How do I implement homegrown science?

[Momto6inIN]

My other thread expressing frustration at not finding a good curriculum fit for elementary science is making me think about giving up the search and just doing my own thing - but I need help figuring out what that actually looks like in the nitty gritty day to day.

When I sat down with DH to talk about our big picture goals for science one of the themes that came up was nurturing a curiosity about how things work. I'd love it if I could get my kids to ask a question and then we'd go about finding the answers, but I just am not sure they have the requisite base knowledge to even know what questions to ask, if that makes sense. So I don't know if completely  interest led is the way to go or not. 

Do you ask your kids for what they want to learn? What if all they want to learn about is horses or sharks? (Maybe they'd love chemistry but they haven't been exposed to it enough to *say* they are interested in it.)

Then once you narrow it down to a topic (of your choice or theirs), do you just read living books and find activity/demonstration books to go through? What if your library is a dud - how do you find books that will be good ones without spending a ton of money? Do you write or notebook about what you do at all?

I want to make science fun and engaging, but it all just seems so overwhelming.

@Lori D. I know you said you had some homegrown stuff to share, maybe if you had a few minutes you wouldn't mind chiming in? And anybody who is not Lori D is welcome as well 🙂

[lewelma]

Not Lori, but I wrote up a long post years and years ago about what I did when the kids were young. It answers so many of your questions, so clearly I was thinking about the same issues as you. And it is a good thing I wrote it up back then, because I have forgotten so much from the early years!  

X-Post from 2011!!

I thought I might expand a bit on how to get the kids on board and excited about "what is next." Science in my house is both interest driven and organized/systematic. Yes it can be done.:001_smile:

I start before summer, mentioning in passing about how "I can't wait until next year because we will be doing earth science." I drop little hints, "did you know that earth science has 4 major fields: astronomy, geology, meteorology, and oceanography." Every couple of week for months, I say something else quite purposefully, dropping seeds of interest. "I know so little about crystals, I can't wait until geology." Eventually, the kids start asking "what are we studying next year again?" or "Do we get to study sand next year?" And "oh, I can't wait until we get to astronomy!"

Then, once we are in the earth science year, I drop hints during the first unit on Astronomy, "did you know that geology is next?" A few weeks later, I might mention " wow, I had no idea that geology was such a huge field - rocks, crystals, soil, ground water, plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes. I just don't think we will be able to do it all. What should we skip?" Then, it goes something like, "ah, mom, we can't skip any of it. I love geology." etc. I think you get the idea. These are breadcrumbs, leading the way to path I want them to follow. It works shockingly well!!! Just today, as I was talking excitedly about finding some good chemistry books in the library for next year, ds(8) asked "what is chemistry?" "Well, it is all about atoms and reactions, like when you put vinegar and baking soda together." "oh, I love chemistry," he says. The first little breadcrumb in place...

As the kids get older, I start to ask for input. My ds when he was 10 was quite adamant that he wanted to study microbiology, and I wanted him to study genetics and evolution, so there you go 3 units for 3 terms. The 4th term being for the science fair project. The younger one (1st grade at the time) could obviously not do those topics, so I chose easier things: botany, zoology, and ecology. But it is nicer when both kids are studying the same big topic, which happened this year. Kind of depends on the field.

So how do I get the topics for the different sciences? Well, you do some research. Find out the big divisions within the subject for the year. Then, I check the library for good books. I check them out while I am planning for the following year and look over them and make sure there is enough of the good stuff at an appropriate level. If there is not, I have to buy some, but this has been pretty infrequent in 6 years. Then, I make a bit of a schedule. Each year has a subject (earth and space science), and each term has a topic (geology) and subtopics (crystals, volcanoes, ground water, erosion). The term topic is pretty well set in stone, but the subtopics can be very fluid. We often can't get to all of them, because we are following rabbit trails, which is just fine. Too much time spent on crystals and soil, leaves too little time on volcanoes and earthquakes. Oh well. There is always more to learn. But at the beginning of the next term, we start the new topic (switching from geology to oceanography which are all a part of the year's subject of earth science).

I do agree with SWB that systematic study of any field is the hallmark of a classical education. I also like using a spine and then getting more books out, but the spines I use are MUCH more detailed than the ones she suggests. So I get a spine for geology, and a different spine for oceanography. Rather than a spine for earth science, which will be more vague and general because there is more to cover.

I disagree with SWB that kids need to summarize, list facts, draw pictures each week to review/document their studies. I have found that this KILLS the love of science learning in my kids. Who wants to read about astronomy if you know you are then going to have to sit at the table and write a summary? yuck:tongue_smilie:. My kids sometimes choose to write about science for their fortnightly reports during writing time. We use IEW, so they spend 1 or 2 weeks with crafting their words/sentences/paragraphs, and then editing and copying over. Much more satisfying than just the repetition of weekly note booking. But each to his own.

During each topic, we do some easy hands on stuff as a family. For example, for astronomy, we follow the moon, identify the constellations, and watch NASA launches; for geology, we grow a crystal, look at road cuts, watch the news for earthquakes (ug, think Christchurch); for oceanography we notice jetties, look at sea creatures, and watch the waves; and for meteorology we identify cloud types, study weather maps, and make measurement equipment. All of this is just observing the world-- making what we are learning come to life. It has no scientific method component, and there is no reason to write it up as a lab report. It is just fun and educational.

Then, after 3 terms of reading, we do 1 term on a large-scale investigation. This year's investigations are: ds(11)-- how does the wind speed and direction affect longshore transport of sand? And ds(8)-- How does land slope and vegetation affect the depth of the topsoil? This is where the kids will write up their project in a scientific report, including hypothesis, method, results, and discussion. They make a poster and then present at the science fair.

And one more X-post

We follow rabbit trails, but they are rabbit trails within the topic. I don't discourage the kids learning other topics within science when we are studying astronomy, for example, but the whole family is focused on astronomy. We are all noticing the moon cycle and finding stars in the sky. We are reading books and watching docos. And my dh comes home with news on NASA's new launch, and we watch it over breakfast on a streaming NASA TV. It is exciting. If they want to grow a crystal or read a Magic School Bus book on rain forests, fine, but the whole family is focused on astronomy.

This systematic focus helps the kids explore topics they never would have thought or on their own (oceanography for example) and helps to direct the rabbit trails within the topics. DS(11) was particularly interested in soil when we studied geology for 9 weeks and spent extra time on that subtopic. For geology, he studied rocks, crystals, plate tectonics, and soil/erosion (but ran out of time for ground water and volcanoes, when the term was up we moved on to oceanography). I don't think that either of us would have ever thought to study soil. How boring.... until you learn a lot about it. So IMHO, elementary school is about exposure in addition to the excitement that everyone always talks about.

Edited December 6, 2019 by lewelma

[lewelma]

Found the resources we used!  All here on the board.  I used to post all the time on Science. 🙂 

 

X-Post from 2011!!

