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Science Recommendations (6th & 7th grade kids)-LONG


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Hi Everyone,

I could use some advice on what to do for science next year. 

About my kids:   I will have a rising 6th Grade Child and a 7th Grade Child.  I do not have to combine them, but I am considering it.  My rising 6th grader does not like science at all, so I am trying to kindle interest and love for her.   My rising 7th-grade child LOVES science.   Both are good in math.  They completed AOPS pre-algebra this year (5th and 6th grade), and will be taking AOPS Algebra next year.   They also like to compete in mathcounts.

What they did this year:  This year we floundered in science big time.   I feel like it was one of our worst years.     

My 5th-grade daughter did an online scratch course and then worked through many of the EEME kits.   (We called it a STEM year.)   She really enjoyed working through these electronics programs and the scratch course.  She was also able to do it totally independently which means I wasn't a "bottleneck" to her getting science completed.  

My 7th-grade child wanted to try to do Physical science through Kolbe.    We already owned the program and he thought he could do it...so he sort of talked me into trying it.   In hindsight, that was a mistake.   It ended up being too difficult for him.  He didn't fail it, but he was getting Bs and Cs on the tests, so I don't feel like things were being learned to mastery.  I also had to help him with a lot of the math and unit conversions.   He never really got significant figure no matter how many times I taught it to him.   (And that is why he missed many of the problems on the tests/quizzes.)   So, we dropped the program halfway through the year and tried RSO Biology II.   I really disliked that program for many reasons.  (It was too lab intensive for us so it wasn't getting completed on schedule, I found some errors in the text, and the tests hard to study for, etc. etc.)  So we ended up dropping that program and he is now just doing nature study twice per week and focusing on math.   (Insects by Memoria Press).   Again, I feel like we just floundered all over the place with him.   It wasn't his best science year, and that was mostly because we didn't stick to any one thing.  A lot of it was my fault, and I really want to have a better year next year.  🙂 

Next year:    My rising 7th grade child has big dreams and is highly ambitious with science.  😉 He really wants to try the new Memoria Press Biology program which uses the Holt book and is intended for 9th graders.   He has had good success with Memoria Press products in other subjects.  And the program looks easy enough to teach.  BUT, I am worried that we will have a repeat of our Kolbe Physical Science debacle....that the program will be too much for him, and then we will drop it and have wasted our time.    On the other hand, he plans to try to take Clover Creek Physics next year (8th grade) assuming he completes AOPS Algebra with an A.    So this might be a good year to take a beginners biology program while we wait for his math skills to advance.

My daughter's FAVORITE science year (besides this year) was the year we did Exploration Education.  She enjoyed the little box of supplies and doing all of the lab projects with her brother.   The closest thing I have found to that is The Rainbow science.   However, I keep hearing people say negative things about the program.

Another program I am considering is some of the Novare texts.  (But which ones?)   Again, I cannot find very much information on these.

 

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Hi,

I can't tell you which program to try, but I can describe what it's like to use Novare's Introductory Physics. Actually, we have their secular version, but it is pretty much the same text minus the religious teaching.

This is a mastery program, and it requires a good amount of memorization. With the full package you get a CD with a suggested schedule, quizzes, study guides, labs, etc. The schedule will tell you which sections of the text to assign each day, when to give the student their weekly review guide, when to do chapter exercises, etc. Each week there are flash cards to make and study, reading, and some days there are quizzes or review. Material is cumulative, which is what leads to mastery - even though you may have learned the scientific inquiry process in the first two weeks, it will keep showing up in quizzes in some way or another. Same goes for all the other material, which I like.

You'll be memorizing things like equations, major theories, scientists (who, what, when, why important), conversion factors and prefixes, speed of light in vacuum, etc.

This program can be done at the same time as Algebra 1, but the student needs to be able to manipulate simple equations to get them to the form they need. So, given F=m*a, they will need to be comfortable with rewriting it to solve for m for example. Unit conversions are also important. Setting up problems properly, showing work, writing full sentences for explanations, using correct grammar and spelling are all important. That is explained in grading rubrics.

This is not a hands-on program like Rainbow, but it does include 4 labs. These are 4 full on, proper labs, not demonstrations. If you buy the lab guide, it will teach you how to keep a real lab notebook, set up the hypothesis, write out materials, procedure, etc. Then you will be collecting data, plotting it in Excel, analyzing margin of error, etc. Some of the labs require expensive materials. We are not doing those. Some can be done with mostly household or easy to get items. Home Science Tools website does sell the kit if you are interested.

So, this is a rigorous, no-nonsense, well-written program with clear explanations in the text, no fluff, and high standards for output. It would likely not work for your younger at this stage, but might be good for your older.

 

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/30/2019 at 8:00 PM, RosemaryAndThyme said:

Hi,

I can't tell you which program to try, but I can describe what it's like to use Novare's Introductory Physics. Actually, we have their secular version, but it is pretty much the same text minus the religious teaching.

