Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

Tagged: Berean Builders, elementary science, science, Science in the Atomic Age

This topic has 14 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 1 year ago by Shan Jo.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

Author
Posts
May 25, 2024 at 5:23 pm
Shan Jo
Participant
I’m trying to decide between these two. I like that Sonlight uses literature, has every laid out out so it’s open and go, and I like having all the supplies.
Berean builders I like that it’s quite a bit cheaper and has all the supplies if I buy the kit. It looks good maybe a little textbooky which I’m not a fan of but not as bad as Apologia, which we did not like.
Has anyone used both and can give me some insight? I am light Charlotte Mason in many ways but I do prefer living books and hands on as do my kids. I can’t have it be a lot of work however with many children in literally every age group I need easy and pre-planned.
Any help would be appreciated!
May 26, 2024 at 7:19 am
Ruralmama
Participant
I think I answered you on the well trained forum;) Additionally, I’m not sure how engaging Sonlight’s books really are. Maybe check a few out from the library and see what you think. The most engaging books I’ve seen for science are those from here (Simply Charlotte Mason). I really like Exploring what God has Made with the student doing the reading as a bridge to Wiles Atomic Age. I love pond and stream as well as Discovering what God has Made for earlier elementary.
Those use real living books that are fun to read and the kids pull off our shelves to read later. Not as many experiments though. It hade nature exploration suggestions instead. Lots in Exploring and discovering somewhat fewer in pond and stream. You are supposed to take a few trips to ponds and streams though and look for stuff.
May 26, 2024 at 7:36 am
Shan Jo
Participant
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Thank you! I haven’t really looked at Simply Charlotte Mason. My kids want more experiments. We really do a lot of natural exploration outside and they spend hours all year long exploring and finding things, we have jars filled with insects, lizards, spiders, and every living thing they can catch, lol! They observe them and have learned a ton! So I’m not really looking for naturestudy since we get plenty in our daily life. I’ll look through the samples though and see if maybe we would like it.</p>
I love your suggestion for Sonlight! I hadn’t thought of getting the books at the library and seeing if we even like them.
May 26, 2024 at 4:45 pm
Twinsmomxtwo
Participant
I have used both of these curricula.
First, if you are looking for a truly Christian Science curriculum, the Berean Builders is better, hands down. Dr. Wile weaves the Christian, creationist viewpoint into everything.
Sonlight, if you’re talking about the elementary/middle school levels, on the other hand, uses mainly secular books. For example, in the Sonlight Science E program, none of the books are from a Christian perspective. They are all secular (DK, Osborne, etc.). I had to find supplemental Christian books to counter any evolution material that was present in the books. Another thing I didn’t like is the readings felt very choppy and a lot of times the experiments have nothing to do with the concepts being learned. It’s just too disjointed. While it is all laid-out nicely, content-wise it wasn’t aligned with our worldview (even though Sonlight is a Christian company).
My son used Science in the Atomic Age this past year and he loved it. While it may seem textbook-y, it really isn’t.
The way Dr. Wile writes is like he is having a conversation with the student as they go through the book. Also, he emphasizes that the experiments are meant to be viewed as a demonstration of the concepts being learned, not something from which to create an entire lab report (at least with the book we did; this may be different for high school).
I’m not sure what grade levels you’re looking for but Science in the Atomic Age had a schedule to follow and a downloadable & printable notebook for the on-your-own questions and study guide questions. My son did everything pretty independently, including the experiments (he was 8th grade).
Check out Dr. Wile’s blog as well as the Berean Builders site. There’s lots of insight there.
I hope this helped. Let me know if you have additional questions.
May 26, 2024 at 5:12 pm
Twinsmomxtwo
Participant
BTW I forgot to mention that we bought an experiment kit designed for the Science in the Atomic Age book from Nature’s Workshop Plus. It made it so easy for my son to just grab everything from the kit and go, only having to add in a few common household items that I made sure to plan for ahead of time.
May 26, 2024 at 6:38 pm
Shan Jo
Participant
Your description is extremely helpful! I am looking at science C in Sonlight and the elementary for my younger crew. I was thinking of having my 8th grader do science in the Atomic Age on her own so that was also really helpful to read how that worked for you!
I do really like the Berean builders…we are doing Sonlight core C in history with my 3 younger kids (5th & two 2nd graders) do you think starting at Science in the beginning would be good or picking a different one that corresponds with our history would be better?
May 27, 2024 at 3:13 pm
Twinsmomxtwo
Participant
Here is a link on Berean Builders website regarding syncing up history studies with the elementary series. Sonlight C is basically Middle Ages through modern global history so you can look at these lists and see what fits best.
https://bereanbuilders.com/ecomm/synchronize-history-to-science/
Or you can ignore the time periods and just study the scientists and their discoveries. Dr. Wile states in these documents that he doesn’t necessarily recommend matching the history and science because of the imbalance of information covered in the early years vs. the later years. You could do Sonlight C and Science in the beginning and use your timeline book to add the scientists to show where they were in history vs. what you’re studying in history.
There are 6 volumes in the elementary series so you probably wouldn’t get to them all if you start with Beginning. Maybe start with Ancient World so your younger child will go through the last 4 and be ready for the middle school levels at 7th grade.
Honestly, I think this all boils down to preference – how do YOU want todo science? If you like the idea of matching it with history, then go for it. It will be fun and again, make sure to use the timeline book so kids can see when everything happened and see how they relate to each other.
Oh BTW- For Science in the Atomic Age, there are recorded classes videos available that you can buy individually for specific chapters or the whole book if your student should need any help with concepts. They also offer live classes.
We’ve been happy with the Berean Builders programs. I love the creationist perspective and the conversational style of Dr. Wile’s writing and the ease of use. I hope our co-op will use the Discovering Design with Biology this coming year. 🙏🏼
May 27, 2024 at 4:28 pm
Shan Jo
Participant
Thank you so much! Your insight and thoughts have extremely helpful! I will take what you’ve said and try to decide what I think is best for us ❤️
May 27, 2024 at 5:33 pm
Twinsmomxtwo
Participant
I’m glad I can share and help. Best wishes to you.
if you think of it check in once you decide on something to let us all know how it’s going .😊
May 28, 2024 at 7:23 am
Ruralmama
Participant
My 7th grader did atomic age also mostly independently. He’s dyslexic so I got the audio and we don’t the chapter reviews orally together. I did not get a kit. It was easy to look ahead a chapter and buy the materials. We only skipped a few labs due to mama forgetting to buy red cabbage at the correct time. I was very pleased with it and have already bought Earth science. I will get the partial kit for that:)
I have science in the beginning and like it very well as well. My kids just sometimes find the writing a bit dry. I think it’s best for 2nd or 3rd on up.
June 2, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Shan Jo
Participant
I’m thinking of doing In the beginning so that’s good to hear. I’m thinking of using it with my 8th, 5th, and two 2nd graders. I know it’s young for the 8th but I don’t see me being able to do more than 1 science.
I think I’ll go with Berean Builders due to price and convenience.
June 3, 2024 at 7:46 am
Ruralmama
Participant
I would really recommend atomic age for the 8th grader. My 7th grader did it without me. It is written to the student. I scheduled it for him and spent about 1/2 an hour reviewing each chapter. I also bought supplies for the experiments. I wasn’t sure how he would do as he is not particularly academic, but he rose to the occasion.

