Overall, these plans worked very well for us and we enjoyed learning about chemistry together. There are a lot of fun activities that are the sort of thing the kids remember long after the study is over, like the experiment we do together at the end of the year.
As I anticipated, The Elements is a little difficult for a third grader to read and narrate on her own. An older student, even just by one year, would be able to handle this book more easily. On the days pages from that book were assigned, we read them together and narrated them one or two paragraphs at a time during her lesson time with me. I often helped her with the activities from that book as well. Because we spent much of our "exploration time" going through what I had planned as independent lessons, we sometimes missed those. So for Second Son, I'm going to take the "exploration activities" from the weeks we read from The Elements and incorporate them into the independent lessons even though I anticipate they will not be done independently. That way, we won't miss that. There's plenty of time in the lesson plans to extend the study a few weeks.
The periodic table connecting tiles were colorful, well-made, and came with a little booklet of activities. I think we waited too long to get it out and intend to add it to the schedule every time we read about the periodic table in The Elements. Especially if the teacher is reading aloud, the student can be connecting the tiles as he or she listens.
After we finish The Elements and before we start How to Think Like a Scientist, I'm going to assign a biograpy of Marie Curie, because I like her and we own it: Marie Curie's Search for Radium by Beverly Birch and Christian Birmingham. This is one most third graders would be able to read independently. (It's one of a number by the same author that we have enjoyed.)
Second Daughter didn't seem to care for the activities and ideas in Super Science Concoctions. As we went through the year, I felt like we had a good number of activities planned, so we often just looked through the pages together without doing the activities. I still like this book and will use it with Second Son, but I may consider it more of a supplement, a source for more information and more activities if he is especially excited or interested.
So, to sum up:
- Be prepared to read The Elements together.
- Move the exploration activities for the weeks we are reading The Elements to the independent plans so we have extra time scheduled for them.
- Add the periodic table connecting tiles to the following chapters / assignments for The Elements:
- Ch 2 pp. 12-15 (week 10)
- Ch 4 pp. 39-40 (week 14)
- Ch 5, each day (weeks 15 and 16)
- Ch 6, each day (weeks 16 and 17)
- Ch 7, each day (weeks 18 and 19)
- Ch 8, each day (weeks 19 and 20)
- Add Marie Curie's Search for Radium between The Elements and How to Think Like a Scientist (week 20 or 21)
- Use Super Science Concoctions more as a supplement to avoid overwhelming the student.
It's hard to believe next summer I'll be preparing for the last round of third grade chemistry, but these children keep growing up.
