I received a free copy of the By Design Science Level 7 curriculum and was compensated for my time to create this post. All opinions are my own. I was not required to give a positive review.Â
There is no denying that God has created some beautiful things, and we love exploring God’s creation through science. My son devours science books in the same way a ravenous man eats a sandwich. I am always in search of books and curriculum that teach science by design, rather than by evolution, to satiate his voracious reading appetite. As a homeschool parent, I want my kids to investigate and enjoy the world around them… as it was meant to be investigated and enjoyed. That’s why I’m delighted to have discovered By Design Science, a faith-based science curriculum for grades 1-8.
By Design Science
Without a doubt, By Design Science from Kendall Hunt Religious Publishers is a curriculum worth exploring! Â
Each By Design Science grade level is organized into four units.Â
- Life Science
- Physical Science
- Earth and Space Science
- The Human Body
Health is integrated into each unit and chapter. Each unit is divided into chapters and the chapters are broken into lessons.
We love that By Design Science is a guided science investigation. Your child will start by diving into the textbook that By Design Science has created. Each chapter includes a chapter overview that includes the lessons, a Scripture spotlight, the Big Idea, and an Inquiry Kick-off.
By Design Science Instructional Model
By Design Science uses a 5-part instructional model to help students engage, discover, explain, extend, and assess. This model naturally stimulates a love of learning and discovery. The instructional model is as follows:Â
Engage- When it comes to the By Design Science, it’s important to engage your child. I feel as though By Design does just that. These units really engaged my son and myself. Each lesson will ask your child a question, after this there is an experiment.
Discover – I love that By Design allows your kids to spend some time discovering. If your kids are anything like mine, they love experimenting. This part of the curriculum is by far a favorite.
Explain – Your children get to explain what is happening in their experiment. It’s so important for kids to be able to explain what they’re seeing. You can even dive into the teacher’s manual to get more material to help teach your child.
Extend – Children also need to go beyond what they’re learning. The extension in the teacher’s guide have really helped my children go beyond the lesson and learn even more.
Take time to Assess and Reflect – When it comes down to assessing and reflecting, it’s important to take the time to do this. I love that By Design Science gives children the chance to do this. The Student Journals are a great asset to this curriculum.
While your kids have a chance to discover the world of science, you are the ultimate guide. Each unit challenges kids by asking questions that matter. These challenging questions, like “how can you extract DNA from cells?” allow your kids to really get a grasp on what they have learned. The end of the lesson your child will have a chance to reflect on what they have learned.
By Design Science Faith Connections
In addition to each chapter providing a Scripture Spotlight, there are Scriptures throughout the chapter to highlight a Biblical worldview in science. Each chapter also includes a Faith Connections section that provokes thoughtful consideration of questions that require students to apply the lesson content to their faith.
By Design Science Home Connection
Each chapter also includes a Home Connections section that
I found the digital Teacher’s Guide to be a great tool. Each teacher’s manual includes a test for your children, so you can see what they’ve learned if you like. You’ll also find that there are a lot more tools your family can benefit from, while learning.
All in all, I’m delighted to have discovered By Design Science from Kendall Hunt Religious Publishers and look forward to finishing it with my son. I love that my son likes it. He reads science text books in his free time, so finding one he likes is a total mom win!
Kendall Hunt Religious Publishers also publishes Pathways Reading Language Art for grades 1-8, Kindergarten Stepping Stones and offers Talented and Gifted programs in mathematics (M2 and M3) as well as products developed in collaboration with the CFGE (Center for Gifted Education) College of William and Mary in subject areas such as language arts, social studies, and science.
Stay current with all that Kendall Hunt Religious Publishers offers by following @kendallhuntprek12 on Facebook and @KendallHuntRPD on Twittter.