June 4, 2024 at 7:51 am
Shan Jo
Participant
I have considered that…I am worried about a couple things, 1, helping with all the experiments for 2 books. 2, my 8th grader isn’t really that mature (shes a foster child) and has meltdowns if it’s perceived as too hard. 3, the 8th grader doesn’t like doing things alone she feels alienated and picked on.
I had read the Atomic age was quite difficult which is why I decided not to have her do it. But if you think it’s not so hard I will reconsider. She really does need to practice some independent learning in science before highschool.
June 4, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Karen Smith
Moderator
Of course you know your family best and are free to make choices that fit your family. Do consider, however, that your oldest is almost high school age. She will need to learn how to work independently as she matures into adulthood and will need to complete courses that have the amount of work expected for high school in order for them to be recorded on a transcript. That being said, a child doesn’t have to graduate at the age of 18. You can choose to have her work at a slower pace for high school and take more time to accumulate credits, as long as there are no restrictions or expectations with her being a foster child.
Science in the Atomic Age is a step up from the elementary Science in the . . . books. That is to be expected since it is designed for middle school. Science in the elementary years is more about experiencing as many different branches of science as possible through reading good books, experiments, and the personal connections made with nature study. Two to three days each week for science lessons is plenty in grades 1-6. Middle school and high school courses usually need 5 days per week for science lessons because there is more material to cover as the student does a deeper dive into a single branch of science with each course.
I would encourage you and your daughter to work through the full sample chapter for Science in the Atomic Age (look under Product Resources) to see if it is an option now or if you should wait a year. Keep in mind that Science in the Atomic Age (and any of the middle school/high school courses) can be spread out over more than a year if your student needs to take them at a slower pace. Berean Builders’ middle school and high school level courses are written directly to the student with the assumption that the student has no one in the home who knows science well enough to help. Even though the courses are designed to be worked independently, Dr. Wile/Berean Builders provide several options for help. Dr. Wile has a website set up where students can ask him questions (the link is given in each book), there are online classes taught by a teacher, and there are pre-recorded classes that can be purchased for a reasonable fee. The online classes are an option if you think your daughter would work better for someone who isn’t mom. The pre-recorded classes allow the student to work at her own pace, instead of the pace of a live class. If you think your 5th grader could handle Science in the Atomic Age, you could have both your 8th grade and your 5th grade students complete it together. That way your 8th grader would not be working alone.
As for the amount of experiments, Science in the Atomic Age has an average of 3-4 experiments per chapter, some chapters have less and some have more. Chapters take about 2 to 2-1/2 weeks to complete if working at a pace to finish it in one school year.
If you decide that keeping your daughter with your younger children is the best option for your family, then I recommend that you have her complete all of the lessons in the elementary book you choose to use. You have the option in the elementary books to have lessons 2 or 3 times each week. By having your daughter complete 3 lessons each week, you will help her transition to 5 lessons each week for the middle school/high school level courses. It also would give her an opportunity to work independently for one lesson per week if you choose to do 2 lessons each week with the rest of your children.
June 4, 2024 at 8:39 pm
Shan Jo
Participant
Your response is extremely helpful! I definitely needed to hear some of these truths and realities. Trying the sample chapter is an excellent idea, and I will do that! I’ll even have my 5th grader look at it he’s about on the same level as myv8th grader so it may work to do them together and have my younger two do only nature studies or something easy. I definitely have some things to think about this summer!
I really appreciate your thoughtful and intuitive advice! Thank you.