My DS is 8 and is super science guy but for awhile I worried what the heck we were going to do in science because his math interests and skills were behind (in the crazy sense that he comprehends really advanced science like quantum physics, but wasn't doing double digit subtraction well but was devouring murderous maths). Eventually his mathiness clicked in, he is globally skipped but with no interest in moving faster beyond reading about it or doing apps. So will start 4th/5th grade math in fall.
So what this has meant is an evaluation of how to get him the science he craves, and to keep growing with it. There is really no good answer - he hated CTY science. And he can't go to college. So we do a lot of videos like the great courses series - they are pitched for adults but don't use math, just the advanced concepts. Tons of stuff on YouTube. And we take him to lectures, like at the World Science Festival, we tried it at a colleague reunion when he was 6 and he did really well behavior wise and so have been doing it ever since. And there is plenty to read - not text books necessarily but books. We have been working through Max Tegmark's new book. Basically we accepted that he "could" go to college if we pushed him to move faster in math but didn't see the point of it particularly since he didn't have the dexterity to really do lab work. There are some cute iPad apps that simulate lab experiments also. My DS is not a builder per se, so lego robotics only interests him in terms of the coding. He did scratch and some other languages but also isn't totally immersed in minecraft or anything like that. So we support going wide. And DS tolerates science at school basically for the experiments which are grade appropriate. And he is also a good kid so doesn't really complain even though it's an utter waste of his time and will continue to be. Part of our problem is that he has an elementary science teacher who is a gifted elem Ed teacher. He gets the science teacher, trained to be a science teacher next year!! He also works with a science mentor, an older student, basically to encourage tolerance for the sad state of classroom science, they did all sorts of things from videos to experiment to just talking about science.
Not sure if any of this helps, more of a btdt.
DeHe
