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Of all the subjects I need to teach as a homeschool mom, I don’t really mind science. However, I was a little intimidated by the thought of teaching high school science with labs. I can’t be the only one who cringes at the thought of biology dissections. However, I found an excellent online science curriculum for my high schooler that has set my fears at ease.

I first heard about Journey Homeschool Academy through the Homeschool Review Crew. Unfortunately, I didn’t review any of their online science curriculum because of scheduling conflicts. However, I read such great reviews from others about Journey Homeschool Academy’s online science classes that I checked them out for myself.

It is now a couple of years later, and we have used three of their online science courses. Plus, I just purchased two more for next year.

So, WHY am I returning customer of Journey Homeschool Academy?

Well, there are many reasons.

But first, let me tell you a little about what Journey Homeschool Academy offers for an online science curriculum and how it all works. Then you can decide if it is the right fit for your family as it is for mine.

Table of Contents

• Online Science Curriculum for High School (and the Whole Family)
  • How These Online Science Courses Work
    • Online Video Lessons and More
    • Online Science Curriculum Materials
    • Parent and Student Dashboards
• Christian-Focused Science for Your Homeschool
• Overall, Thoughts on This Online Science Curriculum

Online Science Curriculum for High School (and the Whole Family)

As mentioned, I looked into Journey Homeschool Academy for my high school student. She dreaded the thought of taking biology because it is one science she REALLY does NOT like.

Not to mention, high school courses are expensive! I didn’t want to pay for a class, and she groaned at the thought of doing it daily.

After all, how much effort will someone put into a course if they don’t like it?

Probably not a whole lot! So why waste the money?!

Anyway…

Fortunately, Journey Homeschool Academy has the option to preview a lesson. So, I clicked on it, and we watched it together.

First of all, I was excited about the class after watching the preview. But, best of all, my daughter was!

How These Online Science Courses Work

Journey Homeschool Academy offers an online science curriculum for your WHOLE family. They offer Christian-based science courses at each level.

• Elementary: Astronomy, Biology, Earth Science 
• Middle School: Earth Science and Astronomy
• High School: Biology, Chemistry, Physics (NEW for 2023), Astronomy

They also offer one non-science course called Equipped. It is a Bible survey course for teens.

I have only used the online science curriculum for middle and high school, so I will speak mainly about my experiences with these levels.

Online Video Lessons and More

First of all, the courses have online video-based lessons. Kids listen to Luke or Trisha Gilkerson present information on the topic for the week. There is one video at the middle school level, but at the high school level, there are two videos. In addition, students have outline pages from their Guidebook that help them take notes on the lecture.

I LOVE that kids learn how to take notes during a lesson.

The upper levels (middle and high school) also have online quizzes and exams, which are graded for you.

Plus, all levels have hands-on activities or labs with some video component that explains the lab or activity to them!

This is great because we are notorious for failed science experiments. They fail, and we are trying to make the most of our failed science experiments and figure out what we did wrong. Now we have videos to help!

Online Science Curriculum Materials

All the materials in the course are either video or digital. The course guidebooks and lab notebooks are all digital. However, you can purchase printed copies if you don’t want to do the printing yourself.

I purchased the suggested textbook for the courses, and of course, I needed to buy lab supplies. But don’t worry; Journey Homeschool Academy suggests where you can purchase lab kits or textbooks.

One nice thing is that the instructors, Luke and Trisha, let you know how many labs your child should complete to make a well-rounded high school science course.

I really appreciated that because we could pick and choose the labs we wanted to do, AND it saved on lab costs. For instance, we didn’t do animal lab dissections but completed all the other labs in the biology course.

Parent and Student Dashboards

The Parent and Student Dashboards are easy to use. The parent and student each have their own logins.

Parents have EVERYTHING they need to help their children with the course. As a parent, your Parent Dashboard has

• List of supplies
• Guidebook and lab notebook downloads
• Answer keys
• Reading assignments
• Suggested grading for lab reports.
• Homework help videos (so awesome!)
• Record-keeping sheets for student work
• Your child’s grades on their quizzes and exams
• Any extra materials your child may need, like links for research.

All the materials are so helpful and right at your fingertips. It’s great.

