Science in the
Home School
The following article is from the Office of Educational Research and
Improvement which is part of the Department of Education.
THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT ACCESS ERIC
1-800-LET-ERIC
If your child is among the 700,000 to 1,150,000 currently
being schooled at home in the United States (Ray, 1996), you may have
questions about the science he or she should be learning. Though children
schooled at home perform quite well on achievement tests and are often
placed at higher grade levels than their peers in school, (Rudner, 1999),
decisions have to be made about the specific science skills and content to
be learned. Parents who are looking to the future and are emphasizing
math, science, and reading proficiency (Rieseberg, 1995) will want to
align their home school programs with professional, state, and national
standards.
The "National Science Education Standards" (National Research Council,
1996) present an outline of what students need to know, understand, and be
able to do at different grade levels to be considered scientifically
literate. The "Standards" are having a strong influence on state
curriculum frameworks and proficiency tests, so aligning science learning
in the home school with the national standards will provide students with
the preparation they need to enter high school or college with science
backgrounds comparable to their peers who attended public schools. Another
good guide, the "Benchmarks for Science Literacy" (American Association
for the Advancement of Science, 1993), provides specific goals for
learning in science, mathematics, and technology by the end of grades 2,
5, 8, and 12. Schools around the country have used the Benchmarks to
fashion their science curricula around topic areas that where first
presented in "Science for all Americans" (1989).
Other good sources of curriculum ideas are the individual state science
curriculum frameworks. These frameworks suggest what concepts and skills
should be developed by school science programs, and they define the
topics, skills, and concepts covered on state proficiency examinations.
For an example see "The Science Activities Manual: K-8," developed to
support adoption of the Tennessee Science Curriculum Framework: K-8 (See
online at http://www.utm.edu/departments/ed/cece/SAMK8.shtml). Also, many
county and local school districts have developed K-12 science curriculum
guides for parents schooling their children at home.
Most homeschoolers use commercially developed science teaching
materials. These materials are often available directly from the
publishers and provide all of the necessary materials to study particular
concepts on specific topics. Since they are self-contained units, they are
fairly easy to use. The lessons usually include hands-on activities using
materials that are easily found around the home. These materials may not,
however, be well aligned with the national or state standards for science
education.
Other publishers such as TOPS Learning Systems (See online at http://www.topscience.org.)
provide science curricula on specific topics, such as magnets or light,
that can be easily investigated by students. Each lesson includes hands-on
activities which put the student in direct contact with the phenomena
being studied.
A good source of information about simple activities and tips for doing
science with children is "Helping your child learn science," produced by
the U.S. Department of Education and available online at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Science/.
Other good sources of science activities and concepts include the many
books written by Vicki Cobb and Janice Van Cleave. Each book provides
ideas, activities, and experiments which can be performed at home and if
desired, developed into larger, more comprehensive lessons. Other good
activity sourcebooks include "Explorabook: A Kid's Science Museum in a
Book; Exploratorium Snackbook;" and the "NatureScope Activity Books" (by
the National Wildlife Federation). Finally, there are many lessons and
activities online, many of which have been identified in another ERIC
Digest, "Using the Internet to Enrich Science Teaching and Learning,"
available from ERIC/CSMEE [(800) 276-0462] or online at http://www.ericse.org/digests.html.
Teaching science at home requires the availability of several quality
reference materials. Williams (1995) suggested that reference materials
found in the home library include a set of encyclopedias either in book
form or on CD- ROM, a current atlas and globe, an almanac, a science
timeline such as "Timetables of Science," and several reference textbooks
on the science topics being studied.
General reference books can include materials such as "ZooBooks" (which
study different families of wild animals with each issue), regular
education science textbooks, "Ranger Rick," "Your Big Backyard,"
"Time-Life" books, "I Wonder Why" books, "Read About" books, "Just Ask"
books, "Golden" books, "National A Society" books, "Peterson Guides, Learn
to Read/Read to Learn Science" Series, and "Golden Guides." Other
suggestions about what to have available in the home are provided in
another ERIC Digest, "Helping Your Child with Science," available from
ERIC/CSMEE [(800) 276-0462] or online at http://www.ericse.org/digests.html.
Other useful reference sources include magazines such as "Discover,"
"Scientific American," "Science Weekly," and "Popular Science." Many
television programs also investigate scientific concepts and often suggest
or provide activities for viewers to do at home. Often, they also
demonstrate many phenomena that are not easily studied at home or school.
Popular programs include "NOVA;" "Bill Nye, the Science Guy;" "Scientific
American Frontiers;" "Beakman's World;" "Newton's Apple" and many National
Geographic Specials. For families with access to cable TV, the Learning
Channel and the Discovery Channel are also good supplements to science
study.
Program guides are available for much of the daytime programming on
public television stations. These guides present an entire school year's
program calendar and often provide dates and times for block feeds of
entire science series. Several instructional programs have instructor
information available, including discussion items, questions, activities,
supplemental readings, and evaluation materials.
