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mrsdgason
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| Posted: Feb 11 2013 at 7:59am | IP Logged
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Hi! I'm fairly new here so please bear with my many questions. We're in our 3rd year of homeschooling and I've decided to change my approach to be more CM. I just think it will be a better fit for my son.
To that end, I have 3 Usborne books on my shelf that I want to try to use. They are:
Mysteries and Marvels of Science
Astronomy & Space
Complete Book of the Microscope
Has anyone used any of these as a jumping off point? If so, what did you do? What other resources did you use?
My son is 11, if that helps.
Thanks in advance for your help and advice!
Chrissy
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jawgee
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| Posted: Feb 11 2013 at 9:04am | IP Logged
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We are using Noeo Biology II this year. Noeo makes use of a variety of different Usborne books, among other books. I love that Noeo puts each week's lesson together for me, drawing from various resources, and includes experiments. I also like that each week the children are supposed to explore the internet links from the books that gives them live pictures and video of what we have been studying.
The curriculum is a bit pricey, but I was able to find it on Homeschool Classified for a lot cheaper.
Hope that helps you some.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Feb 11 2013 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
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I've used Usborne books more as strewing books, that kids could pick up and delve into on their own, but they also work well as small lessons, since the books are laid out to be a "lesson" per double-page spread. (I used to sell them, so I can still produce the whole spiel at need!)
The only one of those I own, to the best of my recollection, is the microscope one, and it's been a while since I last used it, but my general M.O. when I've used Usborne books has been to do the following for a several-days lesson on a particular theme. I might do several days in a row, or I might spread this out over several weeks:
1. Read the double-page spread for a 5-10 minute introductory lesson.
2. If they suggest any hands-on experiments, do one or more -- this could be more than one lesson.
3. If the book is internet-linked, follow one or more of the links together to read more, do something interactive on the computer, or whatever.
4. More reading on the same subject if desired. Otherwise, move on to the next topic.
In real life, I have tended to be far less schematic than this, and our approach to science has always been pretty unschooly, though this year each of my children is doing more CM-style, literature-based science (example: my 10yo son is reading David Macaulay's The Way Things Work, thanks to a thread here!). I do really like and use Usborne books quite a bit, but I find they don't yield quite as much for narration, as they already offer information in fairly small bites. I don't mind that, especially for kids' own exploration, and I do like having things laid out in that handy-quick, double-page-spread format for when I just wanna cover something! But I tend to use them more as filler, here and there, or as a small jumping-off point, rather than as the "meat" reading, if you know what I mean. Still I'm always looking to pull in new reading during our science slots in the weekly schedule, and you've reminded me to pull my Usbornes off the shelf for a shot of something new, to lift us out of the doldrums a little!
If memory serves me, I did use that microscope book in a little 3-family co-op we were part of long ago. It was really handy as a way to give a group of kids a quick overview in the use of the microscope -- I wish I could remember more of what I did with it!
And again, as Monica says, the "quicklinks" provided in the books are a tremendous resource in and of themselves. I do really like that about them.
Sally
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Aagot
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| Posted: Feb 11 2013 at 3:11pm | IP Logged
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I have the kids read the pages(2-4) and illustrate in their notebook. Then they wrote definitions or a description of the parts of the illustration. Ie. the parts of an engine.
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Usborne books for science?
