Question about Science in BLHFHG

justme · Post by **justme** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:03 pm

Can you please share your experience with the Science in this program? (I will be using it with a second grader.)

Was it just right? Too much? Too little? Did you supplement much or did you use something else entirely?

Thanks,
just me

inHistiming · Post by **inHistiming** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:05 am

I used BLHFHG with my daughter in first grade last year. She enjoyed the Science reading and experiments very much. In fact, her older brother, who was using a different program, always wanted to sit in on the Science part of her lessons. Now that I think of it, he really enjoyed listening to the storytime, too! I think my kids could have handled more Science, because they love it so much, but I don't think it's necessary.

HTH

Vicki · Post by **Vicki** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:38 am

Carrie mentioned several books that are nice to use for nature study, if you're leaning that way. I think they would be great springboards for further study of science in a living book way. Here's the thread:

http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=527

Hope that helps!

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:06 am

I did Beyond... last year as well, and I really don't think you need to add anything to it. I completely agree with inHistiming. My other son begged to do the science as well, and I'm excited that next year he'll be the one getting to do it! Also, I'm doing Bigger..., this year, and it really builds upon what was learned in Beyond... I think it is very important to learn the skills taught in Beyond... because the skills in Bigger... take everything learned in Beyond... a step further. The science in Beyond... will prepare your child for the more deep, daily science and notebooking in Bigger... If you want to add something, a nature journal is fun. But otherwise, I'd stick with what's in Beyond... because it's already great!
Blessings,
Julie

wisdom4us · Post by **wisdom4us** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:02 pm

We are doing Beyond now. DS is very into science so what is in the lesson plans is not enough. We are supplementing. I'm finishing up some science experiments from last year's Sonlight and looking for more.

I expected this though so I was not disappointed in Beyond!

SouthernMrs · Post by **SouthernMrs** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 5:16 pm

Hi,
I saw this question and I'm wondering the same thing for my son for next fall. We are using Little Hearts for 1st grade (ds has a Dec bday so just turned 7) and though he enjoys most of the material in Little Hearts, science has been a disappointment for him this year. He really enjoys getting in on the science activities from his sister's Bigger Hearts guide though (hands on stuff) when he can. I am not familiar with the CLP book used in Beyond, so I'm wondering if it is a big jump up from the 1st grade CLP book (Our Father's World). If not, I may have to supplement with something for him when we get to Beyond. Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks!
Charlene...
10yo dd Bigger
7yo ds Little Hearts

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:00 pm

My son would probably like to do more, but he has learned alot from the science in Beyond and I really like what he is learning from the CLP nature reader (used in the emerging reader list). I think it's just right for me and easy to add onto if you want.

wisdom4us · Post by **wisdom4us** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:27 am

SouthernMrs wrote:Hi,
I saw this question and I'm wondering the same thing for my son for next fall. We are using Little Hearts for 1st grade (ds has a Dec bday so just turned 7) and though he enjoys most of the material in Little Hearts, science has been a disappointment for him this year. He really enjoys getting in on the science activities from his sister's Bigger Hearts guide though (hands on stuff) when he can. I am not familiar with the CLP book used in Beyond, so I'm wondering if it is a big jump up from the 1st grade CLP book (Our Father's World). If not, I may have to supplement with something for him when we get to Beyond. Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks!
Charlene...
10yo dd Bigger
7yo ds Little Hearts

Hi Charlene,
I am in unit 5 in Beyond and I do have to supplement science for my son and he's in 1st grade. I would suggest you plan on supplementing, there are experiments but they are too short and light for my 1st grader so it sounds like your 2nd grader will be the same way. Let me know if you find something, and I'll do the same. I'm look now and like the 2nd grade science from Sonlight but it's expensive - more than Beyond with all the star books.

DS loves the rest of Beyond though and we are so please with it! I hope I'm not being negative about that, it's just DS' strong area is science and math.

Tansy · Post by **Tansy** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:57 am

its just the right amount for us. I did notice in the small square books there are lots of activites you can do in addition to Carries experiments.

We had a man come to Our HS group he was a scientist. His advice was to get kids to "learn to ask questions and find out the right questions to ask" not just follow experiments. AS he described the best kind of books to give a child for science he described Small Square books to a T!

So without spending any more on curriculum you could just do all the stuff in the books. Like make out a square in the woods, sea shore, back yard... and not just visit it once a day for a week but go back each season or each week and track its progress.

Also if your Child has a special area of science he is interested in why not let him check out books from library and allow him some self directed study. Get a electricity kit from a hobby shop, or build a water sand table to really study erosion. Do more field trips to science museums see what he likes and let him remake some experiments at home.

inHistiming · Post by **inHistiming** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:11 am

Great suggestions, Tansy! My kids love Science, and we sometimes (even on weekends!) do experiments just for the sake of finding out what will happen. Both of the olders also have a great interest in Art. They have checked out Learn-to-Draw books from the library and taught themselves how to draw faces, animals, various objects, etc. They are way beyond anything I could ever have taught them in that subject. When they have a hand in what they are learning they retain so much. My oldest will read on a subject for extended periods of time. This not only increase his knowledge in that subject area, but it increase his comprehension because he WANTS to understand so he asks questions. He will end up looking up words for definitions (with some prompting, he likes to use me as his dictionary

). This helps him learn the spelling of words, too. So, he is learning in every area. I think the library is a terrific tool for homeschoolers and it would be a great help in furthering your students' knowledge in any subject area.

Post by **Carrie** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:09 pm

Ladies,

I just wanted to pop in to this thread to clarify a little bit about our science. First off, if your little kiddo is on the very top end of the recommended age-level for our programs that will make a difference in how light the science appears! When we wrote "Little Hearts..." and "Beyond..." we spent time looking at scope and sequences for each subject area (including science) across the nation.

