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This Kindergarten Science Curriculum Is The Best For Hands On Activities
Once upon a time, I had two super active little boys only 14 months apart. They grew up to be extremely curious and loved to explore. These two little boys became kindergarteners, and the only way they enjoyed learning about science is by being involved in hands-on activities. I have been homeschooling since 2008, and the two boys you will see throughout this post are my own kids using this curriculum firsthand, back when they were just starting kindergarten. Let me tell you about the kindergarten science curriculum that ultimately saved us from boredom and short attention spans.
Anyone with active young learners knows that it can be a struggle to get them to sit still and listen. But the truth is, they shouldn’t have to. Learning can be exciting, and should be. As homeschoolers, we are igniting a fire of curiosity and a natural curiosity about the world that carries into every subject. We can enjoy learning and have fun while doing so. Unfortunately, there is a lot of curriculum out there that may not agree with that philosophy.
Luckily, BookShark agrees with us that education can be engaging and not limited to boring textbooks. We have had a wonderful opportunity recently to explore BookShark science. And we are thrilled to tell you that it is one of the best all in one curriculum options for a homeschool science curriculum we have seen.
Most of you know that we value hands-on activities here at Homeschool Mastery Academy. Hands-on experiences are a fantastic way to make a kindergarten science lesson “stick” if you will. Learning by doing has so many benefits. Long gone are the days of boring textbooks and memorizing facts for a test.
BookShark’s methodology is not at all like many all in one curriculum options. They believe in flexibility, family, and helping parents succeed when it comes to teaching our children.
Choosing A Kindergarten Science Curriculum
Picking a homeschool science curriculum for a kindergartener comes down to a few honest questions: how much hands-on work does it include, how much prep does it ask of you, and will it actually hold a five or six year old’s attention. Before we get into why BookShark earned a spot in our homeschool, it helps to walk through what kindergarten science actually covers and what to look for in any science courses you are considering, whether that ends up being BookShark or something else entirely.
What Kindergarten Science Covers
Kindergarten science lessons tend to stay close to what a child can observe and touch, rather than abstract theory. Most kindergarten science standards, including the Next Generation Science Standards, group the year around a handful of core topics.
- Plants and animals – basic life cycles, needs of living things, and simple comparisons between different plants and animals.
- The five senses – how kids use sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to explore and describe the world around them.
- Weather and seasons – observing daily weather, tracking patterns, and noticing how the seasons change over the school year.
- Pushes and pulls – an early introduction to forces and motion, usually through simple experiments with toys, ramps, and balls.
These topics map closely to the Next Generation Science Standards for kindergarten, which is part of why so many homeschool science curriculum options, including BookShark, are built around them. You do not have to follow a standards-aligned program to cover this material well, but it is a helpful checklist if you are building your own kindergarten science lesson plans from scratch.
What To Look For In A Kindergarten Science Curriculum
Not every homeschool science curriculum is built the same way, and at this age, a few features matter more than others.
- Hands-on versus workbook – kindergarteners learn science by doing, not by filling in worksheets. Look for a program built around experiments, observation, and play rather than one that leans on reading comprehension a five year old does not have yet.
- Whether supplies are included – a curriculum that requires you to hunt down experiment materials on your own adds a layer of prep that makes it easy to skip science lessons altogether on a busy week.
- Whether it works for multiple ages – if you are teaching more than one child, a curriculum that flexes across ages saves you from running two separate science classes.
- How much prep it asks of you – open-and-go instructor guides matter more than they sound like they would. The less time you spend prepping, the more likely science actually happens that week.
Why We Love BookShark And You Will Too
- Flexibility – BookShark is not a rigid curriculum that relies on textbooks. Instead, BookShark has created its curriculum with homeschool families in mind. The curriculum is open and go for the most part, making it easy to move from one day to the next. Missed a day? No problem, you can move on to the next day without any stress. There is no checking off boxes, keeping up with any timelines, or anything that takes away from actually learning with your child.
