Science is Simple

Why, yes it can be!

With two little ones – a Kindergartner and a toddler, science needs to STAY simple.  Both of my girls are hands-on learners, so that makes science REALLY fun in our house!

Because my girls are young, and because I believe exploration and hands-on activities (especially science!) is best, Science Is Simple is a great book for us!

Written by Peggy Ashbrook and having won the Learning Magazine’s Teachers’ Choice Award, Science Is Simple divides its experiments into lessons.

What Kinds Of Lessons Will My Child Learn From This Book?

Of course, just like with any tools or curriculum, it really depends on how you present the material and their curiosity, but here are a few of the great “lessons” listed in the Table of Contents:

Magnets and Testing Hypotheses
Year-Round Gardening
What Do Seeds Need To Grow
Why Do Some Tree Leaves Change Color?
Stretch Your Senses on a Walk To A Nearby Park
Compost Critters
Spring-Flowering Bulbs…Are Planted In The Fall
Corn and an Introduction to the Globe
Winter Birds
What is Melting
What Can the Wind Do?

Why Is This Book Different From Other Science Textbooks?

Well, first off, it isn’t a textbook!  Second, it’s written for Preschoolers and Kindergartners (although the activities can definitely be altered for older kids if you have siblings involved).

Science is Simple contains over 250 Activities and each Lesson is divided into different sections that give you tips for presenting the material to your child.  And, if you struggle with what to say or the questions to ask, this book covers that too!  Also included in each lesson is a section on other activity ideas and book ideas beyond the experiments to help supplement what they just learned.

Would I Recommend This Book?

Definitely!  This is one of those resources that we’ll continue to use with all of our children.  Whether you are a home-educator or you teach in a classroom, it’s great!

Where Can I Get It?

You can find it on Amazon.com HERE.  Currently, it’s $13.57 (list price is $19.95).

PS – Want to see one of our experiments from the book?  Check out our mantis babies!

Schedule

Because my kids are so young, I’m taking a different approach to scheduling this year.  The last couple of years, I’ve tried the nice little planners but then failed miserably.  If things came up, and they always did, I’d feel awful for falling behind and then would try to race ahead.  It just wasn’t working.  Furthermore, a 4 year old’s attention span just isn’t very long most days!

With that said, we have a basic daily routine and basic yearly schedule for this school year.

For example, every day the following happens:

We wake up
Mommy showers
We eat
…………..

……………

Nap

………….

……………

Supper

Bed

The spaces between are where the baths happen… and the learning, playing, praying, cuddling, cooking, cleaning, errand-running, etc.

Right now, that’s what works for us.  It’s enough consistency for them and we still get things done.

As far as our yearly schedule goes, I’m simply adopting a new plan:  In our curriculum, we will tackle Math, Reading, and Writing first.  Once we go through those lessons, we will move on to Social Studies and Science.  Of course, she’ll still be doing ALL SUBJECTS as she writes letters to her daddy, reads books, counts her money, etc.  Life is this cool never-ending learning experience like that!

Curriculum

Lala – K4

Rora – Tot School

These activities

and…depending on her interest and pace, we MAY move on to this (which we loved for Lala):

Random fact #223 about me:  I love learning.

I think I could be a full-time college student for the rest of my life (we might have to creative with the timing and classrooms, though) and love it.

But, it doesn’t stop there.

I also love helping to instill the love of learning in others.

Ask my students.  My kids.  My husband.  Anyone who knows me…

However, with all of that said there was one part of the learning process that made my insides cringe.  The basics.  The very first building blocks.  The Pre K and Kindergarten age stuff.

See, for me, the other stuff was easy… it was building off of this great foundation of learning that had already been poured and meticulously cared for.  But, what do you do when there is no prior foundation?  –When that’s YOUR job?

I’ve thumbed through a LOT of different Pre-K and Kindergarten “tools” and “curriculum.”  Some, I found too dry and others required me to take constant trips to the library or required more purchases that I couldn’t afford with a baby and already-stretched income.  Not to mention, some of these curricula were $50-$200 just to take the plastic wrappers off!

In my head, I knew what I wanted.  I wanted something that would:

• not kill my budget.
• offer structure but also allow me the freedom to pick and choose what we did.
• combine several learning styles and strategies to keep my children entertained and excited about learning.
• offer creative and inexpensive/free ways to demonstrate the lessons.

Early Education at Home by M. Jean Soyke proved to be just the book I was looking for.  Unfortunately for me, Google doesn’t yet have a search engine just for curriculum for me to plug in all of my wants/needs into.  But fortunately for you, after a lot of searching, none of that matters!

Early Education at Home is a curriculum guide for parents of pre-schoolers and kindergartners (ages 3-5 ish).  In this wonderful book, M. Jean Soyke bypasses the typical “worksheet-style” curriculum and jumps into hands-on learning, which is perfect for this age range.  What’s more is that the author uses common everyday materials and objects to teach lessons and leaves plenty of flexibility!

As a parent, I love that that this book can be used for both Pre-K and Kindergarten and I love that it never failed to get my daughter (and I) excited and involved in the learning activities.  Unlike some curriculum, this one can be adapted to your lifestyle.

Are you trying to entertain more than just your Preschooler or Kindergartner? Great!  These activities can be modified for younger or older children if needed to keep hands busy!

