Mystery Science vs Generation Genius
The main differences
Both were made for classrooms and are sold to homeschools as a yearly subscription of video-led lessons with hands-on activities. Mystery Science covers kindergarten to 5th grade science, with a narrated video, an activity and a wrap-up in each lesson, for $199 a school year. Generation Genius runs to 8th grade, sells math as well as science, and attaches a lesson plan, reading, discussion questions and quizzes to each video; science alone was $250 a year. In both, the parent chooses which lessons to teach.
| Mystery Science | Generation Genius | |
|---|---|---|
| Subjects | Science | Science and math |
| Grades | Kindergarten to 5th grade | Kindergarten to 8th grade, in K to 2nd, 3rd to 5th and 6th to 8th grade bands |
| Method | Traditional | Traditional |
| Format | Video lessons | Video lessons |
| Faith label | Secular | Secular |
| Cost a year | $199. Homeschool membership for Mystery Science: $199, with full access through June 30, 2027. A bundle with Mystery Writing is $259. The site also offers new members a limited number of free trials to the same date. | $250. Homeschool plan, billed yearly: Science only $250 a year (shown as $21 a month); Math only $250 a year; Science, Math and ELA $325 a year. |
| Placement | None on the publisher's site | None on the publisher's site |
| Parent time | Not stated by the publisher | Not stated by the publisher |
| It fits | A family with children in kindergarten to 5th grade who wants short, ready-made science lessons with a video to start and a hands-on activity to follow. | A family that wants ready-made, video-led science or math lessons with hands-on activities for the elementary and middle school years. |
| It doesn't fit | A family that wants science without screens, or one program that runs past 5th grade. | A family that wants a screen-free course, a set day-by-day schedule, or high school science. |
Mystery Science
Mystery Science is a library of online science units for kindergarten to 5th grade, written for classroom teachers and also sold to homeschool families. Each lesson starts from a question such as why some volcanoes explode: a narrated video exploration, then a hands-on activity with printable sheets and everyday supplies, then a short wrap-up. A homeschool membership gives one household the full lesson library for the school year; supply kits are sold separately.
Does well: Each lesson pairs a short narrated video with a hands-on activity, so the parent does not have to explain the science alone.
Watch for: It stops at 5th grade, so you will need another program for middle and high school science.
Generation Genius
Generation Genius is a library of science and math video lessons for kindergarten to 8th grade, made for classrooms and also sold as a homeschool plan. Each lesson pairs a video with a lesson plan, vocabulary, reading material, discussion questions, a hands-on activity, printable worksheets and quizzes, sorted into K to 2nd, 3rd to 5th and 6th to 8th grade bands. A homeschool subscription is billed once a year, for science only, math only, or both with English language arts.
Does well: Each video comes with a lesson plan, discussion questions, a hands-on activity and quizzes, so a parent has a full lesson ready to teach.
Watch for: Lessons are listed by topic and grade band, so the parent decides which to teach and in what order.
Lists with both
- Homeschool science curricula 8
- Secular homeschool curricula 30
- Traditional homeschool curricula 24
- Homeschool curricula for pre-K and kindergarten 48
- Video-based homeschool curricula 4
- Homeschool curricula for $100 to $300 a year 18
- Secular homeschool science curricula 5
- Secular traditional homeschool curricula 14
How we label
Every fact on a card was read on the publisher's own website on the date shown, and the page it came from is linked. A fact we could not confirm there is left out. Costs are for one child and one year of the main package, as the publisher's page showed them that day; prices and sales change. Method and format are the publisher's own description where it gives one. The only thing we say about religion is one label, secular or faith-based, given by the rule above; where the publisher's pages don't settle it, the card has no label.
Something wrong or out of date? Send a correction; publishers can send corrections, never money. Every program compared