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Homeschool Chemistry doesn’t need to be so intimidating for parents or students.
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## Why is Homeschool Chemistry Such a Struggle?

If teaching homeschool chemistry is becoming a nightmare, rest assured that you are not alone in your pain.  Homeschooling parents often struggle to teach secondary-level sciences to even the brightest learners.  Many parents become intimidated by the idea of teaching middle or high school chemistry, biology, and physics when they are still on the distant horizon.  

Thinking “How am I going to homeschool subjects like chemistry?” is a common fear.  The most important thing to remind yourself is that your concern is a sign that you’re already doing a great job.  Many homeschool families have faced these same problems and come out on the other side.  

We’ve created a list of clear, actionable tips to make homeschool chemistry a bit more painless for everyone.  Maybe you are in the throes of a high school chemistry struggle already.  Maybe you’re still teaching elementary-level sciences and simply planning for the future.  Whatever situation you're in, these tips can smooth out some of the inevitable bumps in the road.  

Before we decide how to tackle homeschool chemistry, we need to look at why it scares you in the first place.  This self-reflection will help you refine your teaching approach.  

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## 3 Reasons Why Homeschool Chemistry May Seem So Hard

1. How long has it been since you took chemistry?  If it’s been more than a dozen years since you took a chemistry class, you probably don’t remember a bit of that content.  You likely have no chemistry experience at your current job.  This leaves you with the same lack of knowledge as your student.  If you can’t recall a bit of your own distant class, how will you be able to teach homeschool chemistry to your child?
2. Is it possible that you had a bad experience in chemistry?  Think about your chemistry class memories.  Did you end up with a failing grade?  Did you have an unforgiving teacher?  Your negative memories of chemistry could be getting in your way.  They can distort your mental picture of what homeschool chemistry will look like for your family.  Understand that if your experience was bad, that cycle is not destined to repeat itself.  It doesn’t mean your child’s destined to also have a bad experience.
3. Is your student a math struggler?  Are you a math struggler?  Math is an essential part of chemistry success.  If your student is weak in math, you may be hesitant to introduce a new math concept.  
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## An Overview:  What Do You Learn in Chemistry and Why is Chemistry Important?

![chemistry-set-1983254_1920.jpeg](/uploads/chemistry_set_1983254_1920_fcf0a7e949.jpeg)
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Homeschool chemistry can begin in middle school, or earlier.  Curriculum should introduce students to basic metric units, measurement, observation, and scientific methods.  These kinds of introductory topics are introduced in the late elementary or early middle school years. They are usually exposed to these things in their general science courses, and more difficult chemistry topics come in late middle school, and more often high school.

What’s the basic content that should be included in a middle or high school homeschool chemistry curriculum?   Comprehensive chemistry classes cover a multitude of topics including (but not necessarily limited to):  

- Math Basics including Algebraic Concepts
- Atoms, Molecules, and Moles
- Stoichiometry (chemical conversions and equations)
- States of Matter
- Chemical Reactions
- Periodic Table and Periodic Trends
- Solutions
- Gases
- Acids and Bases
- Thermochemistry and Physical Chem
- Kinetics
- Electronic and Atomic Structure
- Nuclear Chemistry (radiation and radioactive materials)

This feels like a lot of information to cover. Could you just skip homeschool chemistry altogether and call it a day?  Probably not.  Why is chemistry important?

![Chemistry Advancement.png](/uploads/Chemistry_Advancement_9358a5d995.png)
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Chemistry is central to almost every single thing we do, use, see, and eat.  From the batteries in your cell phone to the chocolate cake that you had for dessert last night, chemistry played a vital role in all of them.  Chemistry research has led to life-saving medical treatments.  It’s created strides in plastics manufacturing, the oil and gas industry, and the testing of safe drinking water.
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## Is Painless Chemistry Even Possible?

It’s important to take a deep look at the type of learner your student is.  Do they do well with rote memorization and dry text?  Do they thrive on handwritten reports, research, and multiple-choice tests?  The answer is probably not.

Homeschool chemistry curriculums have been developed by companies using research-based learning theory.  You can choose to adopt a pre-planned curriculum and follow it to a ‘T’ or adjust it as needed.  Lean into the homeschool community to get hands-on testimonials, recommendations, and reviews from families who have experienced success with their homeschool chemistry curriculum.  You can find forums and social media groups of homeschool parents online that can give you first hand accounts of their experiences. There is no “one-size-fits-all”.  The best homeschool chemistry plan is the one that fits your child’s learning style.

