Classical Science Curriculum for the Grammar Stage Student

by Paige Hudson at Elemental Blogging.

So far in this series, I’ve shared about the basics of classical education and the rigors of classical science. Today, I want to share a brief overview of what classical science curriculum can look like for the grammar stage student.

What is a grammar stage student?

A grammar stage student can mean different things to different people. So let me clear up the confusion by saying that I mean the years when your students are learning the foundational basics, such as phonics, spelling and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

These are the years when your students are full of wonder and when they wants to know everything about everything. During the grammar stage years they are peppering you with questions that begin with, “Mom, what’s ______________”.

We like compare the grammar stage students to an empty bucket that is begging to be filled. They have a natural curiosity combined a high capacity for retaining information.

So, when teaching science you will be playing to these strengths while building their knowledge base of scientific facts. You can also use science to work on their basic skills of writing and reading at this stage.

What are the goals for teaching science to a grammar stage student?

There are two goals for classical science education during the grammar stage years:

To create an interest in the students for learning science.
To fill the students’ mind with interesting, but basic scientific information.

What should classical science curriculum include?

In a classical science curriculum, the above goals can be fulfilled through the following three basic components and two optional ones. The basic components are:

Scientific Demonstrations — The purpose of this doing scientific demonstrations at this level is twofold. The first reason is to work on the students’ observation skills and the second is to increase their scientific knowledge. Although it is not considered a traditional tool in classical science curriculum, you can also use nature study to fulfill the purpose of the scientific demonstrations.
Science-Oriented Books — Typically the classical educator turns to science encyclopedias for sharing pertinent information with their students. There are many children’s encyclopedia publishers, such as Usborne, Kingfisher and DK, that present scientific information in an interesting way on the level of a grammar stage student. I would also like to suggest that you can use living books, such as the Sassafras Science or Let’s Read and Find Out series for this component. As your student begins to be able to read more complicated stories on their own, add in one or two books on scientists per year. These will help your student to engage with the face of science which will spark their desire to learn more.
Notebooking — Narration and notebooking are hallmarks of a classical education. They work in partnership to become an extremely effective tool that will teach your students how to assimilate and release information. The purpose of this component in science is for you to verify that they have placed at least one new piece of information into their bucket.

The optional components are:

Multi-week Projects — Multi-week projects are a great way for the students to engage with the material they are learning over a longer period of time. These projects, which are done over several weeks, need to relate to what you are studying and reinforce what the students need to know.
Memorization — For some memory work is optional, for some it is not. It can include poems, lists of facts and/or vocabulary. Just remember that your grammar stage student is an empty bucket which is begging to be filled. Memory work is one of those tools that you can use to fill their knowledge banks with information that they will be able to draw on later.

When you plan out your year, make sure that your scientific demonstrations, science-oriented books, narrations, multi-week projects, and memory work all tie together.

In other words, if you create a model of the spine, you should read to the students about the skeletal system. They write about what they have learned about the skeletal system and work on memorizing what the skeletal system is. Then, they can add a portion of the skeletal system to a representation of the human body.

When you tie the 5 areas together, they reinforce one another and create a stronger peg of knowledge in the mind of the grammar stage student.

Resources for creating a classical science curriculum

I highly recommend the following books to help you formulate a plan for your classical science curriculum:

The Well-trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer — I believe that this book should be required reading for all classical educators! It will give you a fuller picture of classical education as well as the learning stages that your students will go through.
Success in Science: A Manual for Excellence in Science Education by Bradley and Paige Hudson — Brad and I have written this book to be a starting point for those desiring to teach science. It lays out a clear road map for teaching this subject in your homeschool. While the book is not aimed specifically at classical educators there are several sections that will help you to gain a clearer picture of what classical science can look like.

If you don’t want to design your own classical science curriculum, check out the programs of Elemental Science. We have created a full line of grammar stage curricula that makes classical science easy for homeschoolers!

A quick word about kindergarten

If you decide to do science before the grammar stage years, it should be very hands on and parent directed. You can read my thoughts on preschool science to get an idea of what it can look like. However, let me be clear in saying that kindergarten science should only be done if your student enjoys it.

If you have any questions about classical science, please feel free to leave them in the comments and I answer them as soon as I am able. Next month, I’ll be sharing more specifics for the logic stage. If you don’t want to miss that article, be sure to subscribe here.