1st. Biology

Topics: Zoology, Botany, Ecology, Human Body (not very formal)

Texts: just used library books

Docos: David Attenborough's numerous series

Hands on: observed birds, planted a garden, measured heart rate and lung capacity, made mushroom prints, etc

Investigations: ds#1 What is the most common mushroom in our woods?

Ds#2 Which fertilizer makes plants grow the tallest?

 

2nd. Earth Science

Topics: Astronomy, Geology, Oceanography, Metereology

Texts: Ocean http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-American...0729099&sr=8-1

Eyewitness Earth http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Eyewitne...0729126&sr=1-1

The Way the Universe Works http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Works...0729156&sr=1-1

plus library books

Docos: BBC's Planet Earth and others

Hands on: observed the night sky and moon cycles, studied weather maps, observed fronts, identified clouds, joined local geology club, collected and categorized rocks, and went on field trips to see road cuts

Investigations: ds#1 Can I predict the weather accurately using only cloud formations?

Ds#2 What affects the topsoil depth in my woods?

 

3rd. Chemistry

Topics: Periodic Table, chemical reactions, industry uses

Texts: Ellen Henry's The Elements, RS4K level 2 Chemistry, and numerous library books

Docos: Numerous Modern Marvels on Chemistry topics

Hands on: mostly from RS4K

Investigation: What mixture of ingredients makes the most pliable and bounceable silly putty?

 

4th: Physics (We did middle school physics in 4th because it is ds#1's true love)

Topics: mechanics, electronics, astronomy, flight

Text: How Things Work (yes, the whole book!) + library books on electricity and flight

Scientific American's astronomy articles going back 10 years

Docos: The Way Things Work, Numerous Modern Marvels on Physics/Engineering topics

Hands on: Electronics kit. Mechanical Kit

Investigation: How does the angle of attack affect the flight time of a kite depending on the wind speed?

 

5th: Biology (topics of his choosing - resources are more like 8th grade)

Topics: Biochemistry, Genetics, Evolution, Microbiology

Texts: The Way Life Works; The Cartoon Guide to genetics; The stuff of life; Biozone's Evolution

Docos: All of David Attenborough again (he is just great)

Hands on: Hemophilia in the royal family, lots of microscope work, gene pool and genetic drift games

Investigation: Which type of water supports the most diversity of micro-organisms, ocean, ditch, or river?

 

6th: Earth Science (text is better for 9th grade)

Topics: Astronomy, Oceanography, Geology, Meteorology.

Texts: Tarbuck's Earth Science, and Applications and Investigations in Earth Science

(we only did about 2/3 of the text and ½ of the applications)

Docos: TTC one of the Earth Science series (did not get through even 1/2 of the series)

Hands on: Observed night sky and moon cycles,

Investigation: How does the wind direction and speed and the orientation of the bay affect longshore transport of sand?

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by lewelma

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

When I sat down with DH to talk about our big picture goals for science one of the themes that came up was nurturing a curiosity about how things work. I'd love it if I could get my kids to ask a question and then we'd go about finding the answers, but I just am not sure they have the requisite base knowledge to even know what questions to ask, if that makes sense. So I don't know if completely  interest led is the way to go or not. 

Kits are helpful for guided exploration. And nothing wrong with getting a science curriculum that guides exploration/ And then, if your kids come up with bunny trails of interest as they go along, you can get additional/specific resources to help guide in exploring their questions or interests.

Also, what about creating a homeschool science group? Are there any fellow homeschoolers near you that you could do a weekly or bi-weekly science exploration afternoon with? Like, a total of 3-5 families, all pulling together -- especially helpful if one of the parents is STEM savvy.

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

Do you ask your kids for what they want to learn? ... Do you write or notebook about what you do at all?

No. DSs never expressed a strong preference or interest for a Science subject at the start of the year, so each summer, I picked the next overall Science subject from the "big 4" (Life/Earth/Chem/Physics) and then as we went along, if they developed a sudden interest in something else, we'd bunny trail to that topic for awhile.

re: writing/notebooking -- Extremely little "output" until starting to do the occasional very basic lab report in 8th grade. Both DSs here made it very clear throughout our years of homeschooling that they did NOT like "school" of any kind, LOL. One of them (and NOT the struggling writer) just recently told me how any time Writing became part of what we were doing for any subject, he immediately disliked it. In essence, "writing ruined everything."  😫 

However, precisely because DS#2 had LD in Math AND in several LA areas, I decided early on to NOT worry about writing output with Science for either DS (sort of a "pick your battles" mentality -- fight the good fight of writing with the topic of Writing, and not in other subject areas, LOL). Which is probably one of the major things I accidentally did RIGHT that kept alive a love of Science for BOTH DSs.

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

My other thread expressing frustration at not finding a good curriculum fit for elementary science is making me think about giving up the search and just doing my own thing - but I need help figuring out what that actually looks like in the nitty gritty day to day.

For me, that looked like this: because DSs never expressed a strong preference or interest, each summer, I picked the next overall Science subject (Life Science, Earth Science + Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics), and then spent about a week coming up with a list of subtopics under that Subject (from table of contents of kids' science programs, kid's science encyclopedias, Wikipedia, and some websites like the Rader's _____4Kids websites.

Then I made a "master list" of those subtopics in a way that seemed to "flow" or "build", and then researched for library books and educational videos that fit for each subtopic and plugged them into the list, under the topic they fleshed out. Then I plugged in hands-on activities and kits from Rainbow Resource, or specific things suggested by people on these boards, as well as any local opportunities we would have that fit in.

DSs always loved Science-related stuff, so I planned for about 20-30 min/day, 4 days/week from the time we started homeschooling. So I just scheduled all of the above items/activities such that we could plug in 20-30 minutes of books and/or activities related to the next topic on the "master list", and I worked about 2 weeks ahead getting books put on hold at the library, and in making sure I had the supplies we would need for activities.

Sometimes, something would come up, so I'd just set aside Science entirely for a week or two so we could flex. Other times, they would get interested in some unrelated topic, so we'd so that for awhile as a "unit study". Eventually we would come back to the "master list". I never worried about completing the overarching Science topic in one year -- in the late elementary grades, we spent close to 2 years working along through Physics topics, as DSs got very interested in Rocketry for awhile. Earth Science in the early elementary grades also took us longer than a year, as we ended up getting really interested in a Biome (climate zone) study, and also a big unit on Oceanography.

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

Then once you narrow it down to a topic... do you just read living books and find activity/demonstration books to go through?

Yes.

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

...how do you find books that will be good ones without spending a ton of money? ...

Sorry, but I DID spend a lot on homeschooling. BUT, I only had 2, and they were less than 2 years apart, so they were doing both Science and History together, so that somewhat consolidated expenditures.

To reduce costs, I also:
- borrowed and/or traded back and forth with fellow homeschooling friends
- bought used from the great local second hand book stores
- resold some things when done
- used some free online websites rather than buying books for some specific topics

2 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

...What if all they want to learn about is horses or sharks? (Maybe they'd love chemistry but they haven't been exposed to it enough to *say* they are interested in it.)...

Well, that never happened here, but if it did, why not do 2 science tracks? So: 2x/week keep going with the beloved topic of horses or sharks, and then another 2x/week move along with some other science program or topics.

