Hi readers! Welcome to today’s homeschool curriculum forum on science!
As most of you know, I am currently using Abeka science in our homeschool. I have to say that this has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool this year. Not only does it require very little planning on my part, but it does include some hands on activities as well.
Since this program has a variety of resources included, I thought it might be helpful if I told you which things I purchase when doing Abeka Science.
One thing I don’t love about Abeka are all of the little booklets that you have to purchase. It would be nice if they came all together to make life easier. But for the science I always purchase the teacher’s manual or “curriculum” as they are often called. The student work text, the student workbooks, and the answer keys if I am teaching an upper grade. I also purchase the tests and quizzes and answer keys to those as well.
I do not always choose to purchase the optional visual aids, however if you plan to use this curriculum for several years it is worth it as the materials are re-used across several grades so you will get good use out of them.
Another great thing about Abeka is that you can typically find their materials used at a very reasonable price. Just be aware of which version you are purchasing and whether or not you can still purchase workbooks that correlate with that version.
Pros:
- Material is grade appropriate.
- Lessons are easy to teach and plan.
- Includes hands-on activities to reinforce lessons.
- Re-uses colorful flashcards through the grade levels so you only have to purchase once.
Cons:
- Can be a little confusing for the teacher with several booklets to purchase.
Once my children are a little older I plan to switch from Abeka to God’s Design For Science by Answers in Genesis. This curriculum is a four year curriculum that is meant to be repeated with older grades. Unfortunately I did try to start it but the materials were just too advanced for my younger children, so we will wait to start this.
Pros:
- Focuses on God as Creator.
- Hands-on activities to reinforce skills.
Cons:
- Can be expensive, but not so bad when you consider it is four years worth of curriculum.
A fun hands-on alternative for younger children is the Nancy Larson Science program. I have been tempted to try this a few times, however they currently only offer Science K to Science 4. With my oldest going into 5th grade, I wasn’t sure if it would benefit my children or not.
The other issue I have with this program is the price. Materials are quite expensive, however it comes in a complete kit. So it is tempting to purchase a science “kit” that includes everything you need!
Pros:
- Hands-on and fun activities for younger learners.
Cons:
- Expensive
- Currently only available for elementary grades.
So, now comes the fun part!
What are your favorite Science curriculum, resources, websites, etc? Leave a comment below discussing your choices for this year and why.
Feel free to ask questions or reply to each other too!
It’s my way of doing a forum without actually doing a forum haha!
And hopefully this will help us all as we start the process of researching curriculum, and trying to decide what will be the best fit for our homeschool.
Note: Please keep today’s conversations geared towards SCIENCE, I will be posting one for each subject separately so we can keep our comments organized.
Click here if you missed my previous Homeschool Curriculum Forum posts!
Disclosure: This was not a sponsored post, I may however be affiliated with one or more products mentioned. The opinions expressed in this post were not influenced by the company. They are products I have used and felt like sharing, cuz’ it’s my blog and I can if I want to.
We have purchased several items from Answers in Genesis, which really teaches the kids Christian Apologetics and viewing science through Biblical glasses. There are a lot of videos you can watch online (Answers in Genesis http://www.answersingenesis.org/media/video/ondemand, and Origins on Demand http://www.ctvn.org/the-programs/origins/origins-on-demand/.
We have done all the Elementary Books for Apologia (Astronomy, Botany, Zoology 1,2,3 and Anatomy). We are finishing the Anatomy now with my 8 and 12 year old. These books are a great reference and our boys have learned a lot. I plan to go through these books again as we study other things in the future. We plan to use Apologia for the upper level, as well. I also include Considering God’s Creation curriculum (for my younger one).
I am excited to begin using Apologia with my first grader, but I am curious if “Flying Creatures” will be too advanced. It’s okay if she can’t retain everything, but I don’t want it to be completely over her head. Maybe one of the other books would be better?
Obviously, I love science. Until this year, (my children are now in 2nd and 6th grade), we mostly used science books found at used book sales as loose guides and relied heavily on science experiment books (especially Janice VanCleeve books). This year, we chose to use Apologia’s Human Anatomy and Physiology for my 6th grader and Nancy Larson for my 2nd grader. Both were a great fit for the kids. However, we still use extra experiment books and find great stuff in the Christian Kids Explore series to reinforce what we are learning in our main curriculum. We are planning on using Apologia and Nancy Larson again next year.
Hi, Y’all. We are new to homeschooling for this upcoming year and my son loves science as do I. After looking and reading reviews of multiple programs we decided to bite the bullet and go for A Reason for Science for our older son (3rd grade) and let our daughter do all of the experiments. It is really pricey from The Reason For publishers because it contains 5 of everything (far more than we need), but if you go to Hearts at Home Curriculum you can pick up the teacher guidebook and the student worktext for $48.97. The experiments, questions, analysis are so thorough and we love that it is presented from God’s view too!
I am curious about “a Reason For Science,” this is also my first year. I plan on doing Nancy Larson K, and hopefully…our charter will pay for it! We will be using A Reason For Handwriting, that I ordered through Hearts at Home… So I would love to know how the science is!
