Elizabeth86 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Currently we are using Apologia for science. We did Astronomy last year and we are beginning swimming creatures for this year. I chose Apologia because I like the idea of focusing on one topic at a time. We love science in our house and are quite happy with Apologia, BUT for some reason I took a look at what MP had to offer for science and I really like the way the topics were broken down even more than Apologia such as trees, mammals, insects, birds. I took a look, but I thought MP looked a bit dull though and we like science more than once a week. We really enjoy it. So, that led me to look at what SCM had to offer. I took a look at Learning about birds. I thought that looked very nice. The problem is, birds and inscects looked nice, but the other science courses didn't look that specific. This led me to AO. It looks like that use the Handbook of Nature study and rotate through a list of 3 topics for year. The 3 narrow topics per year appealed to me, but the Handbook of Nature Study looks a little dull. I found these lists of books and resources https://www.classicalcharlottemason.com/nature-study That looks super nice, maybe I could just choose one and just read through all these book lists? Oh wait, it looks like they only have birds right now. 😄 So, I'm on a search to find science focused on nature to use for the elementary years. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 My kids have been enjoying the activities from How to Teach Nature Journaling by John Muir Laws. It's currently free in pdf form. If they really get into a particular topic we get out the field guides and learn more. Incidentally, I recently realized that while we have several comprehensive insect guides, we have only one paltry elementary bird guide. I guess we fail at birds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth86 Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said: I feel like elementary homeschool products for some reason have an unnatural fascination with birds that I don't get. I understand that everyone has birds and so it's something they can identify with and work within your home environment, but not all kids are really going to dig birds for months on end. It's a LOT of birds. Are they interested in birds? Well, we have all just been interested in all sorts of nature topics, but not birds in particular. He found tadpoles and watching them change to frogs. We have been curious about what certain plants are and look it up. We have been looking for constellations. We have been looking up what certain insects are that we find. Things like that. They have been interested in nature in general lately. 1 hour ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said: How many kids are you schooling now? (Sorry I can't remember if it's 2 or 3). I have a 4th grader and 2nd grader. The pre-k girl is pretty much feral, so we don't do school yet. 😄 She's like that typical boy. Doesn't like to sit still or do formal learning which I know is ok, but my boys have always been up for school. They have enjoyed writing and reading and learning new things. She tells me alphabet books are boring, she's too tired to count things, she'd rather run, play, explore and get dirty. She only listens to books when it is her idea. I think she is going to be one of those artsy types honestly. IDK like an artist, hair stylist, designer type. She literally has a flare for decorating at 4, she made all these figures with tinker toys to decorate her room and it actually looked good and she is obsessed with hair and make up and I literally don't even own make up and I get a hair cut once a year. She's wild and free and a creative type. Even the 2 year old is counting and saying some of her ABC's and looking at books like the boys, but she marches to the beat of her own drum. That's all a different topic for a different day. 1 hour ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said: I like Mystery Science for a rabbit trailing points. They have lots of different topics, so if you have one kid interested in one thing and one in another, you can switch off lessons. They stand alone. You could intersperse that with either program, really. If you and they are happy with Apologia, I don't think I would switch to a CM type nature study tbh. It's going to a be a big transition to those type of texts. Does the CM philosophy behind why they do this type of nature study resonate with you? Because if it doesn't, I wouldn't be trying to get into nature notebooking and that type. It really is a big transition from an Apologia type of style. Just my .02 We didn't love Mystery Science. I am happy with Apologia, but I just like to explore options from time to time. This is the article that inspired me. https://www.memoriapress.com/articles/nature-science/ This is my experience to a t. I majored in science in college and briefly went to (but dropped out lol) of pharmacy school. My dh has a high school diploma, but he spent his childhood growing up on a 100 acre farm and exploring the woods and creeks and such. It's amazing how much he knows about nature and things and I would like that for my kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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