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Some of the more notable homeschool chemistry curriculums available on today’s market are:

- [Apologia’s Chemistry curriculum](https://www.apologia.com/product-category/science/?a_aid=5a15db50739a1&subject=advanced-chemistry,chemistry,chemistry-physics) offers everything you need from student textbooks to exams and lab kits in both basic and advanced chemistry for middle and high school students. It’s one of the most often touted and highly recommended as the best homeschool chemistry choice on the market.  Apologia also has homeschool high school science options for everything from general science to physics and biology.
- [Friendly Chemistry ](http://www.friendlychemistry.com/index.html)has great basic science coverage that would serve in an upper middle school or high school homeschool chemistry setting.
- [Alpha-Omega’s homeschool chemistry](https://www.aop.com/) comes in the form of Christian-based, student-led Life Pacs that are a popular choice among parents.

![pexels-zen-chung-5538618.jpeg](/uploads/pexels_zen_chung_5538618_628aa0dd09.jpeg)
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## Thinking Outside of the Box for Middle and High School Chemistry Curriculum

Keep in mind that choosing to homeschool means choosing freedom.  Freedom to self-pace and adjust as you see fit.  Buying a prepared curriculum doesn’t mean you can’t sub in more interactive hands-on science content whenever and however you feel appropriate.

That freedom can go as far as scrapping a prepared homeschool chemistry program and building your own learning path from the ground up.  You might know from an experience with an older sibling, or a fellow homeschool family that your learner will not strive in the models available.  

Curating a chemistry course of learning that will work for your student can revolutionize their experience.  If you’re feeling intimidated, here are 8 actionable tips to make homeschool chemistry a more pleasant experience for you, and ultimately a success for your learner.
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## 8 Homeschool Chemistry Tips to Make Learning Easier

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### 1. Start Your Learners in STEM and Chem Early.
Research tells us time and time again that the earlier students are introduced to STEM topics like chemistry, the more comfortable they are with the complex version of it that’s introduced in upper grades.  Inspire in young children a love of learning and a sense of inquiry in chemistry, and you’ll see that enthusiasm carry over into middle and high school years.

Chemistry in elementary years can look like basic, [at-home kitchen chemistry](https://www.thoughtco.com/kitchen-science-experiments-for-kids-604169) experiments. Though structured chemistry classes don’t usually begin until middle school, there’s no reason why you can’t ignite excitement and interest in your kids early on.

![brain-544412_1920.jpeg](/uploads/brain_544412_1920_9b9857d577.jpeg)
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### 2. Set Your Student Up For Success With Your Own Attitude.
If during our previous point of self-reflection, you came to terms with the fact that you had a bad chemistry experience - choose not to share it.  Don’t tell your child that chemistry is hard.  Don’t tell your child that you failed.  And don’t tell your child you were “bad at chemistry”.

Your negative opinion of chemistry as a subject is adopted by your child and inherently becomes fact to them.  Gift them the opportunity to form their own opinions based on the experiences that they have.  

![RB I screenshot 12.png](/uploads/RB_I_screenshot_12_dd3181ecd8.png)
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### 3. Make Homeschool Chemistry Fun and Engaging
Keep the topic as fun and engaging as possible.  It may seem difficult to make chemistry “fun” if you took chemistry 20 years ago.  Technology has come a long way since then, and the edTech industry has managed to “gamify” all the most difficult parts of learning for children.

Middle-schoolers can learn the periodic table with Proton Don in a gamified, interactive periodic table on a website called “[Funbrain](https://www.funbrain.com/games/periodic-table-game)”.

Take us here at [Futuclass](https://futuclass.com/) for example:  balancing chemical equations is one of the most difficult parts of chemistry for students who are weak in math and algebra.  Our virtual reality set-up literally gets students ‘ hands-on’ when balancing chemical equations.
Finding new and different ways to make the most difficult parts of homeschool chemistry fun again goes a long way in enjoying the class, and ultimately retaining that knowledge.

![nick-karvounis-zgQFMGCQgvc-unsplash.jpeg](/uploads/nick_karvounis_zg_QFMGC_Qgvc_unsplash_eb6b498615.jpeg)
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### 4. Allow Time For Interest-Led Learning in Your Homeschool Chemistry Timeline
We always have end goals when we lay out what our homeschool calendar will look like.  We know roughly how long it should ideally take us to get through a course from beginning to end, and we try to stick to that timeline.

But the truth is - we are remiss as educators if we are not blocking out some wiggle room for our kids to pursue interest-led learning endeavors.  Curiosity promotes deeper understanding.  So if your child gets really interested in how chemistry affects our drinking water, let them run with that and facilitate that learning in every way you can.

