Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Are you looking for a Christian worldview science homeschool curriculum? We were allowed to review a science program from Journey Homeschool Academy. We used Experience Elementary Biology: Elementary.
Christian Worldview Science Curriculum
Journey Homeschool Academy offers digital-based courses equipping homeschool families to educate their children. I was particularly excited to try out a science course for so many reasons. Let’s dive into all those below.
Journey Homeschool Academy as a digital-based platform is particularly exceptionally easy-to-use. Even down to their login. It has a super simple magic way to enter into their site if you forgot your password, unlike other digital programs where you have to find the email and paste and copy the right color code I loved being able to access this program so simply even if I didn’t remember my password or I didn’t write it down in the beginning.
Science Course Layout
The entire course is designed to be extremely simple for the parents. There is a 15-20 minute video surrounding each topic covered with optional resources added for you to download. This does take on a Charlotte Mason philosophy which I love because that is a spine in our family.
The additional resources include:
- copy work
- a simple activity
- rich book list that goes with each topic
- coloring sheets to create beautiful pieces of art
- assessments
- Discussion questions
The program itself was user-friendly for many reasons. I thing I liked is their book list. I didn’t have to go into each section prior planning ahead. They gave me a book list for the units ahead of time so it was really easy to keep one browser open and then order the books on hold at my library.
What I loved most about this course is how simple it made science for me, mom the teacher.
I must confess. We all have that one subject right? For me it’s science. I could teach math all day. For real. I love math. But science has been like a thorn in my side thus far in our elementary homeschool journey. Well, I am happy to say not anymore with Journey Homeschool Academy.
Seriously I am hooked. For our family, it is the answer to my prayers concerning how to do science with my two boys who love science.
Easy to tailor to your specific needs
The creators said in their introduction video that the parent can decide how much or how little the family does concerning each topic. I LOVE this aspect. No checklists here. Freedom.
My favorite part about the elementary program was the book selection. Read-aloud time is the anchor in our homeschool. Since this course is applicable for all of elementary, they offer different books that are good for either early elementary or later elementary.
I ordered all the books because we love books and we tend to read grade levels above in our family. However, moving forward after my initial bunch of books, I will stick to the early elementary because my boys are first grade and second grade. The upper-level elementary books are a bit over their head and more textbook style, but they do include some nice pictures to look at. You can just choose a couple of bite-sized pieces of information if you want.
This curriculum would be ideal for a mom who might be overwhelmed with having early elementary and later elementary. Perhaps, even Middle School-aged children because it could fit all of them into one program.
I am so beyond grateful to have a program that fills in all the science information that I don’t want to teach to my children. Luke and Trisha do an excellent job for me. I also have to note that this is from a Christian worldview that I am stoked on because there are many science videos out there but they are from a secular or evolution-based worldview.
I do want to note one thing about the videos. They start with rock type music, so if you have a conviction about what musical choices you allow into your home this may be a problem for you. However, they do have a free download that you can try out to see if it’s something you’re interested in for your family.
I must confess that the music choice in the initial intro of the video would have deterred me as a paying customer however now that I’ve got the opportunity to review the program it is worth it to me to look past the music choice. It lasts only about 30 seconds and I understand that they are trying to get kids ramped up and excited for science.
Additional Aspects
What’s so cool about the videos is that not only do they dive into all the scientific facts presented in a great way, but they also include history along with their explanation of things.
Besides the video, and additional resources they have included a memory video that recaps the facts. It is about 3-5 minutes long. You may want your children to know these facts in case you have children who are taking standardized tests.
If there is a checklist of things they must know especially later Elementary or middle school the information is right there very simple to digest. It also is great is you are a classical education family and go over scientific terminology.
One option I would like to see however I understand it may be difficult is to have a section where the videos could just play back-to-back. Just in case for those rainy afternoons that the kids want to go back and review all the old videos for fun.
So you could do five in a row instead of having to click into each unit and then play the video. However, this is super minor and if you have an older child who’s able to navigate within a computer program they could easily do this on their own.
I love their copywork and memory work that they have included. And I simply cannot say enough about the book choices that they have chosen to go with each topic covered.
This is an extremely thorough biology course. From bacteria to fungi to plants to cells to animals it incorporates everything that is biology and the study of life.
Tricia and Luke’s enthusiasm shows through each video and it’s like getting to have an Auntie or Uncle teach your children science. This is a great course if you just need extra help in this subject. Your children can still learn everything that they need to learn.
You still are welcome to watch the video along with them and dive into the rabbit hole of that topic. If you want to have afternoons of activities and read-aloud time you totally could.
But if you were like me and looking for something super simple that you don’t have to have hardly any participation with this is it. I simply love this curriculum and cannot wait for them to release other topics in the future.
I would recommend this product to any learning style family and even though it says elementary, with the scope covered it would easily be able to go up through 7th grade. Whether you are Charlotte Mason or classical this curriculum really can fit well into your family.
What I love most about this curriculum is that it’s so flexible to tailor to what you want. So far, I only like to do science once a week in our homeschool. This program gives me the easy flexibility to be able to do that in less than one hour a week.
However, if you want to dive in and do science 4 days a week there’s more than enough material here that you can read a book with each unit every day of the week and cross-referencing copywork assignment and activity with it.
The fact that this is a digital product it would be perfect to get for early elementary and then revisit it again in later elementary. So after covering it this year in totality I know we will revisit it in a couple more years and be able to do things on a whole different level, Lord willing.
I love the Living BOOK List for Science
I’m in Hawaii and my library tends to not carry as much as bigger cities. Their book list I was able to get almost all of the books. They also make it very simple if you’re someone who likes to buy books. They have a clickable link within their book list to go straight to the book on Amazon so you can order those books.
There will be a couple that I will be ordering just because we’ve fallen in love with them and I liked that they have used beautiful books. It does incorporate the Charlotte Mason philosophy of the living book list. Which is oftentimes difficult to find for science.
I so appreciate Journey Homeschool Academy’s Experience Biology as a homeschool mother understanding the level of time and energy that goes into coming up with curriculum choices. I can’t even imagine all the time poured into this and it is such a blessing to our home.
Check out the other crew reviews to see if it’s a good fit in your home at this season.
