The Ultimate List Of Science Tips and Resources!

I love science. I was the geeky kid in high school that read a college Biology textbook for free time. I pray that my love of science will help you find the right product and helpful curriculum for your homeschooling this year.

Science is a very hands on subject that is wonderful for special needs children. Learning in a whole body mode like experiments, graphing shark sizes on the quiet road in front of your house, etc. These produce so many connections in your child’s brain that the material you are learning is easier to remember and recall at a later date.

I look at science slightly differently for the age groups. (This age grouping is written in regards to a typical child, your child’s needs and abilities will be a more accurate guide as to where you need to focus.)

Toddler on up to late elementary science should be explorations, discovery, experimentation, and not so heavy on the texts. Young children need to be gently guided to learning the basics of science through their own explorations. How dull is it to only read about gravity. Then consider gravity experiments where your child lets go of a feather and a book at the same time. In my home when we did that experiment; it went on for hours. The kids thought about changing the object (had to watch that carefully! 🙂 Then they thought about what if it was a liquid? What if there was wind? They didn’t know it but they were asking the same questions that get asked to college student, wind resistance, and density. Or goal is not to know all the answers but to be willing to search for the answers. To teach our children to ask the questions and hypothosize on the answers. The building blocks of science!

Late elementary, middle school science should continue to be heavy in the hands on but now we need to start introducing the scientific laws and reasoning behind the science. These children are beginning to form their own opinions and learning to think abstractly. We need to give them the tools and factual foundations to make base their opinions.

High school into college science: Now we are talking advanced science. Your child’s foundations in science should be secure. Have debates with them about differing theories.The more dangerous materials as in chemistry can be a great subject to fully introduced. It’s time for your teen to take charge of their learning and really delve into the various subjects. This level of learning does need more text guidance than before because your teen will need to see the scientific evidence that has gone before and work on it. Replicating it and hypothesizing on how to make the next step.

Here are some choices for you science material.

Grade Level Curriculum Choices:

Graded texts: You can get grade level text books from any of the big curriculum providers Alpha Omega, or Bob Jones University. You might consider a text if you know this is going to be a rough year such as chemo, or lots of disruptive doctor appointments. Having a text in those cases helps you to know you are not letting anything fall through the cracks.

Multi Level Choices:
Considering God’s Creation– This is a science book with lots of printables, and lessons in everything from botany, anatomy, to astronomy. It can be successfully used for a larger family for a couple of years.
Apologia Science Curriculum– Apologia science is an elementary through college science series. It is not a grade level curriculum though. Their are elementary books that can be used for any of the elementary years. When you get to 7th grade it switches to a text per grade up through graduation. The elementary texts now come with a journal and lapbooks by Knowledge Box.

Topical Choices: Lapbooks are always a great topical adventure for your science time. Knowledge Box Central ; In the Hands of a Child

Unit studies like Amanda Bennett’s Dogs, electricity, or sailing are heavy in science.  She also has a  new Download and Go’s (smaller one week unit studies) Roller coasters, geckos, trees and MORE

Creation Science:

Answers In Genesis

Scientific Materials: Not all children can use items like microscopes, tweezers etc. Here are some options to help make your science time easier and more enjoyable.

Visual problems? Try a dissecting microscope, it has to eye viewers helping your child use both eyes to see the slide. There are also microscopes that show your findings on a picture. Careful with that one, I found several very cheap ones with a large picture viewer but they were made of very cheap material and I doubt they could hold up for long or produce quality pictures.There are pricier but better quality classroom cameras that attach and so high quality pictures.

*Teresa Bondora was kind enough to help me out with ideas on helpful microscopes. She also produces a science newletter and has a science site.

Lakeshore Learning has a large variety of sturdy, high quality material for younger children. Do you need tweezers for your high school student with  limited fine motor, get the tweezers from the crafts section. I also like this store because it comes with small kits like color changing experiment.

TimberDoodle this is a homeschooling store that has some of the BEST science material around. I love looking through their free catalogue getting ideas for the coming year!

This section is not complete! Each year I find great material that I had never thought of in a special way before. You the reader find great material and curriculum choices for our special kids. Please feel free to add on your finds! The more the merrier!

God bless and have a wonderful time with science this year!