Waiting for our upcoming “single” science titles for K-3? Those entitled, “Look Up and All Around”, “Grrr, Wiggle, Chirp, Splash!” and others?
I do expect them to take awhile to officially publish even though they are essentially complete already. I just have other priorities to work on (personal and business) so I’ll let you in on some easy tips for how YOU can get things reasonably close to what those thinner books would be like.
Let’s get started!
Here are two (2) ways you can teach science with the “Peppermint Stick” style:
For Teaching Kindergarten and Primary Levels –
Method #1
Teach one book per grade. (Kindergarten could be split easily into two (2) years of material for a very fun JK/SK!)
- Level A is designed for grade 1 (Canada)
- Level B for grade 2
- and Level C for grade 3.
- Note: If your children have not yet studied science topics beyond informal exploration of the outdoors or watching stuff on video AND are also in grades 4-6 for other subjects, you could begin with Level B or C and then add more in-depth project-based learning as interests arise from these foundational lessons. Example: If simple machines, soil types, weather elements, or the basics of electricity have not yet been studied, the suggestion is to begin with Level B and/or C because there really is a LOT covered in these books both in science concepts as well as skills for how to learn in science.
Method #2
Mix and match the units within all four e-books to end up with four (4) units each year which are then provided for a group of young children of multi-ages to learn together. Use the planning guide “Four Year Repeat Plan” (sometimes I ended up calling it “rotation plan” – it’s the same thing) to help you sort and assemble the pages from the four (4) e-books into 16 smaller units/binders.
This post is all about how to prepare to teach exciting units of science with Method #2!
The pages are comprehensive, fun, and complete enough on their own but many moms also have a few “extras” they like to add – stuff they find online elsewhere or come up with on their own. Our PSLC curriculum works well for those who don’t add to it and those who do – it is VERY FLEXIBLE! ♥
So here are the steps to split the four (4) big e-books which you can purchase in our online shop into 16 smaller ones:
For Teaching Grades 4-8 (or 10):
I continue to use this method of organization for the next level(s) of multi-grade teaching for science units, up to grade 8 or 10 (depending on the student).
(For Grades 11-12, our teens independently work on a single topic of science through a separate curriculum, such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc..)
Then on the bookshelves, the binders are arranged together regardless of the level. For example, the simple machines binder for K-3 can be stored next to the binder for gears and forces of the junior/senior levels, and similar.
Personal experience: When I started to homeschool years ago, I organized my bookshelf of homeschool curriculum more-so according to grade level, such as grade 1 binders and books for all subject areas together on this shelf versus grade 4 binders and books for all subject areas together on another shelf. This became frustrating to work with, find what I looking for on those shelves, and be efficient with my time!
I have since aimed to organize the teaching resources according to SUBJECT and SUB-TOPIC instead. I highly recommend this tip to other homeschool families who have more than one level for students to work with!