Best Homeschool Science Curriculum for 8th Grade

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Our picks for the best homeschool science curriculum for 8th grade:

If you are new to homeschooling, you may be especially overwhelmed by the idea of teaching science to your middle schooler. You may be wondering, doesn’t this require experiments, a laboratory, and lots of specialized knowledge that I’ve long forgotten? Take a deep breath and don’t worry because, fortunately, there are many excellent homeschool science curriculums on the market. These programs make science fun and approachable for your student, and many of them require minimal parental involvement. Plus, most of these programs include the materials you’ll need for experiments or clearly show you what you need to get. 

In this article, we’ll tell you about four of our favorite homeschool science curriculums for eighth grade. Please note that some of the curriculums discussed here are Christian-based and some are secular. If you are looking specifically for a secular homeschool science curriculum, check out our article Best Secular Homeschool Science Curriculum for Middle School. Whether you are looking for a secular or religious curriculum, you may also want to explore the many wonderful science resources with which you can supplement your eighth grader’s education. For some ideas, check out our article Best Science Subscription Boxes. 

Best Online Program

Calvert Homeschool 8th Grade Science

If you are looking for a thorough, engaging homeschool science course that your student can complete online, consider the 8th Grade Science program from Calvert Homeschool. Calvert has long been a leader in high-quality, secular homeschool curriculums. Its programs used to come in print format, but all of its grade 3-12 materials have now converted completely to online courses. These online programs maintain the same fantastic, comprehensive content as the print editions did, but the media-rich platform gives students a more dynamic learning experience. 

Although Calvert’s courses are online, they do not require Zoom meetings or virtual classes held at a specific time of day. Rather, students work through the course at their own pace and on their own schedule, just as they would with printed homeschooling materials. However, various media and graphics do enrich the learning experience, and parents especially love the online platform, which keeps track of assignments and schedules and does most grading automatically. At the eighth-grade level, Calvert’s courses can be completed mostly independently by the student. However, parents can log into the Teacher’s Dashboard feature at any time to check their children’s progress.

Calvert 8th Grade Science covers a number of topics fundamental to general science. Units covered include: “Our Atomic World”, “Perceiving Things”, “Physical Geology”, “Historical Geology”, “Oceanography”, “Balance in Nature”, “Science and Tomorrow”, “The Solar System”, and “Astronomy”.

Also note that Calvert offers two science-related, one-semester electives at the eighth-grade level: Principles of Coding, which is a great introductory computer science course, and Health Quest, an excellent basic health course.

Calvert’s courses can be purchased individually or accessed through a Calvert Homeschool subscription. There are several different subscription options, which vary by the subscription length and number of students in your home who will be using it. The subscriptions are a great option if your child will be taking more than one course through Calvert or if you have multiple kids using the program.

Best Christian Program

Lifepac 8th Grade Science, Alpha Omega Publications

If you are looking for a solid eighth-grade science program that is Christian-based, consider the excellent Lifepac 8th Grade Science course from Alpha Omega Publications (AOP), a leader in Christian homeschooling curriculum. The Lifepac series has long been popular among Christian homeschoolers because of its thorough, engaging content and simple, approachable structure. Students work through the material independently and at their own pace, and parent prep time is minimal. 

Like other Lifepac courses, 8th Grade Science uses a consumable worktext format. Ten consumable student books, called “worktexts”, provide all the reading for the course as well as illustrations, diagrams, vocabulary, comprehension questions, and self-tests. Parents can use the accompanying Teacher’s Guide to check their students’ answers and better understand how to guide their kids through the course. 

This course explores a range of general science topics that will help prepare students for the more rigorous science courses that come in high school. The following units are included: “Science and Society”, “Structure of Matter” (two units), “Health and Nutrition”, “Energy” (two units), “Machines” (two units), “Balance In Nature”, and “Science and Technology”. 

The Lifepac 8th Grade Science Complete Set includes all ten student worktexts and the teacher’s guide. We highly recommend that you also purchase the corresponding manipulative kit and science experiments DVD.

Please note that AOP also offers several Lifepac science electives (one- and two-semester) at the eighth-grade level, including Family and Consumer Science, High School Health, Astronomy, Geology, and Life Science. 

If you are interested in a computer-based version of Lifepac’s courses, check out the Monarch homeschool program or the Switched-On Schoolhouse series. These programs, also published by AOP, offer the same courses that are included in the Lifepac series but in a computer-based format. Monarch’s programs are online and require only an internet connection, while the Switched-On Schoolhouse courses are available on CD-Rom and USB and do not require internet. Note, however, that Switched-On Schoolhouse in not compatible with Macs and some Windows operating systems, so check the system requirements before purchasing.