Hi, I’m torn between Sonlight’s science A and Nancy Larson. Sonlight sounds very promising and hopefully lots of hands on experiments as those were the kinds my son enjoy the most. But Nancy Larson looks like has a more interesting materials for experimenting and maybe more hands on than Sonlight? Which one should I go for? My son will be 5 in the fall. Anybody has any suggestions? I’m pretty new to homeschooling also that’s why I’m having tough time deciding. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Nancy Larson 1 has some drawing and filling in to do so depending on how much he can write I may look into the K program. I haven’t done the K kit but it is probably just as good as Level 1. I find it very teacher friendly and hands on. The teachers guide is scripted so you can just follow it along.
Thank you Penny. I appreciate your input. My son is just learning to write so if we do decide to go for Nancy Larson, we will surely go for the K kit first.
If you son will be 5 in the fall, I would definitely recommend the Nancy Larson K program. We used it this past year and it was fabulous! 🙂
Thank you Jolanthe.
Im considering purchasing WinterPromise’s Animals and their Worlds for my 1st and 3rd grader next year. Has anyone used this? (Id be getting their newest edition that contains the notebooking journal, Make your own animal book, and the One small square picture books.)
I do not use the Sonlight curriculum, even though I considered it, but I did buy their microscope. Let me save you the time of trying to find a good microscope. I did the research, and found the Sonlight one to be the best for the price. If you are looking for a microscope go to their website and read about it–you’ll be glad you did.
My husband is over science and likes Bernard Nebel’s books, Vol, 1,2,and 3 (on Amazon). It requires preparation, but he wasn’t interested in changing when I asked him–both he and the kids like it.
We have been using Nancy Larson for two years now (1 and 2). It is amazing and very easy to do. All I basically need to do is get the teachers manual, gather a couple of supplies from the kit or my kitchen and the girls grab their folders and colored pencils and we go. They all say (3 of them) that science is their favorite. My background is in Biology and Environmental Education and I would prefer to do science myself but this is just too easy and good. I save my time and energy for other things. If you can afford the kits, I say go for it. The booklets are geared for the ages listed and covers a good amount of vocabulary along with experiments, looking for things outside and books. I also have used the same level for all 3 of my kids at once. Last year I did Level 1 with K and 1st and this year Level 2 with 1st and 2nd.
I forgot to add that this is the first year they are offering free shipping. It was a lot more when you had to pay for shipping!
I’m considering using Nancy Larson but I would like to teach my 3 daughters together, ages 7, 9, and 11. Is that too broad of an age span for NL? What level would you suggest starting? We’ve been using Apologia, but a little bored.
I would look into level 2 or 3. I don’t think that it is too large an age span. You may need to just add a little more research/books for your older if you do the lower level. Look over the topics and see what you may not have covered in science before.
We started with Sonlight for preschool. It had some basic stuff in there for Science. http://www.sonlight.com/homeschool-curriculum.html?grade=pre-k
For Kindergarten we used Christian Liberty Press. I thought we would just do the K book, but my son breezed through it so we ended up doing all of them in the year. I loved them because they focused on the 7 days of creation and then talked more in detail about each day as the books went on.
http://www.shopchristianliberty.com/science/
For 1st grade we used Apologia Astronomy. WE LOVED IT!!!!! I never cared about science (especially astronomy) until we did this. It is colorful, the notebook is fun, and there are tons of supplementary books and activities listed. We plan to go back over summer and do the supplementary stuff.
For 2nd grade we plan to do Apologia Botany.
I wrote my own science curriculum for this year (my son is in K). We did unit studies each month, loaded up on books at the library and I spent some time on Pinterest and homeschool blogs finding supplements and experiments. We had a lot of fun! It really wasn’t much work for me and I feel we got to really explore the topics. Things that were more exciting to my son we expanded on.
I’m not sure what the plan is for next year, so I’m checking out a lot of the links people shared here!
How did you learn to plan/piece together unit studies? My first yr homeschooling and am confused over what components are in a unit study.
There really aren’t any rules for developing your own unit study. If you want to study a topic in a unit study, you can choose how thoroughly it is covered. To start out, just think simple. (You can get more advanced or complicated if you want with practice.) Grab some books and DVD’s on that topic from the library. Add whatever activities you or your child enjoy, and relate them to your topic. Do an art project illustrating it, listen to and sing songs about it, write about it, create snacks related to your topic, make up a game for P.E.,… the ideas are endless (esp. with Pinterest’s help)! For more ideas, look at other peoples’ unit studies online. Be sure to have fun with it!
I have a 10,8 and 3 year old. The older two take science classes at a local museum. There is also a couple places nearby that offer science for homeschoolers. We live in Pasadena, CA if anyone lives near and is interested.
Hi! I am thinking about homeschooling next year and live in Santa Clarita (right by Magic Mtn). I will have a K, 2nd & 4th grader. Would love any info about local places that you can offer! Pasadena is one of my favorite places. 🙂
Julie,
My children take science classes at the California Science Museum. It’s next to USC. In Monrovia (about 10 minutes from me) there is a place called EIE. http://www.eieacademy.com They offer field trips, bookstore, classes, record keeping etc..On their website is a list of classes they offer as well. Feel free to email me privately with any other questions. JER1223@att.net
Erika
Oooh! Thank you!