Big History & Science...

The Boy and I have been working hard on planning out his first year of high school. First, he had decided that after a year of physics (for the most part anyhow), he really wanted a more integrated approach to science. Secondly, he also wants to attempt fulfilling the common state standards for high school graduation, so we chose to go with a year of world history.

We looked at books, online programs, and such, and finally settled upon the Big History Project.

According to the website, the Big History Project "examines our past, explains our present, and imagines our future." Additionally, "Big History teaches students to examine their intuition, looking at the authority, evidence, and logic of claims across disciplines and scales. Students learn to apply a thoughtful, consistent, and rigorous approach to engaging with new ideas and information and using evidence to construct effective arguments."

Since we love the idea of everything being interconnected, the whole idea has immense appeal.

We plan to add to it to make it a full and rich course for ninth grade. Possible science resources include:

The Joy of Science

And either Conceptual Integrated Science or The Sciences: An Integrated Approach

And if we need more for history, I plan to look at Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present

There are, of course, other books and resources I hope to add in -- some shorter titles on specific topics, some documentaries both scientific and historical. The Big History Project has hands-on projects, writing assignments, and more, as part of the teacher resources, so I will be culling through those along the way. I'm also looking at GEMS Guides, which would offer some really good hands-on approaches to expanding the science.

I'm not sure yet if The Girl will tag along, using some different supplements, or not. While in some ways, it is much easier to have both kids doing the same program/covering the same topics, I don't know that this one would be as much up her alley as it will be for The Boy!   She said no. See this post for more details!