science goals (age 8)

Today I am working on curriculum while Boo is at her grandma's house.  I have my bed piled with books, papers, maps, games, & such.  One pile for each subject.  Here is the pile for science.

One of the hardest parts of home schooling for me is not getting enough done because there is so much to do.  Setting goals helps me to settle down and focus on what we are doing now not what is next or what we might be doing instead.  After reviewing our work & books I have 4 goals for science:

1. Finish our Science text book.  

Topics we will cover finishing our text book are: The Stars (ending the solar system), Physical Science (states of matter), Energy, and Light.  Sounds like a trip to the Planetarium & the Children's Museum.  Both have interactive activities relating to our studies.   

2. Improve the overall quality of entries in the science notebook. 

To do this we need to work on penmanship, note taking, and slow down a bit so Boo can begin to feel free to write longer.

3. Increase the amount of time/depth we spend on science topics.  This is probably the easiest one to accomplish.  Hearing your child ask her father, "Did you know that Turkey Vultures are zygodactyl?" tells me she is ready to push into the next level of understanding & terminology.

4. Create a new science (~6 month) curriculum with Boo.  Looking over the materials we have we should be finished with current text within 2 weeks.  I feel like Boo is old enough & we have covered all topics up to 3 grade levels above the State Guidelines, we have the freedom to do some serious self directed science studies.  March-July in Utah offers a world of possibilities for hands-on experiences & exploration!  I will publish it when we get it done.