BFSU Reviews

Wonderful Guides
By Doug Peltz, Academic Director, LaPort Schools

Dr. Nebel's series of books are wonderful guides we recommend to any parent who wants to take a more active role in her child's science education. They are the only commercially available science program we know of that is largely consistent with how we teach at LePort. They provide a wonderful treasure of information on how to integrate a scientific look at the world into everyday experiences, from preschool through the upper grades. In fact, by reading these books, you yourself might come away with a better understanding of science, a newfound joy in discovery, and a feeling of being more at home in the world.

Enjoy!

Very solid book for teaching science
By Sarahmarie

I bought this book based on a review I read from another homeschooling mom, and I was not disappointed. The author lays out not just science facts and experiments, but how to teach children the habits/skills of inquiry. I will be using this book to help me teach science to my first grader.

Best elementary science curriculum I have found
By April P. Duritza
   
Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding is a newly released collection of 41 thorough, brilliantly organized, and fascinating lesson plans, covering scientific ideas appropriate for grades K-2. It is suitable for classrooms, learning co-ops, homeschooling, and more. I am using it as a tool in homeschooling my 7 year old twin daughters.

I think this book is best described to homeschoolers as a living book about how to teach science. Dr. Nebel (who has a long career in teaching college level environmental science) is clearly passionate about his subject - science is his life's work. It seems that the goal of this curriculum is not just to have the child read a book and pass a test, but to encourage people to become scientists - thinkers who actually use scientific knowledge in their own lives.

Dr. Nebel's approach is systematic, yet flexible.

He compares science to math - Just as you would generally introduce addition before calculus, BFSU introduces foundational ideas first. This allows the child (and the parent, at least in my case!) to develop a good appreciation for and understanding of the terminology involved, as well as encouraging them to relate to how the concept fits into the real world.

At the same time, there is flexibility built in to the lesson plans.

The 41 lessons are divided into 4 different threads:

Each thread is carefully developed in a logical manner, with every lesson building on the foundation laid by the ones that came before. Unlike many homeschool science curricula, however, with BFSU you do not concentrate on a single thread at a time, but rather you can interweave the threads as appropriate.

This way of organizing gives you flexibility within a framework. At any given time you can select a thread to work on based on student interests, weather or seasonal conditions, etc. At the same time, however, lesson notes alert you if there are any topics from other threads that should be completed before attempting the new lesson. This ensures that you have maximum flexibility to select your lessons, while also ensuring that you and your children will have the necessary background experience to fully understand and relate to each new lesson.

The book begins with two introductory chapters that explore in depth the educational approach that BFSU uses.

These chapters highlight the deficiencies of the "teach, test, forget" approach. They also explore the limitations of the purely "hands on" approach that provides many activities to perform, yet does not adequately convey how or why the concepts actually work. Instead, BFSU argues that it is better for long term understanding and retention if we provide context for what is being learned, if we build on what was learned previously, if we encourage reflection on what we do or do not know, (encouraging asking questions to fill in the gaps), and if we connect the learning to real life.

These chapters also explore how to find joy in learning, and how to encourage self-motivated learning, as well as how to use guided questioning and discussion as tools to assist children in constructing a firm understanding of the concepts introduced.

After that, the 41 lessons are presented. Each lesson has details about:

My children and I have thoroughly enjoyed the lessons we have undertaken thus far, and are looking forward to the lessons to come!

 

Bring a child to love the process of learning
By D. Keene -
   
This latest book is laid out in easy-to-follow specific lesson plans. It is a valuable tool for parents who are home-schooling or who just want to share the joy of learning with their child, and it's a valuable resource for teachers, as well.

Once a child experiences the excitement of learning something that interests them, there's no stopping their zest for learning more! Leading children to think for themselves and making that learning engaging and fun is a key component of Dr. Nebel's approach. Once that seed is planted and takes root, further growth is ensured!

This book is terrific for parents and educators alike.

Dr. Nebel also has an on-line email newsgroup so people who are using his books can network with him and each other to share experiences, ask questions and make suggestions.

 

Wish my teachers had used this curriculum!
 By M. Sota

I had the privilege of field-testing Dr. Nebel's manuscript with my two children. What a rewarding and eye-opening experience!

As a home-school parent, I always thought that science would be a challenge to teach but it wasn't until I began working through Dr. Nebel's lessons that I realized my own basic scientific understanding was seriously flawed and had significant gaps. Even with a college degree, I had a great deal to learn in the field of science before teaching it to someone else.

Fortunately, Dr. Nebel's lessons are like a start-from-scratch formula that lays down a solid scientific foundation and then builds on that through associations and interconnections. There wasn't a page in this information-packed compilation where I didn't learn something new, brilliant, and utterly amazing. From the very first chapter the pieces of the scientific puzzle began fitting together for me and the gaps starting filling in. By utilizing this comprehensive groundwork I gained a newfound confidence enabling me to pass the information on to my children. Plus, I discovered that I really love science!

