losing steam towards the end of that unit. I really want something quite open and go, nothing too overly lab heavy as I don’t anticipate having the time quite frankly! And one of my kids doesn’t like to write too much. I personally found some of the encyclopaedia reading a bit boring. Ideally I’d prefer something more self contained so I’m not having to purchase multiple books for references (our local libraries aren’t great). Also I don’t want to do science anymore than 2 days a week and I prefer to combine my kids. Is there anything out there? TIA XX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Mystery Science. Short videos, optional lab activity, age appropriate writing bordering on the low side. You can do it as often or as seldom as you like. There are categories with a 5-7 activities in each one if you want to study something deeper and in order, and you can cross grade levels easily and still have it appropriate for all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage81 Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Another vote for Mystery Science! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 3rd for Mystery Science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wathe Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Mystery Science is great for that age group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallyv Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Mystery Science is great or The Good & The Beautiful has super easy, open & go Family Science Units that are great. I also think there is nothing wrong with doing child-led, un-schooling science or just nature study for your kids ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 I lost count of all the votes, but I am going to add mine for Mystery Science. It is so easy to do and enjoyable too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homemommy83 Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) Never heard of Mystery Science😂...but I would think Usborne or library books on 2 of each of the kiddos favorite topics this year should be plenty. If you do botany...plant some things for them to care and watch grow. If they do astronomy make a solar system. If they do a body study...draw their bodies and label them. Just super simple for a mom with a new baby. The next year or 2 I am a huge fan of Considering Gods Creation for 3rd-7th😁. Brenda Edited February 13, 2019 by homemommy83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 39 minutes ago, homemommy83 said: Never heard of Mystery Science😂...but I would think Usborne or library books on 2 of each of the kiddos favorite topics this year should be plenty. If you do botany...plant some things for them to care and watch grow. If they do astronomy make a solar system. If they do a body study...draw their bodies and label them. Just super simple for a mom with a new baby. The next year or 2 I am a huge fan of Considering Gods Creation for 3rd-7th😁. Brenda I am using Considering God's Creation too! I just love it! I used it before Mystery Science came along. So even though we are doing Mystery Science, I decided to have us do both. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Your 3rd grader is the only one who needs Science and even that is debatable! Until 5th grade we kind of unschooled Science ...I would recommend just watching Bill Nye the Science guy we also had great success getting a bird feeder and keeping a bird book by the window. One or two hands on kits per year also sufficed magic school bus is another great one and your first grader and pre-k will watch along. Seriously that along with your local children’s science museum whenever it’s a super rainy day, and the zoo is the best Science they cAn have at this age! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 ^^^ Just FYI my older son is now a STEM major and has always loved physics and reading about physics. He watched the whole Universe series. My dd to this day HATES “science” but LOVES nature and loved all of the David Attenborough documentaries. She can name quite a few trees and flowers and keeps a garden. Does she hate “Science?” Nope only the Boring Textbooks. Really and truly enjoying Science the way I describe is the best way. I can think of nonother subject that is more throughly destroyed and ruined for children than textbook science! And I am not by any means an unschooler! But there’s something totally and wholly unnatural about trying to fit the physical created world that we touch and see every day into a textbook. 💖 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3plus Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 Wow! So many for Mystery Science. I just had a look at it online and whilst it looks easy and I know my kids will enjoy the videos, how full of a curriculum is it? Maybe I’m expecting too much too early and with a new baby my idealised plan in my head probably won’t work. I think we’ll just pick what they want to learn about and read about it. Print off some pictures to colour and take a few field trips. That seems manageable and a lot less daunting. Thanks ladies. Xxxxx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 31 minutes ago, Momof3plus said: Wow! So many for Mystery Science. I just had a look at it online and whilst it looks easy and I know my kids will enjoy the videos, how full of a curriculum is it? Maybe I’m expecting too much too early and with a new baby my idealised plan in my head probably won’t work. I think we’ll just pick what they want to learn about and read about it. Print off some pictures to colour and take a few field trips. That seems manageable and a lot less daunting. Thanks ladies. Xxxxx MS is actually pretty full. I call it a more open-and-go version of Building Foundations Of Scientific Understanding. I'm glad you have a plan to execute, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 2 hours ago, Momof3plus said: I just had a look at it online and whilst it looks easy and I know my kids will enjoy the videos, how full of a curriculum is it? Full of what? Full of busy work and worksheets? Full range of topics? Full of experiments? Full of fun? Mystery Science is great, we use it a lot as part of our unschool-y elementary science. If we were in a situation like a new baby in the house or some other life event that caused us to need to put a lot of things on auto-pilot for a while, I would absolutely use just Mystery Science and other interest-led science exploration and have no qualms whatsoever about the quality of their science education. Elementary science should be about explorations and curiosity, not paper trails and mastery. Your kids are still very, very young in the grand scheme of things. Even your oldest child still has almost 10 years of schooling left to master science. There is no harm in having fun with science now and many would argue it would be the best kind of science education for her age. You know what I remember from public school 3rd grade science in the late 80's? Dissecting owl pellets and raising meal worms in baby food jars. You know what my 20 year old son remembers from homeschool 3rd grade science? Raising caterpillars into butterflies, dissecting an owl pellet, making soap and a series of physics experiments we did from a TOPS unit. Neither of us remembers a single book or worksheet from third grade science that we completed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3plus Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, sweet2ndchance said: You know what I remember from public school 3rd grade science in the late 80's? You’re so right! Same here! 2 hours ago, sweet2ndchance said: Your kids are still very, very young in the grand scheme of things.... You know what my 20 year old son remembers from homeschool 3rd grade science? Raising caterpillars into butterflies, dissecting an owl pellet, making soap and a series of physics experiments we did from a TOPS unit. Neither of us remembers a single book or worksheet from third grade science that we completed. 💕 love this! Thank you all xxxx Edited February 14, 2019 by Momof3plus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 6 hours ago, Momof3plus said: Wow! So many for Mystery Science. I just had a look at it online and whilst it looks easy and I know my kids will enjoy the videos, how full of a curriculum is it? Maybe I’m expecting too much too early and with a new baby my idealised plan in my head probably won’t work. I think we’ll just pick what they want to learn about and read about it. Print off some pictures to colour and take a few field trips. That seems manageable and a lot less daunting. Thanks ladies. Xxxxx Very full. And there are extra activities and videos for each lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 (edited) By the way, I agree with everyone who says you do not need formal science. Just have fun with it and let them explore what they want. That works too. But also, using Mystery Science, my son has been looking at what he really wants. I often just let him pick the next lesson we do. But I would not say you need Mystery Science either. I was just commenting that my child has really enjoyed it. He also loves Magic School Bus. It is surprising how much good information is in each episode when the child watches it when they are old enough to understand all that is being said. It irritates me when someone says their 4 or 5 yr old liked Magic School Bus so they won't show it to their older child because a small child would only watch it for the fun of seeing the bus and the drama of the kids needing to rescue themselves. If they watch it when old enough to understand, they get A LOT of science facts and information from it. Edited February 14, 2019 by Janeway 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 I totally agree! Magic School Bus seemed to be at it's best for my kids around 2nd-3rd grade, because then they really understood all of the Science, and kind of got into the characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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