Science Curriculum with a Hands-On Approach

Science is an important part of any home school curriculum. Teaching children about the world around them through a hands-on learning approach to biology, chemistry, physics, and even technology will better prepare them to attain higher educational goals and to enter the work force. Science advancements in the last century in all areas including technology, chemistry, biology, and physics have dwarfed those made in any previous century and to keep the pace students today must learn more than ever.

In a home school environment, students and teachers have the unique opportunity to customize their science curriculum and studies to not only entertain their interests but also get more hands-on learning in science and experiments that most children in traditional or public schools. With tools that can be found in all-in-one curriculum packages, unit studies and single subject course offerings as well as online courses and educational computer programs, there are more resources now than ever before for a hands-on learning home school science program for any age.

It is important that any home school science curriculum meets the required standards for the local area in which you live, so you should always check to see what those standards are. But, once you have found out about the science standards you will be better able to choose the curriculum from one of the many available. One hint is that you should look for a science curriculum that has hands-on learning and experiments that can easily be duplicated in a home school environment. Although you can get many supplies and science experiments online or in a store, the easier the materials are to get, the more likely you are to use them.

The study of biology concepts can begin as early as preschool and continues through the high school years. Young students will be acutely interested in biology as a science as it applies to things that they see in their everyday life such as animals, plants, and other living organisms as well as their environment. Base your biology curriculum on these areas and let the child direct much of the science and biology learning at this age. Something as simple and directly hands-on learning as planting a bean in a cup with some soil, or caring for and observing a pet are valuable experiments for a child of this age. However, you must discuss the science involved for it to be biology studies. Discussions about health and the body could also be a part of the biology curriculum. Biology for older students will be more complex and may include things like the study of zoology, botany or anatomy. Try to integrate your studies to include math, language arts, history, or any other subject that will relate to the science that you are studying.

Chemistry is often thought of as a subject for older students in high school or college, but younger students may find it fun and exciting to conduct simple hands-on learning in chemistry experiments to see how elements can change and the different properties of elements. Make sure that you have the proper chemistry equipment and safety equipment in order to conduct any experiments without incident-and always have adult supervision. Once a student gets to high school age, it may be intimidating to teach chemistry as well as some of the other more advanced science courses. You can always take a look at online chemistry courses or independent study courses to enhance your science curriculum.

As with chemistry, physics is often thought of as a science subject for high school students, however in a general science curriculum for younger grades, students can easily learn about the science of movement, mass, density, etc. Levers, pulleys, gears, etc. can all be used to conduct observations and experiments in physics beginning at a fairly young age and these are hands-on learning applications that will pique students' interests. There are also online physics courses and computer programs to enhance your physics curriculum-particularly for the upper grades.

Technology and computers are becoming an increasingly bigger part of everyday life for our society and it is important for everyone to have a basic understanding of how these things work. However, beyond keyboarding courses, there are not many ways that technology is taught in the general science curriculum for the younger grades. Some high schools now offer technology courses to teach about computer science and computer programming, as well as auto repair, basic engineering, electronics, etc. and this can prepare a student for those types of majors in college or in a trade school. You will find some of these types of technology courses online or through independent study, but make sure that they are well-designed courses with accreditation.

As stated previously, it is important that science curriculum be hands-on learning and interactive. Students who actively participate in this type of program will have a better understanding of the material-whether it is biology, technology, chemistry or physics. If the cost of materials is intimidating, see if you can share the cost with other home schoolers in your area and if you have more than one child or student, but materials that can be reused to save on replacement costs.