Science & History - Read Living Books for 7th Grade? Planning Thoughts

[Ting Tang]

Though I wasn't entirely happy with this past school year, I did enjoy reading living books.  There are a lot of great ones.

Is this acceptable for 7th grade?  Composition can be covered in an actual curriculum, right?  I am not a curriculum designer, so other than narration or summaries, is there anything wrong with NOT having output (for history and possibly science)?  

Or should I look for something more formal for science, though?  Something basic that covers a little of everything?  I do not want to set him up for failure in high school.

I really need something that is easy to implement with a bit of rigor and depth.  

 

Edited June 29 by Ting Tang

[Zoo Keeper]

Honestly, jr high is a great time to do whatever, just because you can, before it "gets real" in high school.  As long as you are meeting your state's requirements, and moving forward in some fashion, it's all good.  Go ahead and pick a stack of books and read them.  Read, talk, write when you can, enjoy some rabbit trails that all those books bring to mind, watch some documentaries, and have fun.  Sounds like a great year! 

 

[HomeAgain]

I don't think it's a bad idea.  I might add a slight bit of output, though.  I'd have my kid keep a running word document/section in a notebook for each book read where he just wrote down some concepts and ideas covered in that chapter.  For example, if he was reading the Quark Chronicles Botany, a brief sentence about pollination when the kids are growing food on the ship or an illustration of xylem and phloem when they get to the giant tree.  It's a great way to make sure they're still tuning in to what they're reading without making it too heavy.

[8filltheheart]

Define living books. Are you thinking in terms of fiction/novels or just well-written non-fiction trade books on specific topics? If the former, I'm not a fan of historical fiction for teaching actual history. If the latter, that is what my kids do for history all the way through graduation and for science until high school equivalent courses.

They do more output, though. They take Cornell Notes daily from their reading and their writing assignments rotate through science, history, and lit.

[KeriJ]

28 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said:

Define living books. Are you thinking in terms of fiction/novels or just well-written non-fiction trade books on specific topics? If the former, I'm not a fan of historical fiction for teaching actual history. If the latter, that is what my kids do for history all the way through graduation and for science until high school equivalent courses.

They do more output, though. They take Cornell Notes daily from their reading and their writing assignments rotate through science, history, and lit.

@8filltheheart do you have a specific resource you would suggest for learning more about Cornell Notes?  I have a general idea and have seen a few videos, but wondering specifically how you teach it.

[SilverMoon]

Science is going to take a sturdy jump in volume of content and executive function skills in 9th grade. If we're talking about an intentional collection of sturdy nonfiction novels with some form of output, yes, that could work well. If we're talking about Science Comics, Horrible Science, etc, it's not going to prepare a middle schooler for highschool requirements. 

We've pretty much only done history though nonfiction books but we definitely have output. Even the dysgraphic kid.

I'd use separate writing regardless. 

All that said, you specifically want easy to use. Using actual nonfiction books as the core of our science and history is more work for me than just purchasing curriculum. We're not just reading random books willy nilly. 🤷‍♀️ Typically I spend the summer reading ahead of them and making a big picture plan, and then closer to the school year I'll make a daily schedule that includes research prompts, links to videos, etc. By the end of it I'm usually wishing there were more options for living book curriculum because I'd happily pay someone to do this for me. 😄

[SilverMoon]

Maybe take a look at Build Your Library? It's living books already organized into an easy to use schedule. Level 7 is a world geography year with earth science and a sprinkling of zoology. Level 8 is a western civ year through history of science, with general/physical science. Poetry is included. The art is awful in 7 but good in 8. They both assign report style writing projects but don't teach writing skills. We used writing curriculum alongside it. 

[ieta_cassiopeia]

Also consider that, for at least some of the books, conversation can be a form of output. You don't have to be an expert in either history or science to have a sensible conversation about a book. As the year progresses, these conversations can become more complex and jump into deeper types of thinking than just absorbing what is on the page. In particular, starting to connect concepts and examples in books with those found in previously-read books and underlying theory.

[Ting Tang]

Hi Everyone!  When I say living books, I am referring to nonfiction books you might find on Yesterday's Classics, Living Book Press, etc.  A lot of CM curriculums draw from these sites as sources for assigned books.  I am more inclined to do this for history than for science, though.  I'll have to take a look at BYL because I like the idea of assigning projects without me creating them, lol.  One book I want to read for example is the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, but I am not sure which curriculums assign that other than Heritage Homeschool Mom.  I also thought of just purchasing a general science. 

Edited June 30 by Ting Tang

[8filltheheart]

FWIW, reading a stack of random, whatever topic interests them for science vs textbooks is what my kids have done for science and none of them ever struggled with high school level science. High school sciences all start at an introductory level.  But, my kids are used to academic workloads. We just don't use textbooks for most things.

[MiddleCourt]

2 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

Hi Everyone!  When I say living books, I am referring to nonfiction books you might find on Yesterday's Classics, Living Book Press, etc.  A lot of CM curriculums draw from these sites as sources for assigned books.  I am more inclined to do this for history than for science, though.  I'll have to take a look at BYL because I like the idea of assigning projects without me creating them, lol.  One book I want to read for example is the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, but I am not sure which curriculums assign that other than Heritage Homeschool Mom.  I also thought of just purchasing a general science. 

Have you looked at Sabbath Mood Homeschool? She has a 2 yr plan for 7th and 8th. It’s CM (author is host of A Delectable Education podcast), is organized for you for the next two years of middle school, and covers the major areas of science.

[Ting Tang]

49 minutes ago, MiddleCourt said:

Have you looked at Sabbath Mood Homeschool? She has a 2 yr plan for 7th and 8th. It’s CM (author is host of A Delectable Education podcast), is organized for you for the next two years of middle school, and covers the major areas of science.

I haven’t in a while but will check back. Thank you! 

[almondbutterandjelly]

You might like the offerings of NOEO Science.  For history living books, Heart of Dakota has some great book offerings.  

[Ting Tang]

18 hours ago, almondbutterandjelly said:

You might like the offerings of NOEO Science.  For history living books, Heart of Dakota has some great book offerings.  

Thank you, I have looked at that for science, and it looked like an interesting option as well. I'll have to check out HOD again.  So many options start to overwhelm me, lol.