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violingirl
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Can I ask about books that *I* can read to have a better understanding of basic science?
This is the area that I'm really poor in. All my science experience consisted of taking a ton of notes while teachers lectured, memorizing it for the test and then doing a brain dump to get ready for the next section. The 2 years of high school I was homeschooled my mother didn't really know what do for sciences either and basically handed me a text book and told me to read it. I don't want that kind of science "education" for my boys (seeing how I learned practically nothing!) but I feel like I'm in a really poor position to offer a living science education, plus I really want to learn for myself!
So I'm wondering if there is a good place for me to start. I'm in the middle of Keeping A Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie. Does anyone have suggestions?
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ekbell
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This blog At home science is a good place to find interesting books on a variety of topics. She also has started a yahoo group.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 12 2009 at 3:49pm | IP Logged
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Erin,
You're starting in a great place!!! I love Clare Walker Leslie's book. I hope that it's ok with you if I take that and go with that theme for suggestions...
There is one book I could recommend to you right now that I absolutely love! Amateur Naturalist: A Practical Guide to the Natural World by Gerald Durell. It is out of print, but I see it's available for purchase used inexpensively at Amazon. This is a book I would not EVER be without! It's that good to me, and I've never seen anything written as well. This is the book my mother used for my brother and sister during their high school years of Natural History during homeschooling. It is the basis of my oldest dd's science study this year and I plan for it to accompany her throughout high school. This book is an excellent introductory study to all things natural history, and is relatively current. Gerald Durell takes a refreshing approach which I appreciate - one of being careful and conscious of the natural world, without going into being too preachy with regard to ecological awareness.
In general, I find I learn best right alongside my children. My own knowledge of science and the interconnectedness of it all grows with each year of home education! Another reason I'm so grateful for this vocation. I learn right alongside the children when reading picture books, and researching information!
That said, there are a couple of books I really enjoy having on hand regularly for reference (I bet you might already have some on your shelf!). I wouldn't necessarily just sit and read them - though I suppose you could...and then you'd be LIGHT YEARS ahead of the rest of us.  These books really stem from Charlotte Mason's idea that we should all be naturalists!
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock - this is THE classic for your shelf. Wonderful lessons in here! If you're wondering about something - look it up in here!
Usborne's Illustrated Dictionary of Science - again, this is just a great book to keep out as ready reference for questions. I have a much older edition (1988) - which is available used for a penny.
There are two authors that I enjoy over and over again for all things science/natural history. There are many offerings by these two men and you could begin anywhere with their offerings and have a great start!
** Thornton Burgess
In particular, I love The Burgess Bird Book for Children and The Burgess Animal Book for Children.
** Jean Henri Fabre
I'd recommend The Storybook of Science by Fabre (again, any of Fabre's books are classics and I highly recommend!) This book is available for purchase at Yesterday's Classics and available to read for free online.
North American Wildlife by Reader's Digest - I linked you to the copy we have. It's very affordable right now - there are copies available for 1 cent. There is a revised and updated version in print, but I haven't seen it and don't know what it's like - it could be nice. This is my go-to book for any identification. We use other books as well, but we go here first. I'm mentioning it because it is a great first stop for us in learning about anything.
There are many other wonderful science/natural history books from Yesterday's Classics that we enjoy reading aloud together. In general, I choose one, and we read a chapter a day together during our Morning Basket work. These stories often propel us to research further together.
If I can reassure you, Erin, I think you'll be fine in offering a living science education just by embracing a sense of wonder and open eyes about God's amazing and sometimes mysterious Creation. As you're learning with your children, choose a topic of interest, or a seasonal topic, and start researching some great living books. This forum is a great place to check and so is MacBeth's site as you begin researching topics of study. I hope something here gives you an idea to start with, Erin. 
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violingirl
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Ekbell> thank you for the link, I only had a quick chance to look through, but I'm looking forward to getting back to it later tonight!
Thank you, Jennifer for all the book suggestions. I really appreciate that you took the time to write all of that out for me!
I guess my worry is that I don't even really know what to offer to my boys for science topics. I mean right now they're young and next year for kindergarten we'll still be mightily focused on watching the seasons change, I think. :)
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ekbell
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You might find a scope and sequence style book such as CHC's 1,2,3 Science for grades 1-3 or Science Scope by Kathryn Stoutfor grades K-12 useful.
CHC's middle school plans also have a useful article on teaching science.
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AtHomeScience
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I agree with the learning-alongside-your-children attitude Mary talked about. At our small co-op we three moms often say how much easier our homeschooling would be without the kids 
I also second the Handbook of Nature Studies--excellent nature resource.
For kids the ages of yours, just reading the Let's Read and Find Out Science books (there are a lot of them) is a great way to give a broad introduction to science and nature.
I have not used this personally, but several moms on the At Home Science group recommend
Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Bernard J. Nebel, which seems to take a living science approach.
And thanks, Ekbell, for the kind words! 
