Yesterday, I pulled out an old Abeka Kindergarten Science book that I used with Jordan, (who is in the 10th grade now!), long, long ago. I haven't done any formal Science curriculum with Jessie up until this point, we've just read some books from the library that would be about topics that fit into the science category. That is in addition to the trillion books we own. I'm planning to simplify it for her a bit and not do all of the activities that are in the teachers book but she is ready for this now.
The first topic in the book is about Our Senses. Before yesterday, when we've discussed it, Jessie couldn't consistently tell me which part of her body helped her to see, smell, taste, etc. We have to get pretty silly and make it fun, but today she can tell you that her eyes help her see, her nose is what is used to smell, and her tongue is what you use to taste. I would cover her eyes to help her "see" that it is her eyes that help her see. We smelled minced garlic, the kind refrigerated in a jar....gross! It was very strong smelling. We gave a sniff to a couple of other food items that had different smells and talked about smelling flowers, etc. The funniest thing was when I put a couple drops of lime juice on her tongue! I think she now not only realizes that her tongue is what she tastes with, but the distinct difference between sweet and sour. After the lime juice, she tasted/ate some mini marshmallows which she loves.
The book is broken into 6 sections. The book has a mixture of cartoon looking pictures/drawings and actual photographs. The topics covered in this science book are:
God's Plan for Me
The senses, brief overview about safety, what we need to grow, personal hygiene. This is exactly on Jessie's level. It is written in very simple language that I think an advanced typical kindergardener/1st grader can read on their own. Each topic is just one page, with large colorful pictures.
God's Plan for Weather
Very basic. Makes the connection between weather and the clothing you wear. Picture of a thermometer and simple understanding of it's use.
God's Plan for Seasons
We have talked a good bit about seasons and I'm waiting for the puzzle pieces to just fit together. Hoping this be a good addition to help with that. Again, it is simple, and that is good for us.
God's Plan for Seeds
We've read a little before about seeds, it has had no meaning for her. There are pictures of fruit with seeds in them (I've never thought about labeling that for her before!) Probably, we will study this section when we can plant some seeds and help her to understand.
God's Plan for Animals
Discusses animal homes, what they eat (basic, not too detailed). A couple pages about the most common (5) insects, spiders, zoo animals, farm animals, birds and reptiles.
God's Plan for the Seashore
Seashells, crabs, starfish, seahorse, sand dollars, sea gulls. She's read about these things b4. There are few enough topics that she could actually learn this material.
I've had this book forever, and it seems that she is in just the right place now to learn about these things. The book is colorful and interesting and after we read/did it yesterday, she wanted to do it again today. Yay! I am actually excited about this. We may decide to get some library books about each of these topics, but will probably wait until later after this book is complete. I very much like the simplicity of this book and want to keep it that way.
My purpose in giving this thorough description is in hopes that if you are looking for a source to cover this material, if you aren't able to get your hands on a copy to look at it, you would be able to evaluate it by reading this review. Hope this helps someone!
yes, thank you! it did help me! I know this is an old post but I enjoyed your review very much.
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