Michelle T Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 My DS likes textbooks, and he likes a lot of pictures and interesting information. Out of the various science textbooks for elementary age, which are the best? Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 How old is your ds? Are you looking for a particular grade level? Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlychan Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I was just looking for a secular science curriculum for next year, so I am glad you are asking the question for me:) I hope someone has some good suggestions! Carly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathersage Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Off the top of my head, would something like this work? (you'd have to print them out) http://www.eequalsmcq.com/classicsciinfo.htm life science is free, and there is also earth and physical science. Or Bite-size Physics? http://www.lulu.com/content/658644 with the accompanying website http://www.bitesizephysics.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 If you like workbooks, we have been enjoying the animals book from the Complete Book series: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=school+specialty+publishing+complete&x=0&y=0 Spy Car, which is the text you talked about some time back? Harcourt? I can't remember (I used to buy every old text I could find for a quarter at garage sales and look them all over, and I recall liking best (well above all the others) the one you had mentioned. I have since jettisoned all those old books, so can't run and look right now.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I wouldn't rule out the Apologia series since they are Christian....the religious references are not too heavy-handed, and easy to "skim" over to get to the meat of the book. The books are very beautiful, written to the child, and you can do experiments if wanted, but not necessary. If your child likes textbook science, this is the way to go. I wouldn't have used these books ever, but the co-op we belong to used them for a class, and after seeing it and reading it, I fell in love. My son also enjoys reading it and is retaining so much from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 How old is your ds? Are you looking for a particular grade level? Cat DS is older than that, but due to severe LD's, is on roughly an upper-elementary level. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 When we used Calvert, I thought their textbooks were bright and colorful, and contained "just enough" information for younger children, without getting too bogged down in details. If you check their website under the grade level you need, they'll show the books. I believe they were Harcourt books, but without digging through a lot of boxes to check on it, I can't say for sure! One thing to consider when looking at "school-type" textbooks, is that most of them are intended to be used with a teacher's manual. The student books contain some information, but the real educational value comes from the extra material and suggested experiments from the teacher's manual. (That's not always the case, but it's good to be able to see and hold the book before purchasing, so you can read a chapter or two to see how it's structured.) Do you have a specific area of science you'd like to study? We have a ton of science books (thanks to lots of library book sales!) and I'll be happy to provide as many suggestions as I can. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 DS is older than that, but due to severe LD's, is on roughly an upper-elementary level.Michelle T Thanks, Michelle -- You posted while I was still typing! ;) Have you considered any of the Janice Van Cleave science books? She has written several books, and they are both fun and educational. I bought some of them years ago after several people recommended them to me, but at that time, I was in a buying frenzy and promptly forgot I had them, so we haven't used them yet. They look like they'd work well for 4th-5th grade, though. I will go to Amazon for some links and post them for you in a minute. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 My DS likes textbooks, and he likes a lot of pictures and interesting information. Out of the various science textbooks for elementary age, which are the best?Michelle T If when you say elementary you mean K-4, I vote for not using a textbook! There are plenty of interesting secular science books at the library. If you need something laid out, neither of my dh nor I have had any problem with the science resources used in WP's AW. It would actually be pretty easy to use the One Small Square habitat books and their hands-on suggestions, read about animals from that habitat in the DK Animal Encyclopedia, the Complete Book of Animals, and look at animals on the Kids National Geographic website without having the IG. There are also other resources for older learners that we are not using. Next year the little man will be using the science selections in HOD's Bigger- One Small Square: Seashore, Science in Colonial America, John Audubon, One Small Square: Woods, and Thomas A. Edison: Young Inventor. After checking up on these resources neither dh nor I found anything objectionable and I am excited about using them. Unless it involves evolution or the age of the earth most living book lists are appropriate for everyone. It is the presentation within the guide that give the books a particular slant. But while the library shelves are full of engaging, informative, elementary-aged science books, elementary science textbooks often just skim the surface of informative and are seldom engaging. Side note- Dh was raised culturally Muslim. I was raised culturally Christian. We both believe in an old earth. What works for our family may not work for others. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I'm back! Well, it turns out that Janice Van Cleave has written about 60 million books, so here's a link to her titles on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%22janice+van+cleave%22&x=0&y=0 She has written books for kids on everything from ecology, biology, and chemistry, to dinosaurs and geography, so you may find something of interest to you. Amazon has the "Look Inside" feature for several of the books, so you can get an idea of the author's writing style. These books are quite popular, so your local library may have them. We also use the Eyewitness book series for some science stuff, as well as a few Usborne titles. I know I have another set of science books packed away to use this fall, but for the life of me, I can't remember what they're called. (They were also bought during the "new-homeschooler-must-buy-everything-frenzy" several years ago.) Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheWillFly Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I wouldn't rule out the Apologia series since they are Christian....the religious references are not too heavy-handed, and easy to "skim" over to get to the meat of the book. The books are very beautiful, written to the child, and you can do experiments if wanted, but not necessary. If your child likes textbook science, this is the way to go. I wouldn't have used these books ever, but the co-op we belong to used them for a class, and after seeing it and reading it, I fell in love. My son also enjoys reading it and is retaining so much from it. This is encouraging. We are going with Apologia's Botany next year and while we are a Christian family we are on the more liberal end of the spectrum and did not want a science curriculum that was fully entrenched with Christian theology. I was nervous about Apologia but could not find (at the time) anything else that seemed to match up with what we wanted to do short of only doing nature study unguided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I'm back! Well, it turns out that Janice Van Cleave has written about 60 million books, so here's a link to her titles on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%22janice+van+cleave%22&x=0&y=0 She has written books for kids on everything from ecology, biology, and chemistry, to dinosaurs and geography, so you may find something of interest to you. Amazon has the "Look Inside" feature for several of the books, so you can get an idea of the author's writing style. These books are quite popular, so your local library may have them. We also use the Eyewitness book series for some science stuff, as well as a few Usborne titles. I know I have another set of science books packed away to use this fall, but for the life of me, I can't remember what they're called. (They were also bought during the "new-homeschooler-must-buy-everything-frenzy" several years ago.) Cat Yep, I took a very long time to actually post. I see that your guy is actually older. I agree with Cat. We own quite a few Janice Van Cleeve and Eyewitness Books. We also own the Usborne Internet-linked Science Encylcopedia, 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Science, The New Way Things Work, and some Don't Know Much About books. There is also the Teaching Company's Joy of Science that could be used in 7th/8th. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 If you like workbooks, we have been enjoying the animals book from the Complete Book series: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=school+specialty+publishing+complete&x=0&y=0 Spy Car, which is the text you talked about some time back? Harcourt? I can't remember (I used to buy every old text I could find for a quarter at garage sales and look them all over, and I recall liking best (well above all the others) the one you had mentioned. I have since jettisoned all those old books, so can't run and look right now.) I don't think that was me. :lol: I'm usually a :lurk5: guy on these threads, because I have no idea :D Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I also would not rule out Prentice Hall's Science Explorer series. While written for middle school kids, my eight year old dd has used them. They have bright pictures and lots of fact bubbles. You can find many of them used on Amazon or Ebay. I also agree that the library is a great resource. Just pick an area he is interested in and have fun. Science is as much doing as it's reading/studying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I wouldn't rule out the Apologia series since they are Christian....the religious references are not too heavy-handed, and easy to "skim" over to get to the meat of the book. The books are very beautiful, written to the child, and you can do experiments if wanted, but not necessary.. I found that I could not skim over them easily. Because they're well-written, you'll be reading along, into the flow and then have to start stuttering and editing on the fly. Though they are written to children, I'm not willing to hand over any religious material for my child to read independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyinNNV Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I found that I could not skim over them easily. Because they're well-written, you'll be reading along, into the flow and then have to start stuttering and editing on the fly. Though they are written to children, I'm not willing to hand over any religious material for my child to read independently. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Originally Posted by dragons in the flower bed I found that I could not skim over them easily. Because they're well-written, you'll be reading along, into the flow and then have to start stuttering and editing on the fly. Though they are written to children, I'm not willing to hand over any religious material for my child to read independently. I guess it depends on your style. I read the chapter ahead of my son, so I know what is being taught. My son, age 10/5th grade, then reads the chapter over a period of one-2 weeks, a few pages a day. Since my son is aware of our family beliefs regarding religion, we bring that up into discussion as we discuss the reading. For example, in a WHOLE chapter about the Sun (Astronomy book), it mentions at JUST the very beginning something about "God created the Sun"or something like that.......so in our discussion, I said, "So the book says God created the Sun, well, that's debateable, and not what other Scientists are saying, but let's talk about the proven facts, solar flares", etc etc, and then we get into the "Meat" of the chapter. We are currently doing the Swimming Creatures (Marine Biology) book, and in most chapters, the religion content is almost impossible to see. In a chapter about crustaceans, the only religion aspect was "and God gave the horseshoes crabs hard shells for protection".....again, let's just talk about the proven fact that the crabs have a hard shell for protection. I have advise my son to take the God part with a grain of salt and focus on the facts. It works for us because I have yet to find a science curriculum like this that works as well and is as engaging for my son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayt ul-Hikmah Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I found that I could not skim over them easily. Because they're well-written, you'll be reading along, into the flow and then have to start stuttering and editing on the fly. Though they are written to children, I'm not willing to hand over any religious material for my child to read independently. I used to do this, then I took a Sharpie to them. I appreciate references to a Creator God but not Bible verses or most references to Jesus (as Muslims we accept Jesus as the Christ but not Divine). They don't look as nice now, all blacked out, but at least I don't worry who picks them up. And the pages are thick enough that the Sharpie doesn't bleed through. (Just a note: I didn't use these with my own kids, they're too little, but when I was running a homeschool co-op.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 I don't think that was me. :lol: I'm usually a :lurk5: guy on these threads, because I have no idea :D Bill Oh, yeah, I forgot: all men look alike in the dark. (Or was that stripped naked and turned upside down?) Maybe it was Plaid Dad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Harcourt?) Yes, Harcourt Science. Don't get the "california edition". Taking a lateral jump from Singapore math I thought it was a "standards edition" (good thing I only paid 25 cents for it) but it really was a LOT about California. Even if I don't use these, I have tucked them away for a scope if not sequence for future subjects. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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