Does anyone else use this? We're doing first grade right now, but I think we'll finish it around Christmas. I'm wondering if the 2nd grade has more hands on/experiment type stuff in it. We skipped a lot of it in the 1st grade because it was a lot of write this sentence in your journal, or cut pictures out of magazine kind of stuff (I don't buy magazines). Or it was just more suited to a class and not one student. My son really enjoys this science, but I'm hoping 2nd grade has more stuff to really do. I have some books that are just experiments, but I'm lazy and I like it when it's all laid out for me and I don't have to try to make something to go with the lesson. Lisa
Hi. We used 2nd grade with my daughter last year. There are more experiments than 1st grade, and the teachers manual gives "extra" things you can do...but it's not all that much different than 1st. They redo all of 1st grade with greater detail. But it is a lot of repitition. We actually skipped 2 of the 3rd grade units b/c they were covered to death in 1st and 2nd. And next year we're not using Lifepacs at all. At first, all the language arts work in Science got my goat. But then I realized later that ONE, it is written to a classroom perspective (so hard to do those "write down everyone's eye color and make a chart) type experiments when you have 1 student and two other kids! LOL!!! And TWO, they are an "integrated" curriculum....so....they reinforce lessons they are learning in other subjects with each other. Like the kinds of words they're using in L/A are reinforces in History and Science. If you're not using the L/A it's hard to catch that. I learned to really like that to SOME degree....but we're moving on for Science next year...just seems the thing to do. We're going to use Lifepacs for L/A, Math and Bible, though...at least for my daughter who's used them for 3 years. Did that help you?
That does help. Thanks! It sounds like it would be really boring to do 2nd grade the last half of the year. We'll just be covering the same things all over again, right? Looks like I need to start checking out science curriculum... fast!! Lisa
We bought 2nd grade and I quickly got rid of them. I didn't like how it was intertwined with the language part. I wanted science to be science, kwim? I am currently using Read Science 4 Kids. I also have just gotten Rod and Staff science for 2nd grade. I just skimmed thru them and I think they will work for us. I still plan to use the apologia books during the summer (we school year round)
I'm assuming that because you did Lifepacs that science from a "christian" perspective is something you'd like too. What we're planning on using next year is the "God's Design" series from RD/Answers in Genesis. They have NEAT books.... If you google it, the website would come up. Their multigrade so you could adapt for how you want to do it...and you could pick whatever you think he'd like to learn next. But, yes, doing 2nd grade right after doing the first (like immediately) would probably bore him!
I think the third grade is where the experiments start up. But we used thier science up to9th grade so far, and like it too. How many pages a day are you doing to finish it this soon? Also the interwtining of the language part is why my kids read at college level I think. They know thier sentence structure and all that because it and the bible are all through the Life Paks. the early grades are slower moving though , we would finish by one each day , but that how I remember first grade being anyway. If you are looking for a book that has most of what you need for next year try Condsidering God's Creation Science , Eagle Wings has it, you can find it on CBD.com, and ebay both. It has excellent teaching tool book with words you can either preview or read straight from the book. Student book has everythign there, cut and paste stuff sure but its learning things so that is good!
I hate to rag on them, but it is true for us as well... We really tried to make Lifepacs work, but it was just so bleh... We have learned sooooo much more in second grade, by simply doing it all ourselves. I went to a local homeschool store yesterday, near my home and they had loose lifepacs you can buy. I grabbed the second grade lifepacs for science to compare with what we are doing this year. (I thought perhaps what I did not like about them, was unique to first grade). Nope, same stuff. They were lazy when they sold them to homeschoolers.... Yes, they were originally designed for classrooms, however.... They do not need 20 children in a class to make comparisons and graphs.. Grab some m&ms or other colored candies and grab a few blindly out of a jar.... graph what comes out... Or using a pad and paper, jot down all the different colors of cars you see while driving to and from the store. (This child does this, of course) Or, Of women mentioned in the bile, how many have the letter "S" at the beginning of their name? How many have a "T" and how many have an "R"? There are MANY things they could have done with lifepacs science, but they chose not to. Instead they want first graders to essentially complete 20-25 pages of sheet work per day. (If you work the entire five subject set, like we tried to do.) This can kill any kids desire to learn. However, the bible section is AWESOME! For some reason, lifepacs "Style" works well for the bible subject. Not so much for science, and history. I am middle of the road in regards to their Language arts and their math. Although, for us, and for most people I know, they do "Seem" to us to be about a half grade back.
