few years, finding a solid, evidence-based homeschool science book was like retrieving Excalibur from your local lake. Unless you knew how to order science books from the school publishers (and had the extra money to do so), the local library was your fallback science textbook. While it’s still a good source, a few publishers have risen from the foam to help elementary homeschoolers learn science. (See the sidebar to find out why that’s important.) Here are some options to fill your science void.
Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: This curriculum, fondly referred to as BFSU by the homeschoolers who love it, develops an impressive understanding of science over three volumes. You use each volume for three years and the material builds on itself, so you will probably start with the first book regardless of your students’ ages. This course requires some parental prep and reading time, but it uses few materials you don’t already have around the house (the first lesson in Volume 1 suggests the family junk drawer). Each lesson includes introductory information, experiments and activities, explanations, additional reading options from the library, and how you know if your student gets the concept. These books cover K through grade 8. Order from www.bfsucommunity.com or www.outskirtspress.com.
REAL Science Odyssey: (www.pandiapress.com/real-science-odyssey/) You can begin with REAL Science Odyssey in kindergarten and use it all the way through eighth grade. Each book covers a different topic, including earth science, chemistry, biology, and physics, and each book works for a range of grade levels. My personal favorite: They offer two astronomy courses for grades 1 through 4 and grades 6 through 10.
The Science of Climate Change: A Hands-On Course: (seculareclecticacademic.com) If climate change concerns you or your students, this book helps you tackle the concept head-on. Written in understandable language, the book introduces the issues and then leads students through 18 experiments and activities to show them why the science is valid. For grades 4 through 10, if the high schoolers are new to the subject.
EVIDENCE-BASED AND NEUTRAL AND INTELLIGENT DESIGN, OH MY!
Science is the bugaboo of homeschooling. And it’s no wonder. Long ago, in the land of education, the word science meant … science. I know, it’s hard to believe. Now, however — especially in the homeschooling arena — science can mean one of several different things. Does a particular publisher sell evidence-based science, or neutral science, or intelligent design (often referred to as ID) science, or creationism science? How do you know? And why do you care?
What is evidence-based science? It’s the new term for — you guessed it — science. If you buy a science book from Pearson Education or McGraw Hill, two of the big educational publishers, you are buying a book that teaches evidence-based science. (They’re generally good texts, but I omit them from the recommendations due to their cost and the difficulties in procuring all the parts that make up a course.) All the recommendations in the preceding list are evidence-based science courses. They cover everything you would want in science. They are, in a word, secular curriculum — they have no religious undertone or leaning to them. (Okay, that was actually two words if you’re counting.) You can rest assured that if you want secular curriculum, and you buy an evidence-based science curriculum, you aren’t going to have to sidestep or omit anything, nor is any fact of science omitted for you.
Neutral science, on the other hand, isn’t neutral at all — at least, not how scientists understand the term. Neutral science is a term recently invented by the homeschool curriculum vendors. Any science book with “neutral” science in it omits important scientific facts and concepts necessary to the true understanding of science: evolution, climate change, and a classification system newer than the 19th century, to name only a few. If not outrightly omitted, a neutral science book might mention that “many people believe” that evolution or the Big Bang are theories, which veils their importance as basic science understandings. This then creates a foundation for other concepts that rely on these two theories to be downplayed or skewed as well. Think of neutral science as the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, moving the controls so things fall where he wants them to.
Intelligent design and creationism are like neutral science, but with the curtains pulled to the side. These authors make no bones about standing at the controls. Their reason for producing a science curriculum is to convince children that the underpinnings of science aren’t really there. These books flat-out teach that evolution isn’t real and the Big Bang didn’t happen.
Books claiming that they teach neutral science, intelligent design, or creationism are not secular books. If you opt for these you are purchasing a religious textbook, not one grounded in science. It all boils down to this: What do you want your kids to learn, and where do you want them to learn it?
Timing Is Everything
Timing is essential — especially with elementary students. When your child is ready to read, she will read. When he’s ready to divide, he’ll divide. No amount of coaxing, prodding, wheedling, or screaming can force your child to do something that he’s not ready to do.
When timing is off
If you get the famous “huh?” reaction day after day when you attempt to present a particular skill, or you see your child’s stress level rise as she tries to apply knowledge that she’s supposed to have, you may need to back off a while. On the other hand, if you get boredom signals day after day, maybe you need to skip a few problems or speed up the process before your child falls asleep on you. If you realize later that you went too fast through a topic, you can always back up and reintroduce it later. (That’s one of the bonuses you get from owning your own schoolbooks!)
She needed to grow to the point that multiplication and division made sense. Now they do, and my daughter flew through the second-grade math book and halfway through a third-grade book before she slowed down. Did we make it out of third-grade math? We did, and she made it all the way through high school and college, thanks to second- and third-grade math class.
While you wait
If you’re waiting for a child to grow into a concept, first of all don’t fret. Even with a subject such as science or math, you can do plenty to fill your school hours while you watch your child mature a bit. Put on your creativity cap and use the time constructively, and you find you’re building those skills at the same time you pretend to avoid them. Here are a few ideas:
Explore the world.