The Student Dashboard is your child’s own portal to the class. It is here, kids find:

• All their video lessons and lab videos
• Quizzes
• Exams 
• Research/Homework questions

My kiddos have never had any difficulty accessing their course materials.

While speaking of course materials, I should note that kids (at least at middle and high school) need their own email. Though don’t worry about it if your kiddos don’t have one. Trisha and Luke will help you with this, especially if you’re a parent that doesn’t want their child to have their own email.

So why their own email?

Well, all lessons are emailed to your child. However, they are only sent their week’s lessons once they’ve checked off that they’ve completed all the previous week’s work. In all, kids complete 35 lessons (four are exam weeks).

You have one year from the date you activate the course to complete it. This is for middle and high school courses. The elementary levels have lifetime access.

So, if you purchase your curriculum in April, you won’t activate it until September. Therefore, your year would start from your September date.

I should take a minute to mention that enrollment is only open a few months a year. Usually, enrollment (when you can buy it) may start with an Early Bird sale sometime in April and run through August.

The quizzes and exams are graded for you. However, the parent needs to grade the homework questions (high school) and lab reports. Though Luke and Trisha provide answer keys and easy tools for grading.

That is kind of Journey Homeschool Academy in a nutshell.

Christian-Focused Science for Your Homeschool

Journey Homeschool Academy provides a Christian-based science curriculum for the whole family. Now, this can get tricky when you are talking about the age of Earth and how long ago scientific events took place.

I am sooo happy with the way Journey Homeschool Academy handles this!

Trisha and Luke are very respectful of other people’s beliefs. They warn families of material they may want to discuss beforehand with their child and encourage families to discuss their beliefs together on a subject.

For instance, with Earth Science, I had a choice between a textbook with an old Earth or a new Earth perspective. Later, when my son needed to research the Earth, they gave us links we could choose from depending on our family’s beliefs.

It is really nice that they acknowledge and respect differing opinions in the Christian community.

Overall, Thoughts on This Online Science Curriculum

Overall, we love the science curriculum that Journey Homeschool Academy offers. This is why we keep purchasing their curriculum each year, AND I became an affiliate for them.

So here is a summary of our thoughts.

Pros

• High-quality video-based instruction– The curriculum is rigorous but presented in a way kids can learn.
• Engaging instructors– My kids enjoy Luke and Trisha (and their kids, that help in the videos). They think they are great teachers and even refer to them as their “science teachers.”
• Great tool for teaching independent learning.
• Students learn valuable note-taking skills. The Guidebook helps students find important information in a classroom lecture.
• Students learn how to study for exams.
• Teaches high school students to write lab reports.
• The Parent and Student Dashboards are easy to navigate and helpful. The Dashboards provide all the information needed to succeed in the class and lots of help for parents.
• Quality textbooks– We have been very satisfied with the texts used in our three courses.
• Terrific hands–on labs and activities– These activities help demonstrate concepts meaningfully. It isn’t busy work.
• My kids love it! – For me, the best part is that my kiddos request Journey Homeschool Academy for science.

Cons

• Christian curriculum- This isn’t for you if you don’t want a Christian-based curriculum.
• You need to repurchase the curriculum (at middle and high school levels) for younger kids. – I can see this being a deal breaker for many people. For instance, I needed to repurchase high school biology for my son even though my daughter did it two years ago.
• You can’t purchase the course in the middle of the year and start it immediately. – If you find yourself part way through a school year and need to switch science curriculum, you can’t register in December and start it then.
• Not for kiddos that struggle with focusing on longer lessons. – I know most of my kids’ video lessons have been almost half an hour long. Kids that cannot sit through longer lessons and take notes may struggle.

So, for me, the Pros outweigh the Cons.  

I will repurchase the high school curriculum for my younger child. I will because I believe that Journey Homeschool Academy offers a quality, rigorous online science curriculum for middle and high school students.

However, I know it isn’t realistic for all families. Some families have a tighter budget than me.

I love that kids learn with fun and engaging instructors and expand learning with meaningful activities and labs. I feel these science courses are doing an excellent job of preparing my kids for further education.

So, I encourage you to look at all the online science curriculum options Journey Homeschool Academy offers. It may be the perfect fit for your family’s needs.

Happy Homeschooling!