Bigger Science Help

[ncmomof5]

Hello,

We started today with Bigger science, and I must admit that it didn't go very well. My 2 oldest had a hard time understanding and narrating the material, and my 8 yo zoned out. I struggled with the material myself. I am not a science person, and I never really learned to think "scientifically". It really is a shame because my 11 yo dd loves science, and I am afraid I am going to ruin it for her. My 9 1/2 yo ds thinks like me when it comes to science, so I felt his pain at trying to absorb and process the information. He is so good at everything else, I think that he thinks he should be good at science, too.

My daughter did say that she didn't really understand the material when she read it herself, but after we all talked it through it made more sense. We haven't even gotten to the extensions for them, yet!

I just wish that science came easier to me so that I could pass that on to my kids. Anyone else struggle with this or have any words of wisdom or encouragement that might help me and them love science? Maybe it's just a thing like narration where you just have to keep doing it and trying to understand it, and it will get easier. I don't know.

Thanks for listening.

In His love,
RuthAnn

[ncmomof5]

Oh, and I wanted to add just to be clear. It's not Bigger Science that's the problem. It's me. It doesn't matter what science I do. I just struggle in science. I always have, but I want to find a way to do better so that I can help them reach their potential.

Does that make sense?

RuthAnn

[my3sons]

Science is not my thing either, but I have learned to enjoy it doing it with HOD. What I like most is it is not presented as a body of knowledge with facts and formulas to be memorized (as I learned it in school and in college). In BHFHG, my ds really liked the books but had a hard time making a guess about how to answer the science question in the experiments at first. He didn't want to be wrong (first-born, go figure). However, that became one of his favorite things once we'd done experiments for awhile. He realized the point is not about being right - it's about thinking scientifically! Just about every scientific discovery began with a question - not an answer (most textbooks teach only the answers). It is more academically challenging to ponder the questions - but that is a more important skill to have - and also teaches the scientific method (very helpful for future upper level science lab work). Narrating is also a skill that takes time to do well with - years really. It's your first day of science! Don't sweat it. The science is amazing - it is living, has the dc doing awesome experiments, and is God honoring. It doesn't get any better than that!

In Christ,
Julie

[Kathleen]

RuthAnn,

I'd say give it some time, too. The science in Bigger was my son's favorite subject last year. (Well, I guess it tied with Storytime. ) Once you get into the experiments, I really think you and your kids will enjoy it.

The One Small Square books were a challenge for Grant to narrate from, especially at first. Narration was new to us last year, but talking happens to be his forte. The books with more of a storyline were much easier for him to narrate from. It took a while for him to be able to listen and give a retelling of all the information in the pages of OSS. I bet that your kids will have a much easier time narrating when you read John Audubon, Thomas Edison, and Pioneer Sampler. And there really are just bits of science everyday - nothing BIG, but over time I was amazed at how much we learned last year in Bigger. We found it to be simple and effective.

If you read the pages in the assigned book, follow the directions in the box for the day, and end with the key idea, I really don't think there is any way you can "mess it up".

Kathleen

[Carrie]

RuthAnn,

The ladies are giving such great advice! I agree that science books, even those presented narratively, are harder to narrate from!

One tip that may help a bit with the One Small Square Books is that when it's time to narrate, you can read the opening sentence or two of the first page to give your child an opening to his/her narration. That really helped my son collect his thoughts and remember back to what we read at the beginning of the day's assignment. Another tip with the One Small Square books is to have the kiddos narrate the body of the text first, and then add on a few of the facts around the side as they recall them. You could even cover the text beneath the sidebars and show the pics to your kiddos to help them recall what was presented on the side. Eventually, they'll learn what to pay attention to when narrating and won't need the extra help.

Often kiddos will narrate better with material that they've read on their own. So that's another thing you could consider doing to make sure they visualize the material. Just a few tips to help!

Blessings,
Carrie