Also, I feel like I should preface all of this by saying I reserve the right to change my mind about any of this! Haha. Seriously, I will not know if this is the right fit for my kids until we actually use it, so I'm giving myself full permission to switch curriculum if at any point I know it is not working.
SCIENCE: Science is another subject (like history) that I plan on teaching family-style. I spent a lot of time last month trying to figure out which aspects of science my boys have already learned. And here is what I discovered......Ryan doesn't remember anything, and Lucas thinks he has already learned everything. This led me to worrying about my kids having "gaps" in their education, as well as worrying about re-teaching them concepts they've already learned. I've decided there is no way to please everyone and do it perfectly. So we're going to do unit studies this year for science. What this means is that rather than do a broad overview of ALL types of science, or spending the entire year on just ONE type of science, we will spend 4-6 weeks on difference science units. As we focus on a certain science topic for each period, I can do things to make it more challenging for Ryan and slightly less for Lucas, while Jenna will pretty much just sit and listen. We are using science units from The Good and The Beautiful! (A non-denominational Christian curriculum company)
There are many unit studies that look so fun and beautiful from this company, so I'm hoping we fall in love with this company's science and get to do more. (Meteorology, Mammals, Botany, Space, Arthropods, The Human Body) Science has never been one of my favorite subjects but there is something about these unit studies that seems SO visually appealing and engaging to me. I tend to enjoy the life and living sciences (plants, animals, human body) over physical science (physics, chemistry, astronomy) So it was important for me to not only find a science curriculum that would excite my kids, but also me. I let the kids vote on our first unit, and they chose Marine Biology!! We will be learning about coral reefs, sharks, tide zones, marine reptiles, and much more.
I have also purchased their Safety unit, which we plan on beginning early August, before the school year begins. This addresses topics such as gun safety, water safety, disaster preparedness, and peer pressure. I think it will be a good overview and a great way to ease in to homeschool.
And finally, I really want to incorporate nature study in to our year. I may try to do this every Friday. Gather up my kids and their nature journals, go on a hike/walk somewhere, and just learn about the world around us by observing. I'm not sure yet what this will look like, but I know kids need to be out in nature and I'm confident my kids will enjoy it! (Research the Charlotte Mason method to learn about the value in nature studies)
How do you teach sciene?
SCIENCE: Science is another subject (like history) that I plan on teaching family-style. I spent a lot of time last month trying to figure out which aspects of science my boys have already learned. And here is what I discovered......Ryan doesn't remember anything, and Lucas thinks he has already learned everything. This led me to worrying about my kids having "gaps" in their education, as well as worrying about re-teaching them concepts they've already learned. I've decided there is no way to please everyone and do it perfectly. So we're going to do unit studies this year for science. What this means is that rather than do a broad overview of ALL types of science, or spending the entire year on just ONE type of science, we will spend 4-6 weeks on difference science units. As we focus on a certain science topic for each period, I can do things to make it more challenging for Ryan and slightly less for Lucas, while Jenna will pretty much just sit and listen. We are using science units from The Good and The Beautiful! (A non-denominational Christian curriculum company)
There are many unit studies that look so fun and beautiful from this company, so I'm hoping we fall in love with this company's science and get to do more. (Meteorology, Mammals, Botany, Space, Arthropods, The Human Body) Science has never been one of my favorite subjects but there is something about these unit studies that seems SO visually appealing and engaging to me. I tend to enjoy the life and living sciences (plants, animals, human body) over physical science (physics, chemistry, astronomy) So it was important for me to not only find a science curriculum that would excite my kids, but also me. I let the kids vote on our first unit, and they chose Marine Biology!! We will be learning about coral reefs, sharks, tide zones, marine reptiles, and much more.
I plan on doing The Good and the Beautiful science units studies twice per week. They contain reading, simple experiments, and more, all while being an open-and-go curriculum. (And Usborne has THE best science books to supplement!) Each unit is designed to take approximately 4-6 weeks, so towards the end of our unit I will let my kids vote on our next unit. (I'm secretly voting for meteorology or mammals)
No comments:
Post a Comment