By working our way through the "big 4" science topics during the elementary years, we touched on all kinds of topics, so then they had some exposure to enough Science topics that eventually they had enough background that they would have been able to have a "say" in what we studied.


I know in that previous thread you mentioned concern about "retention" of information. That will really vary from student to student as to what best helps info "stick", but for our DSs, I'm convinced that it was repeated exposure in multiple forms -- obviously, YMMV, but we would read a book or two a week when they were in the early elementary grades, and do several hands on activities, then watch documentaries and science shows. Plus do field trips or local opportunities on top of all that.

Also, there was reinforcement all along, as DSs LOVED just flipping through Science encyclopedias. (DK Ultimate Visual Dictionary (or this older edition) and various Usborne books)  I know the "snippets of info" style in NOT for everyone, but that seemed to help DSs retain info and maintain interest -- enjoy the visuals, read the captions, rinse, repeat.

And then getting exposure to similar info or info that built on those snippets through Magic School Bus, Bill Nye, and Mythbusters. And through the books we read. And then seeing exhibits in museums or touring an actual cave. And doing a hands-on demos (Janice VanCleeve books!) or building simple machines with a kit. Then doing fun physics-related designing of things through game software (Crazy Contraptions, ... etc.

Ruth (lewelma) has a fantastic past thread on doing semester-long (or year-long) science investigations with her children... How I *wish* I could have pulled that off! (ETA -- I was cross-posting with her! LOL! What a fantastic pair of posts she has there! In some ways, what she lists is what I was doing, but I was just doing it at a much lower level and less in-depth level.)

But... that was not in my scope or ability, what with the particular plate of life circumstances I had to deal with while homeschooling, plus the particular children I had, with their specific needs.

However, in the end, I don't think our approach to Science was a total bust -- DS#1 is halfway through a Mechanical Engineering degree and loves watching high-end Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Math videos "just for kicks", while DS#2 earned his EMT certification last spring (which clearly focuses on life science/medical info), and is constantly learning about eco-systems and fire behavior and scientific approaches to environmental science and fire science for his Wildland Firefighting career.

ETA AGAIN -- similar to lewelma, we had fascinating sub-topics each year of our elementary/middle school sciences:

DSs grades 1 & 2 = Earth Science (flowed over into following year)
- Geology (rocks, minerals, crystals, plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers, erosion, soil, landforms)
- Meteorology (water cycle, sun, rainbow, wind, clouds, rain, snow, extreme weather, measuring weather)
- Astronomy (sun, moon, solar system, planets, asteroids, comets, stars, constellations, galaxies, black holes, etc.)
- Biomes (Cave, Desert, Arctic, Jungle, Grassland, Ocean -- which flowed into a major Oceanography study into the following year)

DSs grades 2 & 3 = Chemistry (shortened year as Earth Science flowed into this year)
- atoms and molecules
- elements
- states of matter
- solutions and mixtures
- acids, bases, pH
- kitchen chemistry

DSs grades 4/5 & 5/6 = Physics (we took 2 years for various reasons)
- Motion
- Magnetism
- Electricity
- Electronics
- Light & Optics
- Sound
- Simple Machines
- Rocketry and Flight

DSs grades 6 & 7 = Life Science
- Botany (plants)
- Anatomy (human body)
- Zoology (animals)

DSs grade 7 & 8 = Physical Science
- one semester = physics & chemistry overviews, moving into slightly more formal study
- one semester = earth science & astronomy overviews, moving into slightly more formal study

Edited December 6, 2019 by Lori D.

[annegables]

I only have 6th grade and under, so take this for what it is worth😁. We are a science family, but I "unschool" science thus far. However, the science things we own include and are not limited to: telescope, microscope, field scope, all the snap circuits, KNex, Lego, Lego Mindstorm, Lego Boost, Thames and Kosmos, loads of rocks, minerals, fossils, random collected animal parts, magnets, dissection kit, chemistry 2000 kit, a ton of geography books, arduino, optics kit, etc. And these all get regularly used, because they are easily accessible. We then watch a lot of documentaries and Great Courses Plus lectures on our current interests (currently extreme weather and infectious diseases). Oh, and we go to a bunch of different science/natural history museums.

One of my kids is really into bones and we live in an urban area. He is getting a taxidermied animal skeleton for Christmas that he has to assemble. This will teach him more about the skeleton than I have ever known.

[Momto6inIN]

9 hours ago, lewelma said:

Found the resources we used!  All here on the board.  I used to post all the time on Science. 🙂 

 

X-Post from 2011!!

1st. Biology

Topics: Zoology, Botany, Ecology, Human Body (not very formal)

Texts: just used library books

Docos: David Attenborough's numerous series

Hands on: observed birds, planted a garden, measured heart rate and lung capacity, made mushroom prints, etc

Investigations: ds#1 What is the most common mushroom in our woods?

Ds#2 Which fertilizer makes plants grow the tallest?

 

2nd. Earth Science

Topics: Astronomy, Geology, Oceanography, Metereology

Texts: Ocean http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-American...0729099&sr=8-1

Eyewitness Earth http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Eyewitne...0729126&sr=1-1

The Way the Universe Works http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Works...0729156&sr=1-1

plus library books

Docos: BBC's Planet Earth and others

Hands on: observed the night sky and moon cycles, studied weather maps, observed fronts, identified clouds, joined local geology club, collected and categorized rocks, and went on field trips to see road cuts

Investigations: ds#1 Can I predict the weather accurately using only cloud formations?

Ds#2 What affects the topsoil depth in my woods?

 

3rd. Chemistry

Topics: Periodic Table, chemical reactions, industry uses

Texts: Ellen Henry's The Elements, RS4K level 2 Chemistry, and numerous library books

Docos: Numerous Modern Marvels on Chemistry topics

Hands on: mostly from RS4K

Investigation: What mixture of ingredients makes the most pliable and bounceable silly putty?

 

4th: Physics (We did middle school physics in 4th because it is ds#1's true love)

Topics: mechanics, electronics, astronomy, flight

Text: How Things Work (yes, the whole book!) + library books on electricity and flight

Scientific American's astronomy articles going back 10 years

Docos: The Way Things Work, Numerous Modern Marvels on Physics/Engineering topics

Hands on: Electronics kit. Mechanical Kit

Investigation: How does the angle of attack affect the flight time of a kite depending on the wind speed?

 

5th: Biology (topics of his choosing - resources are more like 8th grade)

Topics: Biochemistry, Genetics, Evolution, Microbiology

Texts: The Way Life Works; The Cartoon Guide to genetics; The stuff of life; Biozone's Evolution

Docos: All of David Attenborough again (he is just great)

Hands on: Hemophilia in the royal family, lots of microscope work, gene pool and genetic drift games

Investigation: Which type of water supports the most diversity of micro-organisms, ocean, ditch, or river?

 

6th: Earth Science (text is better for 9th grade)

Topics: Astronomy, Oceanography, Geology, Meteorology.