![annie-spratt-VzIsqZ8K9LI-unsplash (1).jpeg](/uploads/annie_spratt_Vz_Isq_Z8_K9_LI_unsplash_1_0c735861c5.jpeg)
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### 5. Meet Your Child Where They Are
Choose an age-appropriate course of learning.  Starting with content that is too rigorous is guaranteed to derail your homeschool chemistry experience right out of the gate.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to research your state’s homeschool laws and recommendations.  

They’ll often list course and credit recommendations meant to guide parents in choosing what subjects to teach as they move along in homeschooling their children.  For example, algebra is often a prerequisite to chemistry.  If your child has not had a basic Algebra I class, the significant amount of math and equation balancing that goes on in a chemistry class will be difficult if not impossible for them.

![pexels-cottonbro-4778621.jpeg](/uploads/pexels_cottonbro_4778621_bc710738fd.jpeg)
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### 6. Rely on Your Community Whenever Possible. (After all, it takes a village!)
Keep your eyes and ears peeled for community programs that could serve as enrichment to your existing chemistry plans.  

Consider joining a homeschool co-op.  Chemistry is one of those subjects that are best performed in groups.  Labs and experiments thrive under the collaboration and compared results that occur in group learning. 

Consider reaching out to local chemists, chemical companies, or other professionals that could shed light on the career opportunities in the chemistry field and schedule a talk with your co-op group.  

![pexels-kampus-production-5940833.jpeg](/uploads/pexels_kampus_production_5940833_7b838f3751.jpeg)
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### 7. Admit Your Limitations.
If you hit a snag in the road, and it seems that you’re at an impasse, admit your limitations.  Admitting that the content is above your head does not mean you have failed as a homeschool parent.  

If your child needed glasses because they were struggling to see, you would not feel shame in taking them to an eye doctor to get the help you arent’ qualified to provide.  With that being said, there is no shame in admitting that you aren’t qualified to teach high school chemistry and reach out to tutors, professors, or other professionals who can give them the help they need. 

![pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3768146.jpeg](/uploads/pexels_andrea_piacquadio_3768146_6cdc66ebb6.jpeg)
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### 8. Keep Your Homeschool Chemistry Relevant.
How many times did you ask during your time in school, “When am I ever going to need this?”.  Relevancy gives us purpose.  Give your learners purpose by showing them as often and in as many ways as possible how chemistry is relevant to their lives.   

Let them bake with you.  Explain why you use which ingredients.  Let them salt the icy porch.  Explain to them why you chose salt instead of some other material.  Point out why things are stored a certain way in the garage to avoid combustion.  Show them how you use chemistry every day to clean, cook, and live out your daily lives.  

Take these tips and go forward confidently.  **Homeschool chemistry doesn’t have to be a nightmare** for you or your student.  You **can** create a plan, and put it into action with a positive attitude - all the while knowing you’re creating the best learning path possible for your child.  Let companies like Futuclass continue to develop solutions to help make homeschool chemistry fun and engaging.  Subscribe to the official [Futuclass newsletter](https://futuclass.com/) to keep up to date on the latest virtual reality product developments in chemistry and STEM learning enhancements.




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8 Homeschool Chemistry Tips to Make Learning Easier

Homeschooling is a globally growing education solution. This schooling
method gives parents and students more control over their own education
experience, rigor, and pace.  

Every January, America celebrates Educational Choice Week. More families
than ever are choosing to homeschool. In the United States alone, 4 to 5
million students are “homeschooled kids”, learning daily in a homeschool
environment. This number encompasses students from every demographic,
race, religion, and political background. The reasons to homeschool vary
from family to family, but there are some trending themes. So why do
people homeschool? This is a question that millions of parents asked
themselves amid school closures during the pandemic of 2020.  
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![A bar graph indicating the most commonly reported reasons to homeschool among surveyed families. Why do parents homeschool? 22% reported wanting to create a safe environment. 12% reported wanting increased instructional value and one on one attention. 9% reported a desire to inject morals and values into the daily routine in a more meaningful way. and 8% of parents reported discipline, class size, and religious environments as their reasons to homeschool. 76% of homeschool families are satisfied with their current education situation. This information is based on a 2019 National Survey published by EdChoice.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_0_d744cc727c.webp)
  
If you were forced into a pandemic-driven homeschool situation by your
child’s school district over the last year, you know that wearing the
hat of parent and teacher at the same time is extremely difficult. Why
would anyone choose to educate their child from home?
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## What does it mean to choose homeschool?

Homeschooling is a choice parents make to remove or never enroll their
school-age children in public or private schools in their district. Many
homeschool parents will argue that online chartered schools do NOT meet
the definition of “Homeschooling.”  
  
Homeschool parents cultivate their own learning programs by picking,
choosing, and combining different homeschool curriculums on the market.
Parents typically vet these curriculums themselves and adjust as
necessary until they find the best fit for their own child. They don’t
have to go it completely alone, though. Many homeschool families are
part of a larger community of homeschool families known as a “co-op”.

**Homeschool co-ops** are groups of families of homeschooled kids
working cooperatively to achieve common goals. Co-ops can organize
social events, community service projects, or field trips that bring
homeschool kids together.
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## How do homeschooled kids turn out? Will they be behind their publicly-educated peers?

Many families choose to teach their children at home despite false
theories about homeschooled kids. There are misconceptions about how
homeschooled kids develop socially and perform academically. Why do
people homeschool if their kids are going to be academically behind? Why
do people homeschool if homeschooled kids turn out ‘weird’?

![Three adult volunteers plant during a beautification project of some kind. Research indicates homeschooled kids volunteer and contribute to their community at higher rates than their institutionally educated peers.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_3_1cdfbc315c.webp)

While homeschooled children’s experiences may look different, the
National Home Education Research Institute reports that homeschool
students, on average score higher on SAT, ACT, and standardized testing
than students involved in institutional education. [NHERI reports that homeschooled kids](https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/#:~:text=The%20home%2Deducated%20typically%20score,on%20standardized%20academic%20achievement%20tests.&text=78%25%20of%20peer%2Dreviewed%20studies,schools%20(Ray%2C%202017).)
are more likely to participate in community-based volunteer work as an
adult than publicly schooled students. They also report data that
indicates homeschooled adults are more likely to vote, and are more
politically tolerant than their institutionally educated peers.
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## Top 6 Reasons to Homeschool According to Parents

While studies and surveys have turned up dozens of different reasons to
homeschool, there are about 6 emerging trends when this question is
brought up among homeschool parents and families. Futuclass decided to
dig into the depths of the internet’s data realm and figure out what
motivates families to pull their children from institutionalized
education. Why do people homeschool?

![Two boys wrapped in their blankets work on school work at their kitchen table, illustrating the most common answer to the question, &quot;Why do parents homeschool?&quot; Safety and control of their environment](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_4_fb77976af0.webp)
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### 1. Safety and Control of Environment
Almost a quarter of surveyed parents cite safety and security as their
number one reason for choosing to homeschool their kids. With the rise
in school violence across the globe, parents fear the security
limitations of their local districts. 
 
Having complete control over their child’s educational environment
means many things to parents. It means reducing exposure to violence.
Eliminating the presence of drugs. Negating peer pressure - all things
that can go unchecked in crowded school hallways.

Bullying and cyberbullying are making headlines as students are
suffering at the hands of their peers. A lot of this behavior
originates at school and can be eliminated by pulling students out of
their public district or institution.

![](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_5_a073da4751.webp)
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### 2. One on One Attention and Instructional Quality
Students who are struggling can ‘fly under the radar’ among a larger
class of their peers. We see this when class sizes get too large.
(Spoiler alert! Reason \#6)

But did you know that an **entire** class of students can ‘fly under
the radar’ among a group of same-aged peers? It’s a fact that some
school districts are providing sub-par or inadequate instruction in
one or more subjects. Those students are falling behind by national
comparison.  
  
There are a lot of reasons why a district is delivering lousy
instruction. They may be using flawed delivery methods. They may need
additional training to deliver the material. They may lack support
resources, materials, and technology. Schools are often not meeting or
even addressing basic education standards set forth by their governing
bodies.  
  
In these circumstances, the disparity between students and their
same-age peers grows year over year. The only solution some parents
see is to handle it on their own before it’s too late. Parents of homeschooled kids say they feel they can deliver higher quality
instruction at home than is available to their child within their home
district or alternative institutions.

![A young girl wears a t-shirt that says, Right to be Wrong, BE Free. Go Your Own Way. Injecting personal morals and values in a more meaningful way is one of the reasons to homeschool reported by surveyed parents.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_6_0ae1304c0d.webp)
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### 3. Morals and Values Instruction
While guidance counselors put a lot of effort into anti-bullying,
kindness, and activism programming in most public schools - it falls
short according to some parents. Raising good citizens is as important
as raising smart ones. Many parents cite their reasons to homeschool
as being backed by moral convictions. They want more community service
and volunteer opportunities integrated into their child’s education.  

Being productive members of society, and good stewards of the
environment and its resources are secondary to programming students
for standardized testing. It’s because of this lack of direct moral
lesson planning that some parents choose to educate their students at
home.

