At popular request, I am going to pull back the curtains and share with you all how we use our science programs.
Because I am not just the author of the programs here at Elemental Science, I am also a homeschooling mom who uses our curricula to teach science at home. {Oh my . . . that sounded a bit too much like the old Hair Club for Men commercial!}
Retro infomercials aside - Elemental Science really did begin with me writing a science program just to use with our daughter. You can read the story how thanks to a simple suggestion {and a whole lot of work} that one pencil-and-paper plan has become what you see here today.
How we use the Sassafras Science Series Adventures each week
When our oldest was in first grade, the Sassafras Science Series didn't exist - in fact, most of our programs didn't exist!
However, our youngest is 8 years behind. And he's a bit more . . . energetic and playful. This boy loves adventure!
So, hubs and I decided that the Sassafras Science series would a great fit for him. Plus, it gave me a chance to actually use this series in our homeschool.
What our weeks with the Lapbooking Guide should look like
Complete the mini-book for the corresponding topic.
Go over the vocabulary words and add them to the pocket.
On the second day of our week we:
Read the second part of the chapter we are on.
Complete the mini-book for the corresponding topic.
Add any information to the body systems booklet.
Do the week's demonstration.
It's that simple for us! If time allows, we will read another book about one of the topics or add in another activity from the activity guide, but we don't always get to those.
What our week actually looked like
The above is an ideal week - I thought I would share with you all an actual week, complete with my six year old's responses to give you a better picture!
Here's how the first day of our second week with volume 2 went:
My son listened to the first part of chapter 2 while I ran on the treadmill. I'm training for my first 5K and the audiobook has been a lifesaver!
After I was done, we opened his lapbook and chatted about the skeletal system. He wanted to add on the purpose page that the job of the skeletal system was "to keep us from being floppy." I wrote that down for him, he stapled the booklet together, and we glued it into his lapbook.
Then, we discussed the part where Larry "Snowflake" Maru had held the skull and shared a bit more about it. We laughed about how strange it would be to have a tooth with a picture etched on it. And I asked him, what he remembered about the skull.
After he had shared several facts, I asked him what he wanted in his lapbook. He said, "It protects the brain; it is hard," which I wrote down for him. And then we glued the skull mini-book into his lapbook - he didn't want to color it this time.
Finally, we read the definitions of the cranium, vertebral column, and skeleton before placing the cards in the vocabulary pocket we had already glued into his lapbook.
Time: 25 to 30 minutes, including read-aloud time
Here's how the second day of our second week with volume 2 went:
I read the second part of chapter 2 out loud while our son built with MagnaTiles. He does a lot better at listening when his hands are busy!
After I was done, we opened his lapbook and chatted about the skeletal system. He wanted to add on the facts page that the skeletal system had 206 bones, which I wrote for him, and we labeled the skull and backbone on the parts page.
Then, we laughed about how scared Snowflake and Raz were and he assured me that he was way braver than they were! I asked him if he could show me where his backbone was and if he could tell me a few facts about that part of his body.
After he had shared several facts, I asked him what he wanted in his lapbook. He said, "The backbone holds us up; it is made up of vertebrae," which I wrote down for him. And then we glued the backbone mini-book into his lapbook - again, he didn't want to color the picture on the front.
Finally, we did the week's demonstration - entitled "Support System." We were supposed to use mini marshmallows, but I didn't have any - I told you guys this experiment supply tip was for me! We used ripped up hot dog buns instead, but he got the idea!
Time: 30 to 35 minutes, including several laughing sessions over the idea of a hot dog bun being a person's spinal cord!
And that's what an actual week of our anatomy adventures looked like. I hope you enjoyed this peek into our homeschool! And here's a tour of our completed zoology lapbook...
What a week with the Activity Guide & Logbook looks like
Complete the record page for the corresponding topic.
Go over the vocabulary words from the activity guide.
On the second day of our week the plan was to:
Do the week’s demonstration explained in the activity guide.
Read from one of the suggested encyclopedias.
Add any information to the record or biome pages in the logbook.
On the third day of our week the plan was to:
Read the second part of the chapter we are on.
Complete the record page for the corresponding topic.
Add any information to the biome page in the logbook.
On the fourth day of our week the plan was to:
Do one of the additional activities from the activity guide.
Every other week we complete the quiz from the activity guide.
That's the plan for us!
At this point, I still do most of the writing but we are transitioning to having him write more on his own. You can see more about how we handle writing and science in the following videos:
As you can see, we didn't really use the plant information pages, notes pages, or project record pages. This is mostly because at this point our son doesn't write that much and I don't want to overwhelm him. We'll be adding these pages in the coming years!
Here is a quick video of how we use the activity guide and lapbook in our homeschool...
And here is a quick glimpse at how a reading lesson works in our house:
We love notebooking at Sassafras Science! And these ten posts on notebooking will help you understand the how's and why's of this super effective tool.
Stop what you are doing, drop what is in your hands, grab a book, and start reading! And don't forget to come celebrate DEAR Day with Sassafras Science.
In the eleventh season of the Tips for Homeschool Science Show, we are talking about writing and science. We're covering lapbooks, notebooks, and what to expect for writing! Click "Read More" to listen in.
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