Are you a parent of a young adventurer, ready to embark on the captivating journey of homeschooling for your first to sixth grader? In the vast sea of educational options, let us introduce you to a different option – the Discover! homeschool curriculum. Navigating through subjects like Math, English, Social Studies, and Science, this secular program is set to chart a course for your homeschooling odyssey.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want to do my course on how to homeschool, click here.
Later in the post, I’ll also give you some photos of what the pages in the workbook look like, so make sure you read to the end.
What is the Discover! Curriculum?
The Discover! curriculum is a versatile and engaging blended program designed for homeschooling elementary students.
It combines textbook learning, online courses, and hands-on activities to create a holistic learning experience.
The curriculum is structured with well-thought-out lesson plans, enabling students to work independently and practice essential skills.
It incorporates fun characters, colorful visuals, and suggestions for accommodating various learning styles, making it suitable for the whole family.
Each lesson starts with a hands-on “Discover” activity, promoting independent learning, and includes vocabulary words and definitions.
Access to the online hub provides additional video lessons and practice activities to enhance the curriculum.
This combination of workbooks and digital resources ensures a well-rounded education that keeps students engaged and excited about learning.
What is the Discover Curriculum Model?
What is the Discover Curriculum Model?The Discover! Curriculum Model is a versatile homeschooling approach covering Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts for grades one through six, offering both worktext and online “blended” formats.
These comprehensive courses are designed to accommodate various learning styles and engage students through interactive activities, encompassing scenario-based lessons and real-life connections.
The curriculum combines secular content aligned with national standards while deferring topics like evolution to later grades.
Each course comprises two worktexts for semesters, alongside an instructor guide, making it user-friendly for parents.
Lessons follow a structured format and incorporate a variety of hands-on activities, encouraging critical thinking and practical application.
An online “blended” option enhances the curriculum with multimedia content, interactive lessons, and faith-related activities for those who choose them, allowing students to learn with flexibility and providing easy assessment tools.
The Discover! curriculum model ensures a balanced mix of independent study and parental involvement, making it a comprehensive and adaptable choice for homeschooling families.
What is Unique About Discover?
Discover! is meant to spark curiosity in students and encourage them to want to continue learning.
What Families Will the Discover Curriculum Suit?
The Discover! Homeschool Curriculum is a versatile program that can suit a variety of homeschooling families, but it may be particularly well-suited for the following types of homeschoolers:
- Hands-On Learners: Discover! incorporates hands-on activities, experiments, and interactive lessons, making it an excellent choice for families with children who thrive on kinesthetic learning and enjoy exploring scientific concepts through practical experiences.
- Visual Learners: The curriculum uses vibrant photographs and illustrations, with ample white space in the lessons to prevent visual overwhelm. It’s a good fit for students who learn best through visual aids.
- Flexible and Diverse Learners: Discover! offers suggestions for accommodating different learning styles, including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. This flexibility makes it suitable for families with children who have varied learning preferences.
- Science Enthusiasts: Families looking to foster a love of science and exploration will find Discover! engaging and stimulating. It covers a wide range of science topics and encourages critical thinking, making it appealing to budding scientists.
- Homeschoolers Seeking Comprehensive Science Education: For parents who want a comprehensive science curriculum that includes hands-on experiments, critical thinking exercises, and real-life connections, Discover! offers a well-organized and thorough approach to science education.
- Families Looking for a Secular Curriculum: Discover! offers secular content, making it suitable for families who prefer science education without religion.
- Parents with Multiple Children: The curriculum’s adaptability and suggestions for teaching different learning styles allow parents to customize the program for each child, making it convenient for families with multiple homeschoolers.
- Engagement Seekers: Discover! aims to make learning fun and engaging with its hands-on experiments, interactive activities, and real-life connections. It’s ideal for families who want to keep their children excited about learning.
- Parents Who Value Independent Learning: The Discover! curriculum encourages independent learning as students progress through the lessons, making it suitable for parents who want their children to develop self-reliance and problem-solving skills.
- Parents Seeking a Comprehensive Curriculum: The curriculum covers various science topics, including biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, and environmental science. This makes it suitable for parents who want a well-rounded science education.