This is a mastery program, and it requires a good amount of memorization. With the full package you get a CD with a suggested schedule, quizzes, study guides, labs, etc. The schedule will tell you which sections of the text to assign each day, when to give the student their weekly review guide, when to do chapter exercises, etc. Each week there are flash cards to make and study, reading, and some days there are quizzes or review. Material is cumulative, which is what leads to mastery - even though you may have learned the scientific inquiry process in the first two weeks, it will keep showing up in quizzes in some way or another. Same goes for all the other material, which I like.

You'll be memorizing things like equations, major theories, scientists (who, what, when, why important), conversion factors and prefixes, speed of light in vacuum, etc.

This program can be done at the same time as Algebra 1, but the student needs to be able to manipulate simple equations to get them to the form they need. So, given F=m*a, they will need to be comfortable with rewriting it to solve for m for example. Unit conversions are also important. Setting up problems properly, showing work, writing full sentences for explanations, using correct grammar and spelling are all important. That is explained in grading rubrics.

This is not a hands-on program like Rainbow, but it does include 4 labs. These are 4 full on, proper labs, not demonstrations. If you buy the lab guide, it will teach you how to keep a real lab notebook, set up the hypothesis, write out materials, procedure, etc. Then you will be collecting data, plotting it in Excel, analyzing margin of error, etc. Some of the labs require expensive materials. We are not doing those. Some can be done with mostly household or easy to get items. Home Science Tools website does sell the kit if you are interested.

So, this is a rigorous, no-nonsense, well-written program with clear explanations in the text, no fluff, and high standards for output. It would likely not work for your younger at this stage, but might be good for your older.

 

 I did this program last year with DD and I am doing it this year with DS and I absolutely love, love, love this program and think that it is one of the best programs out there for mastery of physics!  I have been looking for something similar to this for biology.  I know that Novare has a biology book in development, but I am still thinking about it since it doesn’t seem to treat evolution at all and avoids the topic entirely.  Also, I supplemented the labs with additional labs of my own, since I thought the program was light on labs.

Edited by Reefgazer
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1 hour ago, Servant4Christ said:

 

Ah, yes. I saw this one. We are using it now and I think the author simply explains more in their explanation, not that the student should be parroting that type of information. 

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17 hours ago, Reefgazer said:

 I did this program last year with DD and I am doing it this year with DS and I absolutely love, love, love this program and think that it is one of the best programs out there for mastery of physics!  I have been looking for something similar to this for biology.  I know that Novare has a biology book in development, but I am still thinking about it since it doesn’t seem to treat evolution at all and avoids the topic entirely.  Also, I supplemented the labs with additional labs of my own, since I thought the program was light on labs.


Just wanted to chime in to say that I believe the Novare biology book will in fact cover evolution.  They explain the handling of evolution in their biology texts in the FAQ section of their website, which can be found here (scroll down to #8):  https://www.novarescienceandmath.com/extras/faq/#eight

It’s my understanding that the author(s) of the Novare series are neither YEC nor skittish about evolution, but I have read that the Memoria Press guides (and MPOA classes) skip the chapters covering this topic, ostensibly to avoid controversy.  Could that be where you heard about these topics being skipped?  I really hope that’s all it is, as I had been hoping to use Novare in the future! 

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I am struggling with science for my 7th grader next year.  We have done RSO Chem and are in Physics now, but I don't want to use them for Biology 2.  

Novare is very interesting to me but the labs are expensive.  I wish I could take a close look at their text books before buying.  

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This may be irrelevant to you if you are keen on a program, but I just thought I would throw it out there.

In middle school, my kids just read books from the library on a variety of topics within disciplines.

Earth science:  ds read coffee table books like the DK definitive visual guides (there are lots of these like oceans, Universe, Earth etc). 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dk+definitive+visual+guide&crid=32G43SRW1CK9L&sprefix=dk+definitive%2Caps%2C387&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_13

For Biology we read books like the Way We Work for human body, and Exploring the Way Life Works for cell and molecular bio, and coffee table books on rainforests, or cheetas, or whatever we found that he liked for ecology. (we do have a big library)

https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Definitive-Visual-Robert-Dinwiddie/dp/0756698413/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=dk+astronomy+book&qid=1571521946&sr=8-4

For physics we used How Things Work for mechanics, and random library books on optics, electromagnetism, etc

For Chemistry we use The Cartoon Guide, and then grabbed cool books on industrial uses for chemistry from library.

My older son who is the real science kid, started reading Scientific American in 8th grade.

For hands on, we did ONE big investigation each year. But for the rest of the year we just read books.

-----------------------

This approach gave both of my boys a broad understanding and love of science, and deep competency in reading scientific text.  This reading comprehension mixed with strong math skills set them up well for high school level science. The only thing left to teach them was how to write scientific answers, which I talked about just last week on a different thread.

Just know that science-loving kids sometimes love reading for joy and exploring their interests and passions (obviously depends on the kid).  And that this approach can be very effective in preparing them for high school level work, so don't feel you have to use a official science program in middle school if you don't want to.  If you do, great; but don't feel like it is the only path for a successful science career. 

Ruth in NZ 

 

 

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