Little Homeschool on the Prairie: Journey Homeschool Academy Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Science tends to be one of those subjects that homeschool mom’s worry about with high school science. I get it as I have 2 in high school now! I’m always happy to find good quality curriculum in science to use myself and recommend to other homeschoolers.

Experience Biology: Upper Level

An optional textbook “Riot and the Dance” can be order from their store. There is also links for the lab supplies needed and they recommend a decent microscope. Your student will also need their own unique email address.

Journey Homeschool Academy is approached from a Christian Worldview. The instructors are Luke, Trish Gilkerson. The program is taught with pre-recorded videos for lessons and labs from them.

Set up was super easy with a short video with instructions. After I went through the purchasing set up and choose my start date. There are a couple choices to choose for a startup date. I received a welcome email and from there I set up the parent account and then my student account.

There is a dashboard for your Student Dashboard and a Parent Dashboard. The Parent Dashboard allows me to see my son’s my son’s quiz and exams results in the Student Management section. There is also a Resource tab. This section is where I download the PDF files and other pertinent information from ordering physical copies and information for the course.

The Student Dashboard is easy to navigate. On my left side are all the 35 modules lessons. Remember you have the course for a complete year and this gives you flexibility in your homeschool if needed. The lessons each week have 2 main video lessons.

The textbook is a good addition to the program and yes my son is giving me a hard time with review pictures lately! I should just keep the silly faces to use-maybe he will stop

If you are using the optional textbook the Riot and the Dance, I highly recommend this book with the program. The books assignments are scheduled for that week if you choose to use the textbook.

The quizzes are multi-choice and are graded automatically

A close up of the quiz

The grade-book of the quizzes

Each week you also have a quiz based off the videos. The quiz it automatically graded and you cannot proceed forward in the lesson unless you have a 70% grade. There are quarterly exams in which you will not have other assignments those weeks and you can only take this exam once.

Research Questions sample

There is also a clear and concise research assignments and labs. The student will upload the lab assignments online but, it is graded by the parent. The research question assignments are graded by the parent. Don’t worry you have an answer keys and resources to help you with grading. There are a few weeks that a lab or research isn’t assigned.

The labs are done by video that you gather information to do the labs or for some assignments like the dissections you can follow along with the video.

A brief outline of the contents in the course

The lessons are meant to go in subsequently order. After you watch the videos and take the quiz it automatically checks of those parts of the weekly lesson. You will need to physically check off the other assignments. You also have an overview of the reading schedule and scope and sequence if you prefer to have a physical copy to follow yourself. It has grading rubrics, and a chart to track the lab grades. You can go back to any of the lessons just not forward. For the purpose of the review we had special access to look at the all the lessons without needing to go in chronological order.

How did I use

After I got my account set up I downloaded all my PDF files. I decided to print off 7 lessons and several other components I would need for 7 lessons. I put everything in a 3-ring binder with dividers for my son. There is a sample lab report too that I added in his notebook. I put my material in a separate folder. I was able to borrow the book Riot and the Dance from a friend.

My son started the course with an introduction video

The course started with an introduction video. My son who is 9

Below are a few shots of the video lessons. They are taught very well and are interesting and easy to follow along with.

He liked that he could follow along with his Student Guidebook during the lessons. My son went in order of the lessons. I had him read the book and do some of research questions to get him “broken in.” He has done the all the labs so far.

My son followed along with his student workbook while watching the videos

A lot of good worksheets for he student to do with the lessons.

This is an amazing program! Stress not over high school biology and labs. The instructors are very engaging. The videos are crisp and clear. The presentations and quality of the material being taught is very thorough. The topics are presented in an appealing format for the students. It’s easy to follow along and grasp the concepts that are being taught. My son really liked how the lessons are taught. The material for the course is equally as good. He told me, “that he felt like he was learning in the course and the instructor explained the lesson in a way he could understand it.”

Looking at fabric & cheek cells from his cheek and other pre-made slides. Last year I upgraded to a better microscope. What a difference having a good quality one

A lab experiment. Can you see what he did wrong in the photo that effected his results?

Videos to help guide you with the labs

He also likes the layout of the labs and so far as enjoyed what he has done.

My only problem is talking my son into dissections this year! We sat down together in May and planned out a general outline for his high school the next 4 years. Biology wasn’t scheduled until next year. My son doesn’t usually do drama so if I can get him over dissection drama we would be okay. So we will have to figure that out soon. I know that my son likes this as he is asking if we can do the other high school courses from them instead-meaning no dissections he thinks. He was a bit disappointed when I told him they don’t have other high school courses for him to take in his plan. Just to note they have several elementary courses available. I hope that other high school courses are in the making.

I can’t say enough of good things about Journey Homeschool Academy. The course is impressive and I highly recommend it.