Has anyone done Sonlight's science Level 5 or level 6?

[Pensguys]

Opinions? Likes? Dislikes?

This would be for an 11 yr old 6th grader.

[OhElizabeth]

Just to stick my nose in totally where it doesn't belong, are you planning on doing apologia starting in 7th? If so, maybe you'd like to do something totally different for a year until then, say the Hudson Tiner books, which I've never even used or seen enough to have an opinion of, except that the titles and concepts sound cool. http://cathyduffyreviews.com/science/exploring-planet-earth.htm He's at a good age to read about creation science viewpoints and read through a bunch of books on the topic. That might make a nice rotation with the Tiner books.

SL science was more on the leave it end of things for us. The books were great but the worksheets drove us over the edge. Maybe they do less of that in the upper levels? Guess I'd distinguish what he wants (hands-on, concepts, brain stimulation through ideas and debate, whatever) and make sure it's going to provide that for him. As I approached 6th grade, I was starting to have some serious questions about life, theology, etc. and appreciated a more philosophical approach.

[Pensguys]

Thanks, OhE, but no, we won't be using Apologia for middle or high school. I had decided on Rainbow Science until I read a few posts on here today and then I started looking into other choices before I totally discounted Rainbow (BJU and Sonlight).

I was really looking for opinions on these specific levels to see to what depth topics are covered.

Thanks though.

[OhElizabeth]

Well what is your plan then? Seems like BJU by high school would be very challenging for you to implement (unless you have a science interest I don't know about??) and SL uses apologia for the upper levels. On the SL, you should be able to see samples of the student worksheets, IG, etc. on their website. Like I said, the level we attempted had really boring worksheets that killed us for it. I think a worksheet-loving kid could have survived, but not mine. BJU6 would be fine for him though. I used it in a christian school (6th-8th grades, my only years) and remember enjoying it very much. www.homesciencetools.com has kits for each grade level. You know I'm using the BJU science, right? I finally realized I wanted a spine with something standard and then freedom to pursue rabbit trails and little things beyond that. It's our balance of craziness and structure. In all honesty, I don't THINK at this point I'd do the apologia either, but I might be a little more confident on the science than some people. At the very least, you'd have to be willing to teach it and work through it with them, where the apologia is written to the student. Do you think you'd be open to using the Homesat videos if you did BJU? Or would there be the possibility of a co-op or something at that point?

Well I'll go back to my real life teaching 3rd grade, not 6th.

[Pensguys]

I'm worrying about 6-8th right now and then I'll think about high school in another year or so. I don't have a problem teaching Biology on my own for high school but anything past that, I'm either going to do BJU DVDs or put ds in classes a local private school just for science.

My considerations for middle school are BJU, Rainbow, Prentice Hall or possibly Sonlight.

[OhElizabeth]

Then I vote BJU. My only experience though is that I actually used it for those grades in school and enjoyed it. :) It's a good springboard to further study. My mom would take me to the local college and let me check out more advanced books on topics (design of the space shuttle, etc.). There are tons of books on his level (young adult to adult) on creation science, etc. And BJU is going to prepare you well for a standard high school textbook sequence, with a good foundation and exposure to all your basic topics (cell structure, DNA, etc. etc.). If you go with something that is more haphazard and meant to prepare you for a different approach (SL leading into apologia), you wouldn't have that same foundation. If you know you're heading into a certain sequence in high school, I'd use junior high to prepare the foundation for that. Also, BJU has their testbank software, meaning you could ease him into that aspect of high school as well. I was noticing that last night and pondering what age was good to start that, hehe. I think 3rd is plenty early, but junior high seems a good time, where it would be valuable preparation for them.

[OnTheBrink]

Purely out of curiosity, how come you ruled out Rainbow?

[Pensguys]

OH, they aren't ruled out....it is my "go to" but I wanted to be sure I wasn't overlooking something before spending THIS much money.