Texts: Tarbuck's Earth Science, and Applications and Investigations in Earth Science

(we only did about 2/3 of the text and ½ of the applications)

Docos: TTC one of the Earth Science series (did not get through even 1/2 of the series)

Hands on: Observed night sky and moon cycles,

Investigation: How does the wind direction and speed and the orientation of the bay affect longshore transport of sand?

 

 

8 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Kits are helpful for guided exploration. And nothing wrong with getting a science curriculum that guides exploration/ And then, if your kids come up with bunny trails of interest as they go along, you can get additional/specific resources to help guide in exploring their questions or interests.

Also, what about creating a homeschool science group? Are there any fellow homeschoolers near you that you could do a weekly or bi-weekly science exploration afternoon with? Like, a total of 3-5 families, all pulling together -- especially helpful if one of the parents is STEM savvy.

No. DSs never expressed a strong preference or interest for a Science subject at the start of the year, so each summer, I picked the next overall Science subject from the "big 4" (Life/Earth/Chem/Physics) and then as we went along, if they developed a sudden interest in something else, we'd bunny trail to that topic for awhile.

re: writing/notebooking -- Extremely little "output" until starting to do the occasional very basic lab report in 8th grade. Both DSs here made it very clear throughout our years of homeschooling that they did NOT like "school" of any kind, LOL. One of them (and NOT the struggling writer) just recently told me how any time Writing became part of what we were doing for any subject, he immediately disliked it. In essence, "writing ruined everything."  😫 

However, precisely because DS#2 had LD in Math AND in several LA areas, I decided early on to NOT worry about writing output with Science for either DS (sort of a "pick your battles" mentality -- fight the good fight of writing with the topic of Writing, and not in other subject areas, LOL). Which is probably one of the major things I accidentally did RIGHT that kept alive a love of Science for BOTH DSs.

For me, that looked like this: because DSs never expressed a strong preference or interest, each summer, I picked the next overall Science subject (Life Science, Earth Science + Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics), and then spent about a week coming up with a list of subtopics under that Subject (from table of contents of kids' science programs, kid's science encyclopedias, Wikipedia, and some websites like the Rader's _____4Kids websites.

Then I made a "master list" of those subtopics in a way that seemed to "flow" or "build", and then researched for library books and educational videos that fit for each subtopic and plugged them into the list, under the topic they fleshed out. Then I plugged in hands-on activities and kits from Rainbow Resource, or specific things suggested by people on these boards, as well as any local opportunities we would have that fit in.

DSs always loved Science-related stuff, so I planned for about 20-30 min/day, 4 days/week from the time we started homeschooling. So I just scheduled all of the above items/activities such that we could plug in 20-30 minutes of books and/or activities related to the next topic on the "master list", and I worked about 2 weeks ahead getting books put on hold at the library, and in making sure I had the supplies we would need for activities.

Sometimes, something would come up, so I'd just set aside Science entirely for a week or two so we could flex. Other times, they would get interested in some unrelated topic, so we'd so that for awhile as a "unit study". Eventually we would come back to the "master list". I never worried about completing the overarching Science topic in one year -- in the late elementary grades, we spent close to 2 years working along through Physics topics, as DSs got very interested in Rocketry for awhile. Earth Science in the early elementary grades also took us longer than a year, as we ended up getting really interested in a Biome (climate zone) study, and also a big unit on Oceanography.

Yes.

Sorry, but I DID spend a lot on homeschooling. BUT, I only had 2, and they were less than 2 years apart, so they were doing both Science and History together, so that somewhat consolidated expenditures.

To reduce costs, I also:
- borrowed and/or traded back and forth with fellow homeschooling friends
- bought used from the great local second hand book stores
- resold some things when done
- used some free online websites rather than buying books for some specific topics

Well, that never happened here, but if it did, why not do 2 science tracks? So: 2x/week keep going with the beloved topic of horses or sharks, and then another 2x/week move along with some other science program or topics.

By working our way through the "big 4" science topics during the elementary years, we touched on all kinds of topics, so then they had some exposure to enough Science topics that eventually they had enough background that they would have been able to have a "say" in what we studied.


I know in that previous thread you mentioned concern about "retention" of information. That will really vary from student to student as to what best helps info "stick", but for our DSs, I'm convinced that it was repeated exposure in multiple forms -- obviously, YMMV, but we would read a book or two a week when they were in the early elementary grades, and do several hands on activities, then watch documentaries and science shows. Plus do field trips or local opportunities on top of all that.

Also, there was reinforcement all along, as DSs LOVED just flipping through Science encyclopedias. (DK Ultimate Visual Dictionary (or this older edition) and various Usborne books)  I know the "snippets of info" style in NOT for everyone, but that seemed to help DSs retain info and maintain interest -- enjoy the visuals, read the captions, rinse, repeat.

And then getting exposure to similar info or info that built on those snippets through Magic School Bus, Bill Nye, and Mythbusters. And through the books we read. And then seeing exhibits in museums or touring an actual cave. And doing a hands-on demos (Janice VanCleeve books!) or building simple machines with a kit. Then doing fun physics-related designing of things through game software (Crazy Contraptions, ... etc.

Ruth (lewelma) has a fantastic past thread on doing semester-long (or year-long) science investigations with her children... How I *wish* I could have pulled that off! (ETA -- I was cross-posting with her! LOL! What a fantastic pair of posts she has there! In some ways, what she lists is what I was doing, but I was just doing it at a much lower level and less in-depth level.)

But... that was not in my scope or ability, what with the particular plate of life circumstances I had to deal with while homeschooling, plus the particular children I had, with their specific needs.

However, in the end, I don't think our approach to Science was a total bust -- DS#1 is halfway through a Mechanical Engineering degree and loves watching high-end Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Math videos "just for kicks", while DS#2 earned his EMT certification last spring (which clearly focuses on life science/medical info), and is constantly learning about eco-systems and fire behavior and scientific approaches to environmental science and fire science for his Wildland Firefighting career.

ETA AGAIN -- similar to lewelma, we had fascinating sub-topics each year of our elementary/middle school sciences:

DSs grades 1 & 2 = Earth Science (flowed over into following year)
- Geology (rocks, minerals, crystals, plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers, erosion, soil, landforms)
- Meteorology (water cycle, sun, rainbow, wind, clouds, rain, snow, extreme weather, measuring weather)
- Astronomy (sun, moon, solar system, planets, asteroids, comets, stars, constellations, galaxies, black holes, etc.)
- Biomes (Cave, Desert, Arctic, Jungle, Grassland, Ocean -- which flowed into a major Oceanography study into the following year)

DSs grades 2 & 3 = Chemistry (shortened year as Earth Science flowed into this year)
- atoms and molecules
- elements
- states of matter
- solutions and mixtures
- acids, bases, pH
- kitchen chemistry

DSs grades 4/5 & 5/6 = Physics (we took 2 years for various reasons)
- Motion
- Magnetism
- Electricity
- Electronics
- Light & Optics
- Sound
- Simple Machines
- Rocketry and Flight

DSs grades 6 & 7 = Life Science
- Botany (plants)
- Anatomy (human body)
- Zoology (animals)

DSs grade 7 & 8 = Physical Science
- one semester = physics & chemistry overviews, moving into slightly more formal study
- one semester = earth science & astronomy overviews, moving into slightly more formal study

You guys, seriously, this is so so so so helpful! Not sure I'll be able to pull it off as well as you both did 😊 but it's giving me the motivation to try and come up with a DIY plan. And thanks so much for the links to various resources to use/spines - not knowing where to start was looking like a mountain I can't climb, but your lists make it seem a little more attainable!