Do you sometimes run out of ideas for creatively teaching lessons? No problem!  The author gives you many to choose from!

Are you unwilling to invest in expensive curriculum without knowing what’s inside or if your child will like it? ME TOO!  The beauty of this book is that it costs around 20-40 dollars, depending on where you buy it.  Not only is the book itself inexpensive (for 3 years worth of learning: ages 3-5), but it also doesn’t require expensive materials!

Does your schedule sometimes seem to disappear into a deep, dark black hole, leaving you feeling anxious and overwhelmed about “getting it all done?” If it makes you feel better, we no longer have schedules.  We have a general routine (wake up, breakfasts, ……whatever comes…., lunch, nap, ….something else here…supper, bedtime).  And that’s about all we can handle right now!  I’ve tried planning out weekly learning plans, but every time I try, it’s like I’m just tempting fate.  Each time, some sort of plague or SOMETHING attacks!  And then, for the rest of the week or month, I’m beating myself up for not keeping up or being able to cram.  BUT, with Early Education at Home, the lessons are SO versatile.  The author provides plenty of activities to choose from but is very clear that not all of them are needed.  In fact, some kids grasp onto some of the ideas so quickly that activities can be skipped for that lesson.

Bottom Line – Would I recommend this curriculum?

Yes!  I can’t wait to use it with my other kids (when it’s time, of course)!

Approximate Cost:

Somewhere between $20-$40, depending on who you choose as your store.

View a weekly sample lesson plan.

Word Play Cafe
Written and Illustrated by Michael Kline

Cost: $10.95

Recommended Age Range: 3rd grade +

Word Play Café is a book filled with activities such as “cool codes, pricless punzles® & phantastic phonetic phun”.  Kline, a self-proposed “word freak”, has created activities to teach kids all the neat things that they can do with words.    Over all, this book would be a great resource to have in a Writer’s Workshop in a classroom or used as enrichment activities for students about mid-third grade and higher; any younger and Kline’s humor would be wasted.

Positive Points
It was an interesting read from an adult’s point of view.
The activities looked fun for large and small numbers alike.
It is filled with interesting facts and fun plays on words
Great for enrichment activities for older elementary kids (older than 10)
Negative Nellies
The lessons, while interesting, would not be able not be able to stand alone
Younger kids (or less mature kids) would have a hard time with some of the activities and understanding the humor

Would we recommend it? Yes!  It’s a great resource.

Are you an educator?  Click HERE for a free version of this book.

I’m continuously searching for the “best” curriculum for our needs, which are ever-changing.  Unfortunately, my small town leaves a lot desired when it comes to curriculum availability.  And, because I’m an incredibly visual and hands-on person, it’s hard for me to commit to buying things that I can’t thumb through.

I was recently given the chance to take a sneak peak at the Epi Kardia curriculum.  It, along with a few others, had been bookmarked in my “check out later” file – so when the chance came along, I was giddy.  No lie.

Epi Kardia is a literature based Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling.  What does that mean?  Well, Epi Kardia uses the Bible to take your student through history.  But, wait.  If you think your student is just going to be memorizing passages, you are so wrong.  The folks at Epi Kardia have broken down a structured learning plan for each grade.  For example, if you choose the first set in the 1st Grade plan, you’re child will be learning about:  The Ancients, Middle Ages, Renaissance & Reformation.

With each topic, the Bible along with a variety of other christian and non-christian (but approved by Epi Kardia) books are used to help teach your child more about the subject he or she is supposed to be learning.  Because of it’s Charlotte Mason approach, Epi Kardia also includes a lot of copy-work and handwriting exercises.  Because it’s so impressive to see how they’ve really brought a myriad of important subjects (Bible, History/Reading, Science, English/Phonics, Arts) together in a wonderful education plan, I thought you should have a look for yourself.

Sample

Also, if you’re curious to know more, I urge you to check out their Scope and Sequence for first grade.

Epi Kardia has done a marvelous job of pulling everything together in an easy to understand format.  Their lesson plans are affordable, and very easy to use.

Quick Breakdown

Pros -

• Teaches Bible, History/Reading, Science, English/Phonics, Arts (some programs similar to this one do not teach science)
• Included is a book list, complete with ISBN numbers
• The plans leave plenty of time for “projects”
• Costs about the same as its competitors’ programs ($250 for printed, $200 for CD)
• Requires little planning as it’s all done for you!

Cons -

• It’s a Charlotte Mason approach, so if your child doesn’t learn well with this method, it may not be right for them.  (Although, if you’ve never tried it, I’d recommend it!)
• It didn’t have quite as many projects as I’d like – I’m VERY hands on and project-oriented, as is my oldest.  But, this is easily remedied, and extra project or two can be added to our schedule.  However, for those of you who aren’t insane about crafting and projects the way I am, they have the perfect amount.  Enough to teach a point without being overbearing for your schedule.
• You’re actually going to have to go to the library or amazon.com to get the books.  Everything you need is not included in these plans (meaning, you’ll have to buy or borrow books from their book-lists).

Would I use it?

Yes, yes I would.

**Sign up for their mailing list for 2 free poetry ebooks AND an incredible discount code (that will come in a second email).

Disclaimer:   As always, all opinions and thoughts on this material and product are mine and mine alone.  As a part of the review process, I did receive the product being reviewed in order to give my honest thoughts on it.  I was not (and will never be) paid for a review with a certain outcome.