Best Classical Program

Classical Science Series, Elemental Science

If you are looking for an eighth-grade homeschool science program that follows a classical approach, consider the wonderful Classical Science series by Elemental Science. The philosophy of this program is closely aligned with the ideas promoted in The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home in that it emphasizes subject mastery, writing, experiments, and memorization. At the same time, however, it incorporates many components of the Charlotte Mason approach, such as short lessons, hands-on activities, and nature observation. For this reason, it is also very popular among Charlotte Mason-style homeschoolers.

This series uses the three-stage model described in The Well-Trained Mind, which divides education into the grammar stage (grades 1-4), the logic stage (grades 5-8), and the rhetoric stage (grades 9-12). Accordingly, the eighth-grade program is part of the Logic Stage series, which includes four courses: Biology for the Logic Stage, Earth Science & Astronomy for the Logic Stage, Chemistry for the Logic Stage, and Physics for the Logic Stage. Ideally, a student beginning this program in fifth grade would start with the biology course and proceed through to the physics course in eighth grade. However, if your eighth grader is new to this series, you can go ahead and choose whichever course seems most appropriate or interesting to your child (it’s okay if he or she has not taken the prior courses). 

This program is designed to be very flexible and adaptable. The included teacher guides provide detailed lessons for both two-day/week and five-day/week schedules. At the eighth-grade level, students will be able to complete most of the work independently, and the program provides plenty of opportunities for students to read and learn more about the topics that interest them. 

The Classical Science series is what might be termed a “gently secular” curriculum. The program is not overtly religious, and it does not avoid controversial topics like evolution or the Big Bang. Such topics are included as optional units, however, so you may omit them if you so choose.

Each year-long course in the series requires a Student Guide, and Teacher’s Guide, and two to three additional texts. The materials needed for each course are listed below.

Biology for the Logic Stage explores the human body, genetics, invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, and ecology. The following texts are required:

Earth Science & Astronomy for the Logic Stage explores the earth, weather, rocks, space, and the solar system. The following texts are required:

Chemistry for the Logic Stage covers topics such as the periodic table, acids and bases, matter, solutions, chemical reactions, the chemistry of life, and the chemistry of industry. The following texts are required:

Physics for the Logic Stage examines topics such as motion, waves, forces, electricity, robotics, thermodynamics, magnetism, engineering, and nuclear physics. The following texts are required: 

You can also purchase experiment kits, which include supplies for all of the experiments in each course, at the Elemental Science website.


Best for Gifted Students

Moving Beyond the Page Age 12-14 Science Curriculum

If you are looking for a challenging, engaging science curriculum that your eighth grader can complete mostly independently with both print and online options, consider the Age 12-14 science curriculum from Moving Beyond the Page. Moving Beyond the Page is a unique homeschool curriculum designed specifically for gifted students, though it can be used with all types of learners. The program is designed to help kids develop their critical thinking skills, and it is a great choice for self-led, independent, intellectually curious learners.

More than any other program of which we are aware, Moving Beyond the Page challenges students to think critically in order to understand the ways science, social studies, and language arts intersect. For this reason, many students use the program’s science, social studies, and language arts programs simultaneously, as they are designed to overlap in theme and scope at each stage. However, if your student is already using other social studies and language arts programs successfully, it is completely fine for him to her to use only the science program from Moving Beyond the Page.

The Age 12-14 science program covers the following units: Atoms, Chemical Reactions, Energy and Matter, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Cell Theory, Genetics and DNA, Living Organisms, A Dynamic Planet, Human Body Systems, and Health and Nutrition. 

For the most convenience, purchase the Age 12-14 Full Year Science Package, which includes all of the curriculum, literature, and science manipulatives your student will need. The package can be purchased in both print and online formats. 

Best Literature-Based Program

World Geography and Ecology, Beautiful Feet Books

If you’re looking for a literature-based approach to teaching science to your eighth grader, consider the wonderful World Geography and Ecology course from Beautiful Feet Books. This course uses age-appropriate stories from every continent to introduce middle schoolers to the ecology, biology, environment, and geography of different parts of the globe. Students will also learn geography in this course, so it provides a great way to pack two subjects into one great curriculum. The teacher’s guide is beautifully illustrated and provides discussion questions as well as tons of ideas for additional reading and extension activities. Your student can use this curriculum fairly independently, and it also makes for a great family-style curriculum if you have other kids who would benefit from the course.

Conclusion

There are many excellent homeschool science curriculums for eighth graders. If you’d like to find out more about secular science curriculums for this age level, see our article Best Secular Homeschool Science Curriculum for Middle School. If you’re interested in supplementing your child’s science education with a subscription box, check out our article Best Science Subscription Boxes. If you have questions or would like more information on this topic, please email us!