[Momto6inIN]

8 hours ago, annegables said:

I only have 6th grade and under, so take this for what it is worth😁. We are a science family, but I "unschool" science thus far. However, the science things we own include and are not limited to: telescope, microscope, field scope, all the snap circuits, KNex, Lego, Lego Mindstorm, Lego Boost, Thames and Kosmos, loads of rocks, minerals, fossils, random collected animal parts, magnets, dissection kit, chemistry 2000 kit, a ton of geography books, arduino, optics kit, etc. And these all get regularly used, because they are easily accessible. We then watch a lot of documentaries and Great Courses Plus lectures on our current interests (currently extreme weather and infectious diseases). Oh, and we go to a bunch of different science/natural history museums.

One of my kids is really into bones and we live in an urban area. He is getting a taxidermied animal skeleton for Christmas that he has to assemble. This will teach him more about the skeleton than I have ever known.

We have a lot of these kits and toys too, and they get used, but I think of them more as play than school - so maybe I'm doing better at this than I thought 🙄

The skeleton gift sounds so cool!

[Jackie]

10 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

Do you ask your kids for what they want to learn? What if all they want to learn about is horses or sharks? (Maybe they'd love chemistry but they haven't been exposed to it enough to *say* they are interested in it.)

Then once you narrow it down to a topic (of your choice or theirs), do you just read living books and find activity/demonstration books to go through? What if your library is a dud - how do you find books that will be good ones without spending a ton of money? Do you write or notebook about what you do at all?

 

We had a lot of resources around to introduce topics: several kids magazine subscriptions, a login to BrainPop, a constantly rotating selection of library books, kids reference books. None of this was ever required reading/watching, but my child enjoyed them, so she used them regularly. These triggered interest and questions that led both our science and our history. I also kept an extensive Amazon wish list of kits and science toys, and I’d look through the list with the kid on occasion when we needed some inspiration. She took a couple of fun science-related classes through Athena’s Academy, and we also used their topics to spark our own homegrown stuff.

The library we were using at first was amazing, and we never struck out. The next library system, after we moved, was much less good, and I never was able to rely on it. I would ask for recommendations on this board and on Facebook groups that I’m part of, and we used more online resources. I don’t buy a lot of books, as we live in a small space, and usually used my money (and space) for hands-on materials.

When DD would choose a topic that she wanted to really dig into, I would gather resources. A stack of library books (when possible), lists of kits or other hands-on options, video series, related games, whatever seemed applicable. I would then go through all that I had gathered with DD and discuss more about what she wanted to learn and how she wanted to go about it. I would take the information from that discussion to make needed purchases and get organized.

I never required output from her. She is a young, very accelerated student. Input has always been at a much higher level of output. She did take notes when we would do some experiments in order to be able to compare results, but that was it.

[annegables]

9 hours ago, Lori D. said:

re: writing/notebooking -- Extremely little "output" until starting to do the occasional very basic lab report in 8th grade. Both DSs here made it very clear throughout our years of homeschooling that they did NOT like "school" of any kind, LOL. One of them (and NOT the struggling writer) just recently told me how any time Writing became part of what we were doing for any subject, he immediately disliked it. In essence, "writing ruined everything."  😫 

Thank you for saying this. This has been my children's attitude, so it is nice to hear from someone who has launched children! I did teach my 4th grader how to write paragraphs with a topic sentence, supporting details, and a closing sentence by writing up his observations from the experiments (demonstrations?) in the Optical Society of America's optics kit. That proved amazingly successful. 

I think everything  I listed has been curated as Christmas/birthday gifts from family members over the last decade, so our cost has not been much. 

Something I did right when the kids were little was a strict no screens rule. Once they got to be school-age, I allowed documentaries. What this meant for my kids was that they think that a science or history documentary is a real treat. Here is a list of some family faves in science (we also enjoy the ones lewelma listed): How The Universe Works, How the Earth Was Made, Steve Spangler DIY Sci, Inventions that Shook the World, Magic School Bus, Jim Al-Khalili. I know I am forgetting some, but those are great! All can be found either on youtube or Amazon Prime.

I also allow screens for computer programming and chess. I allow screens for Great Courses Plus, because it is like getting a college lecture in the comfort of one's home. Our subscription has easily paid for itself.

My kids also love hiking, camping, and exploring the outdoors.

I trash-pick electronics for them to take apart (nothing with a CRT or capacitor). In addition to a ton of DVD players, VCRs, CD players, printers, etc, they have also taken apart three dishwashers. 

 

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Just a comment on your DH's desire to have them understand how things work:  I was public-schooled, in case it's relevant.  My love for science (STEM major) is probably 90% due to my dad's weekend tradition of watching nature documentaries practically half the day.  As a younger child, I would drift in and out of the room, then with time, I'd become more engaged in the programs and stay and watch them all the way through.  Maybe this type of strewing could be an option in your homeschool.  

[hollyhock2]

When I do interest-led science for elementary, I keep it very simple. I own a lot of science books (whole God's Design series, Wonders of Creation series, all the Tiner Exploring books, etc.). I have my kid pick a book they are interested in, they read through it, and since they write two narrations a week anyway, I have them write one from science. If they like drawing, they can illustrate their narration. If they like experiments, they can do the ones in the book, or I can find something related for them to do, but so far my interest-led guys haven't like experiments much, so it was mostly read and narrate. (One of them liked hands-on, just not actual experiments, like when he studied birds, he spent lots of time filling bird feeders and taking pictures, etc.) If written narration killed the love of science, I would maybe instead do oral narration, but informally so there was no pressure ("So, what was that about?" type of thing).

[8filltheheart]

My approach is quite different from Ruth and Lori's.  I do not have an overarching science topic driving selections.  I don't rotate through science topics. Until my kids are taking high school level science for credit, science is mostly interest driven.  Occassionally I choose a topic for them, but for the most part I do let them choose.  What does that look like?  Either they choose the topic entirely on their own, or if they don't have an idea of what they want to study, I offer them a list of topics to select from.

