Super excited about my newest science finds!

You probably thought I would start with history didn't you??

My first disclaimer here is that in the past, I have typically done pretty much exactly what the WTM suggests for science.  It can be done, and done well, if you have the time.  Science curriculum isn't a necessity.  And it is covered clearly and easily in the book honestly.  I do not love textbooky science.  We prefer real books and hands-on learning.  Yet, seeing as how I have racked up so many library fines that I can not actually use the library, and they pretty much block the door when they see my noisy crew coming, I was looking for something a little different this year.  But I love the WTM and I wanted whatever I used to stay true to that scope and sequence, and also the process--narration, hands on work, real books.  Basically, I was looking for someone to plan out the WTM for me and give it to me in book format with worksheets and diagrams and narration pages and lab pages all ready to go.  And I found that!  Yes!  Exactly that!  Can you hear my excitement?!

This is what I found.  Elemental Science.  It's genius.  Ok, so it's just the WTM all ready planned out and packaged for you, but it's exactly what I was looking for.  Basically it follows the plan laid out in the WTM, but sets you up with your reading (using some awesome Usborne and Kingfisher spines), your narration pages, and your labs.  It is divided into the 4 year cycle of the WTM--biology, earth/space, chemistry, and physics.  And it has a grammar stage and a logic stage that can be coordinated or used separately. 

(For WTM newbies, the grammar stage is 1st-4th grade when kids are focused on amassing facts and data and information.  The logic stage is 5th-8th where the kids developmentally are ready to start questioning information, and when you start teaching them logic to deal with those questions.  And the rhetoric stage is 9th-12th, when they learn how to present their own ideas).

My plan is to coordinate my grammar stage and logic stage students, but have my logic stage students complete the work in their level that goes beyond what my little ones are doing.  We will be doing biology this year so even my preschooler will enjoy listening about animals and the body.  We will also take a trip to the zoo or local science museum weekly to obeserve in person the animals we are studying.  The curriculum provides blank observation forms for animal studies, as well as year long project ideas to take your studies even deeper.  We are all excited about getting started!

I tend to do science and history with my kids, although I have been known to let my olders take the lead in labs and projects as they are able.  For those of you who need science to be super independent, the logic stage is very suitable for independent work as needed, without much parental involvement.  The student is actually given a checklist they can easily follow to complete the work each day.

The curriculum is also set up in 2 different plans--a 5 day week and a 2 day week.  We do science twice a week, so I appreciate that option already being laid out for me with no tweaking.

So in summary, you can easily go to the WTM and put together your own science plans, or if you, like me, need a little break in one curriculum, but want to stay true to the WTM, then you might want to look into Elemental Science.