Laurel Page
- Feb 25, 2022
- 3 min read

First Grade Science-RC Family

If you're familiar with the Robinson Curriculum (RC) you'll know Dr. Robinson doesn't recommend actual factual science until after Calculus. The curriculum has excellent science textbooks provided as well as Bonus Materials that could be used starting in grade 5. But what if you live in a state, like me, that requires Science (and Social Studies actually-separate post) starting in kindergarten? I'll share my strategy and materials and honestly, science is my sons favorite subject we do all day so I'm glad we didn't skip it.

When to Teach Science: We always do our 3 R's (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic) first as they are the priority. Then we are free to move onto Science. I'll link all our resources at the end of the post if you want to check them out. If we don't make it to Science that day, no big deal. This is a zero stress subject for us at this age. I teach (read from the book, play a video, give handouts, take outside to observe/collect) a topic for a week. Monday through Thursday and Friday is a review day or student teacher day where my student reviews his work for me or his dad and acts as if he's the teacher and we're the students. I liken it to the Overnight Student concept. (I occasionally implement this concept for other subjects as well.)

What to Teach: I honestly just used a book I already had at home and let the book be the guide but I recommend it or something similar as it worked so well for us. There are a series of books by Julia Rothman called "Something" Anatomy. I had Nature Anatomy and I found a companion book called Nature Anatomy Activities for Kids by Kristine Brown. We worked our way through them together.

How to Teach: This is my favorite part. Each Saturday or Sunday I have a planning session for the next week and look to the next topic and activities outlined. If I liked what the activities were I'd plan (in my custom lesson planner: see link at the end of the post) for that but a lot of times I didn't have the materials or energy to do the activities. In this case I grabbed (mostly free) resources off Teachers Pay Teachers that would work as an activity or a page from our Dover coloring books that was complimentary. These pages can be stapled right into his notebook over the notes I have him take. I'll show examples of things we've done. I also have a few reference books I like to look into to see if they have additional pictures or information. Last, I try to find a YouTube video that's not too long. We've really enjoyed SciShow Kids and others. I've shared a sample week with you here.

How to Grade: I give five points a day for completion of work or participation. There are no tests. We are enjoying ourselves and building some skills like drawing, note-taking, listening, observing, experimenting and the like.

How to Progress: The beauty of RC is the freedom to choose what is quality and right for our family. I personally bought the next three Julie Rothman books and the companion notebooks. My 10 year old was so interested in our Science lessons he's asked to be included in this next book and of course we're going to do that.

There are also RC materials that could be used for lessons (but I think more suited for 5th grade and up) and I will cover one that we have used for my fifth grader in another post. I find the lack of a formal early Science curriculum totally freeing! It's like a breath of fresh air to open a book with my kids and see where the research takes us and not feel any pressure at this age. I love focusing on what we find interesting or what we can easily experiment with in real life and not be tied to a workbook or something that feels like a waste of time.

Be free! Be RC!