I have had a child (my current physics grad student) who spent almost an entire yr reading books on nothing but ant and bee colonies.  He was fascinated by them and read every book we could find on the subject.  I have had another who spent an entire yr studying birds.   (That sparked a memory of a thread on this topic from yrs ago.  You might find the discussion helpful: 

Fwiw,  I don't worry about scientific method, experiments, cycling through chemistry/physics/geology/biology/astronomy, etc during elementary and early middle school.  I just want them exposed to science topics and nurture curiousity about nature.  All high school and college level introductory courses assume no previous knowledge and cover everything that needs to be learned and mastered.  A couple of my kids took their first high school sciences in 8th grade, most not until 9th.  They have not been at any disadvantage in terms of mastering science topics.  If anything, they are more engaged bc they enjoy science.  (only 1 of my kids has not liked high school science and that is my dd who is majoring in foreign languages.  My other kids have majored in science/health fields.  My current sr is planning on a meteorology as a career. )

In terms of what they "do," they read whole books on various science topics about 30-45 mins per day and write papers on a science topic I select every 3 or so weeks.  (I rotate through history, science, lit topics.)  Late middle school, they start taking notes from their reading (Cornell style or their own version.) 

 

[Momto6inIN]

6 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

Just a comment on your DH's desire to have them understand how things work:  I was public-schooled, in case it's relevant.  My love for science (STEM major) is probably 90% due to my dad's weekend tradition of watching nature documentaries practically half the day.  As a younger child, I would drift in and out of the room, then with time, I'd become more engaged in the programs and stay and watch them all the way through.  Maybe this type of strewing could be an option in your homeschool.  

When we first started hs'ing we watched lots of Planet Earth videos. I should get back to those, they were really good!

[Momto6inIN]

3 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

My approach is quite different from Ruth and Lori's.  I do not have an overarching science topic driving selections.  I don't rotate through science topics. Until my kids are taking high school level science for credit, science is mostly interest driven.  Occassionally I choose a topic for them, but for the most part I do let them choose.  What does that look like?  Either they choose the topic entirely on their own, or if they don't have an idea of what they want to study, I offer them a list of topics to select from.

I have had a child (my current physics grad student) who spent almost an entire yr reading books on nothing but ant and bee colonies.  He was fascinated by them and read every book we could find on the subject.  I have had another who spent an entire yr studying birds.   (That sparked a memory of a thread on this topic from yrs ago.  You might find the discussion helpful: 

Fwiw,  I don't worry about scientific method, experiments, cycling through chemistry/physics/geology/biology/astronomy, etc during elementary and early middle school.  I just want them exposed to science topics and nurture curiousity about nature.  All high school and college level introductory courses assume no previous knowledge and cover everything that needs to be learned and mastered.  A couple of my kids took their first high school sciences in 8th grade, most not until 9th.  They have not been at any disadvantage in terms of mastering science topics.  If anything, they are more engaged bc they enjoy science.  (only 1 of my kids has not liked high school science and that is my dd who is majoring in foreign languages.  My other kids have majored in science/health fields.  My current sr is planning on a meteorology as a career. )

In terms of what they "do," they read whole books on various science topics about 30-45 mins per day and write papers on a science topic I select every 3 or so weeks.  (I rotate through history, science, lit topics.)  Late middle school, they start taking notes from their reading (Cornell style or their own version.) 

 

Not having a plan makes me nervous.  But I am so so intrigued by these approaches (yours and Ruth and Lori's) and I really would love to be able to be brave enough to give it a shot. Times like these are when I still feel like a newbie *sigh* I still have so much to learn! I will check out that old thread you linked, thanks!

One thing I notice about nonfiction at our teeny tiny small town library is that all the newer books seem to be comic book like with small snippets of seemingly random information scattered throughout the pages. The older books seem more "serious" to me, but obviously they are going to contain outdated information. Did you ever run into that problem?

[8filltheheart]

3 minutes ago, Momto6inIN said:

Not having a plan makes me nervous.  But I am so so intrigued by these approaches (yours and Ruth and Lori's) and I really would love to be able to be brave enough to give it a shot. Times like these are when I still feel like a newbie *sigh* I still have so much to learn! I will check out that old thread you linked, thanks!

One thing I notice about nonfiction at our teeny tiny small town library is that all the newer books seem to be comic book like with small snippets of seemingly random information scattered throughout the pages. The older books seem more "serious" to me, but obviously they are going to contain outdated information. Did you ever run into that problem?

The first question to ask yourself is what exactly are you nervous about?  Name a pre-high school science concept that must be mastered in order to succeed in a high school science course.  (To give you an idea of just how unconcerned I am about lower level science and the outcome, my sr never did anything chemistry related prior to Connie's honors chem course.  Guess what?  She did absolutely fine and she is not one of my stronger students. )  High school science starts at the beginning.  Really.

I own a lot of older "out-of-date" science books.  I love Fabre's books.  His books might be out of date, but they are inspiring.  Same with many nature books. (Jean Craighead George's books are wonderful.) When you start discussing things like biochem, etc, yes, but my pre-high school kids aren't reading books on biochem.  ;)  We also talk about how science changes and grows with new discoveries.  I actually like that approach b/c it demonstrates that we don't know all of the answers and how researchers are constantly learning more.  (I think that is why my ds became so fascinated with cosmology.  He wanted to search for unknowns.)

My 4th grade dd and I are reading a book right now that was published in 1987 titled The Disease Fighters: The Nobel Prize in Medicine.  I love the book.  All of my kids have read it.  When her baby niece was going in for her shots, she started asking questions.  I pulled out the book bc it is such a good little book on the history of vaccines and antibiotics.  We have had all kinds of conversations about how much medicine has changed since her grandparents/aunts and uncles were children.  Just bc the book was published over 30 yrs ago does not mean the book's info isn't relevant.  

 

 

[annegables]

1 hour ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

The first question to ask yourself is what exactly are you nervous about?  Name a pre-high school science concept that must be mastered in order to succeed in a high school science course.  (To give you an idea of just how unconcerned I am about lower level science and the outcome, my sr never did anything chemistry related prior to Connie's honors chem course.  Guess what?  She did absolutely fine and she is not one of my stronger students. )  High school science starts at the beginning.  Really.

I own a lot of older "out-of-date" science books.  I love Fabre's books.  His books might be out of date, but they are inspiring.  Same with many nature books. (Jean Craighead George's books are wonderful.) When you start discussing things like biochem, etc, yes, but my pre-high school kids aren't reading books on biochem.  😉 We also talk about how science changes and grows with new discoveries.  I actually like that approach b/c it demonstrates that we don't know all of the answers and how researchers are constantly learning more.  (I think that is why my ds became so fascinated with cosmology.  He wanted to search for unknowns.)

My 4th grade dd and I are reading a book right now that was published in 1987 titled The Disease Fighters: The Nobel Prize in Medicine.  I love the book.  All of my kids have read it.  When her baby niece was going in for her shots, she started asking questions.  I pulled out the book bc it is such a good little book on the history of vaccines and antibiotics.  We have had all kinds of conversations about how much medicine has changed since her grandparents/aunts and uncles were children.  Just bc the book was published over 30 yrs ago does not mean the book's info isn't relevant.  

 

 

Amazon should pay you commission for all the books you have recommended that I have purchased over the past year.

[8filltheheart]

49 minutes ago, annegables said:

Amazon should pay you commission for all the books you have recommended that I have purchased over the past year.

