Science Scope by Kathryn Stout

[Trivium Academy]

I saw this in the Rainbow Resource catalog, has anyone used it? Has it been useful? I wonder how truly useful it is, especially for the older years. Does it provide essay topics?

The Design-A-Study website says that it can be used for multi-levels, I'd like to know about that as well if anyone has any experiences.

Thank you ;)

[nestof3]

Okay, I just typed this huge response and then the site froze up. That's been happening a lot to me lately.

Ugh

Okay, let me just say that I have it, I have used it, and it is a nice guide to make sure you "cover it all."

It gives you a list of what the child should know at the primary, intermediate and junior/high school levels.

I had typed up the table of contents, but I just don't have the energy to do it again.

It is nice of you design your own units (as I do), but I really don't use it all of the time. It is nice in that you can check each item off as it is done.

I bought mine used and you can probably get one rather inexpensively. In fact, I am going to my local homeschooling bookstore next week, and I can see if she has a cheap copy available.

You can live without it, but it is a nice tool -- especially for those self-designed unit people.

[Trivium Academy]

I've seen the table of contents, but wow Dawn, what a nice thing you did! Will it help with having two children studying the same thing at the same time but at different levels? We're about to start studying birds as per dd7's request and I'm using Real Kids Real Science Books- Ornithology as a guide by the Children's School of Science. I found it at our library. I do need something so that I don't overdo it.

[nestof3]

You have found the point at which it is not useful. There are no real specifics about what SHOULD be learned about birds. This is when I rely on something I usually find on the internet.

I designed my invertebrates study in this manner -- putting together objectives I found on the internet and in a book I have titled "Solomon's Resource Guide" (something like that).

Stout's book is great for the big picture, but in my opinion, fails at the zooming in.

I would be more than happy to help you with an objectives list. I actually enjoy that sort of thing -- crazy -- I know. I might even have something on my bookshelf area of birds including objectives. I like objectives because I can check them off. Today, I quizzed my boys with an insect quiz I had in a Ranger Rick NatureScope book I had. I was so pleased that they only lacked in a couple of responses. We still have the rest of this school year to study each specific group of insects, but the overall insect topics have been learned -- three body parts, exoskeleton, breathing through holes in body (spiracles), beneficial and harmful insects, complete and incomplete metamorphosis, mouth parts, and so on.

I would think that you would not really need a book like Stout's, but it could still be nice to keep you on track.

BTW -- I teach my boys who are 19 months apart and they are really more apart than that since my 8 year old is gifted. Today, for instance, they were to choose 3 insects to report on in terms of diet, habitat and interesting fact. My 6 year old chose bee, grasshopper and ant while my 8 year old insisted on choosing rarely known insects such as the goliath beetle, fairy wasp and (after I was exhausted doing so much online research for the first two and just said -- "Choose and insect, and finish why don't you!") termite.

[nestof3]

Jessica,

I found the objectives and such that I had typed up last summer for birds. We will be studying vertebrates next school year, so I may tweak this some.

The info, along with the other vertebrates, is in a MS Word file here:

http://www.savefile.com/projects/808625706

Note: I have not begun the mammal objectives or resources.

[nestof3]

Here is a web page with printouts comparing beaks, feet, eggs and so forth:

http://www.janetemarshall.co.nz/kids/All%20About%20Birds.htm

[Trivium Academy]

I have to go but my Mac isn't translating the .doc files for some reason, I hate to ask but can you make them .pdf files? I'll catch up with you later... Have a great Friday and please know I really appreciate all the help you've given me lately.

[nestof3]

I had never done that conversion before, but it went smoothly. Here are the links with the pdf documents added to both the invertebrate and vertebrate files:

invertebrates:
http://www.savefile.com/projects/808528349

vertebrates:
http://www.savefile.com/projects/808625706

Please let me know if something doesn't work as I am new to this file sharing site.

[kristavws]

Dawn,

Thank you so much for sharing these docs. We will be studying birds next year!

Krista

[karensk]

Stout's book is great for the big picture, but in my opinion, fails at the zooming in....

I would think that you would not really need a book like Stout's, but it could still be nice to keep you on track.

I refer to it to decide what science topic(s) to plan for the upcoming year. It gives me an idea of what the more standard school scope/sequence is. I don't follow it, but use it to identify what we haven't yet covered.

Also, I need something like this to help me not go overboard with some things...like, we don't really need to know topic A sooooo in-depth, because what they typically do in 4th grade is _____. Or, if I'm feeling bad one year because I haven't done science in exactly the major in-depth, full notebook way I'd wanted to, then I'll flip through Science Scope and realize we're fine.