Homeschool Science Curriculum - The Ultimate Guide!

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I've had a lot of people ask me about my favorite homeschool science curriculum, so I thought I'd start a discussion and make a list here for everyone!



In this post, I'm going to cover the following:

1- My personal ideas about choosing a homeschool science curriculum, as a homeschooling mom, a former science teacher, and someone with advanced science education.

2- Links to LOADS of different homeschool science curricula...because you have choices, and you should know them!


So, first, in my mind, the best part about homeschooling (especially for science), is that you can teach your kids whatever they are interested in! I particularly like teaching and learning in themes or unit studies that integrate subjects together--especially in elementary school! When my kids were obsessed with rocks, I wanted to teach them everything they could handle about rocks. That is our homeschool science curriculum, for as long as that interest lasts. I would tie our reading, writing, and other activities into that interest, until it was time to switch interests. This started in preschool, and I have dozens of themed unit studies for preschool and kindergarten here. Some of the activities in those links even extend into lower elementary because I only started this blog recently.  ;)

The trick with focusing on your child's interests is that you (the parent) have to prepare and gather all your materials. This really isn't hard when you can use the internet to find themes or unit studies that others have put together. But it does take a little bit longer than just opening a curriculum book and following the instructions. You have to re-choose your curriculum every time your child's interests change instead of just once at the start of the year. I still think this is the best way to explore and learn, at least in elementary and middle school! To make it easier, I've started building unit studies that include science for all elementary levels and middle school levels. You can find this growing collection here.

However, I understand that some people need a year-long science curriculum, so I am happy to put together the following list and share my feelings about it with you!

Homeschool Science Curriculum


LOTS OF CHOICES!

1- Snails & Slugs Science Homeschool Curriculum: This is a 2-week science-based unit I wrote for elementary levels. It focuses on hands-on experiments, but includes optional lab reports for older students.

2- Space Homeschool Unit Study: This curriculum is not quite done, but the experiments are getting posted as I write them. It is also centered on hands-on experiments for elementary students with optional explanations for middle-school aged kids as well.

3- Real Science Odyssey courses by Pandia Press: These courses cover a huge variety of subjects, with different curriculum available for homeschoolers from elementary through high school levels. They have Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Biology, and more. Everything I have looked at from them is fantastic! The books that I've looked through include a couple pages of information followed by several hands-on science experiments in each lesson. It recommends the lab reports be completed in each lesson, and some of them have a little more writing than kids in the younger grades in many of the ranges (for example, some of the curricula are suggested for 3 or 4 grade levels).  The science is solid in these courses (at least the ones I've previewed), and I am comfortable recommending it. Parents should know that it is from a secular background, so if "old-Earth" perspectives stress you out, be prepared to balance it with whatever other information you prefer. Many of the subjects, though, will present no religious conflict.

4- Apologia Science Books: These books are organized according to the Biblical Creation, so there is a book for flying animals, sea animals, land animals, etc. There are also books for other topics like Physical Science, Astronomy, and more. I really wanted to like these books, partly because we are Christian, and partly because SO many of our homeschooling friends love them. But the science teacher in me cannot recommend them. In many places where a simple explanation could be used, they have phrases like "Why? Because God made it that way." I felt like a lot of scientific data was left out and many un-scientific conclusions were made. On the positive side, they do cover a lot of topics in a fair amount of detail and they do give you an opportunity to discuss bias in writing, as well as your own personal understanding of science and religion. I would have also liked to see more experiments for kids to do.

5- Supercharged Science: This homeschool science curriculum is actually made by a rocket scientist! Aurora Lippur put together science curricula for all age levels, and made it available by video! This is a different format, but it is still pretty cool! I've only tried a couple free sample videos, but they encourage a lot of hands-on experiments with supplies you have at home, and include a lot of physical science topics, which is something that I know a lot of moms would love someone else to teach for them.  ;)  Everything I have seen about Supercharged Science is pretty awesome!

EVEN MORE HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE CURRICULA:

I haven't personally used any of the following homeschool science curricula, but they are publishers and authors that I have heard of, so I thought I would share them with you!

6- Elemental Science: This company has lots of curricula organized by age, subject, and even mixed subjects. I have heard lots of really great things about them, but haven't actually looked at the lessons. They are supposed to have experiments, demonstrations, daily lesson plans, and notebooking pages.

7- TOPScience: This company has been around for decades and says their purpose is "to create the highest quality, friendliest, hands-on learning activities you'll find anywhere, and to make them available everywhere, cheap!"

8- God's Design For Science: This homeschool science curriculum is a 4 series curriculum based on the NKJV for grades 3-8.

9- Our Journey Westward: This blogger has created a series of nature-based science curricula with hands-on experiments, notebooking, and more. Topics include things like Frogs & Toads, Beautiful Birds, Butterflies, and more.

10- Scientific Method Mini-Journal: Homeschool Hopscotch has this free mini-journal to use with your science curriculum.  She also has lots of Nature Study Journals here.

11- Biomes Bundle: This biome curriculum includes notebooking pages that covers 7 biomes in 7 months. The author recommends pairing them with books about biomes from the library, though you could probably get information online as well.

12- Human Body Workbook: This anatomy curriculum covers 6 body systems in over 175 pages of paper-based activities. It's designed for children from preschool through late elementary ages.

FREE Homeschool Science Curriculum

I recently discovered that there are a lot of free homeschool science curricula available! I haven't used any of these either, but I love what they're offering! If you've used them, please let me know how you feel about them!

 1- CK-12 Science Curriculum: A full year of free science curriculum for 6 grade levels...from Kindergarten through 5th grade! Click around the website to get higher grade levels and other classes, like Earth Science.

 2- Magic School Bus Themed Science Curriculum: A full year of free science lessons from Our Cozy Den based on the Magic School Bus videos!

 3- Wild Kratts Worksheets: Animal and Biome science worksheets from Different Dog Blog based on the Wild Kratts videos!

 4- Middle School Botany: An archived version of this botany class is available for free with a current version available to purchase. Requires additional books.

 5- Biology: A biology class from Georgia Virtual Learning. This looks like an online textbook.

 6- Elementary Life Science: A complete Life Science course from Mr. Q. Includes a teacher and student manual!

 7- Middle School Chemistry: An archived version of this chemistry class is available for free with a current version available to purchase. Requires additional books.

 8- Middle School Chemistry: A free curriculum from the ACS.

9- Virtual Homeschool Group: Seems to offer free interactive homeschool science classes online from a very Christian perspective.

10- Khan Academy Science: Perhaps most appropriate for high school, but still very cool for parents and younger kids too.

11- Easy Peasy All-In-One Science: This website has free courses for all grade levels and all subject areas. Use the sidebar to navigate to the science class you want!

12- Rockets: a 16-day science curriculum.

13- Citizen Science: Base your science on different "real" scientist projects! My favorite is The Great Sunflower Project: A Citizen-Scientist Adventure where you count, identify, and record pollinators!

 14- Energy Class: Organized into 6 1-hour classes that introduce and teach about energy.

 15- Astronomy Class: Put together from links around the internet.

 16- Forensics Class: for highschool






I know there are more! If you have a favorite homeschool science curriculum that I didn't include, send me a note or leave a comment! And if you have written a homeschool science curriculum you'd like me add, send me an email at preschoolpackets at gmail.com! 
clipart credit in main image: MyCuteGraphics.com
And if you're looking for more homeschool unit studies, be sure to check out our growing collection here!



Happy Educating,
Carla & the kids who don't sit still!

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