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MarilynW
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| Posted: June 17 2015 at 7:17pm | IP Logged
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...um..I feel a little embarrassed about posting this after so many years of homeschooling..and given my box full of unused science curricula and lab supplies that I have accumulated through the years 
But...my younger 3 children are very science oriented and love science. I have learned a lot about what works in our house, and I know that for science to happen I have to be consistent as I am with Math and LA. So I am trying to find a consistent science curriculum. I would love to hear if anyone has something they love. Here are things I have considered or ruled out, or abandoned:
Behold and See - I don't know much about this? Opinions
Seton Science - looks a little boring
Apologia - looks dry
Real Science 4 Kids - quite interesting but a little light and very expensive
Real Science Odyssey - like the book recommendations but not the format
Neo - like the idea but not the practie plus very expensive
I will have a 1st Grader, 3rd Grader and 6th grader. I would like to keep them all together if possible - or at least the younger 2.
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Marilyn
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 17 2015 at 7:59pm | IP Logged
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As part of an endeavor to make weekly plans for Mater Amabilis available, I created a spreadsheet aligning Bernard Nebel's Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding with Mater Amabilis Science, K-8.
It is still a work in progress and will eventually be shared as a part of the MA plans, but I can message you a link if you are interested. I have loved Nebel Science for years now, but implementation was always a challenge. I loved the flexibility, and yet, the flexibility made it hard to know where to start. I finally had the idea to hang it on what was already scheduled in Mater Amabilis so it could be used either as a primary science with MA readings as a supplement or as a reference similar to Anna Comstock's book. Because he utilizes the socratic method, his plans are a good prep for engaging with children.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 17 2015 at 8:02pm | IP Logged
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Oh, and unprintable PDFs of each of the three levels of Nebel's science are available for $5 a piece, so very affordable to preview, and you could conceivably use it with those, but I think I would prefer the hard copy. I have a hard copy of the first volume and PDFs of the Elementary and Middle School, and it was more of a challenge to reference the second two.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SeaStar
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 5:14am | IP Logged
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Jay Wile has a new elementary science series that a friend on mine uses with three of her kids and really likes. Each text has activities for three different age ranges. The text is around $40 or so , and the TM is maybe $10-15.
I have liked the Behold and See series... we used B&S 5 last fall; it was excellent. My kids love science, though, and we easily finished it 6-7 months, which gave us time to pursue other fun science stuff.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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jawgee
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 5:57am | IP Logged
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I loved NOEO for the three years I did it, but I honestly found that it was easy for me to put it on the back burner, especially if it was a lab day. 
Because of that, we're going to have a fun year for science. We're going to do Sassafras Anatomy. The olders will keep a log book with it and the youngers will do a lapbook to go along with it.
Since the spine is in a "novel" format, I hope this will be the fun we need to be more consistent about science. (It's hard - my 13YO doesn't care for science, but my 9YO loves anything about science!)
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Monica
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MarilynW
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 8:08am | IP Logged
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Linday - I really want to like Nebel - but I don't like the layout of his books and also I KNOW that with all the parent prep I will not do it.
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Marilyn
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MarilynW
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 8:13am | IP Logged
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Anyone use Janice Van Cleave's books. I hate reinventing the wheel - but I wonder if I should pull together my own curriculum using her books and all the stuff I have. I have all the Home Science Adventures stuff (I actually like this curriculum), Apologia stuff, Science Odyssey supplies and Sonlight science supplies.
I am thinking maybe
Quarter 1 - Human body
Quarter 2 - Physics
Quarter 3 - Chemistry
Quarter 4 - Botany or Birds or Astronomy or Earth Science
I really like the layout and content of the Science for Every kid series. My kids really want to do experiments - not just read.
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Marilyn
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MarilynW
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Deviating from my own thread - one of the sneaky ways I am catching up on some of the......ahem...science deficit for this year...is by doing Mom's Mad Scientist Camp each week this summer. The kids are so excited to be doing a simple science experiment a day - it is fun to them. Also they are journaling the night sky.
