Berean Builders for High School Science

You could start her with Science in the Atomic Age, but keep in mind that it does not count for high school science. It is a good one to use to transition to a more textbook study of science.

The only prerequisites for high school science are certain levels of math for chemistry (Algebra I) and physics (Geometry and an understanding of sine, cosine, and tangent). Earth Science and Biology do not have any prerequisites.

Berean Builders has samples of each of the books on their website under “Product Resources”. Most of the book samples are the full first chapter, with Science in the Atomic Age being the exception with the full second chapter. You could download the sample chapter for Science in the Atomic Age or Earth Science and let her work through that chapter to get a feel for if she likes it before you purchase. Berean Builders also has audio book recordings of each book and pre-recorded classes. They also have online classes available if you think your daughter might be more motivated with science if she had an outside instructor.

If you decide to go with Berean Builders and want to start her with Science in the Atomic Age, even though you can’t count it as a full high school science credit, then Earth Science followed by Biology is a good plan, especially if she does not have the math prerequisites for Chemistry or Physics. She would get two of her three science credits fulfilled with a year to finish the third. If she has the math prerequisite for Chemistry and she has tried other biology or earth science courses and didn’t like them, then you might try chemistry and skip biology. Chemistry and physics are very different than biology, being quite math oriented.

Also, keep in mind that unless she is going to get a college degree in any field that needs science, she does not need to go the traditional route of earth science/physical science, biology, chemistry, and physics for her science credits. There are other branches of science she can explore: geology, insects, human body, botany, astronomy, marine biology, birds, etc. It is possible to build your own high school science by combining books from the library with hands-on experience. For example, my daughter did her own high school course on insects. She checked out books from the library on a variety of insects and insect behavior and did written narrations on what she found out. She also did her own field work by studying live insects. She was motivated to self-study insects because it was a branch of science that interested her.