What we found when doing that is that science in the kindergarten through second grade years is meant to be very far down on the list time-wise and amount of content matter wise when compared to the 3 major areas of emphasis in those grades which are reading, writing, and math. So, in order to spend the amount of time needed on those core subject areas, science is kept purposefully light in our guides in Kindergarten and First grade.

You'll find this balance to hold true in every complete curriculum that you look at (ABeka, Bob Jones, CLP, MFW, etc.). This is because complete curriculums look at your whole teaching day and look at balancing that which is most important (consequently the 3 R's) with those subjects that are much less important at that age. As far as state standards nation-wide go, we have enough science in HOD. By Charlotte Mason standards we have even more science than she recommended in the elementary years.

From my public school teaching days, I know that many, many children were quite deficient in at least one of the basic skills areas (reading, writing, or math) by grade 3. In the long run that is much harder to fix than not having enough science. So, at HOD we hit the 3 R's hard and wait to beef up the science until a strong foundation in the 3 R's is in place.

One of the blessings of HOD is that you have enough time left in your day to hit those things that your family values most. While some families are very science-minded, others are more literary-minded, some are math-minded, and others are more writing-minded. If HOD does not have enough science to suit your particular family, it's very easy to add on additional science to suit your individual needs.

Blessings,
Carrie

blessedmomof4 · Post by **blessedmomof4** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:16 pm

Well said, Carrie! Here's another thought, justme-your child also fits into the age range for Bigger Hearts for His Glory, and there is plenty of science in there, I can tell you! We do hands-on activities 2x a week, a notebooking page 2x a week, and reading aloud and narration from the wonderful science readers.
Only, he would have to be ready to tackle the language and math in Bigger, too-unless you planned to do something else for those. The language and math ability are the most important factor in choosing a program, so choose carefully

http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm

water2wine · Post by **water2wine** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:18 pm

Carrie wrote: One of the blessings of HOD is that you have enough time left in your day to hit those things that your family values most. While some families are very science-minded, others are more literary-minded, some are math-minded, and others are more writing-minded. If HOD does not have enough science to suit your particular family, it's very easy to add on additional science to suit your individual needs.
Carrie

Agreeing with that. We are able to keep our Bible study that we are doing as a family no matter what curriculum we use and finish up the science we were doing because we did not exactly wait until our year was over before we started BHFHG.

But gotta say love the science in HOD. It's just so fun and my kids are really learning. But I love also having the freedom to add whatever I feel like my kids need and not overload us.

SouthernMrs · Post by **SouthernMrs** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:56 pm

Hi Carrie,

You are so right about focusing on the basics in the primary grades and most of our day is spent on learning to read right now with this child, but learning to read is hard work for him, and I want him to have some "fun" stuff too. He enjoys the science activities so much and really enjoys science stories too (he is really enjoying the Thornton Burgess stories this year!).

I hope I did not come across as negative toward the Little Hearts program. We are enjoying the science activites in Little Hearts. If my son had his way, he'd do them every day! It is the science reading that we are disappointed with this year. Specifically, the MFW book as he's used to having much more read to him. And you are right. It is probably because he's on the older limit of this guide and he also has an older sister that he's been used to sitting in on her reading for the last 3 years. I can see with younger children that the CLP books would be enough.

When I tell ds we have a science activity for the day, he is so thrilled! But when I pull out the MFW book, he would rather skip it (he says it's baby-ish). Today for instance, we are on Unit 22 and the MFW page had maybe 3 or 4 sentences and a tasting activity. He wasn't too impressed. We did the activity in the Little Hearts guide and he loved that! I'm just looking for more science reading for him next year, so wondered if the CLP book used in Beyond had more reading than the 1st grade book does. That is why I'm asking about the content for the science book used in Beyond. Someone else mentioned that the CLP Nature Readers are also use in Beyond for science. I must have missed that, so I'll check that out.

I hope this clarifies my comments.
We appreciate all your hard work in writing the guides and keeping things simple.

Charlene

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:43 pm

SouthernMrs wrote:That is why I'm asking about the content for the science book used in Beyond. Someone else mentioned that the CLP Nature Readers are also use in Beyond for science. I must have missed that, so I'll check that out.

Charlene

Hi Charlene! It sounds like you have a science-minded son - how great is that?!? If that is one of his God-given gifts, and it really does sound like it is, I think that you are so right in wanting to pursue that!!! I did want to go back to the original question about whether HOD science is enough briefly here, just to say that I agree wholeheartedly with what Carrie had to say about the science. Before homeschooling my dc, I taught 7 years of ps and the science in HOD is more than was taught in curriculums there. I also had to be on various science text selection committees over the years, and having spent months looking through science texts, I really am confident HOD's science is enough.

I think that some science curriculums are heavy on reading, and then the experiments either are few and far between, or the experiments can only be done by the parent rather than by the child. HOD doesn't have long and tedious science readings (thank the Lord!)

, but it does have great hands-on experiments that your child can do and therefore will remember better - which it sounds like your ds is already enjoying! So, what I'm trying to say, is that you can rest assured that HOD's science is more than enough.

As far as the science in Beyond..., the science text has a smaller font than the LHFHG science text, and several pages are generally covered each session. The same wonderful hands-on experiments are part of the guide. The Nature Reader is part of the Emerging Reader's Set, but that is a wonderful book as well! Once your ds reaches Bigger... the science really steps up, as was already described by the pp's. According to most scopes and sequences and state standards, this is the appropriate time for it to reach that level of intensity.

I think that your ds's wonderful interest in science is one that you could certainly pursue more though! And you've already gotten some great suggestions about that. But for others reading this thread, I thought it was important to clear up the original question of whether HOD's science is enough on its own, and I think it is.

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