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Marilyn
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Martha
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My only problem with van cleave is the experiments are stand alone, there's no supporting study with them. And as you note, the labs are the most laborious to plan out and actually do.
I like the home science adventures kits too.
Have you looked at Mr Q science? The Life science would be advanced for your 1st grader, but fine for the others, and it's completely free. I figure first grade is still "tag along" age for science personally. My first grader is happy tagging along. The other etexts are very reasonably priced and go on sale for 1/2 off each January.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 11:24am | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
| Linday - I really want to like Nebel - but I don't like the layout of his books and also I KNOW that with all the parent prep I will not do it. |
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I get that. Really. It has taken years of it sitting on my shelf and revisiting it for me to decide I could use it.
But a big reason I plotted it with Mater Amabilis was so that I could use it during the times I was not able to implement Nebel and still be able to pick Nebel back up without any gaping holes.
Seeing Mater Amabilis laid out, too, made me realize it is not a bad science plan and is laid out in a doable way. It just isn't easy to see that since the science plans often have separate links to the weekly plans where you see how it all comes together.
I will, however, throw out another plug for Sassafrass Science. My boys love the books. I tried doing zoology, and I was not good at following through with all the notebooking stuff, but I did have my 10 year old read the anatomy book on its own. I think Melinda has done the full-blown anatomy program and really liked it.
Have you looked at their other science program, the Classic series from Elemental Science? It looks pretty straight forward like it could be used with multiple ages, and you can buy the kits to go with each level.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 11:30am | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
Anyone use Janice Van Cleave's books. I hate reinventing the wheel - but I wonder if I should pull together my own curriculum using her books and all the stuff I have. I have all the Home Science Adventures stuff (I actually like this curriculum), Apologia stuff, Science Odyssey supplies and Sonlight science supplies.
I am thinking maybe
Quarter 1 - Human body
Quarter 2 - Physics
Quarter 3 - Chemistry
Quarter 4 - Botany or Birds or Astronomy or Earth Science
I really like the layout and content of the Science for Every kid series. My kids really want to do experiments - not just read. |
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If you want a guide to using what you have, you might like Science Scope by Kathryn Stout.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SeaStar
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 12:46pm | IP Logged
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Yes, we did a whole year of Sassafras... first zoology and then anatomy. The botany was not available yet when we started school last August, so we tried B&S 5 and wound up really liking it.
The teacher's manual for Sassafras is really helpful. I thought the anatomy experiments and the whole program in general was well done, especially with the dissections thrown in. I have to have programs that are easy to do... not easily academically, but easy as me as a mom to stick with.
If it's complicated to follow the game plan, like Nebel, then, yeah- it is too easy for me to fall off the wagon and let science slide. Behold and See- user friendly. I liked the conversational tone in 5, and 6 looks to be the same way.
I am considering Sassafras botany for next spring, but my one beef with the series is that, while entertaining (and loved by my kids), there could be a lot more science thrown into the actual book (not the TM). Each chapter is 90% story (sometimes silly or corny) and 10% actual fact. The log book and the TM take that 10% and expand nicely on it, but the chapters in the book are long, esp. if you are going to be reading them out loud.
I read one Amazon review of the botany in which the mom said she didn't know how much longer she could put up with the silly story and the missed opportunities to add in more science. I agree... I love the idea here, but the execution is somewhat clumsy.
Dr. Beresford in B&S 5, in comparison, was funny, thought-provoking, and all science, all the way. I wish he would write more books!
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MarilynW
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Martha wrote:
Have you looked at Mr Q science? The Life science would be advanced for your 1st grader, but fine for the others, and it's completely free. I figure first grade is still "tag along" age for science personally. My first grader is happy tagging along. The other etexts are very reasonably priced and go on sale for 1/2 off each January. |
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Ooh - this looks promising. The only thing is how to use it. I need to try and use the chromebook or tablet - otherwise printing it out will be a pain.