- All In One – BookShark comes complete with everything you need. Whether you are just purchasing one subject or an entire grade level, you get everything you need to complete the entire school year. Teacher’s guide, books, supply kits, and anything you might need to have a successful homeschool year is inside. It just doesn’t get any easier than that!
- Multiple Students (Perfect for homeschool families) – If you have multiple children close in age like I do, you will love the ability to combine ages. Because BookShark doesn’t use traditional grade levels, you can combine children that might not technically be in the same grade, but are on the same educational level. Teaching multiple students in combined classes is a time saver for mom, too, if you can do that in your homeschool.
- Homeschool Lifestyle – BookShark knows homeschoolers. I mean that they understand the lifestyle of a homeschooler, so they have created a 4-day-a-week homeschool schedule. Perfect for setting aside one day a week for co-op, sports, music lessons, or whatever fun activities you have planned.
BookShark Kindergarten Science Curriculum For Curious Kids
When we received our BookShark happy mail, my kids were ecstatic and ready to dive in headfirst. We had been doing some hands-on activities already for pre-k, and I knew this would be an excellent fit for them. Remember, they are incredibly active and super curious. So I knew that reading boring textbooks was never going to work for these two.
My kindergarten-aged kids are 14 months apart, and BookShark made it easy to combine the boys with the Level A Science Package. Even though the package recommends it is for children 5-7, we included my 4-year old. It was perfect for him since he is tracking right along with his older brother anyway. Which, in turn, made my job easier because I could teach them at the same time.
So far, every day with BookShark science is a wonderful experience. There is nothing better for our family than reading together, and BookShark shares that literature-based approach that I adore.
In addition to the literature-based approach, the Level A Science Package includes a kit with all the supplies you need to complete some engaging science projects. I should mention, I am not the “fun mom,” so the science experiment kit was the perfect way to help me look cool.
It is too easy to skip a science experiment when you don’t have the supplies in your house when you need them. I loved that we were easily able to have some fun with the experiments anytime we were ready.
My boys have learned so much from the BookShark kindergarten science curriculum (level A) so far. Each of the books included is packed full of exciting information. The boys enjoyed the handouts; also, they were age-appropriate and included hands-on activities they loved. The handouts, for example, included cut and paste activities to help reinforce lessons from the literature we read. What kinder aged kiddos don’t like to cut and glue? Even those small hands-on activities help keep the learning engaging for their ages.
Teaching With BookShark Science Curriculum Is A Breeze
Teacher
Afraid you can’t teach science? BookShark equips you to teach like a pro. With the open and go instructor’s guide, you will be amazed at how easy it is to teach this kindergarten level science curriculum. If you can read and follow directions, you can teach science to your child. They make it that easy.
If you are a digital gal, BookShark offers the digital version of your instructor’s guide online for you to access anywhere. This is a wonderful feature for families that travel or do some homeschooling on the go.
No prep. Say what?
Yep. No prep. That is an excellent perk, in my opinion. I know that with three kids, I don’t have time to spend my Sundays prepping for the homeschool week all day. It is refreshing to see that I can simply open the instructor’s guide and begin teaching on Monday morning.
Student
Your children will enjoy learning with hands-on activities more than they ever will with just a textbook. You can help them cultivate a love of education by experimenting, asking questions, and igniting their curiosity through picture books.
Everything that BookShark includes in their kindergarten level science curriculum is age-appropriate for early learners. BookShark knows that by placing the right resources in front of your child, you can spark excitement. The desire to learn and know more is precisely what we want to foster in our homeschoolers too.
With BookShark, you can learn right alongside your students.
What’s Included In The BookShark Kindergarten Science Curriculum (Level A)
Discover and Do Videos
When we used BookShark Science Level A, the Discover and Do component shipped as a DVD that demonstrated the suggested science experiments. Our kids wanted to watch it over and over, and a young man performing simple science experiments in a home kitchen was fascinating to them. It was an excellent way to help kids learn how to begin doing science experiments at home.