I think they update them from the top down though , too cause the teacher books are upgrades from when my ds16 wasin first grade to now. so the teacher books have suggestions for manythings to do with the lesson , They also have printables to cut and paste with too if I remember... First grade is nto a big Sceince learning grade anyway, so just the basics is needed, and we could do that with out a book, it was just fun to have a book to work out of. It is great for beginingers but once you get a handle on things, you may want ot branch out thats for sure
I'm agree with Jennifer on this, esp. about it being written for a classroom but marketed for homeschooling. I know it's trite, but that in itself really bothered me, so that and the fact that I have TOTALLY learned about what 'kind' of curriculums I like/dislike this year! I have all 5 subjects for 1st grade, and only used the first booklet or two in each. I don't think it's a bad curriculum, tho; it's just not for us. I did like the Bible and LA, but I have now went with something else. I've been checking out science curriculums for next year, and I have several of the ones mentioned in previous posts bookmarked: Apologia http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/apologia.html She has FREE notebooking pages on her site to correspond with the books (but you can find the books a bit cheaper elsewhere). Still, I REALLY like her blog and articles...She has a lot of good info on her site. God's Design for Science http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/catalog/Gods-Design-for-Science,153.aspx Christian Kids Explore... http://www.timberdoodle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1773 Considering God's Creation http://www.eagleswingsed.com/products/cgc.html Science Adventures http://www.homeschoolscience.com/homeschool_science/curriculum.html I like how this one is moderately priced and covers a few different things, science kit included. I don't think it is from a creationist point of view tho (but I could be wrong!) There is also Noeo Science (no link). It is Christian-based and looks really cool, but I've ruled it out because of price and it looks really busy to me. But heck, I might use it at a later time! You may be able to find these at better prices besides the websites, but just wanted to give you something to look at. I have not tried ANY of them, I'm just saving up for next year...or maybe sooner :wink:.
We started out doing about 3-4 pages a day, but in the last few weeks he's been really excited about seeing how much he can do. So he's been doing almost a section a day on some days. He likes being able to read and do stuff on his own. The thing is most of it he already knows so it's very easy for him. We've skipped a lot of the worksheets here lately because they seem so babyish for him. I really think this would be a better fit for my soon-to-be 5yr old. I like the lifepacs, don't get me wrong. Having the language arts stuff intertwined doesn't really bother me, we just skip stuff that we don't want to do. I like the layout, and that I have to do very little planning ahead. I'm thinking maybe we should have just skipped 1st and gone straight to 2nd this year. Oh, well :roll: Thanks everyone for all the suggestions and links. We're using R&S reading and phonics so I might like their science too. I had also thought about Apologia and all the others sound good too. Ok, time for me to start looking Lisa
"The thing is most of it he already knows so it's very easy for him. We've skipped a lot of the worksheets here lately because they seem so babyish for him. I really think this would be a better fit for my soon-to-be 5yr old...I'm thinking maybe we should have just skipped 1st and gone straight to 2nd this year." That's funny you should say that, Lisa, because that is what I thought too. My DD seemed to cover most of this stuff in K (we used Calvert for K), so it was kind of a bummer to do it again in 1st. We have moved on to doing some light astronomy (my DD fav!), and are using T4L for Math and LA, and it includes some animal kingdom stuff and it is animated so she likes it. Heck, I never knew what an amphibian was until this year, lol. I must have been sick that day! I'm still considering if I will use some of LP for my 3.5year old too or just sale them. That is really cool when THEY get motivated and start 'running' with school. My DD is doing this now, esp. with reading (thank GOD!). Most days she is asking if she can/when we will do school today. (I work in the mornings/afternoons, so we don't get to school until the evenings).
be sure and check out http://www.eagleswingsed.com/products/cgc/faqcgc.html http://www.lamppostpublishing.com/crconsideringgodscreation.htm http://www.christianbook.com/Christ...earch&N=0&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1 the last one you can see inside the books, it really is so much more fun than life paks we used them all these years ( 11 years) this year we are only using ALgerbra 9 because we are using it up. But I never knew how much was out there, so it worked for us. I always have added things like I would if I were teaching in a class anyway so I never really noticed if they were for a class or not, we used a friend or brother or sister for projects they had to ask questions for etc. but seriously this Science made me LOVE teaching science with my kid!
That looks good too! Man..... I'm glad there's lot's to choose from, but it sure does make it hard to decide. Our closest store where I can actually hold stuff in my hands and look at it is about an hour away. I may have to make a trip anyway though. I can get a better idea when I can actually 'see' the books. Lisa
