1st grade science

[Aurelia]

Well....blarg. I thought I had science all figured out, but I keep coming back to wanting something more structured than what we did this year (unit studies that included science and a little nature study).

I looked at just buying some science kits and checking out library books, but with the kits I want, it would cost more than some of the curricula! :glare: Plus, I'm not sure how much would actually get done. (Although I know Ariel would LOVE to grow a frog and have an ant farm and...well, you get the picture.)

Right now, my two front runners are R.E.A.L. Life Science and Sonlight Science 1. Pros? Cons? Should I just stick with my original plan of nature study and science kits (and if so, how can I make sure it actually gets done)?

Type A me wants structure and science terms and literature, but I know Ariel learns best with hands on stuff and a variety of topics.

Please help!

[Amber in AUS]

Oooo, that's a hard one. Kind of bumping for you, can't offer and BTDT advice. As far as getting it done, pop it in your schedule or make it first 1 morning per week.

[Pata]

I ran into this with my own dd, so I wrote my own plans. You can see them here (http://www.elementalscience.com). Science only takes us 5-15 minutes a day and if she's interested we will look up more and do what we can to satisfy that interest. It's nice though to have a framework to work around. We have had a great year and science is dd favorite subject!

The other thing you could do, is check out a Janice VanCleave book and work through the experiments and then fill in with library books when needed. Also there are lots of plans on the web to build your own ant farm, butterfly garden and so on. Plus there's always the outdoor hour challenges on Barb's blog (http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com). Hope all that helps!

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Why don't you just add the kits and nature study to your schedule?