Science Methods and Curriculum for World-School

There are numerous ways you can teach science and social studies. They can vary from highly structured programs to learning based on the interests of the day. Our personal style is to do a blend but not use a complete program. We do a lot of learning in museums. Before a trip we will spend a good portion of time studying the area and focus on activities that will enhance our travel experience.

The first thing I generally do when planning our science studies it I look through the states recommended topics for each grade. I try to get those first then review them at the end of the year. It generally takes us about 2 months to cover grade level topics for the year. The rest if fun and pure learning (and covering gaps … our state totally skips circuits and electricity).

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Science Curriculums

Beast Academy Science: From the makers of the very popular math program, Beast Academy Science is a new curriculum that is receiving high marks. It does sound like it needs hands on parent support for experiments but per reviews has a lot of good science information.

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BSFU): A complete curriculum for grades K-8

Blossom and Root: This curriculum is recommended by many sources and is described as nature based and includes literature, art and science.

Science Curriculum Resources for Spines

My favorite way to teach science is by getting numerous really good resources and keeping them around the house. My favorites are:

Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia
Usborne Science Encyclopedia
National Geographic, so many wonderful options like 5000 Awesome Facts About Animals, we enjoyed the smaller one topic books too
Times Kids the Big Book of Why and Big Book of How
Everything you Need to Ace Middle School Science (or Biology, or Chemistry, or … )
DK Children’s Anthologies like the Mysteries of the Universe
More Big Book of Why from Britannica
Library visits, sometimes you can check out some really cool references especially in marine biology and space

We can spend hours sitting together and going through these books. Most are very visually pleasing and have a ton of interesting information.

Internet Science Curriculums and add ons

Mystery Science: My kids love watching these programs. They have interesting topics and really encourage kids to think.

Science Mom: Videos and classes for advanced elementary and middle school kids with high reviews for being informative and engaging.

Generation Genius: Online videos in a fun interactive format

Science it Weird: Webinar version is cheaper than the small group classes. Classes take deep dives into interesting subjects. Students are encouraged to think deeply about topics.

Long Island Science Center: Reasonably priced fun live classes

Outschool: We love Outschool – they have everything. For science we use a few interactive specialized classes as add ons.

Science Kits

Our family enjoys combining home experiments with pre-made kits. There are so many options for many topics including chemistry and engineering.

My kids really love KiwiCo Tinker Crates. If you are stationary, they will send a crate once a month. They’re fun, interactive and the kids really learned a lot with the crates. Use this link for $10 off (and I get a $10 credit).

Some of our favorite kits (or close to what we have used) have been: