Science Shepherd for the Littles in your life…

Science Shepherd is an online Christian based homeschool science program written by a homeschool dad!

As a member of the TOS crew, we have had the opportunity to review their Introductory Science curriculum, as well as the Introductory Science Workbook – Level A that goes along with it (and answer key).

A Little About Introductory Science

Introductory Science is intended to be used by students age 6-11. It is written as a 35 week curriculum that you will use five day a week, with fairly short daily lessons.

This is an online program and with your purchase, you will have access to it for 12 months. (If you need more time, you can pay a small monthly fee to have access for as long as you need.)

In addition to the online videos, there is a workbook so you can reinforce what was learned in the videos. There are 2 workbooks: Level A and Level B. Level A is intended for ages 6-8 and Level B is intended for ages 9-11. Although, you know your child and what he/she needs, so you can definitely pick the level based on ability, not age.

I got the Level A workbook for my 8 year old. That was a good decision for us.

Introductory Science in OUR home

I got the online subscription before I received the workbook and so I thought I would get a start on the videos, even though we didn’t have the workbook yet. Let me just say, that was a mistake.

Because I didn’t have the workbook, my daughter wasn’t able to reinforce the information she was learning in the videos. AND, since the videos are quite short, it seemed like it wasn’t enough information for a lesson.

So… don’t do that. ;)  Don’t get excited and get ahead of yourself like me.

Once we got the book and we were able to do things right, she got much more out of the program.

Here’s what we did… My 8 year old daughter and 12 year old son (and me) would watch the video, which is only 2-5 minutes in length.

(We don’t own a TV. We watch “TV” with a projector on the wall. Don’t be jealous. :P)

Then, my daughter and I would do the workbook page for that day’s video. She isn’t reading yet, so I would read whatever was on the page for her and she would tell me the answer and write down the answer if needed.

Sometimes it was a matching type activity like this:

And, there are activities, too. Of course, they are optional, but they make things a bit more fun and can help the student understand the info.

For the one in the picture below, she needed to color the flowers, cut them out and then “classify” them by putting them in different piles depending on the number or petals or colors of flower.

Like I said, this is organized as a 5 day a week homeschool science curriculum. This causes a bit of a problem for us, because we go to homeschool enrichment program on Mondays.

To remedy that problem, we just did two lessons on Tuesdays. And, since the videos are short, it ended up being a non-issue. So, if you also go to a “school” one day a week, don’t let that stop you from getting this program.

Since I work in the afternoons (and some mornings), I like that this is something that my youngest can do with her siblings with no problem. And, because the lessons don’t take long, her siblings aren’t too “bothered” by having to take time away from their own work. :)

And, as a bonus, they review the information that is presented in the lessons!  Sssshhhhhh! Don’t tell them that is part of my master plan!

We have enjoyed this curriculum and will continue using it. I’m thankful to have been introduced to it and I hope you check it out.

Information at a glance:

What is it? Introductory Science by Science Shepherd

For whom? Ages 6-11

How much is it? Only $35 for a 12 month subscription to the online videos and the workbooks are $12 each.