Just think in terms of books being less expensive than paying for someone's premade plans. 😀

Edited December 7, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[annegables]

2 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Just think in terms of books being less expensive than paying for someone's premade plans. 😀

I had to buy two ikea bookshelves for all the books I have purchased since I began homeschooling😍. Reading you and others on here is how I really grasped the importance of teaching myself to teach my kids. Writing curriculum can be helpful, at least initially, but books about writing are what have been the most valuable. Similarly, learning how to teach phonics (thanks @ElizabethB ) has been much more valuable than any phonics curriculum. 

Sorry this is a total derail. It belongs more in the minimal homeschooling thread.

Edited December 7, 2019 by annegables
tagged someone incorrectly

[Lori D.]

4 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

Not having a plan makes me nervous.  But I am so so intrigued by these approaches (yours and Ruth and Lori's) and I really would love to be able to be brave enough to give it a shot...

Well, I don't think any of us go into Science "not having a plan" (lol). lewelma, 8, and myself all did/do make a detailed plan -- we're just not following a pre-printed curricula plan. For me, I would make a detailed plan of a master list the previous summer. And then during the school year, I'd check that master list every 1-2 weeks or so, to make sure I had the books and resources ready to go for the following week(s).

And similar to 8FillTheHeart above -- I figured that any exposure to science prior to high school was a plus, so no worries about just plunging in and making our own! 😀
 

9 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

My approach is quite different from Ruth and Lori's.  I do not have an overarching science topic driving selections...

Having non-academically-motivated children who did not have the drive/interest for self-exploration (polite way of saying "kids who hated anything that looked like "school" -- lol) meant it was on me to plan for *something* to happen with science in *some* way, because I was unwilling to just let science fall through the cracks. By using the 4 big Science topics as a general "umbrella", and then diving into the subtopics under each of those broad, general science subjects helped ME feel like we had something we could keep coming back to, when we finished exploring an area (and DSs were yet again not expressing any particular drive to explore a topic).

I would have LOVED to have helped support and come up with resources for DSs the way 8 often does for her DC, but alas, our DSs were just wired very differently. So, I had to come up with something that worked to keep my DSs gently moving forward... And, while there are a few things here and there that I wish I had done a bit differently, I look back and feel like we were very on target with how we went about our elementary/middle school science. yea!

[lewelma]

I think that you need to find something that makes *you* comfortable.  If you want a plan to hit all the topics over 4 years, then do that. If you want to plan to be interest led in a 6-week cycle, then do that.  What gets done is what makes for great homeschooling. 

I started off as an unschooler all those year ago, but quickly found that *I* needed a plan. *I* needed to know what I was doing each morning, and next week, and next term.  It was not that I though it was *better* than other ways; it just fit my personality. As I stated in your other thread, there are no content goals for elementary.  So if you kid just loves rocks, then study those for 4 years.  Depth has advantages over Breadth, just like Breadth can have advantages over Depth.  They are both valid methods for teaching your kids to be curious about the world around them.

As for our investigations, I did them because I love science and I loved exploring the unknown with my kids.  But as 8 said, you don't need to do any scientific method at all with kids in elementary. It was just my chance to do a unit study for eight weeks. Well-designed unit studies integrate subjects that are typically silo-ed, and thus teach kids to think differently. 

There are just so many ways to go about this. I would suggest you think about what you as the teacher need and then what your kids need, and then pick a path and give it a go. 

Ruth in NZ

Edited December 7, 2019 by lewelma

[Momto6inIN]

8 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Well, I don't think any of us go into Science "not having a plan" (lol). lewelma, 8, and myself all did/do make a detailed plan -- we're just not following a pre-printed curricula plan. For me, I would make a detailed plan of a master list the previous summer. And then during the school year, I'd check that master list every 1-2 weeks or so, to make sure I had the books and resources ready to go for the following week(s).

Lol - that's what I meant! Not having a plan made by someone else that I can follow makes me nervous 🙂 I would never accuse any of you 3 of being willy nilly!

4 hours ago, lewelma said:

I think that you need to find something that makes *you* comfortable. 

There are just so many ways to go about this. I would suggest you think about what you as the teacher need and then what your kids need, and then pick a path and give it a go. 

Ruth in NZ

This is kind of where I'm at right now. So thankful for these boards and how you all help me think things through and look at all the angles! I love reading everybody's different perspectives 🙂

[lewelma]

I should also mention that hands on work can just be observation.  You don't have to get a ton of supplies and do some demonstrations or whiz bang science.  If you are studying meteorology - observe how the clouds can predict rain.  If you are studying astronomy - track the moon's location compared to its phase. If you are studying plants, go outside with an identification book and identify all the ferns in your nearby woods. If you are studying animals, visit a farm or collect bugs.  

I have found over the years here on the board that people are afraid of homemade science in primary school because they don't think that reading library books and observing the world around them is enough.  But it is.  Really it is. 

Edited December 7, 2019 by lewelma

[2_girls_mommy]

These were all really long, and I only skimmed. But just wondering if you use WTM or not? I found it really helpful, especially in elementary school. 

We did museum and zoo memberships and did nature journaling ala Clare Leslie Walker books. With girl scouts a lot of topics were introduced and field trips taken and projects done that started studies too. We did a few science fairs and s Robotics team. When doing those, that was our science.  We read biographies and did art projects related to science. I like the old Arty Facts, science and art books. I had one to two science blocks laid out in the week with time set aside for bookwork or planned experiments (demonstrations, etc.) 

My kid did take science in co-ops that was all hand on for years. So they'd do activities there which was nice. But I did miss doing my own thing because I felt we needed to do our studies sling the same lines of what they were doing there to keep it relevant. If I'd just kept them at home those years, we just would have kept doing the hands on activities at home like we had during our WTM style years. 

And I mention this because they've been a game changer here with one of mine- the Thinking Tree Journals. There are a couple science ones that you can pair with anything if you've got a kid who likes notebooking like I do. I knew she really loved the Apologia one I got her in third grade. I liked how much she lived it, and how I could use it to kind of make a little unit study around science with it since it included so many things. I found the Thinking Tree ones when she was in 7th grade that could pair with anything, and we've used them for all kinds of subjects. In 7the we created a unit study around marine animals for her with one of the core journals, and I could integrate her other work, even textbooks into that one journal. She also has a just science one she used last year. 

Edited December 12, 2019 by 2_girls_mommy
I'm the world's worst phone typer.

[Momto6inIN]

7 hours ago, 2_girls_mommy said:

These were all really long, and I only skimmed. But just wondering if you use WTM or not? I found it really helpful, especially in elementary school. 

We did museum and zoo memberships and did nature journaling ala Clare Leslie Walker books. With girl scouts a lot of topics were introduced and field trips taken and projects done that started studies too. We did a few science fairs and s Robotics team. When doing those, that was our science.  We read biographies and did art projects related to science. I like the old Arty Facts, science and art books. I had one to two science blocks laid out in the week with time set aside for bookwork or planned experiments (demonstrations, etc.) 