Ultimately, the Discover! homeschool curriculum is adaptable and can be tailored to the specific needs and preferences of homeschooling families, making it a suitable choice for a diverse range of educational approaches and learning styles.
What Families Will the Discover Curriculum NOT Suit?
What Families Will the Discover Curriculum NOT Suit?While the Discover! Homeschool Curriculum is a versatile program, there are certain families or educational philosophies for whom it may not be the best fit:
- Strict Online Learning Preferences: While the Discover! curriculum integrates online resources, it is primarily a hands-on and textbook-based curriculum. Families who prefer a fully online or digital homeschooling approach may not find it to be a perfect match.
- Advanced Science Focus: Families with students seeking advanced or specialized science education, such as advanced placement or honors-level science courses, may find Discover! too general and elementary in its content.
- Rapid Pace or Accelerated Learning: Discover! is designed for a typical pace of 2-3 days per lesson, which may not suit families who wish to cover science topics at an accelerated rate or who have students who are advanced learners seeking a faster pace.
- Overemphasis on Hands-On Activities: While hands-on activities are a highlight of Discover!, families with limited access to materials or resources for hands-on experiments may find it challenging to fully engage with the curriculum.
- Families Who Want Lots of Bible Content in Workbooks: There is an option to ‘turn on faith-connections’ but workbooks are secular. This won’t suit Christians who want a biblical worldview throughout the program.
Ultimately, the suitability of the Discover! curriculum depends on individual preferences, educational philosophies, and the specific needs and goals of each homeschooling family.
How Much is the Discover Curriculum?
The cost of the Discover! Homeschool Curriculum can vary based on several factors, including the grade levels, subject selections, and any additional materials or resources you choose to include.
The program costs around $500 for the full grade 1 package (Language Arts, Science, Math, and Social Studies + Teachers Guides) and is a reasonable estimate for a comprehensive curriculum package that covers multiple subjects.
I added everything you’ll need for grade 1 to my cart below and you can see it totalled $498 USD (excluding shipping).
I added everything I’d need for a grade level and this was the cost for the Discover! curriculum.
Is the Discover! Curriculum Secular or Christian?
The Discover! curriculum has secular workbooks.
An option is to ‘turn on faith-connections’.
Pros of the Program
There are some great things about the program such as:
- Engaging Activities: Discover! uses fun, hands-on activities to help kids learn.
- Fits Different Learning Styles: It works for kids who learn in different ways.
- Real-Life Examples: It shows how science/math and so on are used in everyday life.
- Parents Can Help: There are guides for parents and tests for kids.
- Gorgeous (!) Graphics: The pages are full of color and interest for kids.
- Encourages Independence: Although parents help, the program encourages independ learning.
This program is a well-loved curriculum and will suit a lot of families.
Cons of the Program
But, it won’t suit everyone. Here are some cons you should be aware of before you buy the program.
- Not Very Advanced: It might not be enough for really smart kids.
- Not Fully Online: It’s not all on the computer.
- Can Be Pricey: It can cost a lot, especially for many subjects and many kids.
- Not for Special Topics: It might not work if you want to learn about just one thing.
- Not for Fast Learners: It might be too slow if you learn quickly.
- Needs Materials: Some activities need stuff you might not have.
Have a careful think to see if Discover! is right for your family.
Ease of Use
Discover! is pretty easy to use for both kids and parents.
For Kids:
Discover! Homeschool Curriculum is kid-friendly with its:
- hands-on activities,
- clear layout, and
- real-life connections.
It engages students through interactive lessons and accommodates various learning styles, making it easy for kids to enjoy learning independently or with minimal guidance.
For Parents:
For parents, Discover! offers:
- Instructor Guides,
- flexibility, and
- assessment tools to simplify homeschooling.
The curriculum’s real-life connections and use of common materials reduce the preparation needed. It gradually fosters independent learning, and its clear organization eases the planning and management of the homeschooling journey. This balance between engagement and support makes it parent-friendly.
How the Online Portion (Online Hub) Works
The online hub for Discover! typically comes as part of the curriculum package and doesn’t require an additional payment. Here’s how it works:
- Access: When you purchase the Discover! curriculum workbooks, you should receive access to the online hub as part of the package. This online hub is a digital resource that complements the physical workbooks.
- Additional Resources: The online hub provides extra resources such as video lessons and practice activities that may not be included in the physical workbooks.
