I need some advice or suggestions for a science curriculum for my kindergartener. He is now five and will just be turning six when we start next fall. (Yes I know I am planning a little too early but this is the time of year I have free time to research lots of stuff so I start early.) Anyway, he just misses the age cut so even though he is currently five he is not officially in kindergarten. That is really fine by me since he is a late bloomer when it comes to reading and is not yet reading. But he is good at math and is a very curious kid and I really need to add something more to our homeschool routine other than just math and phonics and random craft things. Most kids at age six would probably be starting a first grade science and I have looked at those too but most curriculums for first grade are assuming the child and read and write at least a little but and I feel that we would be spending a lot of money on something he wouldn’t be getting that much out of. (He actually can write pretty good, but just individual letters since he doesn’t really know how to read or make a word yet.) So I am trying to find a science curriculum that has maybe some living books that we can read together and a lot of hands on stuff instead of workbooks. I don’t really care if they are true science experiments or more craft based since he loves crafts. I have been looking at Winter Promise Animals but see a lot of bad reviews for them and the samples of teachers manual and some of the stuff for students seems a little tacky for the money. Kind of homemade like with poor clip art. I don’t really care too much about that except that I feel I am not really getting my moneys worth. I have also looked at BJU distant learning videos (for first grade since they don’t have a kindergarten one.) I like it and I think he would too as long as we add crafts and experiments to each lesson, but it is really really expensive. Has anyone used either of these two products? Any other suggestions you have would also be great. Thanks so much!
@scfb02 I would suggest you look at Elemental Science. It is great for young ones as it uses all living books (and they suggest numerous books for each lesson, so if your library only has 3 or 4 of them, it is still completely fine). It also has a wide range of activities to choose from (adding paper animals to a “habitat” each week, coloring pages, lapbooks if kids are old enough to do that portion, crafts, and experiments). Plus it is VERY affordable at only $20 for the digital version of the teacher guide, student book, and even quizzes (they are short and can be done orally) all together. They also offer printed curriculum too for about $30. For a young child, I would highly suggest adding the Coloring Pages for $6.50. We loved this program. Here is their link: https://elementalscience.com/collections/elementary-science
I would suggest starting with their “Classics” series with 4 options for the “Grammar Stage.” I think they suggest you start with Biology, but you might be able to start with any of the 4 in that series. Good luck!!
I’m not sure this is what you are looking for, as you would have to add your own books, but Sid the Science Kid episodes on pbskids.org are geared toward the preK-grade 1 crowd. Each week’s shows are based around a single theme, such as simple machines or beginning chemistry. Each episode has a simple experiment or investigation. The characters also do simple journaling.
I have not used them but Sonlight and Noeo Science have science kits based on living books and experiments. https://www.sonlight.com/homeschool/subjects/science/
Here is an example of Noeo Science http://www.logospressonline.com/noeo-science-biology-1/
I hope you find what you are looking for!
I am using Science Fusion for kindergarten this year, (I also have an “older” kindergartner as he turned six in September) then we plan on using either Noeo or Elemental Science. I liked Science Fusion for Kindergarten because it is a nice well-rounded introduction to science and has worksheets that does not require the ability to read or write yet. Most pages have a box for you to color something in or for you to circle something.
My daughter will be in kindergarten next year and loves science, so I’ve actually spent a lot of time coming up with our plan for next year. We are doing an informal science curriculum made up of the DK Kindergarten Science Workbook (which has basic science principals) and Usborne Science books for experiments and living literature. They have so many incredible science books to choose from. I have selected a unit study theme for each month and will use Usborne Books, library books, free online resources, and field trips.
This seems to be the most likely route I will take also. I guess I kept trying to convince myself that I shouldn’t try to do it myself in my very first year of official school; that there had to be something out there that was what I was looking for. I know I have a tendency to think I can do everything better if I do it myself and was trying to keep myself from doing that, but honestly, even though I found a lot of pretty good ideas (like a lot of what was suggested by others), none of them had exactly what I know my son will be interested in and I think it is more important that he gets to learn about what he is interested in at this early age so that school stays fun and exciting. Just out of curiosity what living books are you planning on using? I have to buy all our books because library selection is so poor so I like to make sure my money is spent as wisely as possible.
We are able to use our library’s online catalog to search for books in our county and have them delivered to our local library. This makes the selection much larger. The selection at our local library alone is pretty pitiful. Our library card also gives us free access to OverDrive, an app that gives access to a ton of ebooks and audiobooks. I’ve found lots of books for my daughter to help increase “read aloud” time, even when it’s not convenient for me to read to her. That said, I have focused my book purchases on Usborne books, because I LOVE THEM! You can browse through the website and check out titles and even search for book reviews on Youtube to see the inside of them and even get book suggestions based on age. I love them so much that I became a consultant just for the discount, I do not sell them (there are no minimums to meet, so I plan to buy once or twice a year, based on need). Some other books we’ll be using for our unit studies next year are Magic Schoolbus and the Curious George Discovers series. You could also check Costco for good deals on science books. I’ve seen a lot of Smithsonian science books there. There are also fun books on science experiments and activities easily done at home, that would be a great addition.
If your interested, these are the unit studies I’ve selected so far for next year.
Sept & Oct - All About Me (2 months bc I plan to cover: hygiene/germs, basic anatomy, senses, basic nutrition & exercise)
Nov. - Dinosaurs
Dec. - We “Christmas School” in December, but I plan to do a mini unit on Hibernation.
Jan & Feb - Astronomy & Space (2 months bc this is my daughter’s favorite topic)
March - Earth
April - Gardening & Spring Nature Study
May - Shadows & Magnets (not planned yet, just an idea)
June / July - Ocean
I hope this helps!
Thank you so much for sharing your unit studies. Our library online catalog also lets us search more than just our local library; in fact it actually searches the entire state of Alaska and yet so many times I will be looking for a book that I found recommended somewhere (usually Pinterest) and it is not anywhere in the state. Also if I order a book from a different library and have it sent up it can take anywhere from one to six weeks to arrive so it makes planning really challenging. I actually tried to do some informal unit studies with him this year using just library books and I just gave up because it was so challenging to get everything I wanted at one time. But… Alaska is also I think the easiest state to homeschool in because there are no rules. You can do whatever you want. However we also have several homeschool public school programs where you enroll the child in the school and then create a curriculum with some requirements from the state, but then you the homeschool teacher receive money to buy all the curriculum, just like a regular public school receives money for each kid enrolled. So, although buying all the books does add up, it isn’t really my money I am spending and I get to keep all the books in the end. I just have to make sure I don’t go overboard and spend more money than my allotment. I can’t do that yet because he is officially too young for kindergarten, but next year… let the shopping begin!!!
I also love Costco and see a lot of great books there. And thank you so so so much for the advice about looking inside Usborne books on youtube. I have been watching youtube like crazy now. I was getting a little frustrated because there are so many Usborne books about similar topics and really had no idea which ones were the right ones because it is so hard to see inside the books. So I really can’t say thank you enough for that tip!!!
You’re welcome! That is awesome that they give you money towards curriculum!!
Check Out Amy at Wildflower Ramblings on YouTube. (I’m pretty sure that’s her channel). She has an awesome video breaking down the See Inside vs Peek Inside vs Look Inside for different age groups. I used that video to decide which ones to get, since the topics often repeat.