The local library, of course, is one of the best places for
homeschoolers to find reference materials. Public libraries provide a
wealth of science reference information, and many libraries supply free
access to the Internet. The library is a valuable source of activities and
materials which can complement the homeschooling curriculum. Libraries
often provide story hours; career and college information; magazines,
journals, and activity books; access to curriculum guides; speakers;
displays; globes, charts, and maps; volunteer programs; interlibrary loan
materials; and computer hardware and software.
Also available at many libraries is access to the ERIC database.
Contained within the database are thousands of citations and documents
related to lessons and activities on science topics ranging from preschool
to post-college. The ERIC database can also be accessed online through the
World Wide Web at http://www.accesseric.org/searchdb/searchdb.html.
Parents with questions about science activities or curricula can obtain
help in searching the database by contacting the AskERIC website at:
http://ericir.sunsite.syr.edu/. ERIC also has a webpage with pointers to
science lessons at: http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Science/index.html.
More information and links to science resources can be found at http://www.ericse.org.
Other sources of local science information and activities include
aquariums, arboretums, natural history museums, regional science centers,
local parks, nearby streams and lakes, state and federal parks and
forests, and state historical society centers. Sometimes local businesses
and factories conduct tours of their plants which can provide a wealth of
first hand knowledge about science and technology.
It would seem particularly important for those schooling their children
in the home to provide a personal computer equipped with a CD drive and
Internet access. There are many commercially available CD-ROM discs
containing science activities and computer simulations. Some computer
simulations allow students to perform experimental methods and practice
their science process skills. Access to the Internet allows students to
research hundreds of topics and find additional activities to perform and
investigate. Selected sites are listed below, and links to many more can
be found online at http://www.ericse.org. Sites are also available where
students can pose questions to working scientists who personally answer
the questions. Although not the complete answer to homeschooling in
science, Internet access can greatly increase the amount of science
information available to students.
Another homeschooling strategy that is growing in popularity is
distance learning over the Internet. Each student becomes affiliated with
a larger group that includes a facilitator who guides the students through
lessons. With this arrangement, students are able to ask questions which
are answered immediately by the facilitator. This method is also popular
because the parent is no longer the only adult responsible for the
children's learning and course completion (Natale, 1995). As use of the
Internet for distant learning becomes more widespread, additional distance
learning options will surely develop.
Another resource available to children schooled at home in most states
is the local public school. Students can attend selected classes during
the day or use the school library for reference materials. If a homeschool
facilitator feels unable to adequately cover a particular curriculum
subject, he or she may elect to have the student attend the local public
school for the relevant course.
ACCESS ERIC-Information on the ERIC system and brochures on
homeschooling in general. http://www.accesseric.org/resources/parent/parent.html
 ERIC Clearinghouse for Science,
Mathematics, and Environmental Education http://www.ericse.org
The Eisenhower National Clearing-house
for Mathematics and Science Education http://www.enc.org/
Exploratorium Home Page http://isaac.exploratorium.edu
Science Friday Kids Connection http://www.npr.org/programs/sfkids/
Math and Science Gateway http://www.tc.cornell.edu/Edu/MathSciGateway/
Robert Krampf's Science Education
Company-Activities and links. http://members.aol.com/krampf/links.html
The MAD Scientist Network http://www.madsci.org/
The Science Spiders http://www.sciencespiders.com/TheScienceSpiders/scinet.htm
REFERENCES
American Association for the
Advancement of Science. (1989). "Science for all Americans." Washington,
DC: Author. (See description online at http://project2061.aaas.org/tools/sfaa/index.html.)
American Association for the
Advancement of Science. (1993). "Benchmarks for science literacy." New
York: Oxford University Press. (Available online at
http://project2061.aaas.org/tools/benchol/bolframe.html.)
Natale, Jo Anna (1995). Home, but not
alone. "American School Board Journal," 182(7) 34-36. [EJ 506 542]
National Research Council. (1996).
"National science education standards." Washington, DC: National Academy
Press. (Available online at: http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/overview.html)
Ray, B.D. (1996). Home education
research fact sheet IIb (available online from the National Home Education
Research Institute at: http://www.nheri.org)
Rieseberg, R.L. (1995). Home learning,
technology, and tomorrow's workplace. "TECHNOS," 4(1), 12-17 [EJ 499 868]
Rudner, L. M. (1999). Scholastic
Achievement and Demographic Characteristics of Home School Students in
1998. "Education Policy Analysis Archives," 7(8). Available online at
http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/v7n8/.
Williams, Jane A. (1995). How to stock
a home library inexpensively (3rd ed.). Placerville, CA: Bluestocking
Press. [ED 397 858]
This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. The
ideas and opinions expressed in this Digest do not necessarily reflect the
positions or policies of OERI, ED, or the Clearinghouse. This Digest is in
the public domain and may be freely reproduced.
Title: Science in the Home School. ERIC Digest.
Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in
Full Text (073);
Target Audience: Parents, Practitioners, Teachers
Available From: ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and
Environmental Education, 1929 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1080.
Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Home Schooling,
Instructional Materials, Parents as Teachers, Reference Materials,
Resource Materials, Science Activities, Science Curriculum, Science
Education, Science Instruction, Scientific Concepts, Teaching Methods,
World Wide Web
Identifiers: ERIC Digests, National Science Education Standards
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