Science - What if your "walking encyclopedia" wants more?

[705emily]

I have an 8 yo and a 10 yo. We did the Zoology "Swimming Creatures" this year. The kids and I have loved it! They each made an ocean box, and every time we learned about a new species, they added it to the box. We did do the notebooks as well. They contain mini-books on each chapter and the kids really enjoyed making those. We did not do every page in the notebooks.

Just to say as well-- We have truly enjoyed MFW science to this point.. RIght now we are reading the Archimedes book. We did the Pyramid book and several experiments in the Genesis for Kids book at the beginning of this year. My ds's extreme interest in marine animals led us to do Apologia too. Having said all this, however, I probably wouldn't recommend doing an Apologia text with 7 yo and younger--unless you plan on summarizing much of the material for them. The textbooks and the workbooks are meaty and detailed and the science curriculum is LOADED. I'm just not sure that with a 7 yo and younger--you would really get your money's worth.....

Just my .02

[cbollin]

Wondering if you do more science in addition to what is scheduled in the Adventures program. Or maybe you have found ways to expand on the science content in Adventures?
Please share if you can. Thanks very much!

The first thing we added was to make sure to use the links in the internet linked book in the package. Usually something more to read, a few extra hands on things, sometimes even game.

We like watching magic school bus.
book basket.
and learning to cook.

When you get to bird study - check this archive thread for link to bird calls
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=330
We're playing with some of those now in EX1850 and enjoying the video and calls. Yesterday, my 7th grade asked "if it's a purple finch, why is it red?" pulled up purple finch on the Cornell site on that linked thread, and learned why, and saw video, listened.

Nature walk/observations related to topics:
astronomy topics - you could record where the sun "rises" or "sets" relative to a spot from your kitchen (or other room) window. Does it stay in the same spot all year?
same with moon - watch moon each night... take note of changes
go look at the stars.
visit planetarium near you? (no komodo dragons there.. giggle)

weather charting or watching radar.

What's been interesting to your child? expand on the topic a little. extra library book. use those internet links in the book. let them do the same experiment again with tweaks.... let them set it up and clean it up. lab reports - simple. make bread again..

add janice van cleave style of books (check library) for more hands on fun. science around the year is good one for this age group.

-crystal

[Mexmarr]

Some people like to expand on the topics covered. Crystal gave you lots of ideas for that. The sky is the limit for that!

If you are like me, and like it spelled out for you.... I actually added in a seperate science book. Not to replace the other, my kids just LOVED science and the books included just weren't enough. I'm not big on hands-on, so I didn't want a bunch of projects, I wanted another book to read and discuss on the couch. So that is what we did.

Oh, a must see are the sonlight science DVDs!!!! THey have dvds based on the books covered in Adventures. THey simply have a young guy go through every single experiment, do it, and explain it. I LOVED that. We didn't do many of them, but we watched them all. Very simple, no fluff.

[gratitude]

I DO! But it is entirely unnecessary. The MFW science in ADV is more than enough for this age group, and fun and engaging. Much more than public or private school and gets their hands into science. Yes, the SL DVDs for the ADV science are wonderful (SL was our first curriculum for our first half of K and they came in the package).

So we are doing the Apologia Elementary series with MFW science. I debated on it for months before I finally decided that for our family it works, and is a good thing. It wouldn't work for every family probably, but for us it is a good fit. For my boys science is their favorite topic. They want to do science every day. Apologia Elementary is scheduled twice a week in the front of the Junior Notebook. MFW ADV science is scheduled twice a week. Science 4 days a week is realistic for us, but I realize it wouldn't fit for everyone. So my oldest is doing the notebook, my ds6 & dd5 are not. They are all learning though. They all like the readings. I like how they bring God into the series. They all like the hands on activities. If it takes us two days to do one I don't worry about it since their are only 28 weeks scheduled for a year. We are doing astronomy. Yes, it will come again in RTR. At this point I am actually really curious to see how Marie uses it and what she does with it.

Entirely unnecessary, but for us it is a joy.

I hope this is helpful,and doesn't throw anyone off track. Science in ADV is tied into the names of Jesus Christ and I think is very important to do as part of the program.

which set/level of the sonlight "discover & do" dvd's go along with adv?

Sonlight Science A DVD has Air & Kitchen from ADV. It also has Plants from MFW1.

Sonlight Science B DVD has Water from MFW1.

[Bandy]

Thanks very much for taking the time to help me with this, I'm happy to have some additional ideas. Great ideas, thanks very much!

[Poohbee]

We switched to MFW for 1st and now 2nd grade. I love MFW!! But My daughter's favorite subject happens to be Science and Sonlight had much more to offer in my opinion. 1st and 2nd grade science for MFW seems to have some of the same books/experiments as her Kindergarten books from Sonlight. And it doesn't have as much as Sonlight.

I guess my question is, does the Science in MFW get better with more experiments, etc in the next grade levels, 3rd and up? We are trying to supplement but it has been difficult for me. I would rather eventually get back to using MFW Science but want her to enjoy it. Anyone feel Science gets better in the later grade levels?

