Let’s face it, high school science labs are often one of the most difficult things to work into your homeschool experience. At least they are for me. If you are lucky, you might find a class at a local group or co-op, but for most of us, we are left finding ways to perform difficult experiments on our own. For this review, my 11^th grade son and I got to try Chemistry Experiments for High School at Home from Novare Science and Math. This book contains 18 experiments designed to go along with either the General Chemistry or Chemistry for Accelerated Students textbooks also published by Novare. My son was already using the General Chemistry book, so this fit in with what we are doing.

The book itself is spiral bound with perforated pages, making it easy to pull out pages when doing experiments. It offers an introduction, with a list of suggested materials and equipment with cost estimates for each. Since this is chemistry, many of the materials are specific chemicals you will need to complete these experiments. Most of these can be found online, but some of them are pricy. The author does offer some suggestions to keep costs down such as using small jars instead of test tubes. I did like how the list of chemicals includes a reference for each experiment they are used in. This gives you the ability to order what you need as you go, making it easier to spread out the cost.

If you are using the Novare textbooks, each experiment offers a reference for which chapter and section applies to the activity, which made it easy to coordinate the labs as you went. Directions for each experiment are very clear and specific, and explanations for each part of the experiment are offered throughout each section. I liked this feature because I felt like the book wasn’t just telling my son what to do, but also helping him think through why he was doing it.

When I received the Chemistry Experiments book, I took some time to go through each experiment briefly and make notes in my planner about which activity corresponded to each chapter of the book. This worked well for me because I could refer to this list each week when planning for my son and know right away if an experiment was coming up. Most of these experiments do take some time to complete, so if we did have an activity that week, that was our chemistry lesson for the day. At the end of each experiment, there is a “short report sheet” where students record their results. It was not the same as a formal lab report, but I used it as a starting point for my son to make his immediate observations, then had him go back and write up a formal lab report the next day.

My son enjoys any form of hands-on learning, so this worked well for him. I like the specific directions (with illustrations in some cases) and the way the author articulates and explains the process. The only problem I really had was the fact that the materials are so expensive, but that would be the case with just about any thorough chemistry experiment program. However, it would be very easy to use this text in a group setting, and if you did this in a co-op or something similar, it would help break down the cost.

If you are looking for a very strong chemistry lab program to challenge your student, then Chemistry Experiments for High School at Home is something I would recommend. I feel it will give your child an extremely thorough lab experience that will set them up very well for college. However, be prepared to get creative if you really need to keep costs down.

-Product review by Brandy Brockhausen, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January, 2018