[NHERI reports that adults who were homeschooled](https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/#:~:text=The%20home%2Deducated%20typically%20score,on%20standardized%20academic%20achievement%20tests.&text=78%25%20of%20peer%2Dreviewed%20studies,schools%20(Ray%2C%202017).)
are more likely to internalize the values and beliefs of their parents
at a high rate, which is exactly what some homeschooling parents hope for.

![Many homeschool families want religion at the core of their curriculum, and that is why they choose to homeschool. This is an image of a bible, pages blowing in the wind at sunset.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_7_c217004094.webp)
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###  4. Religious Environment
With a clear line of separation between church and state, public
schools are not able to offer religion anything more than a historical
context. In the US, prayer and worship are now allowed in publicly
funded schools.

While this may seem to go hand-in-hand with the morals and values
instruction, parents who cite religious reasons for homeschool often
want a curriculum that is biblically or religiously based.  
  
They are looking not just for encouragement to be good citizens but to
adhere to their particular religious beliefs by ingraining them in as
much of the education process as possible. There are Christian,
Jewish, Muslim, and even Buddhist-based homeschool curriculums that
run a thick thread of religion through the center of their
programming.

![Lack of discipline for bullying is often one of the biggest reasons to homeschool according to surveyed parents. This image shows a boy wearing a backpack and headphones holding another boy up against a wall, gripping the front of his jacket. The boy on the wall looks frightened.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_8_1fb9ca9fbe.webp)
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###  5. Discipline
One of the many difficulties of being a school administrator is doling
out fair and appropriate discipline. It becomes a bone of contention
with parents who believe their child has been over-disciplined, or
that an aggressor has been under-disciplined.

Disagreements about discipline often boil down to published school
policy. With these policies in writing in widely distributed
handbooks, it doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle-room for discretion based
on circumstances. So a student smuggling a switchblade knife in their
locker ends up with the same punishment as the kid who forgot to take
their nerf gun out of their backpack this weekend.

This inability to compromise with parents on discipline has caused
plenty of parents to pull their children from school. This ensures
that they have complete control over proper discipline for academic
and behavioral infractions.

![Why Do People Homeschool 9.webp](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_9_e69e8a391c.webp)
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###  6. Class Size

Large class sizes can overwhelm even the best teachers. Students who
are struggling get left in the dust. Students with special needs or
learning disabilities get lost in the shuffle. They often can’t be
given adequate accommodations to succeed.  
  
Having a huge class size eats up a lot of transitional time. This
means less time spent per day on meaningful instruction. This lost
instructional time translates into lower student achievement. Class
size is one of the first things parents ask when scoping out new or
potential school districts.  
   
Small class size can be a huge selling point or bragging right for a
school. It often goes hand in hand with increased student achievement.
One of top the reasons to homeschool comes back to keeping a child
from falling through the cracks. Parents want their child to get
meaningful instruction, and some individualized attention.  
  
So what causes huge class sizes? It boils down to budgets. School
districts can’t afford to add teachers, or building space to spread
students out and lower class size. This is something that is out of
parents’ control, and they find the solution in homeschooling.
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## How Do Parents Prepare Homeschooled Kids for the 21st Century?

Teaching students in 2021 is a different world than teaching students in
1995. Textbooks have transformed into iPads. Lunchmoney is loaded on
debit cards. Elective classes include subjects like computer-aided
drafting, computer programming, and advanced AP classes. Chemistry,
biology, and physics have become inquiry-based and hands-on.

!["A student sits at her desk at home with a VR headset at home. Virtual reality is one of the ways homeschool families are expanding their curriculum in new and innovative ways to keep their kids engaged](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_10_ed0e184958.webp)
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How are parents possibly expected to keep up with these subjects at home - especially if they don’t have a modern teaching degree in their
toolbox? The simple answer is to rely on experts. Just like we’d call a
contractor to build an addition on our home, calling in the
professionals to construct parts of our child’s education can be
helpful.  
  
Why do parents homeschool if they don’t know how to teach it all? Not
even trained public school teachers know how to teach it all. This is
where Futuclass comes in. Homeschooled kids can experience engaging and
interactive chemistry, biology and physics lessons right in their own
homes, with no need for an expensive lab! Safety is one of the most
commonly cited reasons to homeschool.  
  
Subscribe to Futuclass’s newsletter to get all the latest updates on our
growing catalog of Virtual Reality Lessons for Homeschool Families.



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8 Homeschool Chemistry Tips to Make Learning Easier

Why Do People Homeschool?

Choose your store

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8 Homeschool Chemistry Tips to Make Learning Easier

Why Do People Homeschool?

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