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Science in the Beginning
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I have seen some discussion on this new series by Dr Wile. I’m curious if anyone has indeed tried it and your thougths? My kids (in school) are 9, 8, and 7.
Also, is this the only place to order from in the US?
Thanks!
I am going to be taking the plunge and using it next year for my kids, ages 7 & 8, unless I see somethiing really bad posted about it. I like the lay out and it looks just like what I am looking for. Will be watching this thread intently.
It is a brand new program, so you won’t get much response.
I had a trial version. We didn’t.do it all as we were doing another science.program already, but did a little and it is really good. We are going to do the next book trial version this year.
I think that must be the only place to order, Erin.Kate. I had never heard of Berean Builders, so this series may need some word of mouth advertising– like I found here!
I found this description on Dr. Wile’s site.
http://blog.drwile.com/?p=11016
It sounds/looks really great. I’ve seen Suzukimom recommend it once or twice. Maybe she will tell us more. Hint, hint. 🙂
Hm – I’m not sure what else to tell!
There are enough lessons to do science either twice a week, or every other day. There are 6 units with 15 lessons. The last 3 lessons in each unit are optional for kids that like science (the every other day crowd)
Each lesson has with an activity – generally an experiment. Most of the time it is at the start of the lesson – the lesson discusses the results. The activities are easy to setup.
Each lesson is short – a couple of pages of reading. It isn’t the “throw tons of information to see what sticks….” type of book. Then there is a short little assignment that varies by age/ability. Youngest answer 2 questions. Middle kids do a little notebooking. Older students have a harder notebooking assignment.
There are some tests available at the back of the book (with answers afterwards for parent) for people that want tests – Dr. Wile doesn’t think they are needed.
These lessons really don’t take a lot of time – I haven’t timed the ones we did – but they are short.
Just an idea of what is covered (not comprehensive list…)
First Unit (first day of creation) – Light. experiments and lessons about light, relection, refraction, how the human eye sees, colours, stuff like that.
Second – Water – solids, liquids, gas. Solutions. Air. Wind.
Third – Land. Saltwater. Salt and Ice. Plants – Germination, leaves, etc.
Fourth – Sun. Telling time, Earth’s motion, solar system, moon, eclipses
Fifth – Birds – Classification, Vertebrates/Invertebrates, Basics of Flight, Eggs
Sixth – Land Animals – Legs/No Legs. Vertebrates. People. The 5 senses
An Experiment from the book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uev7sRJAoVw
And another http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZSrv2Us2X8
There may be more if you search for them.
I have it, and we’re using it, and so far we like it. We are only up to about Lesson 7 in the first unit though. The experiments have been simple enough to carry out, and they really do only use fairly simple household items – I haven’t had to go hunting to find what we need. The lessons take us 20-30 minutes – that includes the reading, the experiment, and the notebooking assignment (the middle level one). My dd is 8, and she is enjoying it. She doesn’t always understand all of the details he explains in the lesson, but I’m OK with that. I figure she’ll take in what she is interested in and ready for, and at the elementary level I’m fine with that. We are only doing 1 lesson per week and will spread the book over two years. I don’t think that formal science should crowd out regular nature study or living books, so the lesson per week that we do from this book is just a bonus as far as I’m concerned…it’s also the first thing we drop if we are pressed for time. We also make a point to do daily nature observation, weekly nature journaling, and read living books. IMO, these should be the first priority for science in the elementary years. But, if you have the habit of nature study established already, and are looking for something simple and easy to use to take your science/nature studies another step further, this may fit the bill.
Sorry, I can’t address the US distribution – we’re in Africa and I had a friend buy it for my in the UK over the summer.
HTH some,
Jen
Hi all, This is our science for this year. We began this week and it’s gone very well, we did two units this week and plan to do 2-3 per week. Our goal is to complete the course by late Spring and with this we are doing the faster schedule. (I am trying to time it so that we finish this book by late Spring/early summer so we can begin the next book in his series “Science in the Ancient World” in time to coincide with our year on Ancient History).
So again, take this for what it’s worth because we have literally done it TWICE…but we really like it! Suzukimom gave the nuts and bolts of the book in her post above. Beyond this, I can say also that the tone is warm, conversational, and engaging. Not the “dry” or “too many details” that I’d heard about some of the Apologia books (which worried me … to the extent that I held off doing Apologia or any formal science in our HS these past few years!)
The two “experiments” we did (I’d say the term “hands-on learning” might be more accurate… but not in a bad way) were simple, easy to follow – but illustrated the lesson content remarkably well — we had a little ah-ha moment both days that we did science this week.
The text that we read after the hands-on portion is informative but not overwhelming (in fact it’s EXACTLY the amount of “information” that works for my children). I am very happy with the length of each lesson and the length of time it is taking to read the lesson content after the hands-on portion. Completely do-able to have science happen, loved and “experienced” within a 30 minute session. Truly, it’s a dream find for me.
The “Lesson Review” section (the assignment), as stated above, is divided into three age/level categories and the assignment instructions are clear and easy to follow. The expectations are right on target, in my opinion.
Hope this helps. I will try to post more as we get more time with the program.
Angie
Doesn’t this framework seem very similar to SCM 106 Days of Creation? Have any of you who are using the new curriculum used the SCM one previously? We used 106 Days last year and LOVED it. I am wondering if you HAVE used SCM if the new study is in any way redundant as opposed to expanding on what they have already learned.
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