I get asked this quite a bit, so I thought I would talk about what we are using.
I may break this up a bit depending on if the baby wakes up.
The first thing I should make clear is my love of science! I don't necessarily love measuring and data collection. I love the exploration, the questions it provokes, the fact that we really know so little and so there is always a sense of awe and mystery and more questions (which means more critical thinking).
Tangent alert: Did you know that critical thinking was sited as one of the biggest traits that employers of creative industries need but American students and the workforce in general are not providing? That's right. There is a need for critical and creative thinkers but there isn't a supply of them.
It's what makes people think things through and make good choices. The lack of it is what lets political talking heads get away with lies all the time. It's easy to lie with statistics...
Anyway. I digress. Tangent is over.
So back to science. Done correctly, I am going to raise - this is a goal here - kids who THINK, QUESTION, and CARE about the world around them. They will know the difference between climate and weather, yes...and they will be able to answer why it is important to conserve or why we should care about bees.
It's gonna be great.
So here is the BASIS of what we are learning about for science:
our science book
How am I adjusting this for my third grader and my sixth grader?
Well, first, my oldest never actually worked in this. She told me they opened it twice. You can't move on if you haven't covered the basics.
We are learning about cells, classifications, life science, matter, energy. The important stuff.
I also purchased a book of experiments that will help strengthen some concepts. We watch docs and we have lots of animated discussion to encourage thinking. Big sis does the challenge questions and little brother is working on his verbal communication skills with me by simply discussing what we learn.
Remember he has speech challenges and so this is part of therapy.
His writing seems a bit weak and he gets overwhelmed with writing. Even being in his "advanced" class, public school in general is SO WEAK on writing. It is amazing to me. I want him to like writing. I am a writer, so I am passionate about keeping it a positive experience.
In another post, I will talk about English/grammar/writing. But for now, science is more of a discussion time for the little guy. And he has some of his science words added on to his weekly spelling list.
My sixth grader will need to be challenged with extra projects because she loves that kind of stuff. So, I'll try to keep up with what she does in that regard for science.
So ends the, "What are you using for curriculum science portion..."
I may break this up a bit depending on if the baby wakes up.
The first thing I should make clear is my love of science! I don't necessarily love measuring and data collection. I love the exploration, the questions it provokes, the fact that we really know so little and so there is always a sense of awe and mystery and more questions (which means more critical thinking).
Tangent alert: Did you know that critical thinking was sited as one of the biggest traits that employers of creative industries need but American students and the workforce in general are not providing? That's right. There is a need for critical and creative thinkers but there isn't a supply of them.
It's what makes people think things through and make good choices. The lack of it is what lets political talking heads get away with lies all the time. It's easy to lie with statistics...
Anyway. I digress. Tangent is over.
So back to science. Done correctly, I am going to raise - this is a goal here - kids who THINK, QUESTION, and CARE about the world around them. They will know the difference between climate and weather, yes...and they will be able to answer why it is important to conserve or why we should care about bees.
It's gonna be great.
So here is the BASIS of what we are learning about for science:
our science book
How am I adjusting this for my third grader and my sixth grader?
Well, first, my oldest never actually worked in this. She told me they opened it twice. You can't move on if you haven't covered the basics.
We are learning about cells, classifications, life science, matter, energy. The important stuff.
I also purchased a book of experiments that will help strengthen some concepts. We watch docs and we have lots of animated discussion to encourage thinking. Big sis does the challenge questions and little brother is working on his verbal communication skills with me by simply discussing what we learn.
Remember he has speech challenges and so this is part of therapy.
His writing seems a bit weak and he gets overwhelmed with writing. Even being in his "advanced" class, public school in general is SO WEAK on writing. It is amazing to me. I want him to like writing. I am a writer, so I am passionate about keeping it a positive experience.
In another post, I will talk about English/grammar/writing. But for now, science is more of a discussion time for the little guy. And he has some of his science words added on to his weekly spelling list.
My sixth grader will need to be challenged with extra projects because she loves that kind of stuff. So, I'll try to keep up with what she does in that regard for science.
So ends the, "What are you using for curriculum science portion..."
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