Elemental Science

This review needs to be updated! We wrote it before Elemental Science had finished any Logic Stage materials and before they incorporated their living book "Sassafras Science" series.

There aren't many science programs designed specifically for homeschoolers, let alone from a classical perspective. Elemental Science is both, with introductory, grammar, logic and rhetoric levels covering preschool through high school. This is very much a teacher-intensive course (no student-directed options here), though in the rhetoric levels students begin to manage their own assignments more. Introductory and grammar level materials are currently available, with logic and rhetoric levels in development.

How Do These Work?

Each course is divided into 36 weekly units for a full year's study. For every subject (biology; earth science and astronomy; chemistry; and physics) there is one student book/teacher guide per classical education stage (grammar, logic, rhetoric). By covering each of these subjects in three levels, Elemental Science offers twelve complete years of study. The introductory level consists of one student book/teacher guide and provides a basic overview of the four main subjects (biology, chemistry, etc.) for preschoolers and kindergartners.

The student books cannot be used without the teacher guides. They are consumable worktexts with places to draw pictures and write answers; the author has provided preapproval for families to make photocopies for their own use. The teacher guides provide weekly lesson plans broken into both two-day- and five-day-per-week schedules, as well as full scripting for teacher presentation and student quizzes. These work in some ways as unit studies, with plenty of supplementary reading assignments and experiments from outside sources. Almost all experiments (the core of each course) are found in other books, and it will be necessary to procure these in order to complete the work.

At this point only the introductory and grammar levels are available. The introductory course is pretty basic, with most of the experiments found in More Mudpies to Magnets and students required only to complete the experiments, draw a picture of and write briefly about it, and read limited selections from outside sources. The grammar level is more advanced, with more involved experiments (mostly taken from texts by Janice Van Cleave) and much more reading (from sources like Kingfisher and Usborne encyclopedias and biographies about scientists). Quizzes are short and should be fairly painless.

This program should be seen more as a jumping off place for further study rather than an end-all for science instruction. But in the early grades, when science isn't supposed to be difficult yet, this is a great way to introduce its study while making it fun. The hands-on aspect is a great way to do this, as is the use of multiple texts rather than a single textbook which can often burn kids out. And because the material is flexible, you can supplement or limit the program to fit your child's needs and your schedule.

Our Honest Opinion:

Initially we found this program less compelling than other science courses we've reviewed. The workbooks are basically journalssimply places to record information—and it seems unwise to base an entire curriculum on additional resources that may or may not be available. The teacher's guides add little beside weekly lesson plans, so it also seems easier to simply procure and complete those resources rather than finding them and buying these books. If there was plenty of extra content here it might make these texts worth it, but at the early levels especially (when science isn't even required or all that necessary) they just seem like unneccesary added cost.

That being said, there isn't much available science curriculum for early grade school. While the author is a Christian, this is pretty much just science with little reference to faith-based matters (though the grammar-level earth science text does reference creationism and recommend a book from a distinctly creationist perspective—to the author's defense, she's writing in China). The framework nature of the program allows you to add in any elements or emphases you deem necessary. The teacher guides are clear and easy-to-use, making implementation time-efficient and headache-free. Each course stands alone so you can start anywhere you like, though the difficulty increases with every level and each builds on the last. This has potential to make a great science course all the way through grade 12, but we don't think it's there yet.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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34 Items found Print
Biology for the Grammar Stage - Student Workbook
by Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for 1st-2nd grade
in Miscellaneous Science Curriculum (Location: SCICUR-MISC)
Biology for the Grammar Stage - Teacher Guide
by Paige Hudson
2nd edition from Elemental Science
for 1st-4th grade
in Miscellaneous Science Curriculum (Location: SCICUR-MISC)
Biology for the Logic Stage
by Paige Hudson
2nd edition from Elemental Science
for 7th-8th grade
in Elemental Science (Location: SCICUR-ELE)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Chemistry for the Grammar Stage - Student Workbook
by Paige Hudson
Updated Edition, 3rd Printing from Elemental Science
for 4th-6th grade
in Miscellaneous Science Curriculum (Location: SCICUR-MISC)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Chemistry for the Grammar Stage - Student Workbook and Teacher Guide (old)
by Paige Hudson
Updated from Elemental Science
for 2nd-5th grade
in Miscellaneous Science Curriculum (Location: SCICUR-MISC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Chemistry for the Grammar Stage - Teacher's Guide & Quiz Book (old)
by Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for 4th-6th grade
in Old Edition Science (Location: OSCI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Chemistry for the Logic Stage - Teacher Guide
by Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for 5th-8th grade
in Elemental Science (Location: SCICUR-ELE)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Earth Science & Astronomy for the Grammar Stage - Set (old)
by Paige Hudson
Updated from Elemental Science
for 2nd-5th grade
in Old Edition Science (Location: OSCI)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Earth Science & Astronomy for the Logic Stage
by Paige Hudson
2nd edition from Elemental Science
for 5th-8th grade
in Miscellaneous Science Curriculum (Location: SCICUR-MISC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Intro to Science - Student Book
by Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in Miscellaneous Science Curriculum (Location: SCICUR-MISC)
Intro to Science - Teacher Guide
by Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in Miscellaneous Science Curriculum (Location: SCICUR-MISC)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 1
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 2
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
2nd edition from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 3
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 4
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 5
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 6
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Official Sassafras SciDat Logbook 7
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Physics for the Grammar Stage - Set (old)
by Paige Hudson
2nd edition from Elemental Science
for 3rd-5th grade
in Old Edition Science (Location: OSCI)
$24.00 (2 in stock)
Physics for the Grammar Stage - Teacher Guide
by Paige Hudson
3rd edition from Elemental Science
for 3rd-5th grade
in Elemental Science (Location: SCICUR-ELE)
Sassafras Guide to Anatomy
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Guide to Astronomy
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Guide to Botany
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Guide to Chemistry
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Guide to Earth Science
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Sassafras Guide to Geology
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Sassafras Guide to Zoology
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 1
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 2
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 3
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 4
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 5
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 6
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)
Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 7
Sassafras Science
by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson
from Elemental Science
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Sassafras Science (Location: SCICUR-SAS)