I read a post yesterday where someone said they used RS in their co-op and they thought it was just "ok" and their kids didn't get much out of it. And then the poster went on to say it was good for a "non-sciencey" kid. My ds loves science so I was just looking around a little more before spending that much money.

Here's the thread I was referring to: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18996&page=2&highlight=rainbow+Science

I still think we may do RS this year (all in one year) and then go with BJU or Prentice Hall.

[Pensguys]

This was in reply to OhElizabeth.

Thanks for that input. After I make this decision, then I can go on to think about the next step. I want to do some of the Prentice Hall books too (probably for 7th and 8th) before starting the high school sequence but we'll see.

[OhElizabeth]

Have you actually seen and handled Rainbow? You might want to before you decide. Everything has it's enjoyers and detractors. I stopped at his booth at the convention and wasn't wowed by the man himself. The style of what I saw looked dry, but I could be remembering wrong or judging too quickly, admittedly. I just think there's a lot of virtue to a good, solid science sequence that lays a foundation of knowledge. And this is just me, but I want my texts to come from a creationist perspective, meaning the PH would be out.

Have fun deciding. :)

[Pensguys]

No, but I have read through the samples and I think he would enjoy it. I want it to be "enough" for him since we haven't done any "formal" science. He loves to read about science stuff on his own too so I don't worry about that to much. (We did Exploration Education this year and when I asked ds if he learned anything he didn't already know, he said no.) I still feel it was money well-spent but not a "formal" course (at least for us).

[paula j]

Opinions? Likes? Dislikes?

This would be for an 11 yr old 6th grader.

Hi Penny!

Seems like no one wants to talk about sonlight science on this post so I'll bite. I used science 5 this year and we enjoyed it and learned alot. We didn't actually do it in order because I had an aeronautics unit I got from NASA planned for while we were studying the Wright brothers and World Wars in history but we have gotten most of science 5 done.

I'm not sure what you are wanting to know about it. The human body section was quite good, although I did think a few of the worksheets from the Human Body book were overkill, it had us doing about 4 or 5 pages a week and some were almost duplicates. Maybe they did it this way so ds would remember better though. We liked the sonlight worksheets. Ds enjoyed the experiments from Blood and Guts, although, I found a few of them to be kinda gross.

We liked the Nutrition for Every Kid book. It was quite timely for us as ds was wanting to lose a little weight so this has helped him understand nutrition better and calories.

Right now we are doing the Survival Skills book and enjoying it. Ds is a first class Boy Scout so this is right up his alley. In fact I am getting ready to do a survival cooking course with his troop.

Overall we liked science 5 and thought it was a good year of science. My ds is 12 by the way. We haven't done science 6 yet although I do have all the materials here for next year. If you have any specific questions I could look at the materials and see if I can answer them.

[Pensguys]

Thanks so much, Paula...that helps a lot.

[Shannon831]

We're doing sl5 for science next year. From hanging out on the SL boards, it seems to be one of their best science years. The usual sl science complaint in the early years is that the experiments don't match up with what you're studying, but I haven't heard about any such issues with year 5. We've used sl for our other subjects for a couple of years now, bit this will be our first year using of for science. Hth,

[Melissa in CA]

Penny,

My main two choices for this next year (6th) are SL Science 5, or BJU's Science 6. I really, really, really like BJU. We are currently finishing up BJU's Science 5 and my son has learned more than any science year to date. We are using Homesat though, so I am not actually having to teach anything. I am mainly the administrator. ;)

Having said that, I am going to use SL's Science 5 this next year. I like the topics being covered in it; the focus on the body and nutrition. My son doesn't mind worksheets, so SL's activity sheets don't bother us (we've used them in the past). I also think 6th grade is a good time to get into the nitty gritty in relation to the body, if you know what I mean? ;) I think his dad will probably do the books & sections that deal with intimate 'boys things.' We haven't really dealt with those issues yet and if we wait much longer it might get too awkward. :001_huh: So SL Science 5 it is for next year.

