Grade 1 - the 6-year-old

As you can see by the first chapter below, this book could easily be used with the 5-year-old (kindergarten age child) as it is a wordless chapter. There are many discussion topics in that first chapter. You could read other books to them on this subject and allow art projects, especially cutting and pasting for many of the chapters below. The following general ideas correlate to the scope and sequence below. They can learn about food chains. It is always fine and even important to continue to teach them the proper names for creatures: carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore. Teach them where animals live. We call this place a "habitat". Explore different habitats: ocean, land, pond, lakes and rivers, desert, forest, mountain, polar regions. Teach your child what happens if we, as humans, spoil that habitat. Animals can become extinct. Many animals are now endangered or threatened. They can learn these terms too. Have them make charts of animals in these different animal classifications by cutting and pasting pictures of different animals in their proper column. Young children are fascinated by the solar system. Teach them the nine planets. Read books, cut out pictures, visit a planetarium. This age child also can learn the continents, the major oceans and about the poles. They can begin to enjoy the different kinds of rocks and minerals and begin to identify igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and minerals. Study the core of the earth and begin teaching some information about volcanoes and earthquakes. Many USBORNE, Dorling Kindersley, and Eye Witness books have beautiful pictures and teach these concepts I just mentioned in a very visual way. You will also notice that many subjects are repeated year after year. Use the ideas in the books and match them your child’s interests and abilities.

Heath Science 1