[/quote]Re different answers than the teachers are looking for on tests - we've never run into that - science for the most part is relatively quantifiable ... so it's not like he's going to get different info on factual topics from reading more in-depth material. One thing that has happened with our ds though is that his teachers tend to tell him not to get hung up on so much detail and length in his written work in science, but we just ignore that - I think it's more important that he express his knowledge and let his voice be heard [quote]
Polarbear
I think where the issue shows up is in the nuances. My DS did an assessment on geology and was thrown by an erosion question because the question wanted you to say that rocks are worn away by water and by implication the rock just disappears but DS knew that the water is redistributing the rock elsewhere and so was flummoxed by the choice of worn away and another word he did not know but interpretted to mean redistributed. Part of it was the questions but by knowing too much he thought the correct answer was not right because he was taking the answer to its logical conclusion rather than just the immediate the water wore away the stone.
We have been somewhat successful getting some science differentiation, essentially getting him more depth in school, but not much. The bulk of his science learning is still done at home. Current favorite thanks to a ColinsMum suggestion - great courses DVDs. Wait for the 70% sale - we just got a 27 lecture series on nanotechnology. What's awesome about it is that the science is very sophisticated but it's not pitched that way so it is so much better than a dry text on the same subject.
DeHe
