Traditional homeschool science curricula, compared

What this list holds

Traditional programs look much like school courses: a lesson, practice in a workbook or on screen, review and tests. Most textbook and online programs that name no particular method fall here.

Science curricula range from read-and-narrate books for young children to high school courses with lab work. Many elementary programs cover one topic a year, such as plants or the human body, rather than a little of everything.

This list holds programs sold for science on their own. Full curricula that teach it along with every other subject are on homeschool all-in-one curricula.

At a glance

• All 5 show a price on the publisher's site. For one child and one year of the main package they run from $84.60 to $250.
• How the child works: 3 books and workbooks, 2 video lessons.
• 3 of the 5 have a placement test or level guide on the publisher's site, linked on each card.
• Grades: all reach pre-K or kindergarten, all reach the elementary grades, 4 reach middle school and 3 reach high school.

Each program in a line

• Apologia Science: A family teaching several children who wants one science topic at a time, read together from a textbook with hands-on activities, and then a structured textbook course for each teen.
• Generation Genius: A family that wants ready-made, video-led science or math lessons with hands-on activities for the elementary and middle school years.
• The Good and the Beautiful: A family that wants low-cost, open-and-go printed lessons and likes teaching science and history to several children at once.
• Mystery Science: 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.
• REAL Science Odyssey: A family that wants one science subject a year, read aloud and done together, with hands-on labs already planned out.

Before you buy

Look at how much of each day is worksheets or screen work, and whether the teacher's guide is scripted. Traditional programs are easy to record for a portfolio because the work is all written down.

Look for what the experiments need: some programs sell a supply kit, others list household items. For high school, check whether a lab course counts toward the credits you plan to give.

Most publishers post samples and a placement test; each card links the placement test where the publisher has one.

Side by side

• Apologia Science vs REAL Science Odyssey
• Mystery Science vs Generation Genius

Related lists

• Traditional homeschool curricula 24
• Secular traditional homeschool curricula 14
• Faith-based traditional homeschool curricula 9
• Homeschool science curricula 8
• Traditional homeschool math curricula 8
• Homeschool science curricula for middle school 7
• Traditional homeschool all-in-one curricula 7
• Homeschool science curricula for high school 5
• Print homeschool science curricula 5
• Secular homeschool science curricula 5
• Traditional homeschool language arts programs 5
• Traditional homeschool reading and phonics programs 4
• Every program, with a filter for any combination

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.

No affiliate links, no sponsored places, no ranking. Something wrong or out of date? Send a correction; publishers can send corrections, never money.