Ideas for Science?

[tnahid]

Hello,

First, want to say that I am really enjoying the HOD with my children! I do have a concern for my 9-year old son. I would like for him to be doing science a bit more than he gets with the Beyond. I am using the Beyond with him and my 7 year old.

What are some ideas on how I can add a little more science to his agenda in a very relaxed way? He seems to have a pretty packed day already, so I don't want to put too much on him, just getting that feeling that maybe he needs more.

Also, while I am asking this, my 7 year old knows how to spell most of the 2nd grade words already. What do you suggest for him?

Thanks for any info. Plus! I also recommended HOD to a new homeschooling mom who had never heard of it. She researched the site online and decided to purchase it. She is really excited about it. So, I was a spokesman for you, and it worked! I look forward to talking with her and us helping one another. So far, she and I are the only ones in our group that use HOD. Many of them have never heard of it. Maybe it is because we live in KY? Not sure. Anyone, I am advocating it for everyone the Lord puts in my homeschooling path. And I've only used it for 2 weeks, yet I love it!

Blessings,

Tina

[MamaPajama]

We love the Kid Concoctions books. They are full of fun and easy ways to add more science. You could get a telescope and an astronomy book. You could get a magnet kit or an insect or frog habitat, or even Sea Monkeys. You could have him make a life-sized model of the body's internal organs, nervous system, skeletal system, etc. with construction paper, markers or whatever. Target carries science kits for kids. I believe Barnes and Noble sells science kits too. I'm not sure what all they have, but we have one that deals with color combinations, growing crystals, etc. Do you have a teaching store in your area? We have a large one and there is an entire section devoted to science.

HTH!

[Heather4Him]

Check your library for Schlessinger Media videos--they have many different topics on science and history, and most are about 23 min. long. You could add these when time allows. (disclaimer: Since they aren't Christian, you may have to be alert for some evolutionary references, but otherwise they have been good introductions to many topics.)

[HollyS]

My DD is 8 and I debated using the science from bigger with her, but decided I wanted to keep her and my DS together. I'm planning on having a science book basket for her to use. I'll probably just have her read a couple books each week. Another idea would be to do nature studies.

[my3sons]

It is a good idea to add science for a 9 yo who is doing Beyond. You've already gotten some good ideas, so I'll just add it may be fun to add a low key research of the science topic each week. Your ds could use either the free encyclopedia site wikipedia, or science books from a library. He could orally share around 5 new things he discovered about the science topic. He could also do a Nature Journal. We used the Animal Treasury books years back, and just bought a 5 x 7 spiralbound sketchbook for him to draw and label at least one animal/insect he learned more about with a small caption each week. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

The ladies have already done a terrific job of sharing options with you, so I'll just add a couple of more suggestions for you to ponder. You could easily use the science from Bigger Hearts for your son in place of the science in Beyond. This would also allow you to use a few other parts of the Bigger guide which may be needed by your son, like the Rod and Staff English 2, the dictation passages, and the Cheerful Cursive if he appears ready for that. For your child who already knows all of the words on List 2, you could also use the dictation passages from Bigger Hearts for her.

If that doesn't appeal to you, then you could have your 9 year old simply read more on the topics that you're already covering in Beyond's science, using any science encyclopedia. Another helpful idea is to have your 9 year old fill out an "experiment" sheet on the experiment once weekly, drawing the experiment and writing a few sentences about what was learned. Adding a notebooking entry on the other science day is a great idea too. This can easily be done by copying a few sentences from the science text and drawing a picture to accompany what was studied in science that day. Anyway, just a few ways to raise the level of the science. My all time favorite to add for additional reading in science is biographies of the scientists and inventors. So, if your son is a good reader that is a possibility too.

Blessings,
Carrie

[tnahid]

Thank you all so much for the great science ideas! I like the idea for keeping the notebook and using wikipedia for a more in-depth study of the subject. Also, I failed to mention that he is also doing "Contenders of the Faith" and I have sort of been using that as our science. For those who are not familiar, it is like the Boy Scouts, except it is Christian based and can be done independently as well as in a group. They have one for girls called Keepers at Home.

He has picked out 5 topics to start with from that book that he is interested in. He has picked Health and Fitness, Knots, Leatherworking, Archery, and Bible Memory. As he finishes each of these assignments in the book, he earns a pin for his sash. He is WAY into this! He earned his Health/Fitness pin last week by learning about healthy nutrition, vitamins and minerals. He had to keep a chart of what he ate all of last week. He had to list 5 vitamins and minerals and tell what they were good for in the body, etc... He got into a nutrition book I had here and looked up all the info, and into the dictionary for a definition of nutrition, etc. (with some help from Mom ) So, I have sort of been using this as my science. Do you think this is okay? He is very self-motivated to do this, but I am not sure if things like learning to tie different kinds of knots or leatherworking would be considered science. (?)

Anyway, please let me know your thoughts. With him doing this, I just don't see how it's possible to add more science on top of that. I didn't really think of that in my last post, but doing all the other we do plus that is pretty time consuming for him in my opinion. Any thoughts on this?

Although, I will say that at the library on Friday, he picked out a bunch of different books on all kinds of snakes and was reading them at night before bed in his bed with his little booklight. He was so excited to tell me facts about the anaconda that he had to get out of bed just to tell me! I guess he can just continue checking out those kinds of books and learning that way!

Also, I do have some science kits that I plan for us to use too. And I do like the science DVD suggestions as well. Thank you for any more thoughts on the Contenders issue.

[jenntracy]

I have a Super Science concoctions book and plan on using Gizmos and Gadgets by same author in a few years. They are part of Williamson Kids Can books series. i have checked them out at library but have purchased the first one and will purchase the Gizmo one later.

also, we have mainly just gone to library and gotten books on topic my son was interested in. We sometimes made a simple lapbook with all the info he was learning or a notebook page. we were mainly studying animals. I like the Let's read and find out science books and the ones by Gail Gibbons are awesome. Jim Arnosky has some great ones too. Most you can get at library.


Jenn d

[lovedtodeath]

Real Science 4 Kids has all of their books in full as an online preview. They are fun to read and if you choose to do the experiments they are enjoyable. They only cover 10 weeks or so per book, so it wouldn't be too much to add. There is also eequalsmcq which is very easy to implement and the biology unit is a free sample.

[my3sons]

Tina - With what you shared he is doing already, it sounds like between some library visits, informal oral narrations of the science-type books he checked out, and his Contenders of the Faith (especially the health/fitness and the archery - force of motion), he'll probably not need extra science this year. Next year, the science in Bigger Hearts follows the scientific method and is done daily, so he'll be fine from here on out. Enjoy your year - you've got your bases covered just fine without adding IMO!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Tina,

From what you've shared that you're already adding, I'd say you have your science bases covered. Just make sure to have your son listen in to the science readings and participate with the twice weekly experiments in Beyond too!

Blessings,
Carrie

[tnahid]

Thank you all! I will do that! Blessings to you!