This post has been sponsored by BJU Press.
We decided to try something new and switch to a completely different homeschool science curriculum for fourth grade. We chose BJU Press Science 4. This one comes with online video lessons, a student text, a student workbook, pre-printed student handouts and tests, and the teacher’s guide.
Each day my boys watched a teacher named Mrs. Overly present the lesson. Mrs. Overly is full of smiles, speaks kindly to the students, and guides them through the material thoughtfully, including experiments. Occasionally the teacher has students pause and read from the student text. My boys (twins) would read take a turn reading aloud from the student text the reading lesson for the day. After the video, the boys completed any workbook pages for the lesson as assigned, and completed the experiments. The science experiments used common items from our kitchen and home. Each day they worked for about twenty minutes from start to finish.
I love that BJU Press Science 4 includes online access to the daily schedule for the year with a checklist format so you always know what’s next and can go directly to the video you need. As the parent, this made staying organized, and on top of what my boys were doing super easy. We just headed over to our online access portal each day on my computer, clicked the link for the video to get started, and streamed it directly to the TV so the boys could watch and work together on the couch.
Once the lesson started, I was able to step back and let the boys do what the teacher told them to do. As a homeschool mom, it was nice to sit back and watch someone else teach (or go wash the dishes) and not be the one in charge for once! After each lesson, I would ask the boys a couple of questions to see how well they listened and understood what was taught. This helped keep them accountable to actually pay attention to the video and complete the lesson.
If you and your children are looking for a traditional style all-in-one curriculum package for science, with a video lesson, workbook, and text all included, BJU Press is an excellent choice. The material is covered and explained in a thorough, engaging way and taught in a traditional format. The science books use a spiral approach, covering a little bit from each scientific discipline each year, building on what students have learned in the past. We had never used a spiral curriculum in the past, but my boys had no problem jumping in and figuring out how to do the work.
I really appreciate that BJU Press Science (and all of their other subjects as well) is taught from a Biblical worldview, including young-earth creation. In our family this is a must. God and his omniscience and His Lordship over creation were mentioned often, but not in a preachy way. Just as if the people writing the curriculum have a relationship with God, trust Him implicitly, and speak about him often in everyday life and work. These are the kind of mentors I want for my kids.
Bottom Line: I highly recommend BJU Press Science 4 for your family!
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