After several years of homeschooling, I began to form in my own mind what a great science curriculum would encompass. It would have the foundation of a clear Christian worldview with no compromises. An introduction of new vocabulary terms at the beginning would be great. Some written work is always helpful to reinforce learning, but it shouldn't feel like a creative writing course. What about projects versus chapter tests? That ideal curriculum would come with both. Of course, experiments using common household objects would be essential. When given the opportunity to review Truth in Science, I had no idea that I was about to encounter the closest I have ever come to that ideal. It was packed with all those wonderful features and aspects.

Truth in Science is a complete science curriculum. The course is divided into three major units: life science, earth science, and physical science. The life science unit has four chapters. The very first one is on Creation and a Biblical worldview. This chapter provides the basis and framework for the rest of the course. The authors truly believe in beginning at the beginning. The other life science chapters are on classification, plants, and cells. The earth science chapters cover ecology, meteorology, geology, the earth's resources, and astronomy. The final unit in the course has chapters on matter and forces and energy. In order to truly benefit from the Christian worldview inherent in this study, you would naturally need to begin with the first chapter. After that, however, you could do the other chapters in whatever order you wished.

Each chapter, or module, is laid out in the same sequence. Lesson one introduces the topic, contains a Scripture memory verse related to the topic, reviews relevant vocabulary words, and presents an overview of the project for the module. Lesson two is a hands-on experiment. Lessons three through six contain more of the core information/knowledge for the module. "Ask Creation Lab" is the format for lesson seven in each module, with more hands-on applications. Lesson eight is dedicated to the completion of the module project. Lesson 9 contains a chapter review as well as a Bible quiz. Lesson ten is the chapter assessment or test. The normalcy of this sequence helped to provide structure to our study while allowing for greater creativity through the experiments and project work.

Truth in Science has the content to be both your child's Bible curriculum and science curriculum. I was not sure about this when we began using this program, but I was surprisingly impressed with the total integration of Scripture, Biblical references, Scripture memory work, and the end-of-chapter Bible quiz. Once I realized how much Bible was incorporated, I was concerned that the science would be watered down. I was wrong again. In having homeschooled two older children using a rigorous science curriculum, I found that Truth in Science held up to the others in the area of science content. A lot of value comes from concepts being covered in the student book and then expanded upon through the labs and project work.

The flexibility of Truth in Science was quite profound. Our son prefers to work on projects for science and history rather than taking tests. Because Truth in Science came with both, we had the option of completing a project, doing the test, or incorporating both as a means of summarizing what he had learned. Specific websites are suggested for students to use in their research for projects or to just learn more about the module topic. The websites that were suggested never presented material that was contradictory to a Christian worldview. It was a relief to know that I could trust the links in the study as my son began the research for his project. The grading rubric provided for the projects considers the student's knowledge of the material as well as the presentation (visually and verbally), the organization of material, and compliance with the instructions provided. For those that follow a Charlotte Mason approach, greater creativity can be afforded to your student in designing his own project. Families that prefer a traditional approach will find that there is sufficient written review of the material throughout the lessons as well as adequate evaluation of the student's knowledge through the chapter test. Students are also expected to adhere to the scientific model when completing the written portion of the labs in each chapter.

In homeschooling four children and assisting my husband with the operation of our family business, I do not have a great amount of preparation time for school. Truth in Science comes with it all done. There is a teaching grid to help you pace your year. An answer key contains the test answers as well as answers for all the blanks in the student chapters. Truth in Science also has a complete Teacher's Edition. This is truly a resource to help parents begin discussions related to each day's topic. A material and resource list is provided at the beginning of each chapter. A supplemental CD comes with the curriculum. It contains an introduction to the curriculum as well as supporting materials. A slideshow of additional notes is provided on the CD. The only downside to the CD is that the slideshow presentation is in full color, which can make it costly for families that wish to print the pages for discussion away from the computer.

Overall, I feel blessed that we have had an opportunity to evaluate and use this curriculum with our son and would recommend it to others. Whatever your child's learning style and your philosophy of homeschooling may be, there is something in here for everyone.

Product review by Dawn Oaks, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August 2011