Homeschooling High School Math and Science was always my two biggest concerns when I thought about the journey ahead. I didn’t want to have to relearn all of that information myself, and I had no idea how I was going to teach these subjects given that information and the fact that recreating science lab at home can be more than a bit overwhelming!

Yesterday I talked about How I Teach Homeschool High School Math, now today I am going to tell you about what I have found for teaching homeschool high school science.

If you haven’t noticed already, you most certainly will, that when you get to homeschooling high school the options narrow significantly. Not only are less people homeschooling high school (than Elementary School), but there are less choices for resources to homeschool high school. Through the years I have struggled with finding a science curriculum that I felt was both easy to implement and comprehensive. Through doing extensive research I found a program called DIVE – Digital Interactive Video Education. They are mostly known for their math programs which coordinate with Saxon Math, but they have a full line of science curriculum for 8th-12th grade as well.

What I Love About DIVE Science:

• Given that my daughter responded well to the interactive video style of Teaching Textbooks, the DIVE cds are done in a similar manner, thus she enjoys watching the videos and doing her work based on them.
• You can choose what text you want your student to read. From the FREE option of provided Internet links to buying a text from publishers like Bob Jones, the choice is yours. DIVE has a list of recommended texts with corresponding sylabi. Don’t see one you like, pick a text and they will send you a syllabus to follow for your chosen text!

“Weekly reading assignments can be completed using our free Internet Textbook, which is a chart with links to specific websites to complete required reading. If you prefer a traditional textbook, we recommend either Bob Jones, Apologia, or A Beka. We have a reading syllabus for these books, as well as many others, that tell you exactly what to read each week.”

For a list of syllabi and course instructions, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HxLZHLIHMDtGKH3FJwPq4F183ED5aYlXxnigZTQXmFQ/edit

• The course work is easily laid out in the same style each week.  You read your text, and answer questions.  What the video lecture and complete any questions.  Then there is a video lab to watch along with corresponding lab sheets to complete while participating in the lab.
• All answers are supplied on the DIVE cd for the questions and lab sheets.
• I love that you can choose to just watch the labs as they are done in great detail and leave the documentation to your student, or you can choose to purchase the lab supplies and physically do the lab yourself along with the video.  Being able to “do” the labs without having to purchase all the expensive lab supplies is great when you are on a tight budget.
• DIVE is meant to be an independent program for the student.  From following the schedule, to competing the reading and labs, to grading, it is meant to give the student the capability to do it all.  That leaves the teaching in their hands and the learning in your student’s hands.

How We Use DIVE Science In Our Homeschool:

The DIVE science schedule is set up to be 4 days a week, one of those being an extra day to complete any unfinished questions or work.  Our daughter finds that three 2-3 hour days is usually enough to complete the work.  We chose to use the Bob Jones Physical Science 4th Edition as our text for the DIVE Integrated Physics & Chemistry course.  We were able to purchase it used along with the corresponding Teacher’s Manual for a reasonable price.  It is one of the texts that is recommended by DIVE and is indicated to be an honors level course.

3 Days of DIVE Integrated Physics & Chemistry:

1. Read Bob Jones text and answer the corresponding questions from the textbook.  (Doing these questions is something we added to help her spend focus time on what she was reading.)  After reading and answering the questions in her notebook she then comes to me for the answer key so she can check over her work.
2. Watch DIVE Video Lecture and complete corresponding definitions and questions in the DIVE Printable Workbook.  (We printed out the workbook and bound it for ease of use.  You can also purchase a printed one directly from DIVE.)  Upon finishing the lecture she pauses the disc to complete the questions.  Then she continues on in the video where the answers to the questions are gone over and explained.
3. Watch DIVE Video Lab and complete the corresponding Lab Sheets, pausing as the video indicates.

Join me on a journey through How I Teach Homeschool High School:

Precursor: So You’re Scared to Homeschool High School

Day 1: How I Teach Homeschool High School Language Arts

Day 2: How I Teach Homeschool High School Math

Day 3: How I Teach Homeschool High School Science

Day 4: How I Teach Homeschool High School History

Day 5: How I Teach Homeschool High School Fine Arts

The Big Book of Homeschooling

To get tons of great advice, and move beyond the basics of academics, pick up a copy of The Big Book of Homeschool Ideas. Some topics included are things like active learning, learning with video games, helping teens/tween become independent learners (one of my chapters), teaching on the road, learning with movies, high school literature (one of my chapters), and gardening.

This book can carry you through all your years of homeschooling, covering the stages your children will mature through: preschoolers, elementary grades, middle school, and high school. As your life situation changes, you will find new chapters that apply to you. You can view the full table of contents to see all 103 topics!