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I have a child finishing up Bigger who is very mathematically inclined and also likes science. He is already combined in math with his older sister who is almost halfway through ctc. I am considering whether it would be possible when he starts Preparing to have him do the science in ctc with his sister. I may have to read aloud some of the science books instead of having them be independent for now, but I think he will soon be ready to read them himself. I think he is capable of the written work. He turns 9 in February, but shortly after that my daughter would be moving to RTR, so he would be one year below recommended age range. I would love to be more involved in science with my kids because my girls at least seem to be weaker in that area. Thoughts?

Yes, we were in a similar situation. I was reading with my older son and noticed younger son was continually asking and answering questions regarding the science. We combined using the Apologia Astronomy. I purchased the Apologia Jr. Notebook for the Astronomy. This occupied my tactile learner during the reading and gave us an easy way to review and document his participation. Older ds really liked the Apologia Notebook he saw brother using, too. I tried to keep younger ds into his science but he seemed to enjoy doing both. This year with RevtoRev he still listens in and wants to know all that is happening in the physical science so he gets to participate in the experiments and older ds can explain (teach) little brother at the same time. We have about the same ages, too,or close 9yrs and 14 yrs? I don't know if this helps but I think if they are interested and capable of the work they are apt to learn more and retain it. I am afraid I would have squashed some of his interest in learning, especially about science, if I had said first you need to learn your science and then you will learn this other later. My only concern is what we do when he does reach that science he has already done. At that point we may go through it quickly as a review and move on or do older brother's science then, too. I am sure we will have plenty of options though.

I am not much interested in combining in science especially once kids get to the age where the work is assigned for them to do alone. Each one of my kiddos loves the science in Preparing. And I love the guides, the skills they learn using the HOD methods, the writing, the balance, the activities, pretty much all of it. I know it may seem simple but some of the things they are learning in the guide is how to follow directions, how to be independent, how to gather materials and then clean it up, and all of the reading is completed by the student. Those independent skills I treasure. And I don't like modifying the guide because then it creates more work later on. If it were me, I would not combine your kiddos.

farmfamily wrote:I have a child finishing up Bigger who is very mathematically inclined and also likes science. He is already combined in math with his older sister who is almost halfway through ctc. I am considering whether it would be possible when he starts Preparing to have him do the science in ctc with his sister. I may have to read aloud some of the science books instead of having them be independent for now, but I think he will soon be ready to read them himself. I think he is capable of the written work. He turns 9 in February, but shortly after that my daughter would be moving to RTR, so he would be one year below recommended age range. I would love to be more involved in science with my kids because my girls at least seem to be weaker in that area. Thoughts?

We are doing PHFHG with our son this year, and we are having such fun! He is starting to be able to take over the experiments and lab sheets himself more and more, but it is still a new skill after having completed BHFHG with me by his side for science. PHFHG is the first year science is completed independently, though at the start, most children need assistance transitioning into tackling these assignments independently. They are taking on the reading of the science, the reading of the directions, the following of step-by-step directions, the completing of experiments more solo, the written/pictorial work of the scientific process on the science lab form, the completing of note booking assignments that are more difficult than BHFHG's note booking, the answering of 5 comprehension questions with written responses, and even the clean up of the experiment. This is a bit daunting at first for most kiddos! But, PHFHG is the year to practice taking on all of this independence. The reason this is taught in PHFHG is to gradually increase skills in this area as students progress from guide to guide, taking on longer more difficult readings, and more steps and in-depth processes within completing more involved lab-like scientific experiments. All of the guides gradually and systematically increase skills in this way so that by the time kiddos reach high school level labs, they are ready. The following are the weekly skills taught within CTC's Science plans...

Each unit includes the following science activities in coordination with the read-aloud assignments:
Day 1: create a science notebook entry
Day 2: practice oral narration by retelling the science reading
Day 3: write answers to five provided questions based on the science reading – including scientific terms and Biblical application
Day 4: conduct an experiment related to the reading and log it in a science notebook or on a copy of the “Science Lab Sheet” found in the Appendix

By combining your son with his daughter, both will lose out on important learning. Your oldest will be adding time to her already full (and soon to be fuller as she moves up in guides) day. She will have to read aloud much of the text to him at 8 yo, and even if he is a fantastic reader, she will need to explain it to him for him to be able to understand it (though even then, he will only be able to understand it on an 8 yo's comprehension level). This will interrupt the flow of reading comprehension for your daughter, as at her age, comprehension is retained much more fully when reading is done silently as opposed to aloud. Your daughter will also have to head up the experiments as well as the more involved note booking assignments, which will add more time to her day and have her in the role of 'teacher' instead of 'independent' worker. Likewise, for your son, he will not be taking on the skills intended for him to learn, as he will no longer be in the 'independent' role for more than likely anything except possibly the reading. Trying to notebook, orally narrate, answer comprehension questions with scientific terms/Biblical application, and do experiments/lab sheets on material much more difficult than BHFHG without the transition year of PHFHG will leave him depending on his older sister for help the entire year.

PHFHG's science is such a fantastic transitional year of science for kiddos your son's age and older! It is the bridge between BHFHG and CTC, and it is a year full of growth and taking on of independence! I'd not want your son to miss out on that, nor would I want your daughter to lose momentum for preparation for later harder years of science, as well as have an unintended longer school day because of it. For these reasons, I'd recommend not combining your son with your daughter, and instead, just reaping the benefits of each of their progress in each of their guides, and keeping both of them on the path to loving their science!

In Christ,
Julie

All right, I am convinced! I will keep going with all 3 doing their science separately. I have already done the Preparing guide, so I do remember that the science in there was very good and enjoyable. Thanks to all those who responded.

You are welcome. And so far, Preparing science is probably one of my favorites. The books move so quickly. I love the notebooking pages. I love the fun my kids have exploring with the experiments. But ultimately, my oldest still says how much she loved it. My son did Preparing science last year and he had a blast too.

On a side note, I did combine my son and oldest in science this year. I don't want you to think I am hypocrite since I advised not to combine. Basically, last year I was doing Bigger with my youngest, Preparing with my son, and R2R with my oldest. It was just too much for me! So in November, I decided to bump my son down (he was struggling a little bit with understanding anyway) and repeat Bigger but I let him finish the science in Preparing because I though he would enjoy it. That left me with a dilemma for this year. What science should I do? I decided against having him repeat Preparing science this year since some of the history was a repeat already. So I ultimately decided that since my oldest is doing RevtoRev, he could just complete the education exploration with her and then repeat it in 3 years and do the advanced level. I figure he probably won't understand everything but I wasn't too worried about it since he will be doing it over again anyway. This has been a great decision in many ways but I do miss that he isn't doing all of the the reading and notebooking pages this year like his younger sister. To compensate, I am having him read the extensions this year. The nice thing though, going to forward when him and his sister are in CTC, they will do the same thing and everything after. So this dilemma will have righted itself once this year is over and I shouldn't face any more challenges like this for the future.

I do hope your youngest loves doing the science in Preparing too I am kinda sad that this is my last time through but am making sure that I enjoy every part of this year with my kiddos.

I would have to agree with the others in regards to science in Preparing. When we combined younger son was in Bigger, this year with Preparing he has enough now with his own science and is enjoying it. That is why he only gets involved in older brother's experiments and brother can review/show good understanding when he has to explain what he is doing to his inquisitive little brother. Grandma would come visit once a week so we combined another science using Apologia with the notebook journals on that day so we wouldn't be trying to complete regular lessons then and we kind of just had fun instead of being stressed. This year is different though.