Curriculum Reviews: Math & Science.
Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 08:00AM Now I'll step away from the language arts to talk about math and science.
(You can read previous posts here and here from about a year ago to see what came before...)
MATH: We've been Singapore Math users from the start and I see no reason to change as of yet. ;) Right now all three boys use the Primary Math Standards Edition books. Micah will finish up book 3A this summer (yeah, he's got quite the mathematical mind and has been flying through his books). Asher is just starting 4A, and Noah will finish up 6A this summer.
The program is designed to finish two books (so, 3A and 3B, for example) in a year, doing roughly 4 lessons a week I think. (I could be wrong on this...I've not gone by the suggested course, but have just had the boys doing as many lessons as I felt was challenging to them. This has, I believe, worked out to about 6 lessons a week (completed over three days...about 20-45 minutes each day) for Noah and Micah and a bit less for Asher.)
Each level has a textbook, a workbook, a teacher's guide, a home instructor's guide, and supplemental tests and exercises if desired. Personally, we've only used the workbooks so far. I have a decent handle on math and Noah and Micah do as well, which has meant that I haven't really done much "instructing" but have tended to simply hand the boys their books and set them to work, answering questions as needed (and in some cases reading the story problems when math abilities exceeded reading abilities).
This is one of the things I like about the program. It's clear and easy to follow without unnecessary repetition for the sake of repetition. But. I'm figuring out that I'm going to need to change the way I do things for next year with Asher, as we get into more complicated matters. I'll be working on actually doing a lesson with him before tackling the exercises. Noah and Micah will likely just continue as we've been doing since it's working for them.
Beyond Singapore Math, we've also used Life of Fred this year. Noah and I will finish the second Life of Fred book shortly. To date, we haven't really relied on this as an actual math curriculum per se. We just enjoy reading the stories. :) I do make Noah do the math questions at the end of each chapter. But, if I were truly going to use this as a curriculum, I'd supplement with more problems and do a better job of making sure Noah had a concept down before continuing. Right now, it's more about exposure and just enjoying seeing how math can apply to real life situations. Next year, we'll probably read the next book, Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra I with Biology. Depending on how things progress with Asher and Micah, I may start the first book (Fractions) with them as well. I definitely foresee some more directed units on fractions in the coming year for both of the younger boys (and a review for Noah).
To that end, I've also picked up the Key to... series. I have Key to Fractions and Key to Algebra and anticipate using them as supplements for the boys during the year.
And, of course, we get plenty of math in our everyday life through allowances, games, books and random questions that I pose to the boys just to mess with them. ;)
SCIENCE: Ah, science. Last year we used (and loved) Real Science 4 Kids.
Having finished Chemistry and Biology the year before, we completed Physics in the fall...generally completing one chapter a week. After the holidays, we worked on our homeschool group science fair for a couple months. Then, we spent a month reviewing Chemistry, a month reviewing Biology and a month reviewing Physics. Right now, we just finished building toothpick bridges using supplies ordered from LegoEducation.us. (I have absolutely no idea what we'll do for science in July & August, lol.)
Science is one of the subjects that I don't really worry about. My boys are all very interested in science so naturally seek it out on their own. A very science-oriented dad, plenty of science-oriented field trips, and access to the science channel and science shows via Netflix, lol, means that they rarely lack for exposure to science.
We tend to "do" science one afternoon a week and altogether. Even given their different levels, they manage to work together on experiments just fine...each doing the portion that is best suited to him (which often means having Noah re-explain things since I didn't understand, lol). For next year, I'm planning to take a unit studies sort of approach to science. I'll dedicate each month or so to a different topic. Right now, I'm thinking about the following units:
- renewable energy (specifically wind turbines with a possible field trip involved...and Lego has some nifty resources on this as well),
- astronomy (actually, I'll use Real Science 4 Kids' latest release for this),
- genetics,
- cooking (I may buy this book to hopefully appeal to my boys),
- and the like.
I've just started brainstorming and am definitely open to any other suggestions! (All three boys also will have science classes at Options, our one-day-a-week-school situation. These include classes like robotics, electric circuits, anatomy and forensics.)
Stay tuned for history and geography tomorrow!
Reader Comments (1)
The cookbook looks great! It ought to entice the boys enough to try cooking a bit.