Blessings,
Kris
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stellamaris
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Erin, I would like to recommend a book that I have used with all of my younger children. It is entitled Science Experiences for the Early Childhood Years-a very long and imposing title! I have the second edition and have used it for 21 years. It is the easiest early primary science curriculum I have ever used and also the most interesting and thorough. Even I learned from the simple experiments-and I have a graduate degree in Engineering!
The book is arranged by topics including plant life, animal life, the human body, air, water, weather and seasons, rocks and minerals, magnetism, gravity, sound, light, and electricity. So you can see it really covers a lot of topics!
Each topic is broken down into individual concepts, and each concept is posed as a question (or a few questions) and has an associated experiment (using easy, common items) designed to demonstrate it. For example, in the plant unit, one concept is "Some plants grow from roots and stems." There is one question posed for the child to consider: "Can plants grow from potatoes? carrots?" and the experiment gives a materials list and detailed directions not only for how to do the experiment, but also telling you what to say to highlight the key points. At the end of each unit are a lot of fabulous ideas for expanding the topic using art, music, fingerplays, poems, field trips, dramatic play, creative movement, and stories (there are lengthy lists of suggested story books to read, which is why I think you might want the most recent edition...in my edition, which I love, most of the books are out-of-print.)
This book is the single most valuable science resource I have ever found for easily and joyfully teaching both parents and young children basic concepts in a range of important scientific topics. It is designed to be used by the teacher, not the student. It is also inexpensive, only $12.50 for at least two years of science instruction. I think you would benefit from the way it explains and demonstrates fundamental scientific concepts.
I hope the newer edition is as fabulous as my older 1988 one~
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Caroline
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Mackfam
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Erin,
With boys so young and just starting Kindergarten next year, I wouldn't even try to hit on specific science subjects. Observing the seasonal changes sounds PERFECT to me! So much science at this age is pure observation. Go outside. Take nature walks. Do some simple nature sketching. Read lots about what you find. I love the Let's Read and Find Out Science series at this age. Learn together. If you all get interested about a certain topic, find some more picture books and read more about it. That's all that is needed for science at this age. Each year is just a step out from the one before that.
If it won't be too overwhelming to offer you another idea, I have another recommendation that would be great to read right now! Hours in the Out of Doors - a compilation of Charlotte Mason's thoughts on the subject of science, natural history, etc., and compiled from CM's original 6 volumes of work. It's a very easy read, and quite inspiring!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 12 2009 at 8:39pm | IP Logged
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Oh dear...I was cross posting with both Caroline and Kris...and I hope I didn't seem like I was contradicting their suggestions with this:
Mackfam wrote:
| With boys so young and just starting Kindergarten next year, I wouldn't even try to hit on specific science subjects. Observing the seasonal changes sounds PERFECT to me! So much science at this age is pure observation. |
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I didn't mean to seem like...I would do this. This is just what I do!
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AtHomeScience
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He, he, he, that's O.K. Jennifer, I called you Mary (I've been catching up on conversations in a lot of places myself today--so sorry!)
For what it's worth, I took your post as advice to keep things casual at this stage, and I agree. Just don't skip it altogether.
Blessings,
Kris
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stellamaris
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Mackfam wrote:
Oh dear...I was cross posting with both Caroline and Kris...and I hope I didn't seem like I was contradicting their suggestions with this:
Mackfam wrote:
| With boys so young and just starting Kindergarten next year, I wouldn't even try to hit on specific science subjects. Observing the seasonal changes sounds PERFECT to me! So much science at this age is pure observation. |
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I didn't mean to seem like...I would do this. This is just what I do! |
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Actually, I agree with you! I think I made my description of Science Experiences sound a little too textbook-y and too much like a formal curriculum. In fact, I use it in conjunction with nature walks and observation. So, for example, we go outside and observe clouds and then over the course of a few weeks we will enrich and build on that experience with some of the suggestions/experiments from the "Weather and Seasons" section of the book. We might make a cloud collage, do an experiment with a fog chamber or evaporating water from a boiling pot onto a lid, or something like that. You get the idea! The book is a great resource for extensions on many topics.
There are some topics (like electriciy) that can't be based on nature walks or the season, but they can be very useful when the northern weather becomes too bitter for outside activities. Then, too, some children are very interested in physics (electriciy, magnetism, gravity,etc). I had one who loved this kind of stuff...ended up getting both a mechanical and electrical engineering degree. So maybe my suggestion is influenced, too, by the interests of my own children. In teaching science to younger children, I do think it is important to use their interests and questions as a springboard.
So, we do choose science topics to focus on, maybe one a month, but it isn't so much formal as just interest based or maybe even just random And we do try to relate them to the current season and incorporate nature walks as well.
Also, it's OK if you don't agree with my posts...if we all agreed on everything, what the the point of discussing it be? We'd never learn a thing, and I have learned so much from your contributions! Please don't worry about offending me!  !
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Caroline
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Science books for me?