I LOVE his labnotes section - has lots of good stuff for my mom's mad science camp this summer!
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Marilyn
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MarilynW
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SeaStar wrote:
I have liked the Behold and See series... we used B&S 5 last fall; it was excellent. My kids love science, though, and we easily finished it 6-7 months, which gave us time to pursue other fun science stuff. |
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I like much about Behold and See (though I never used to and ended up giving away my Behold and See 3 about 10 years ago  ) - but I cannot figure out how to do it with 3 children - what level to use (or do 3 levels simultaneously?)
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SeaStar
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My kids were grades 4 and 6th this past year, so I split the difference and did B&S 5. I figured since I enjoyed it and learned some new things as an adult, that was perfectly fine. 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Martha
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 3:03pm | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
Martha wrote:
Have you looked at Mr Q science? The Life science would be advanced for your 1st grader, but fine for the others, and it's completely free. I figure first grade is still "tag along" age for science personally. My first grader is happy tagging along. The other etexts are very reasonably priced and go on sale for 1/2 off each January. |
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Ooh - this looks promising. The only thing is how to use it. I need to try and use the chromebook or tablet - otherwise printing it out will be a pain.
I LOVE his labnotes section - has lots of good stuff for my mom's mad science camp this summer! |
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You could send it to kinkos to be printed for you.
I just print one unit at a time mysefl and that works well enough for me.
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Martha
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SeaStar wrote:
Yes, we did a whole year of Sassafras... first zoology and then anatomy. The botany was not available yet when we started school last August, so we tried B&S 5 and wound up really liking it.
The teacher's manual for Sassafras is really helpful. I thought the anatomy experiments and the whole program in general was well done, especially with the dissections thrown in. I have to have programs that are easy to do... not easily academically, but easy as me as a mom to stick with.
If it's complicated to follow the game plan, like Nebel, then, yeah- it is too easy for me to fall off the wagon and let science slide. Behold and See- user friendly. I liked the conversational tone in 5, and 6 looks to be the same way.
I am considering Sassafras botany for next spring, but my one beef with the series is that, while entertaining (and loved by my kids), there could be a lot more science thrown into the actual book (not the TM). Each chapter is 90% story (sometimes silly or corny) and 10% actual fact. The log book and the TM take that 10% and expand nicely on it, but the chapters in the book are long, esp. if you are going to be reading them out loud.
I read one Amazon review of the botany in which the mom said she didn't know how much longer she could put up with the silly story and the missed opportunities to add in more science. I agree... I love the idea here, but the execution is somewhat clumsy. |
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Thank you for this feedback!! I think I am going to take the Sassafras Anatomy Book slow - read one chapter every other week - and fill in with living books from the library and other activities. I'm going to make the Anatomy book last the whole year rather than try to do two in one year. That should give us plenty of time to dig more deeply into each subject.
I hope the more gentle, in-depth, fun approach will make science more enjoyable for each of us.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
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SeaStar
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| Posted: June 18 2015 at 6:07pm | IP Logged
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I followed the five day a week plan for Sassafras from the TM. It worked best for us to read the whole chapter first before tackling the log book assignments and the experiments, so we did have to hustle some weeks, as the chapters tended to be long.
I think you could easily stretch it over a whole year. The TM has many living book suggestions, web site suggestions, etc, which make it very helpful.
I felt like the combination of the TM, log book and all the extras made the program very enjoyable, and my kids learned a lot, even if the story got nutty at times. I really want to do the botany program as well... would just have to steel myself for the Man with No Eyebrows and all that
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susanlo
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**Just want to cheer CrunchyMom on with the integrative Nebel and MA plans!**   
I'm also attempting to use Mr. Nebel's book alongside MA 1B and 1A the same way but would love to hear how someone else is succeeding in doing the same! My little kids have made so many good connections by building on the concepts in the order he suggests...which makes it even harder to just cast the book aside even though it is definitely teacher dependent.
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Topic: I need a consistent science curriculum
