What Is Quality Homeschool High School Science Curriculum?

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Last Updated on February 26, 2025 by Sarah McCubbin

If you want to provide your family with an excellent education at home, choosing a quality high school science curriculum is an important decision for preparing students for the next season of life.

As a homeschool mom raising 9 kids… currently 3 adults, 3 in private school and 3 homeschooled…I have seen first hand the benefits of using a quality high school science curriculum. After homeschooling for 17+ years, I have watched the trends in education when it comes to rigorous curriculum.

Some of the trends are good and some are really not!

Traditionally, when there were fewer homeschool curriculum choices…and fewer philosophies to follow, you would see a families choose from a relatively narrow selection of curriculum options all of which were designed to prepare students for a the option of attending college. Most homeschoolers opted for a “college-prep” plan so that their teens would be prepared IF they chose college.

Now, the pendulum has swung the opposite direction. There are tons of philosophies to follow. You can be an Unschooler, Classical homeschooler or something in between. And the conversation around college has changed too. A lot of people are asking the question…is college really even necessary? Does my child need to learn any of this hard stuff?

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Before we talk about Using Quality Curriculum…specifically Science Curriculum, let’s identify the goal and problems facing families today.

The Goal: Preparing Our High School Students For The Next Thing

The goal of education for our high school students (whether they are homeschooled or go to school) is to prepare them academically for the NEXT thing in their path. Whether they are choosing to go to college…trade school or go on to work or entrepreneurship, we want our teens to be prepared.

None of us have a crystal ball. We can’t actually look into the future when our kids are in elementary and middle school and KNOW what our teens will want to do right after graduation…or 5 or 10 years past that. We just don’t know.

So as parents who are stewarding our kids education and our resources, it is essential that we do our best to use quality resources.

For Quality Science resources check out Berean Builders.

The Problem: Underpreparing Our High School Students

The problem becomes how to actually prepare our students. Let’s face it. High school students can be stubborn and often say they “don’t like” something. Or its possible a textbook we are using is actually difficult and no one is learning anything.

But while facing those challenges, I’ve seen many parents make a multi-step pivot that can actually hurt their child’s future options.

Here is what happens:

1. A teen experiences frustration with a curriculum or schooling option.
2. Parent offers another option. Still too hard.
3. Teen becomes unmotivated.
4. In the midst, the future is talked about. Teen “chooses” a future career that doesn’t require hard classes
5. Parent pivots away from challenging curriculum because their child won’t “NEED” math/science etc in the future.

This can be a slippery slope. When our teens are dictating curriculum choices, they are often going to choose something that is easier. Or parents may choose something easier just to have less resistance. In the process of choosing something “easier” they are often choosing something that is NOT college prep in any way and is just used to check a box.

But in the process, parents may be inadvertently removing some future options from their teens future choices.

Either way, it is essential to be aware of the problems that can stem from choosing the wrong curriculum!

The Importance of a Quality, College-Prep Homeschool Science Curriculum

Years ago, when our kids were still in elementary school, we had Jay Wile come to our homeschool group and talk to parents about homeschooling. He is the author of many science textbooks. When my teens hit the high school years, I was thrilled that our homeschool group was using some of the curriculum he wrote.

I mean…science isn’t really my thing…but we were planning for our kids to have college as an option…so we wanted something challenging.

Fast forward a LOT of years…and I now have one son who graduated from college with a Computer Science Programming Degree…and another studying to be a Chemical Engineer.

The confidence they both had to jump into challenging degrees was easily connected to taking high quality science classes in high school.

Recently they were both interviewed by a local news reporter and asked about how homeschooling played into their education. They agreed that it prepared them well for college because the course work was challenging and participating in a co-op once a week mirrors college classes that only meet a couple times a week.

What Is a High Quality Homeschool Science Curriculum For High School?

Berean Builders is one of the absolute best homeschool science curriculum we used over the past 17 years. Theirs are substantial books that follow a very sequential method for teaching the foundations of each science field. They offer 4 different science courses for high school: Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics!

And all of their courses are designed to be college preparatory.

