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Combining Science with lot of kids
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I have 6 kiddos and right now they are in 4th grade and under. So far I have been able to do science as a family and combine all ages. We are doing Learning About Birds this upcoming year all together. However, I was looking ahead and wondering how you combine once you have a child that is old enough to do Jack’s Insects, which is for grades 4-6, but no one else is within that age range. Do you do something separate with you younger kids? My other issue is that some of my kids have already done most of the SCM science curriculums and I will have some that are just starting. I don’t really want to do 3 different science curriculums. I am assuming a good bit of Jack’s Insects can be done independently if the child is able. My son will be in 5th grade by then. I know I’m thinking ahead, but just trying to grasp how you mamas of many handle science in this situation.
Regan
We keep kids all together for science until they are Jr. High or High School age, preferably high school. Over the years that means I’ve used several different options, though I’ve never used SCM’s science. It just hasn’t worked out that way. Here is what I’ve used and my thoughts:
God’s Design for Science – This is pretty laid back science, experiments/demonstrations are simple household items. We did not print any of the worksheets or quizzes, just read the book, talked about it, and moved on. When we found something that really interested the kids we looked on our shelves for more related books to read. It was ok, fit the season I was in. It was nice to be able to choose a different book every 12 weeks, so we were not in 1 topic for an entire year.
Magic School Bus books/dvds/science kits – We enjoyed a mix of watching the dvds or reading the books (both MSB picture and MSB chapter books), and we did try out two of the science kits (weather and chemistry). The kits were ok but you have a lot to provide yourself so the cost added up quickly. The kids love the dvds and books. These are definitely from an evolutionary perspective with millions of years being used. We just explained that people do not agree on the actual timeline of the earth and it will be fascinating to ask God about that when we see him again. One perk was lots of interesting topics to explore.
Apologia Elementary books – We have used several of these. I read them aloud, then we do the experiments together. I have some kids who love to curl up with these to explore the pictures or read them in bed. This has the most experiments, heavy on the information. Because I own all of them we were not married to just one book/topic for the entire year, we could switch if we got burned out on a topic. Lots of work for me (experiments) but my kids love the experiments. We buy a supply kit when we do these.
This coming year we’re shifting to a more eclectic year again. I’ve collected stacks of science topic books (literature, nonfiction, etc) and we’ll work through them and just enjoy ourselves. Experiments will be less often (I’m having baby #10 in January, mid-school year) but we have a decent amount of science materials for the kids to use on their own, including a great microscope. My high schooler won’t be in this, (she’s using Wile’s new Chemistry book), but the rest of the kids will be. That means my 7th, 6th, 4th, 3rd, 1st, K kids, as well as 2 tagalong preschoolers, with baby coming in Jan.
The older kids in that can always ask for and find more books/documentaries/information on any topic they want to dive deeper into because they are pretty great at independent learning when they are interested. They know I’m always willing to help them find more information. 🙂
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