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dakotamidnight
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| Posted: July 08 2010 at 9:16pm | IP Logged
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Can anyone recommend science programs/textbooks for the early grades?
We're using CHC, but I'm not very happy with their science. Don't get me wrong - it's lovely. But for my science loving DD it's just not meaty enough, even with supplementing.
For 1st We're doing a Magic School Bus program I'm coming up with, but for K and 2nd I've not found anything. I'm thinking of using Behold and See 3 for 2nd grade - I like the book and can supplement enough for it to work in 2nd, but I don't want to do Behold and See 4 for 3rd as it's health {not sure how much is covered to see if it's age appropriate}.
DD is begging for more science - she LOVES science. Every program I've looked at either is too basic for her for K, or covers things I don't want to cover in K {health, etc as done in public schools that start the topics so early}. Any ideas?
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ekbell
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Behold and See 4 doesn't cover human reproduction, however my science loving daughter found it unappealing as it's much drier and more workbookish then Behold and See 3 (the only written-to-be-a-science-textbook we've actually used so far  ).
What I did with my science loving daughter when she was in K was simply spend a lot of time reading good science books while adding activities whenever I could.
I spent a lot of time checking out remaindered and second hand science books (as well as the library) and scouring the net for good, cheap science activities since our budget was very tight.
We did this until grade three when we spent some time using Behold and See 3 to cover a few (very few as it turned out) gaps.
Since then every year I've ended up
discussing with her what she'd like to study,
looking for book recommendations for that topic,
buying the books,
going through the books and deciding what Home Science Tools materials will fit best with the books,
ordering them,
and then organizing all the material into something resembling a plan for the year
As my oldest has gotten older she's been more and more involved in this.
I've used Kathryn Stout's Science Scope as a discussion guide when I'm evaluating my daughter's knowledge and to check off what we've covered and at what level.
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JodieLyn
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One fun thing to do with younger kids is weather science. You can get outside and look at clouds and use wind gauges and rain gauges and thermometers and barameters etc.
You can find lots of fun books on weather and clouds and lightning and tornados and hurricanes etc.
If you have visibility for it, astronomy can be fun.. finding stars and constellations and why the moon changes etc.
Nature walks and/or gardening of course.. bugs and plants and how sun and water and soil etc effect them.
Physics is another one that can be lots of fun with kids.. water is steam and is ice type of stuff.. why do boats float.. what if they're made out of material that would sink if it wasn't shaped into a boat...
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G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Karen T
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I have heard good things about Noeo from people who have used it. No direct experience here but it's one I'm looking at for next year.
I've also heard good things about Real Science for Kids. A friend used just the chemistry this past year along with all the KOGS (separate units that correlate science to philosophy, math, history, etc IIRC). However, it's intended for you to do physics, chemistry and biology all in one year (they only did science once a week) and you don't have to do the KOGS at all.
Another one I'm very interested in is Rainbow Science but at present it's only for middle and high school levels; the elementary level was supposed to be out in 2009 but still isn't. I've heard that the author may be Catholic but it's not confirmed.
Last year we used Apologia's Swimming Creatures zoology. From a CM standpoint it's a good book but my kids really want more hands-on "real" lab stuff, and neither of them are very good with auditory learning but aren't reading well enough to really comprehend these books on their own. We ended up making lapbooks for a lot of it and that helped, but I need something different for next year. I did buy Behold and See #4 just to cover some human anatomy with them, probably one day a week, and then I'd like something else to do 2-3 days/week.
karen
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Erin
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dakotamidnight wrote:
For 1st We're doing a Magic School Bus program I'm coming up with, but for K and 2nd I've not found anything. |
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During the primary years our main focus has been magic school bus, I have been continually amazed at just how much they have learnt from MSB. Are you aware that there are chapter books as well? I'm thinking of creating units this term based on a MSB chapter book and branching off and investigating further.
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Erin
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JennGM
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ekbell wrote:
What I did with my science loving daughter when she was in K was simply spend a lot of time reading good science books while adding activities whenever I could.
I spent a lot of time checking out remaindered and second hand science books (as well as the library) and scouring the net for good, cheap science activities since our budget was very tight.
We did this until grade three when we spent some time using Behold and See 3 to cover a few (very few as it turned out) gaps.
Since then every year I've ended up
discussing with her what she'd like to study,
looking for book recommendations for that topic,
buying the books,
going through the books and deciding what Home Science Tools materials will fit best with the books,
ordering them,
and then organizing all the material into something resembling a plan for the year
As my oldest has gotten older she's been more and more involved in this.
I've used Kathryn Stout's Science Scope as a discussion guide when I'm evaluating my daughter's knowledge and to check off what we've covered and at what level. |
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Oh, this is wonderful stuff! When my son asks "Mom, can we study the planets?" or "periodic table of elements"? I've asked what he mean when you "study" something. He wants books to read about it and make his own connections, and a few experiments he can do, and then he's putting it all together.
There are such wonderful suggestions on this board alone for science picture books and living books.
Macbeth's Opinion has lots of ideas. And Maureen Wittmann's "For the Love of Literature" has wonderful suggestions.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Grace&Chaos
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We're going to use the CHC plans for my dd 2nd grader. I've purchased several Let's Read and Find Out Science books to supplement the lovely CHC science book and have printed Barbara McCoy's nature study ebooks to serve as our second science source. They have some great ideas to study natural science. Besides the obvious fauna and flora she has challenges about weather, astronomy, and human senses to mention a few. http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/
Last year instead of using the Harcourt Textbook Kolbe recommended we went strictly CM in this area and used lots of living books and the Babara's One Hour Nature Challenges. We took the CAT5 per dear hubbies request and to my surprise my then first grader scored her best in the science and social science areas. I was worried because my dd 4th grader has been using Kolbe for the last three years (with lots of supplemental reading the more our hs feet got wet). (As much as Kolbe served me well my first three years of hs, I've taken from many lovely posts and blogs and going CM this year with all my kids). It's amazing how much a good book leaves such lasting impressions and great facts on our kids minds.
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Jenny, mom to dds (00, 03) and dds (05, 06, 08, 09)
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amy_payson
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| Posted: July 09 2010 at 10:18pm | IP Logged
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We used the Real Science 4 Kids and my kids LOVED it! I failed to get the teacher's manual (thinking I was beyond that as it looked simple enough to figure out on my own) and realized half way through that is essential to fully doing the program. My son, who loves science (8yo) actually reads these books for fun. They are way beyond elementary programs but still written on just the right level.
We aren't using them now only because we have so many science living books that we've received free in the last year that we are now taking a more unschoolish approach to science and I set up a private room for my oldest ds and dd to do crafts and science projects in independently that the littles can't get into. Regardless, if your kids are asking for more science RS4K is the way to go!
Amy Payson
simply necessary
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Science Programs?
