7 Reasons Homeschoolers Should Use Virtual Science Labs
The thought of helping the girls with upper-level homeschool science classes and labs makes me a bit nervous. I’ve shared on the blog before how I tend to sneak out of science lessons and experiments with the girls and let Frankie take over. This was until we came across College Prep Science with Greg Landry.
After getting a sneak peek into the Virtual Science Labs that College Prep Science offers, I feel much more relaxed about middle school and high school science labs to come. These interactive, virtual science labs make it easy for homeschoolers to complete in-depth experiments and lab reports with a few clicks from the mouse.
What Is College Prep Science?
Greg Landry offers affordable, quality homeschool science and math courses at College Prep Science. These classes are presented by Greg through video and a screen-sharing setup.
All the science and math classes offered are from a Christian/Creationist Worldview. Greg starts each class with a short prayer and then dives right into the lesson. Classes are offered in both live and self-paced formats to fit busy homeschooler’s schedules.
College Prep Science offers so many classes for middle and high schoolers.
Just some of the current offerings include:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Human Anatomy & Physiology
- Pre-Algebra
- Algebra I
- Geometry
- Consumer Math
- Student Success Skills 101
- Science 101
Plus there are Young Scientist classes geared toward 4th through 7th grades as well:
- Young Scientist Anatomy & Physiology
- Young Scientist Biology (read my review)
- Young Scientist Chemistry (read my review)
- Young Scientist Physics
- Young Scientist Earth & Space Science
Reasons To Take A Virtual Science Lab
No Need To Be The Teacher
Greg Landry is a former college professor and homeschool dad. He’s very familiar with the homeschool world but keeps his courses structured and rigorous to prepare students for high school-level classes and beyond.
His passion for teaching science to homeschoolers is one of the things that stand out most about Greg. Each lecture he moves swiftly through the lesson, taking the concepts and helping the students relate by giving plenty of real-world examples.
Since I struggle with science, I was very pleased that Greg’s lessons were not only spot-on for content and difficulty for the girls, but we also very much enjoyed listening to the lecture together and discussing it afterward. Plus, the virtual labs were fun for everyone to enjoy!
No Lab Equipment Needed
Beakers, droppers, burners…although I love shopping for homeschool supplies and toys, these are not the things I want to add to my cart. I’d much rather skip shopping for scientific tools and save that part of the budget for other homeschool resources.
With the virtual labs, there are no materials, tools, or supplies needed. Everything is done online in the virtual science lab. This is a huge plus in terms of homeschool budget and space constraints.
Learn To Take Notes
The note packets, or textbook PDFs, that are included with the virtual labs are absolutely amazing (I go into detail on how much I love College Prep Science’s notes in my review of Young Scientist Chemistry)
The first segment of each course is an extremely helpful lesson on how to take notes. By this, I don’t mean how to jot things onto a piece of paper. Greg has created an amazing method for student note-taking that teaches the student how to take productive, useful notes and sketches that they will be able to study with and utilize later on.
This segment of the course alone is worth the price of the course. Note-taking and study skills are something that homeschoolers don’t often consider when planning out our homeschool year. Yet these skills are vital to higher education and beyond.
Encourage An Inquisitive Mindset
The virtual science labs are designed to teach students to ” think critically, deeply, creatively, and biblically”. The lab activities are created to encourage students to think outside the box, develop their researching skills, and finally write detailed lab reports.
With the virtual platform, students are more likely to dig deeper into their experiments as there is less fear of failure when dealing with a screen and a mouse versus actual lab equipment.
There is also no preparation or other distractions when using the virtual lab, so students are able to focus solely on the task at hand.
Easy To Follow Format
The virtual science labs are extremely easy to follow. The course is housed on Canvas, which makes it very easy to access from any device.
Once you log into your course in Canvas, you can easily see when scheduled classes are, keep track of upcoming assignments, quizzes, and labs, connect with Professor Landry, and access the class textbook PDFs.
The virtual science lab is its own website but is easily accessed from the Canvas “home room”.
As students progress through the course, they are required to complete homework assignments, take exams and submit lab reports for credit. Grading is completed in Canvas as well, making it extremely easy for students and parents to keep track.
No Mess & No Stress
The thought of conducting physics, biology, and chemistry labs at our kitchen counter makes me shudder.
In all seriousness, I don’t mind a mess here and there (messes mean you’re enjoying life, right?!) However, when we start dragging out dozens of tools, boxes of supplies, and substances that will most likely stain the countertop I draw the line.
With the virtual science labs, there’s no mess to worry about. In fact, the labs are virtually stress-free for homeschool parents. There’s no crazy list of supplies that need to be sourced and no clean-up crew necessary.
Easily Enroll & Go
As a homeschool mom, I’m so used to researching and purchasing textbooks, supplemental books and guides, notebooks, and supplies for our homeschool classes. There is so much prep and planning that goes into a homeschool course, even if I’m not the one teaching it.
With College Prep Science classes, the homeschool moms and dads are off the hook! There are no additional supplies, books, or requirements. You can simply enroll your child online, print the amazing notes, and let the kids get started!
College Prep Science for Homeschool Classes
If you’re searching for online or virtual science and math classes for your homeschool, check out the offerings from College Prep Science! The value you receive with the science and math courses cannot be matched with boxed curriculum or textbook courses.