I will have him then do BJU Science 6 in 7th and Science 7 in 8th. I may skip Science 8 and go right into Physical Sci in 9th, Biology in 10th and Chemistry in 11th. Or, maybe I'll decide to skip 6th and go right into the 7th grade Life Science. Not sure yet.

Another reason I have decided to do SL is due to my son's schedule next year. We are starting TOG for the first time and for the first time in his school career he will be responsible for digging deeper into his history readings and answering questions on PAPER! (eek! lol) We are also beginning Latin and continuing with Spanish. I want to focus more on writing, and he's going to begin some typing lessons, as well as piano. So SL's science is a good choice for us for a variety of reasons. BJU's Science takes about 1 hour a day, whereas SL's can be done in two days for about an hour each day (If that).

One plus in regards to SL's sciences for the science inquisitive student, is that you have plenty of room to venture out and add things to it. SL does not jam pack their science; you can go on rabbit trails and dig deeper if you want, yet still be able to easily stay on schedule. You have lots of 'wiggle room' to explore. Make sense?

But, BJU's Science 6 looks wonderful too!! LOL :D

Happy planning!

[Pensguys]

We're doing sl5 for science next year. From hanging out on the SL boards, it seems to be one of their best science years. The usual sl science complaint in the early years is that the experiments don't match up with what you're studying, but I haven't heard about any such issues with year 5. We've used sl for our other subjects for a couple of years now, bit this will be our first year using of for science. Hth,

Thanks for your input, Shannon....it does look good from that perspective. (experiments lining up)

[Pensguys]

Penny,

My main two choices for this next year (6th) are SL Science 5, or BJU's Science 6. I really, really, really like BJU.

Having said that, I am going to use SL's Science 5 this next year. I like the topics being covered in it; the focus on the body and nutrition. My son doesn't mind worksheets, so SL's activity sheets don't bother us (we've used them in the past). I also think 6th grade is a good time to get into the nitty gritty in relation to the body, if you know what I mean? ;) I think his dad will probably do the books & sections that deal with intimate 'boys things.' We haven't really dealt with those issues yet and if we wait much longer it might get too awkward. :001_huh: So SL Science 5 it is for next year.

But, BJU's Science 6 looks wonderful too!! LOL :D


Melissa, you're NOT helping! ;) :lol: Thanks for the input....yeah, the topics that will be covered are what I find interesting too...and I think that ds would like reading from the different books. I'll look at the samples.

[Melissa in CA]

Melissa, you're NOT helping! ;) :lol:

:lol::D Yeah, I know! It's a tough decision isn't it? :blink:

[GVA]

I wanted a human body unit before my oldest goes to 7th grade. As you know, we're very involved in Classical Conversations, so this is my last year directly teaching him.

BJUP is great too, I've used Science 3, 4, and 5 now. I would have gone to Science 6, but SL Science 5 appealed more to me topically. We also use SL for History/Lit, so the jump to SL Science wasn't far :).

[Pensguys]

Thanks so much, Gail....I've just about decided to do SL5 because of reasons similar to yours and Melissa's. It would be the last chance to do something with those topics already together for me. Then I can go on to Rainbow or BJU.

[kpupg]

Opinions? Likes? Dislikes?

This would be for an 11 yr old 6th grader.

We are doing SL Science 5 with a 5th and 7th grader. It is worksheet-intensive, which they don't much care for, but it is covering the various body systems very nicely IMO. We skipped the geology portion. I think it has been a good overview of the human bodyand I'm glad I chose it for this year.

Karen

[Pensguys]

Thanks, Karen...my ds is fine with worksheets so I think the topics, worksheets, various books and activities will be a good thing. I'll just need to be sure to get everything together so we be sure to actually do them.

I think it will be a good year for us to do this too and then plow on ahead.