JaiMama Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Has anyone used this for first grade? I am considering using it for the fall. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradchica Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 We’re using it with a 1st grader, a K, and two J.K. kids right now and they are enjoying it. The first grader is definitely getting the concept ms pretty easily and likes to explore to the younger ones. I used the Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding with my older ones at that age and liked it, but couldn’t keep everything straight. This format is much more user friendly—meaning I actually do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 For what it's worth, I heard nothing but good things for levels 3 and 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 6 hours ago, gradchica said: We’re using it with a 1st grader, a K, and two J.K. kids right now and they are enjoying it. The first grader is definitely getting the concept ms pretty easily and likes to explore to the younger ones. I used the Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding with my older ones at that age and liked it, but couldn’t keep everything straight. This format is much more user friendly—meaning I actually do it. Oh, is this the BFSU companion text? I've seen reviews on FB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 14 hours ago, Not_a_Number said: Oh, is this the BFSU companion text? I've seen reviews on FB. No, I don't think so. It has an approach that is similar to BFSU. The BFSU companion can be found here: https://outskirtspress.com/bfsu1abridged 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 2 hours ago, knitgrl said: No, I don't think so. It has an approach that is similar to BFSU. The BFSU companion can be found here: https://outskirtspress.com/bfsu1abridged But it's built off of BFSU, I think: https://scicurriculum.com/sci/sci-about/ I saw a few reviews on the BFSU FB group and they were largely positive. I'm also currently struggling to actually DO BFSU (we do lots of other science, so it's not a big deal, but we've done less of it than I had hoped.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 55 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said: But it's built off of BFSU, I think: https://scicurriculum.com/sci/sci-about/ I saw a few reviews on the BFSU FB group and they were largely positive. I'm also currently struggling to actually DO BFSU (we do lots of other science, so it's not a big deal, but we've done less of it than I had hoped.) Thank you! I love the concept of BFSU, but science is not one of my strengths. Some of the demonstrations he suggests are so convoluted, and there are much easier ways of showing the same concept sometimes. Perhaps I can try this once my two younger ones get through Vol. 1 with the companion I linked to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 (edited) 4 minutes ago, knitgrl said: Thank you! I love the concept of BFSU, but science is not one of my strengths. Some of the demonstrations he suggests are so convoluted, and there are much easier ways of showing the same concept sometimes. Perhaps I can try this once my two younger ones get through Vol. 1 with the companion I linked to. I would say that science is one of my strengths, and it's still hard for me to get stuff done with his stuff! As you say, his demos aren't great -- I've largely been pairing the BFSU concepts with random demos I pull off of Mr. Q's site, but then it's really a hassle to prep, and since I DIY everything, it's just a bit of overload. Maybe I should try SCI Level 0 next year. DD8 is going to be 9 and is really in some sense too big, but she adores demos, and DD5 will be just the right kind of age. Edited May 13, 2021 by Not_a_Number 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UHP Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 On 5/12/2021 at 3:56 PM, gradchica said: We’re using it with a 1st grader, a K, and two J.K. kids right now and they are enjoying it. The first grader is definitely getting the concept ms pretty easily and likes to explore to the younger ones. I used the Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding with my older ones at that age and liked it, but couldn’t keep everything straight. This format is much more user friendly—meaning I actually do it. I've used the first volume of BFSU a little, and I think I know what you mean about user-unfriendliness. Can you tell a little about what makes SCI easier? After spending some time with BFSU the table of contents here looks very very familiar https://scicurriculum.com/sci/sci-level-0/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradchica Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 I think the user unfriendly part for me was twofold—following the flowchart of lessons and reading through the lesson for what I should do/present and what was background, and figure out the demo. None of that is particularly hard, but the extra level of decision making (what lesson? Did we do the pre reqs? What do I need? What do I say?) just pushed it to the back burner. That was not our primary science, so even less motivation to get it done. I appreciate that SCI has laid out the lessons in order (so no flow chart angst), with easy list of supplies, what to say/do, links to video that illustrate/explain the concept. As open and go as anything requiring supplies and demonstrations can be. The student companion lab book with worksheets is also helpful and makes it easier to keep everything together. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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