A few months ago, I shared with you what Mason had planned for upper elementary science, and now I would like to talk to you about what she had planned for first through third graders, (Form I students).

We see on the schedules that during those years they had four time periods devoted to science each week: natural history for 10 minutes three times per week, and one object lesson which also lasted 10 minutes.

When we look at the programmes we can see that their assigned science reading always fell into 3 categories: two separate nature lore books, and some resources that supported their special studies.

Usually we say that nature study, with the corresponding nature notebook, and special studies are afternoon activities, but Form I students’ schedule didn’t always reflect that idea. Things that became afternoon activities for older kids, such as drawing and handicraft, were scheduled during the morning hours in these years. This is the time for learning those skills, so deliberate instruction needs a place in the schedule, but they would be taken up as independent work later on.

That said, a mom with several children of varying ages will need to figure out how to best arrange her schedule. She might want to utilize the help of her older kids in the afternoon to teach a younger sibling something that she would otherwise teach them herself. For example, when my teen sister lived with us, she taught my little girls several handicrafts, such as how to knit and crochet. My morning schedule was full with teaching a houseful of big kids, so typically my little girls had their deliberate teaching of drawing, handicraft and natural history in the afternoon while everyone else was doing the same thing.

My point here is that you recognize that there are four areas to focus on in the area of science for your early elementary students, and while we will consider the time allotted on the schedule to help us create some boundaries, we can do each of these things at other times if we need to.

So I would coordinate the following:

1. natural history, 10 min – nature lore (book 1)
2. natural history, 10 min – nature lore (book 2)
3. natural history, 10 min – nature study book, or maybe reading something related to their special study
4. object lesson, 10 min – based on either one of the nature lore books or their special study topic *although Mason specifies that one benefit of homeschooling is that this can be done during an afternoon nature walk.

I think the nature study notebook might still need to be done in the afternoon, because I don’t see how their drawing could possibly be limited to one of these 10 minute periods.

Let me be clear that I’m doing a bit of guessing here. I’m taking two things that were linked: their schedule and their list of work to be done, and trying to piece it together.

Let’s talk about the books they used. They always read two different texts for nature history each term. I called the books nature lore (book 1) and nature lore (book 2) above, and I really do see a distinct difference between the type of books used. One of the books were typically about an ecological region, like By Pond and River by Arabella Buckley, and the other was about various animals, like birds or animal friendships or zoo animals.

It’s important to note, however, that they did not always finish these books in one term. Some of the Eyes and No Eyes books assigned were under 50 pages, and in those cases they would finish it in one term, but if a book was longer than that, then they would either omit a couple chapters or split it over two terms. Typically the nature lore (book 1) books averaged 40 pages per term and the nature lore (book 2) books averaged 55 pages.

How should this look in your home? Each week you would read aloud approximately 4 pages of nature lore (book 1), and then later in the week you would read aloud about 5 pages of nature lore (book 2). Four to five pages! Per week! Does anyone else look at that number and just pause? Hang in there, because next week I am going to discuss this idea further. After each reading you will allow your child to narrate, and in many cases you will want to utilize your outside time to look for some of the things you read about. For instance, if you do read By Pond and River, surely you will want to take a walk near a pond or a river to see what you can see.

Special studies for these little ones was predetermined. At times the programmes varied a bit, but typically they stuck to the following rotation:

• Fall: wild fruits, birds and other animal
• Winter: twigs of trees, birds and other animal
• Spring: wildflowers, birds and other animal

Again, you might have to make a different decision for your family. If everyone else is studying reptiles, likely your second grader will not want to be left out. But do note that these topics are what I would think of as “low hanging fruit”. They are basic things that everyone can find, while a lizard can be elusive.

What did I not mention? Chemistry, Physics, Experiments in Botany, etc. Science as we call it today is not introduced into the curriculum until your student reaches 4th grade, Form II. But don’t be discouraged, or feel like you are holding them back. This time of learning the habit of observation and recording, learning to find joy in the laws and order of nature, and learning the art of asking questions is vital preparation to their study of science later on. Mason said it plainly when she stated, “out-of-door nature study lays the foundation for science.” (Mason. A P.N.E.U. Manifesto.) Without this foundation, science becomes just a mater of mastering the subject, through memorization, but not through understanding.

Related:
Elementary Science – Form II (grades 4-6)
Nature Study and Science Lingo
Opening Their Eyes

I think many Charlotte Mason homeschoolers have been under the false assumption that Elementary Science means reading naturalists’ books in the morning and taking a nature walk in the afternoon. I won’t disagree that this is preferable to breaking out a textbook for your 5th grader, as that is bound to kill any interest they have in science before they ever have a real chance. However, if we want to do the thing right, we have to dive in just a little deeper.

Let’s start by looking at what Charlotte Mason had planned. We see that the PUS schedule specified that Form II students (4th-6th graders,) were scheduled for Natural History two times a week and Nature Lore once a week.

That does not clear things up for us, however. We must look at the programmes to see what was specifically required when we see the blanket term “natural history” on the schedule.

By looking at a Form II programme we can see that these students were assigned three types of sciences:

• general science (The Sciences* by E.S. Holden, including the note “Students should make experiments where possible,”)
• nature lore (Life and Her Children by Arabella Buckley)
• special studies (various books.)

From this, I think we can confidently schedule our Form II students with the following books and activities:

• one day a week (30 min) for reading related to an introductory science topic such as physics, chemistry or earth science, including an activity or experiment.
• one day a week (20 min) of nature lore (see my Nature Lore page for ideas.)
• one day a week (20 min) for reading toward a special study topic (see my Natural History/Special Studies Rotation page for ideas.)

*If you take a look at what was included in The Sciences by E.S. Holden, you might be surprised. It introduces students to chemistry, physics, and several fields of earth science, including astronomy, meteorology (weather,) and physiography (geology.) I don’t actually recommend you use it, however, for a couple of reasons, but I’ll save that explanation for another day since I’m trying hard not to go down a rabbit trail right now.

Then, what do I think you should use? Mason says we should use “the best thing going”, and as we are living in a scientific culture, we have a lot to choose from! The main thing is that we must find things that are indeed “living”, despite being scientific, and things that are truly introductory in nature. Here are some examples:

What Is the World Made Of? All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
What Makes a Magnet? by Franklyn M. Branley
Light Is All Around Us by Wendy Pfeffer
Investigating Heat by Sally M. Walker
The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin D. Wiker
What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? by Robert E. Wells
Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather by Eric Sloane
Climate Maps by Ian F. Mahaney
How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty
Rocks, Rivers and the Changing Earth by Herman and Nina Schneider
Brooklyn Bridge by Lynn Curlee
Mary Anning and The Sea Dragon by Jeannine Atkins
Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring The Earth To Life by Molly Bang
There are many Let’s Read and Find Out Science books that are suitable for early readers. Many include a short experiment that students can do.

Although I mentioned that The Sciences covers several different topics, when pages were assigned for a term, they covered one particular subject. With that in mind, I think we are safe to follow Mason’s advice by:

1. always doing botany and biology by way of special studies, nature lore books, taking nature walks and spending ample time outside; and
2. by taking other subjects “term by term”.

You will still want to spend as much time as you can outside, taking nature walks and generally exploring the world God has made, but I hope this clears away the misconception that nature walks are all there is to science when your kids are in elementary school.