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Elementary Science
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I was in love with the thought of buying the God’s Design series for the longest time but then I stumbled upon Jay Wile’s Science in the Beginning. Is anyone familiar with either or both? I love that Jay Wile continues on with Science in the ancient world and modern world (I am a history nut so I think it’s cool to teach it from that angle ;)). My kids (going into 2nd grade & 1st) are really into animals – one even wants to be a zoologist – but apologia’s zoology seems so over our head and not a good fit in general. Then there’s the online programs that have interactive lessons…argh! It’s so overwhelming! And in the back of my head I’m thinking didn’t Charlotte Mason say elementary science is more about touching and feeling and exploring? Should I even be teaching a formal science before middle school? Thanks!
I know God’s Design is set up that it can be used with the very young, so that is an option. But, I think Apologia is better for a little older. I used Heart of Dakota for a while. In the guides for children in the grades you have, the science is more gentle. In first and second grades the author uses CLP science books, namely The World God Made and God”s Wonderful Works. She does not use the books you mentioned until the later guides. I’d keep it gentle at that age. Some like to cycle around the God’s Design books. My daughter-in-!aw is planning to do that with their first grader. But I have a friend who did God’s Design with her kids when young, but has gone to Sunlight. She really likes God’s Design, but I think they needed a break from it. There is also 106 Days of Creation from SCM that many here use. Just throwing out some other options. HTH
I failed to look at In the Beginning that you mentioned.. I am not familiar with that, so I can’t comment on it. It sounds like it is a good program.
We’re using Science in the Beginning. We’ve only done the first few lessons, but we love it already. It’s very gentle, short lessons, with a little experiment each day and a notebooking assignment. The experiments are truely with just household items. We did CM science for the last few yeard ,and will continue doign that, but I also felt my boys needed a bit more.
I think Suzukimom used/uses Science in the Beginning. It looks good to me. We use God’s Design for Science with my 5th grade and under crew (oldest does Apologia, and the 4th/5th graders can take God’s Design further by looking in our Apologia Elementary books when interested.) We like lots of time outside and handling real things in elementary too.
For those grades, I would plan lots of nature study outdoors and field trips like going to the zoo, aquarium, pet shop, etc. Go to the library and pick up animal books they are interested in. In grade 2, my son read lots of non-fiction animal science books in his free time. I had him reading the Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader for school science. When he was in 1st, we tried Apologia. But it was too much.
I have decided now that living books and nature study alone are all that are needed until 4th or 5th grade, when they can pick up an Apologia or other elementary science text in preparation for a jr. high science text. Or they can keep on with just living books and pick up an elementary science text for 7th and then a jr. high text for 8th before going on to high school science. My son will be doing The Sciences by Holden for grade 6, along with related books like Eric Sloane’s Weather Book. He can pick an Apologia elementary text for grade 7 and then do Apologia General Science for 8th.
Please read what Karen Smith of SCM has to say on these posts:
https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/living-books-038-nature-study-only/
https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/science-advice-please/
There are also many ideas for living books to use in the above links. We did Outdoor Secrets one year and really liked it and the companion books for it.
And here is the link to the Living Science Books recommended by SCM:
https://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/curriculum-guide/math-science-language-arts/living-science-books/We have used most of the books for grades 6 and under and they have been wonderful!
I’ve tried apologia and science in the beginning. I don’t care for either. Apologia is too wordy. SITB repeats itself too much. It makes a statement several ways in a row. I find that tedious and annoying. I prefer SITB over Apologia though. I own the God’s Design series, but have never used it. Living books and nature study are just so much better for these ages, imo. We loved Outdoor Secrets and Companion and plan to use Pond and Stream with Companion this coming year. I keep some experiment books on hand and the interested kids can have at it.
I loved 106 Days of Creation and the Considering God’s Creation use in it. I collected the out of print books used and SO glad I did. Looking forward for using it in round 2 with my littles! I hope you find something that excites you, that is important. Your enthusiasm trumps and well written review you could find online about a program. Don’t be afraid to create your own spine and run with it. Making connections to God’s creation is the best goal for early science, I believe.
We use God’s Design for Science, but not the way it’s “supposed” to be done. We go through one book per year (instead of three), and I intend it as a spine to keep our focus on that science area as we go about our year. So this last year, we read through The Human Body, about one chapter per week (only a short page or two), and did narration/discussion. If we felt like it, we did the (fun, low-prep) activities and experiments… or we didn’t. The book gave the kids a nice introduction/overview which we built on with library books, impromptu experiments, following baby development during my pregnancy, YouTube videos (Smarter Every Day!), etc. I am loving this way of doing things… it provides just the amount of structure we need without locking us in too tightly to a curriculum. It feels very CM to me that way… short lessons, narration, a “feast” of ideas…
We also do regular nature walks and occasional field trips (to a zoo or science museum, for example).
Vikingkirken – I like that idea for God’s Design. I am just beginning it this fall with my daughter who will be in sixth grade. Because of her learning disabilities, I don’t expect her to make it to the higher sciences, like biology, chemistry, etc. If we do all 4 sets in God’s Design, we would need to do two books each year to complete them all by the end of eleveth grade. Using them as a guide and adding library books would help my daughter retain more information. Thanks for the idea.
My DC loved the readings from God’s Design! It is quite a bit lighter on information than Apologia and seems to be “just right” for that age level. Many of the worksheets were good as well…They did lots of sketching animals in the book we went through. The one downside was a lack of experiments. I think we only did a couple activities for the entire book. There were more, but I felt most of them were busywork. The books are meant to be finished in one term, so you could try one without a huge investment of time…or stretch it out for the entire year and add in some nature and living books.
I really like SCM’s science materials as well. We used SCM’s 106 Days of Creation…we’re currently using the book for a human body study. We went through about half the book a couple years ago. It was the year my youngest was born and we didn’t finish it up…science and history (and a few other subjects) took a back burner after my DS was born! However, we really enjoyed the portion of it we did and I plan on going through it again in another year or two. SCM’s science guides are light enough that there is plenty of time for adding in nature studies…and many of their activities involve observing nature as well. We’ll be using the Learning About Birds guide for the coming year and I’ve been able to schedule in a few living books as well as a day for just nature study. Their Outdoor Secrets or Pond and Stream guides might be of interested, given the ages of your DC.
There are lots of options for elementary science. Just exploring nature is another possible option. We have the book Natural Science Through the Seasons and really enjoy it for adding to our nature studies. I could probably get several years of science lessons from this one book!
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