Thanks! Again, I love MFW and would never go back!! Wish I would have started it in Kindergarten.

Hi Amy!

So glad you are enjoying MFW so far! Our family has used MFW since my now-8th-grade daughter started Kindergarten, and this year we are on the 5th year of the 5-year cycle. So, we have used each year of MFW except high school.

I would have to say that science has a different flavor each year. Some years are more reading and notebooking, while other years have lots of experiments. What I love is that the science often fits well with the history you are studying (such as studying Creation science and pyramids while studying ancient history or studying ecosystems while learning about geography and the different people groups around the world). I also love that there is a variety of topics covered throughout the various years of MFW...botany, astronomy, animals, human body, chemistry & physics, etc.

Yes, I remember that the science in ADV is pretty much the same as the K science in Sonlight. I have never used Sonlight, but when we were doing ADV, I stumbled across the Discover & Do Level K DVD from Sonlight, so I bought that to supplement our science. We were able to watch the experiments on the days that it didn't work out for us to do them ourselves.

So, since the science is the same, and your dd has already done that science while doing Sonlight K, I would recommend trying one of the Apologia elementary science books. One year, we used the Exploring Creating with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day book. We really enjoyed learning about sea creatures in more depth, and your child can make an ocean box. At the end of each chapter you study, your child makes a sea creature out of clay and you add it to your ocean box, kind of like a fake aquarium. There were fun experiments to do, as well. We've really enjoyed those books.

However, you would want to avoid using the Apologia Astronomy and Botany books, because those are already scheduled in future years of MFW. A study of animals is scheduled in future years, but using different resources. I'm not sure how much overlap there would be with the Apologia Land Animals of the Sixth Day book. I have not used that one. But, I would think that the Flying Creatures or Swimming Creatures books would be okay because they just help you study a certain category of animals in more depth.

Of course, there are lots of other elementary science programs available, too. You should just look over the MFW catalog or website to see what is studied in science each year and which resources are used. Then, you could choose something different to do with your daughter in ADV this year. Just one idea for you.

And, always, you can call the MFW and ask for advice. I'm sure they would have some suggestions for you, as well.

[Yodergoat]

Not much time to post a lengthy response... but highly recommending that you look into the Apologia Exploring Creation With ____ books which Poohbee mentioned. Since you're doing Adventures and that includes a bird study, it would be a great time for the Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day! I was very much into science and would have loved those books as a second grader!

[gratitude]

I experienced the exact same journey that you are! I have never gone back to Sonlight either. We also did Sonlight K science and the first part of B science. It did make using MFW science a bit more difficult for MFW1 and ADV, since much of it is the same.

I ended up replacing ADV science with Apologia's Astronomy book. I wouldn't recommend Astronomy though since it is used in RTR. I like the other ladies suggestions of adding one of the other Apologia books with ADV so you can still use MFW science later if you wish.

I think you will like the new Dr. Wiles book in CTG later on with the creation study. We have used parts of it and liked it.

People are hit and miss with ECC science. The book is good, but not all children engage with it well. Some do. So it will depend on your child. We are actually currently in ECC and I ended up swapping it out for Apologia Land Animals that my children engage with and enjoy more. It goes well with the study, but isn't as planned as using POE would be for the unit study. Once again, I do like the increased writing that the note book offers. So that will be a decision you can make next year. Try POE first, you might really like it. The experiments were good, and we did use it for the first 8 weeks or so of ECC.

I have heard people liking the science in the cycle. The issue of Sonlight K science does go away after ADV. I hope that helps!

[AmyS]

Thank you so much. This is helpful. And the fact that you all 3 suggested Apologia I may look into it. Her favorite thing is doing the experiments or creating things, so do you feel there is enough of this in the Apologia? Even if I didn't use Sonlight at first, it seems like MFW doesn't have as many experiments in Learning God's Story and Adventures. I may even get the Science Activities books to go along with the Discover and Do DVD's because she loves those DVD's and I have them already. I just have a hard time merging two curriculums together and setting up my own assignments. I like it all laid out for me!

So, my goal is to use MFW Science only starting next year for 3rd ECC and hope that it keeps her engaged. Otherwise, I am back to the drawing board again unless I like Apologia. She just LOVES science!

Thanks!

[Yodergoat]

I found that there were plenty of fun "try this" experiments and some lengthier projects in the Flying Creatures book when I used it for a co-op class. I assume the other editions would be similar. You may want to use the "explore this book" feature at online bookstores and get a feel for the actual book by reading the sample pages. They are in a very different style from Usborne science books (which I find a bit random and almost too busy). The Apologia books are in a conversational format which seems perfect for reading aloud, interspersed with questions and experiments. There is a great deal of text but there are lots of pictures, diagrams and good quality real photographs. You can also purchase "notebooking journals" for younger and older students, but I've never used one of those.

I hope you can find a good fit for your daughter!