This year for our science curriculum, I am doing something a bit different. You see, A1 thinks that he needs to venture off on his own for most of his school work. I tend to agree, it seems there is a large gap between him and the other kids. I don't say that in any harsh way towards A2-A7 nor do I say that, meaning he's a genius. It's just a simple fact. I think every child will hit that point of Independence at different times. It almost reminds me of beginning reading. I can sit there and push reading upon a child, making the whole situation miserable....or I can calmly wait for that child to be ready. I know afew A's that caused me great stress when it came to reading. Then I just had to remember all those people, books, blogs, friends and strangers who told me this....reading will come!!! It also reminds me of potty training!!! {yes that is one thing I was hoping to start a6 on, but it's just not happening right now, and I had to just say, it's okay, it will come. YIPEE no more potty messes on the floor!!!}
So back to science,
I purchased apologia exploring creation science for A1. I also printed off the schedule from the Donna Young website. We don't worry too much if we get off schedule, it's just giving him a format to follow. It doesn't matter if it says A,B &C need to be done on Tues, if for some reason we don't do school on Tuesday. It's more of a structure or schedule to follow, to make sure everything gets done. So A,B &C will get done on Wends instead of Tuesday! At the beginning of the year, he informed me he's not into science. It's just not his favorite subject. However, the other day he told me he has now changed his mind, he likes science, it's fun!! I love that this is creation based. I also like that it's in a conversational format. He reads it, if there's any questions, he comes to me. He also completes the labs/experiments himself {given he can}, and he writes up his own lab reports. I also have been grading all his work, and doing it to a public school system, sort of. He has certain things to do in his lab reports, and certain things for all his work. This includes format, subject/summary, spelling, handwriting, and of course knowledge.
So far he is really enjoying it. With more independence come more accountability!
Now for the rest of the A's we will be doing Apoligia Elementary Science, Exploring Creation in the fifth day. I am excited about this, I am still completing the kids notebooks for this. I have gathered tons of notebook type pages, and I am working on organizing them all. {Yes I know, this should have been finished during our summer break, but it wasn't. Mommy took the summer off too} However this isn't a huge deal for us. I like to take the first 1-2 weeks working on getting everyone in the groove, getting our basics finished, and under control. Before I start adding to our loads. I read somewhere, I believe it was an email, from a homeschool mom. She suggested, starting with your basics the 3R's, then adding in one other subject a week, until you were up to doing everything on the schedule. I like that idea, not putting too much stress on anyone, when it comes time to get back into the groove of school. However I am SOOO excited to begin this, as are A2 and A3. I think they just might be jealous of A1 doing science, and not them, yet! A few years back we did Apoligia Elementary Science Astronomy, and loved it. I know this will be a hit with all my little A's!!! I also love that this is creation based. It is also in such a format, you don't feel like it's a boring science textbook, but you are still learning everything that would be in a boring science textbook! I am sure we will post a few tidbits and pictures of both of these programs through the year!
Another thing we do is our IS {Independent Studies} Science reading. The kids pick a book from either our home library or the public library. They read it, and then write a narration or report about what they read. Everyone is currently working on their IS readings right now. The reason I do this, is I believe strongly in the theory that if you want to know something, all you need to do is pick up a book. I also believe that children need to learn how to learn from a teacher or a mentor, and that they need to learn how to behave in a classroom type environment. Hence the reason I do both!! Though the thing I really want them to know is that anything they want to know they just need to question it or find something they are interested in, and then research it and learn. The kids all like this, because they get to choose what they are learning!!
So back to science,
I purchased apologia exploring creation science for A1. I also printed off the schedule from the Donna Young website. We don't worry too much if we get off schedule, it's just giving him a format to follow. It doesn't matter if it says A,B &C need to be done on Tues, if for some reason we don't do school on Tuesday. It's more of a structure or schedule to follow, to make sure everything gets done. So A,B &C will get done on Wends instead of Tuesday! At the beginning of the year, he informed me he's not into science. It's just not his favorite subject. However, the other day he told me he has now changed his mind, he likes science, it's fun!! I love that this is creation based. I also like that it's in a conversational format. He reads it, if there's any questions, he comes to me. He also completes the labs/experiments himself {given he can}, and he writes up his own lab reports. I also have been grading all his work, and doing it to a public school system, sort of. He has certain things to do in his lab reports, and certain things for all his work. This includes format, subject/summary, spelling, handwriting, and of course knowledge.
So far he is really enjoying it. With more independence come more accountability!
Now for the rest of the A's we will be doing Apoligia Elementary Science, Exploring Creation in the fifth day. I am excited about this, I am still completing the kids notebooks for this. I have gathered tons of notebook type pages, and I am working on organizing them all. {Yes I know, this should have been finished during our summer break, but it wasn't. Mommy took the summer off too} However this isn't a huge deal for us. I like to take the first 1-2 weeks working on getting everyone in the groove, getting our basics finished, and under control. Before I start adding to our loads. I read somewhere, I believe it was an email, from a homeschool mom. She suggested, starting with your basics the 3R's, then adding in one other subject a week, until you were up to doing everything on the schedule. I like that idea, not putting too much stress on anyone, when it comes time to get back into the groove of school. However I am SOOO excited to begin this, as are A2 and A3. I think they just might be jealous of A1 doing science, and not them, yet! A few years back we did Apoligia Elementary Science Astronomy, and loved it. I know this will be a hit with all my little A's!!! I also love that this is creation based. It is also in such a format, you don't feel like it's a boring science textbook, but you are still learning everything that would be in a boring science textbook! I am sure we will post a few tidbits and pictures of both of these programs through the year!
Another thing we do is our IS {Independent Studies} Science reading. The kids pick a book from either our home library or the public library. They read it, and then write a narration or report about what they read. Everyone is currently working on their IS readings right now. The reason I do this, is I believe strongly in the theory that if you want to know something, all you need to do is pick up a book. I also believe that children need to learn how to learn from a teacher or a mentor, and that they need to learn how to behave in a classroom type environment. Hence the reason I do both!! Though the thing I really want them to know is that anything they want to know they just need to question it or find something they are interested in, and then research it and learn. The kids all like this, because they get to choose what they are learning!!
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