Skip to main content

Review: Building Blocks of Science 1

 For 1st grade we decided to continue with Building Blocks of Science. It come with so many things for 1st grade. The student textbook, workbook that corresponds with the textbook, test, lab kit, lab notebook and a teacher manual for the experiments. When we did the kindergarten level last year 1 felt some things were to much for such a young child like going over molecules and how many electrons an atom can share. However, the 1st grade level I think it does not have things that are to hard for students to understand. The textbook has 22 chapters that go over the 5 building blocks of science; chemistry, biology, physics, geology and astronomy. The book starts with each subcategory’s history. It is not a lot buy enough for a 1st grader to understand. 


The workbook has sections divided up just like the textbook. Some may choose to have the student fill in the blanks and answer the questions while they read the textbook. Others may use it as homework. What I have chosen to do is read the passages together and explain anything our daughter does not understand along the way. Then, we either save the workbook for the next day or towards the middle or end of our school day we go over the workbook. I let our daughter fill out as much as she can on her own. If she still has questions then I ask prompt questions in hopes she will remember the answers. After that, if she does not remember the answer then I have her look in the textbook for the answers. 


The lab notebook is done very well. Each experiment tells you what items you need and what to do. Then there are questions about the experiments and some have you draw what happens during the experiments. At the end of each experiment there is a little section to make up your own experiment. You will also get access for extra experiments to do. Our daughter absolutely loves doing science experiments. She has been particularly fond of the ones that bubble up or explode. Most of the items you need for the experiments you more than likely already have in your pantry or fridge. Even though Building Blocks of Science has a lot of experiments to begin with I do always buy some extra kits for us to do. 



We have not used any other science curriculum besides Building Blocks of Science but with such a great find we have not felt the need to change what works for us. We have already bought our 2nd grade curriculum from Timberdoodle and we will be sticking with Building Block of Science. I would recommend this curriculum because it is bright, colorful, engaging with the pictures being like a cartoon, easy for a 1st grader to understand (our daughter is 5) and it comes with so much. If you have not checked out Building Blocks of Science I would highly suggest it. If you would rather see other options then have a look at what Timberdoodle has to offer. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: All About Reading Level 4

 We have finished All About Reading Level 4 ! I am so glad that we started using this program from All About Learning Press. It is hands-down the best if you want to teach anyone to read. This last level goes over the rare teams, unexpected phonic sounds, and words that are borrowed from other languages. The break down of each lesson is amazing not only for the teacher but the student as well. The games incorporated make it really intriguing for the student. I absolutely love the little readers that come with each level. The lessons are perfectly spaced out so that it isn't too much at one time. I love the way the teacher's manual is done. As a dyslexic teaching another dyslexic I couldn't be happier with the teaching method. A lot of the things taught in all 4 levels of All About Reading I learned for the first time. I had never learned them in public school but am so glad I am able to teach them to my own kids. While most American adults read at a 7-8 grade level my seven...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Sensory Tissue Box

We have been trying out a lot of new baby items this year and here is another one we did not have for our first daughter. It is called  Sensory Tissue Box . What makes this toy so much fun? Let's be honest babies love to get into things. We have tried before to let her play with a regular box of tissues. Big mess. The tissues were everywhere and they have like 250 tissues in a box, she torn them up to so an even bigger mess. Our daughter even went as far as to rip the box itself up. This sensory tissue box though is made of very soft fabric so she can not tear it up, it has 15 tissues so less to keep track of and the tissue can not be easily torn up either. This is the biggest positive of this sensory box in my opinion. Another positive to having this sensory tissue box instead of a regular one is that the tissues are different colors and sizes as well as having different textures to them. There are 6 see-through ones, 6 see-through ones that have dots on them and 3 crinkly ones. T...
2 comments
Read more

Review: Djeco Pompom Pictures - All Aboard

Djeco Pompom  is a super cute and easy art craft for toddlers. They just put the pompoms on the corresponding dots. I like that it comes with all the pompoms you need. However, the glue stick they give you doesn’t make the pompoms sticks to the board. I tried regular glue and that didn’t work either so I ended up having to use a hot glue gun. So, I suggest having hot glue if you get this. There are small circles on the boards to let you know what color pompom goes where so it’s pretty self-explanatory. The kit does come with a small manual that it done with pictures so even your little one can look at the manual and understand which pompoms go on which board. 
Post a Comment
Read more