- Extension Activities: It may also include extension activities from Elephango, which can enhance your child’s learning experience.
- Student Progress: Some online hubs offer features for tracking student progress and performance, which can be useful for parents to monitor their child’s learning.
- Compatible with Workbooks: The online hub is designed to work in conjunction with the curriculum workbooks, so it enhances and complements the lessons provided in the printed materials.
- Includes Access to Elephango: The curriculum also includes access to the Elephango curriculum. Checkout a review of Elephango here.
The exact features and content of the online hub may vary based on the specific version or grade level of the Discover! curriculum.
It’s a valuable addition to the curriculum, offering extra resources to support your child’s learning journey, and it’s typically included in the overall curriculum package cost.
What Format Does This Curriculum Come In?
Discover! comes in a:
- textbook only curriculum OR
- blended curriculum with textbook and online components
So you can choose what will work best for your family.
What Homeschool Method Does It Follow?
Discover most closely follows the traditional approach.
Does the Curriculum Cater for a Specific Learning Style?
The curriculum is built for all learning styles and shows parent educators how to teach lessons or have students go through lessons depending on their learning style.
Do They Offer All General Subjects?
Math, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. These are the common subjects children will normally do in primary school.
Do They Offer All Grades?
No. The Discover Curriculum covers grades 1-6 only. However, Bridegway offers a high school curriculum.
The Discover Science Homeschool Curriculum
The Discover! Science Homeschool Curriculum is an engaging and comprehensive program designed to teach science to students of all learning styles – and even the most science-resistant homeschoolers!
It integrates the neuroscience of learning with research-based instructional strategies and covers the three branches of science:
- physical,
- life, and
- earth science
The Discover Science homeschool curriculum uses visual and textual lessons, hands-on activities, real-life connections, and critical thinking exercises.
It also introduces students to the scientific method and delves into it in increasing depth as they progress through the grades.
The curriculum includes:
- Engineering,
- Technology, and the
- Application of Sciences.
Each grade level comprises two student worktexts and an Instructor Guide, and the lessons are organized topically into chapters.
Lessons typically take 2-3 days to complete, with a total of 71-78 lessons per year, including a review lesson at the end of each chapter.
The Instructor Guide (aka teacher’s manual) provides valuable lesson objectives, suggestions for supporting students, ideas for addressing different learning styles, and extension activities.
Assessment tools are included in the form of chapter assessments, which may involve projects, experiments, or traditional tests, along with reproducible assessment questions and answer keys.
This curriculum is designed to engage and accommodate a wide range of learners while covering the core principles of science education.
The Discover Social Studies Curriculum
The Social Studies curriculum covers a wide range of social studies topics and progressively introduces new concepts each year.
The curriculum is structured with two Student Worktexts and an Instructor Guide for each grade level, designed to provide a user-friendly learning experience.
Each lesson is organized into four parts: Lesson Overview, Explore, Direct Instruction (Read), and Show What You Know (see the example at the end of this section.)
Hands-on activities, extension activities, and assessments are included in the curriculum, and Instructor Guides offer additional support for parents.
The curriculum encourages interactive and engaging learning while maintaining a neutral perspective on religion and religious content. There is an option to ‘turn on faith connections’.
Example of Social Studies (GRADE 2)
For example, Lesson 44 of the Grade 2 Social Studies starts with an overview on how Communities change over time. This includes vocabulary that students need to know.
It then moves onto the Explore section, where children look at two photos of how a city landscape has changed from 1900 to now.
There is then a significant Read section of three pages and a REVIEW section.
After this comes the Practice section where children think about and draw what their own communities look like.
There is then an assessment in the Show What You Know section with short answers, fill in the blanks and an ONLINE CONNECTION section.
As you can see, the curriculum has lots of quality printing that kids can get excited about!
Where Can I Buy It?
Here’s a link to their shopping page. Go check it out!
The Bottom Line…
In the grand adventure of homeschooling, the Discover! Homeschool Curriculum stands as an exciting option. For parents seeking a way to instill knowledge and nurture skills in their first to sixth graders, this curriculum offers a guiding light to navigate the vast ocean of learning. It equips students to become independent learners, fostering essential life skills and a fervor for knowledge.
