Elemental Science Classic Series
The courses are designed with the classical trivium stages—grammar, logic, and rhetoric—in mind. The ESC series also leans somewhat toward the classical approach as described in The Well-Trained Mind (by Susan Wise Bauer) with its emphasis on written work, acquisition of facts, and testing. It has students write definitions for vocabulary words on Unit Vocabulary Sheets, write outlines or narrative summaries of their reading, write complete lab records and reports, and make timeline entries. Courses also include quizzes, reviews, and tests, although these are optional. Of course, you can adapt how much writing each student is required to do.
Courses also draw upon Charlotte Mason methodology, using narration and sketching along with the other learning activities. Students using the ESC series create a notebook for each course, but notebook creation is made easy with the separate student workbook for each course that has much of the work already done for you, especially if you purchase the printed edition of the workbook rather than the ebook.
Hands-on learning through science experiments is also built into the ESC series. You will need to gather resources for science experiments. Experiment instructions come from the required resource books rather than the teacher’s guides or student workbooks. While experiment resources required for the Classic series are not very difficult to find, you might want to purchase their experiment kits that save you the trouble of hunting down items like the aquarium tubing, large suction cups, and an instant-read thermometer used for Biology for the Grammar Stage.
ESC courses were each written to target a span of two grade levels, but tips are included for stretching each course to suit a wider age range, often using alternative spine books and adapting the amount of writing required. Learn More