Teaching Earth Science to Homeschoolers: A Comprehensive Guide

In their courses you can expect:

• Clear Scientific Explanations: All Berean Builders courses describe the scientific processes using a combination of “layman” terminology and actual scientific terms helping bridge the gap in student understanding.
• Experiments and Activities:
  Every chapter has one or more science lab which is helpful for observation and learning the concepts in the chapter. This process will allow students to get hands on experience creating lab reports which is valuable for any higher level learning.
• Answer Key and Tests:
  Every science course comes with a complete answer key for all student comprehension questions as well as chapter tests and answers.
• Comprehension Questions:
  Every chapter has multiple comprehension questions designed to build a solid foundation as students work through the content.
• FREE Question and Answer Service:
  Not every parent feels equipped to help students with challenging science questions. But Jay Wile includes a Free Question service with any curriculum purchase. Textbooks include simple instructions to access that free service.
• Faith Based Instruction – All of the Berean Builders courses are written from a Biblical worldview!

Create A Solid Science Foundation For Any Student

One of the biggest barriers to choosing a high quality…rigorous science curriculum is the stress parent’s sometimes feel when they see their student struggle. Maybe they are a poor test taker. Maybe they can’t remember the scientific names. Maybe they need someone to explain some of the content.

Whatever the problem for your student, there are often some simple workarounds that still allow students to experience a high quality science course at THEIR LEVEL.

This year my 15 year old is taking Earth Science. He has struggled with reading from the time he was little. For him, the process of simply reading a textbook is very slow. But he can do it. So for him this year, he will only read the textbook…and not do all the other activities. For him, this level of work is CHALLENGING.

When his older brother took Jay Wile’s courses, he did ALL of the coursework. He did the labs, and the questions and took all the tests closed book. He has a strong science bent and we knew he would need all of those skills. He went on to take AP Chemistry and AP Physics at a private school and thought they were easy because his coursework had prepared him so well. He NEEDED to do all of the coursework to prepare for his next thing.

As a homeschool parent, I have always known that ultimately, I as the mom am giving them the grade in any class. If they took the class at co-op…I gave the final grade. If they took it with a tutor…I gave the final grade. And as the “teacher,” I also had the flexibility to modify it to their ability.

So, for each of my kids we have modified as needed.

1. Some kids did open book tests
2. Some did all the comprehension questions…some did none and just read the book.
3. Some had the full lab experience. Others did not.
4. Some I used the co-op class grade…others I did not.

Ultimately, I as the parent have always felt like I could modify things to fit the student…rather than buying an easier curriculum. Berean Builders textbooks are absolutely beautiful high quality excellent texts that WILL PREPARE your student well for college…or the next thing.

Having had students in both homeschool and private school for high school, I can also attest that the quality of these textbooks is on par or better than what my students have received in a private college prep school. In other words…they are excellent!

If you are looking for the best science curriculum that will prepare your student well for a degree in the sciences…or for the next thing…check out Berean Builder Science!

Using Berean Builders in a Homeschool Co-op

Homeschool co-ops are often one of the driving factors in what science curriculum a family chooses to use. The co-op we participated in did use Berean Builders courses very successfully.

Tips For Using Berean Builders in a Co-op

1. Offer Berean Builders science classes in a rotation so families can plan. Offer 2 per year if possible.
2. Be mindful that some classes do have a math requirement…so make sure students have taken the right level of math to participate.
3. Start the year with a syllabus
4. Plan to do mostly labs in class
5. Offer parents flexible grading options. Do parents want their student to have open book? Do they want students to correct tests for extra points.
6. Find a Way for ALL students to find success
7. It is common for teens to “get behind” in their school work. Make a “catch up plan” before the year begins.

My teens had the benefit of taking amazing science classes in our co-op and it prepared them so well for college. Even the ones that will not go into the sciences benefited because they felt more confident after navigating a challenging course. They learned the process of studying, taking notes and preparing for a test. These are all transferable skills which are helpful for ANY young adult!

Connecting The Dots To Adulthood

This year my 4th child will graduate from high school. I now have four adult children. Providing them with high quality resources that both challenged and stretched them has led to them becoming confident and independent young adults. So often as parents, we want to pave the way for our kids…make things a little easier.

We love our kids so we want good things for them. But there are SO MANY benefits to supporting our kids as they do harder things. I definitely see that with academic curriculum choices. Whether you have a teen that you KNOW will go into a science field or not, Berean Builders offers an amazing learning foundation that will serve them well as they launch into adulthood!

More Reading:

• Teaching Earth Science to Homeschoolers: A Comprehensive Guide
• 101+ Winter Activities for Kids to Learn Life Skills
• 15 Steps to Start a Homeschool Co-op Group