My kid did take science in co-ops that was all hand on for years. So they'd do activities there which was nice. But I did miss doing my own thing because I felt we needed to do our studies sling the same lines of what they were doing there to keep it relevant. If I'd just kept them at home those years, we just would have kept doing the hands on activities at home like we had during our WTM style years. 

And I mention this because they've been a game changer here with one of mine- the Thinking Tree Journals. There are a couple science ones that you can pair with anything if you've got a kid who.likes notebooking like I do. I knew she really loved the Apologia one I got her in third grade. I liked how much she lived it,candy how I could use it to kind of make a little unit study around science with itbsince it included do many things. I found the Thinking Tree ones when she was in 7th grade that could pair with anything, and we've used them for all kinds of subjects. In 7the we created a unit study around marine animals for her with one of the core journals, and I could integrate her other work, even textbooks into that one journal. She also has a just science one she used last year. 

We don't really follow WTM for science *blush*

My kids want to read about science and do activities and demonstrations, but they do not care one whit about the history of science or which famous scientists did what. They are also not very big on notebooking, but thanks for the suggestions!

[2_girls_mommy]

Reading about and doing hands on is exactly what WTM science is. You might take a look at it again. 

[Momto6inIN]

5 hours ago, 2_girls_mommy said:

Reading about and doing hands on is exactly what WTM science is. You might take a look at it again. 

You're right - I went back and looked and it was the high school level science that was very focused on the history of science and original source readings, not the elementary recommendations. I'll have to look at those more closely 🙂

[lewelma]

On 12/10/2019 at 3:48 PM, Momto6inIN said:

 My kids want to read about science and do activities and demonstrations,

So how is the goal setting going? Have you come up with an approach you want to take? 

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, lewelma said:

So how is the goal setting going? Have you come up with an approach you want to take? 

Thank you for asking! After talking it over with DH (probably more than he wanted to LOL) I decided that my main goal for elementary science is to pique their curiosity and to provide exposure to lots of different science topics and to make it as hands on as possible. And since I haven't been happy with any of the curricula I've looked at so far, I think I'm going to take the plunge into making my own *gulp*

I already own a lot of DK and Usborne books, so I'm going to try to use them in a more systematic way. Up until now they've mostly been there on the shelf for free reading and not really used too much unless they are looking for some specific information. I think the DK books in particular are less snippet-seeming than encyclopedias to use as a spine.

I'm also going to look for documentaries. I kind of tend to forget how much you can learn from those and I think that will add a lot of interest. And some hands on activities for each topic. I have accumulated enough science curricula over the past few years that I think I should be able to find the best demonstrations from each of them to use.

I am a very organized person, so I feel a need for structure as a teacher. So I am currently looking at an overarching plan for 3rd-6th that will cover all the major science topics in the order that the Bible says they were created (light, water, earth, oceans, plants, space, animals, and humans) followed by what the world looked like after creation (ecosystems, meteorology, paleontology, chemistry, and physics). I am excited about this plan, but the stack of books to go through and organize does look a little overwhelming right now 🤤😀

[lewelma]

1 hour ago, Momto6inIN said:

I am excited about this plan, but the stack of books to go through and organize does look a little overwhelming right now 🤤😀

Well, congrats!  Sometimes the hardest part is just starting. 🙂 

I would really suggest that you spend time observing nature during each of your units. Weather/clouds, ants, road cuts, rivers, rocky intertidal, kites, human body, waves, erosion, etc.  This stuff is free and often leads to awesome bunny trails. 

[2_girls_mommy]

On 12/10/2019 at 8:37 PM, Momto6inIN said:

You're right - I went back and looked and it was the high school level science that was very focused on the history of science and original source readings, not the elementary recommendations. I'll have to look at those more closely 🙂

It helped me structure things, even if I didn't follow it exactly. It just seemed what you were asking- how do I do it? was best answered there than if I laid out how we did it since that's where I started.

But funny you mention about the high school. I've been thinking about it lately. We got away from homegrown science for the majority of high school science with my odd as she had a professor at co-op with kids a similar age to work with, so we did science there with her textbook choices so that my DD could benefit from the labs with her which were amazing. I think I was nervous about hsing it on my own much like I was nervous about starting to teach how to read way back when. I just had never been through it before.

The things we kept up at home through high school were the history of science readings with original sources and nature studies and museums and citizen science activities. We loved that part of our science and loathed those textbooks, lol.  I think the main thing is I'm just back to enjoying the flexibility that I had lost and the benefits of it even for just that one course. We had to keep up her schedule. We couldn't veer off or substitute meaningful work in other ways that was just as valuable. That was probably my main issue more than her choice of texts. 

We're back to doing our own thing now for high school for my mdd, and still feeling our way through, but biology so far is going ok. I can't speak to chemistry yet. I'm still nervous about it. 🙂 But for us, the History of Science is a favorite part. Good luck and have fun! 

[8filltheheart]

I wanted to share this with you bc it is something I am contemplating doing with my 4th grader.  Do you happen to have Disney Plus?  I have been watching National Geographic episodes while I do my daily walk on my treadmill.  The other day I watched the one on the mars rovers.  It was really interesting.  (I"m not sure my 9 yr old will find it is as interesting as I did 😉 ) Anyway, I have been looking at 3d puzzles for my physicgeek ds for Christmas (I got him a functioning clock one b/c he will love it.) While looking at them, I came across this one: https://www.amazon.com/NATIONAL-GEOGRAPHIC-Wooden-Model-Solar-Powered/dp/B07VWLD2X4/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=3d%2Bpuzzles&psr=EY17&qid=1576162959&s=cyber-monday&smid=A2DEVEV8LLFIH&sr=1-11&th=1  I am thinking that with the model as an incentive, she might actually get into watching that documentary.  🙂

(ETA:  I just had a conversation with her.  She wants to do it.  She thinks her big brother will watch the episode with her while he is here for Christmas and the 2 of them can build it together.)

Edited December 12, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I wanted to share this with you bc it is something I am contemplating doing with my 4th grader.  Do you happen to have Disney Plus?  I have been watching National Geographic episodes while I do my daily walk on my treadmill.  The other day I watched the one on the mars rovers.  It was really interesting.  (I"m not sure my 9 yr old will find it is as interesting as I did 😉 ) Anyway, I have been looking at 3d puzzles for my physicgeek ds for Christmas (I got him a functioning clock one b/c he will love it.) While looking at them, I came across this one: https://www.amazon.com/NATIONAL-GEOGRAPHIC-Wooden-Model-Solar-Powered/dp/B07VWLD2X4/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=3d%2Bpuzzles&psr=EY17&qid=1576162959&s=cyber-monday&smid=A2DEVEV8LLFIH&sr=1-11&th=1  I am thinking that with the model as an incentive, she might actually get into watching that documentary.  🙂

(ETA:  I just had a conversation with her.  She wants to do it.  She thinks her big brother will watch the episode with her while he is here for Christmas and the 2 of them can build it together.)

No Disney+ but I love the idea of older D'S doing stuff with them over his Christmas break ❤❤❤ It's so precious and special and heartwarming to watch my men/boys interact with their younger sisters!