But for all of Dr Nebel's brilliance, wisdom, and originality, his most amazing gift is that he hasn't lost touch with the inquisitive nature of a small child. His examples and experiments captivate the young mind, seamlessly planting knowledge in the pupil's brain without struggle. And his lessons really work. People are more than impressed by my children's grasp of science... they're blown away by it!
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Far surpasses any other material I have come across
By Deanna Schmidt, Kansas City, MO

I have read through quite a bit of Dr. Nebel's material; this book as well as his other book, “Nebel's Elementary Education, Creating a Tapestry of Learning”, and have been thoroughly impressed with both. I have taught in the public school system for over five years, and the past couple of years have been teaching lower elementary level.  This material far surpasses any other material I have come across (and I frequently do a lot of digging and research for my lesson plans).  It has been very helpful for several different reasons.  The main one is that is just makes so much sense, the way he explains things. I wish this material had been used to teach me as a child growing up, because it would have made everything so much more clear to me.  Instead I'm gaining a clearer understanding now going through his material, as an educated adult. 

His approach to learning is very thorough yet practical.  You can use basic materials you would find in one's home on an ordinary basis, which makes the lessons far more real.  While his explanations are very thorough, it is done in a way so it is clear how it connects to the overall bigger picture, so it is easily remembered.

I really can't say enough about how appreciative I am for having his material. His other book (mentioned in the first sentence above) has been my Lesson Plan Bible for my classroom while teaching in elementary school. If I were to ever do home schooling, I would use it there too.

Thanks Dr. Nebel for all your work. I have recommended it to others and shared the material with others as well.

Sincerely,
Deanna. Kansas City, MO

 

Nebel Doesn't Underestimate Children,
By Lydia M. Netzer

Learning science in kindergarten is a privilege that most public school students do not enjoy. Teachers have enough to do teaching them to read and do math and stand in line and answer to bells and wait their turn to speak and print their names properly and wait for paste and line up their crayons in a row. Ironically, the kids probably get more science education in preschool when they do themed unit weeks like weather week or ocean week than they do in the early elementary grades.

That's the kind of science little kids get, when they do get it: topical stuff. Let's learn about fish. Let's learn about plants. We'll learn about fish this week and plants next week, but we're not going to learn about what connects fish to plants or how the sun is connected to both fish and plants, because little kids don't typically get trusted with that kind of information. They aren't asked to see the big picture, draw lines between their thematic units, understand science as a whole, as a system of interconnected disciplines. A privileged first-grader who's getting a bigger-than-average helping of science is going to know the names of the planets and how bees make honey and that their eyes allow them to see, but that's where it stops. I can't honestly say that I've ever seen a whole-world approach to teaching science to young children until I saw Dr. Nebel's books.

His first book was a how-to manual addressing all aspects of elementary education, not just science. As an elementary level homeschool curriculum, it doesn't provide a box of workbooks, but teaches a philosophy of teaching and learning. It's called "Nebel's Elementary Education: Creating a Tapestry of Learning." Here's a summary, from the web site:

***This single book (8 1/2 x 11, 450 pages) contains approaches and actual subject matter for delivering the entirety of a superior K-5 education. It describes not only WHAT to teach, but also HOW to teach it using hundreds of hands-on activities, and much more.

Most distinctive is the organization. Typical elementary curricula consist of an array of stand-alone units, which kids readily forget, confuse, and from which they never gain a full picture. In sharp contrast, Nebel lays out each subject (K-5) as a seamless continuum of lessons integrating different subjects along the way. Simultaneously, Nebel shows you how to guide your children along this pathway in a way that builds logically and systematically toward a broad, comprehensive, holistic understanding. The result is achievement of knowledge, skills, understanding, and problem-solving ability that will provide a solid foundation for all further learning.

The book is in total harmony with modern research concerning the most effective and efficient teaching techniques that bring children to become joyful, self-motivated learners. In short, this book may be considered a breakthrough in translating theory-what leads to the most effective and efficient learning-into a practical curriculum addressing all subjects.***

His new book focuses just on science, and is called Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-2. I can't think of a reason why five-year-olds cannot begin to learn and understand science in context, just like they can start learning history at this age, not that they get that in public school either. Homeschoolers have a special opportunity to start their children on the right path in science education, and Dr. Nebel can help.

See these and 21 additional 5-star reviews by going to BFSU at Amazon. www.amazon.com/Building-foundations-scientific-understanding
     
 
 
     
 
BFSU [Vol. I]
for K-2
$24.95
  
     
 
 
     
 
BFSU, Vol. II
for grades 3-5
$29.95
  
     
 
 
     
 
BFSU Vol. III
for grades 6-8
$34.95
  
 
 
 
 
     
 
NEE (All-inclusive text) for K-5
$29.95