BookShark has since moved this component online. Discover & Do Science videos are now offered as an optional add-on to Science Package A rather than something that ships in the box, and they are streamed rather than delivered on a physical disc. If your family found value in watching along the way we did, it is worth adding the video option when you check out, since it is no longer included by default.
Literature
If you have ever created your own curriculum or lesson plans, you know the time it takes to find all of the right books. Scouring the internet for books that coincide with each lesson or topic can be exhausting. Another reason that you will love BookShark all in one subject package or any package from BookShark is that they carefully curate the books for you. You don’t have to worry if you got the right book. With BookShark, you eliminate all the stress of planning and choosing. You can rest assured your students learned from high-quality publications that align perfectly with what they will learn.
Instructor’s Guide
The Instructor’s Guide is a thorough guide to help you teach science with ease. You don’t have to be a certified teacher to teach like one. BookShark does an amazing job of laying out what you need to do each day to follow a 4-day-a-week program. Each day is effortless to follow, and there is little to no prep work for you to do each week. You will find yourselves reading quality books together, enjoying fun science experiments, watching the videos, or working on some engaging handouts to reinforce what you are learning. You can check out a sample of the Instructor’s Guides from BookShark here.
Science Supplies
One reason why so many of us aren’t doing exciting hands-on activities with our kids is a lack of the right supplies and preparation. I am guilty of this too. With BookShark’s science curriculum package, you get all of the supplies you need in one box for the entire year’s worth of projects. No searching for the right supplies or planning ahead for what you might need. It’s all in there. I love the convenience of that, don’t you?
Student Activity Sheets
The activity handouts are perfect for this 5-7-year-old age range. Your child will get to discover Biology, Botany, and Physics. The handouts include cutting and pasting, matching, and other age-appropriate activities to coincide with whatever they are learning. Your student will only work on a little bit each day, which helps with fine motor skills like cutting, drawing lines, and writing.
Exciting Topics
I don’t know about you, but I don’t recall learning about things like Biology, Botany, and Physics when I was 5-7 years old. I think it’s incredibly cool that our kids can be exposed to so much useful information early on. It’s healthy for them to find out the answers to questions about the world around them. They will get to hear about how weather works, plants grow, and tons more. The topics are right up a kindergartener’s alley, and I am sure your kids ask how a tornado happens, or a rainbow appears. Your children will find out all the answers to those pressing questions with the Level A Science Package.
Kindergarten Science Activities And Experiments To Try At Home
Whether or not you end up buying a curriculum, you can bring a lot of kindergarten science lessons to life with things you already have around the house. A few we come back to often:
- Plant a bean in a cup – a wet paper towel and a clear cup let kids watch a seed sprout and grow roots, a simple way to cover plants and animals hands-on.
- Five senses walk – head outside and have your child name one thing they can see, hear, smell, and touch. It is a quick, no-supply way to reinforce the five senses.
- Weather journal – a notebook and a crayon are all you need to track the weather and seasons over a month and start noticing patterns.
- Ramp races with toy cars – stack books to build a ramp and test how far different objects roll, an easy hands-on look at pushes and pulls.
If you want more ready-to-go science activities beyond kindergarten, our printable STEM activities post has 25 more ideas organized by age, and our human body unit study post is a great next step once your kindergartener is ready to go a little deeper into science lessons and science courses.
Thank you for allowing me to share such a fantastic product package with you. BookShark is a solid program worth using in your eclectic homeschool.
GO TAKE A LOOK AT BOOKSHARK HERE
What Kindergarten Science Curriculum Are You Using?
We would love to hear what is working in your homeschool. Drop a comment below and let us know what kindergarten science curriculum your family is using, or share a favorite science activity that has been a hit with your own kids.
