This post contains affiliate links and we we may earn a commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Our picks for the best homeschool science curriculum for kindergarten:
- Best Classical Approach: Intro to Science, Elemental Science
- Best Story-Centered Approach: Summer’s Lab (Sassafras Science), Elemental Science
- Best Unit-Study Approach: Science Chunks, Elemental Science
Here at Happy Homeschool House, we get a lot of questions about how to teach science to kindergarteners. Most homeschool curriculums at the kindergarten level emphasize core skills like phonics, handwriting, and introductory math. Many kindergarten homeschool packages don’t even include science at all. However, many young kids love science, and their parents therefore want to include it in their kindergarten educational plan. While it is certainly possible to teach your kindergartener science without a formal curriculum – there are tons of great books, science kits, and subscription boxes to help with this – many parents prefer to have a curriculum to follow. We’ve researched the various homeschool kindergarten science curriculums on the market, and in this article we’ll tell you about three of our favorite options, all offered by the publisher Elemental Science.
Elemental Science is one of our favorite publishers of homeschool science curriculums for many reasons. The company offers different programs that target various learning styles and homeschool approaches. While each series provides a solid structure, including daily and weekly lesson plans, none of them are rigid. Rather, they provide you as the home educator with an excellent, flexible template that you can customize to best fit your kids’ interests and your own teaching style. There are plenty of hands-on activities in these programs that make them a great choice for all kinds of learners. We also love that Elemental Science’s curriculums are secular in nature but still work great for religious homeschoolers, as they are easily adaptable for use with a variety of homeschool philosophies. Finally, we love that these programs are also very affordable!
At the kindergarten level, Elemental Science offers three different programs. To learn more about each of them, read on.
Best Classical Approach
Intro to Science, Elemental Science
Intro to Science is a fairly recent addition to Elemental Science’s offerings, and we love it! This program is similar to the grammar-stage Classical Science program the company offers for elementary students, but it is geared toward younger children. If you are looking for a program that embodies the ideals of classical homeschooling promoted in The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, this is going to be the best fit for you. Even if you aren’t a strictly classical homeschooler, you’ll still appreciate this program, as it introduces science using a wonderful combination of hands-on experiments, reading, sketching, and nature observation.
The program has an easy-to-follow structure that is also very adaptable your particular homeschool routine. It provides 36 weeks of instruction, offering two different scheduling options: two days a week or five days a week. Each week focuses on a different theme and includes a variety of different activities, including read-alouds and hands-on projects. Topics covered include chemistry, physics, geology, meteorology, botany, and zoology. The program can also be used by older preschoolers or first graders.
To begin Intro to Science, you’ll need the Intro to Science Teacher Guide, the Intro to Science Student Diary Pages, the book More Mudpies to Magnets, and The Handbook of Nature Study. It is also recommended that you purchase the Usborne Children’s Encylopedia (2014 edition), as this is used for multiple weeks of the program.
Best Story-Centered Approach
Summer’s Lab (Sassafras Science), Elemental Science
If you’d like to introduce your kindergartener to science through a fun, story-based approach, we recommend the Summer’s Lab program, part of Elemental Science’s larger Sassafras Science program. Sassafras Science introduces science concepts to elementary-aged kids through a series of novels about the Sassafras twins; it’s a popular option for homeschoolers who appreciate a story-based approach to learning and for kids who don’t want to feel like they are “doing school”. Summer’s Lab was written with the same approach as Sassafras Science, but it is geared toward younger kids.
The program includes the following topic-based units: humans, animals, plants, weather, rocks, space, matter, and energy. It approaches these topics through the metaphor of a sandwich: each section includes the “Meat”, which consists of a short story introducing the scientific concept; the “Bread”, which provides a set of review questions about that concept; “Cheesy Additions”, which includes hands-on projects; and “the Mayo and More”, which suggests extra activities (such as art projects) that further engage with that scientific topic.
Summer’s Lab is designed to cover a full school year of instruction, and it provides parents with two different scheduling options – two days a week or four days a week. Like Elemental Science’s other programs, this one is flexible and adaptable in nature, and its “sandwich” approach provides a wonderful template to explore topics in as much or as little depth as you want to or have time for.
To begin Summer’s Lab, you’ll need the Summer’s Lab Teacher Guide and the Summer’s Lab Lab Manual. As an alternative to the Lab Manual, you can purchase the Summer’s Lab Reference Notes on the Elemental Science website.
Best Unit-Study Approach
Science Chunks, Elemental Science
If you’d like to introduce your kindergartener to science using a unit-study approach, we recommend the Science Chunks program by Elemental Science. This provides a series of shorter science units that you can do in any order based on the interests of your child. Each “chunk” focuses on a specific topic, such as plants, weather, stars, or the human body. Like Elemental Science’s other programs, Science Chunks invites students to learn science through fun hands-on activities, correlating reading assignments, simple experiments, and notebooking exercises.
We love that Science Chunks is very adaptable to different homeschool styles and schedules. The teacher guide for each unit provides various scheduling options from one to four days a week. Because this program is designed for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, it is also a really great option if you are looking for a curriculum that can be used for both your kindergartener and an older elementary-aged sibling.
Each of the Science Chunks units are available individually in digital format at the Elemental Science website. If you’d like to purchase a printed version of the program, you’ll need to get several units together in a bundle. The Year A Bundle includes the following units: Plants, Major Biomes, Solar System, Atoms and Molecules, Light, Sound, and Mendel. Together, these units comprise 36 weeks of lessons for a complete school year of introductory science! To start Year A of Science Chunks, you’ll need to purchase the Science Chunks Year A Teacher Guide and the Science Chunks Year A Student Notebook.
Conclusion
If you are looking for an engaging, hands-on approach to science for your homeschooled kindergartener, Elemental Science offers some great options that are structured and yet still flexible. And don’t forget that there are tons of ways to supplement your child’s science education with great science books, experiment kits, subscription boxes, and microscopes. If you are looking for great homeschool science curriculums and resources for older kids, check out some of our other articles listed below!
Best Secular Homeschool Science Curriculum for Elementary
Best Secular Homeschool Science Curriculum for Middle School
Best Secular Homeschool Science Curriculum for High School
Best Homeschool High School Biology Curriculum
Best Homeschool Science Curriculum for 3rd Grade
Best Homeschool Science Curriculum for 7th Grade
Best Homeschool Science Curriculum for 8th Grade