Posts on Happily Homegrown contain affiliate links. When you make a purchase through an affiliate link, your price will be the same, but Happily Homegrown will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!
I received copies of Discovering Life’s Story: Biology’s Beginnings and Discovering Life’s Story: The Evolution of an Idea in exchange for my honest review.
Integrating science and history has never been easier than now thanks to the Discovering Life’s Story series from Joy Hakim.
When our children are younger, finding resources that integrate English and history, or math and science seems easier. Often we find a project that can check the box for several subjects simultaneously.
Then those children grow up and are teens in high school. Everything seems so compartmentalized. English is English alone and no longer part of history or other subjects.
What if high schoolers could integrate multiple subjects like they could as elementary-aged students?
Introducing the Discovering Life’s Story series from Joy Hakim, best-selling author of A History of US
The Discovering Life’s Story series is unlike any textbook I’ve ever seen. You want to buy these for your collection.
The books are written for high schoolers, and while there is a vast amount of information on the pages, they are written in a way that is engaging.
Students quickly realize that there is more to science than just the science. Hakim tells the story of the scientists and puts the science and the discoveries in a historical perspective.
Are you learning about natural science or history? Where does one subject end and the next begin? The lines are blurred as they should be because both topics are interwoven and support each other while moving the narrative forward.
What my high schoolers have to say about Discovering Life’s Story: Biology’s Beginnings & Discovering Life’s Story: The Evolution of an Idea
- reads like a novel, not a textbook
- lots of photos and illustrations that they haven’t found in their Biology textbooks
- puts science in a historical perspective
- checks the boxes for world history, reading, critical thinking, and of course, science
- teens are the audience so it is easier to read than most textbooks
Why I like Discovering Life’s Story: The Evolution of an Idea
I want to call out the second volume in this series, Discovering Life’s Story: The Evolution of an Idea. This one stood out as the star of the two volumes.
In the homeschooling community, the topic of evolution is divisive. Where someone stands on the topic of evolution, or if they even broach the subject in their homeschool, can tell you a lot about someone.
For example, a biology or life science curriculum that does not mention evolution can not be considered secular in many circles.
As a secular homeschooler, I often hold my breath when reviewing science materials for my children. Most of the resources I find are either faith-neutral (ignoring evolution or giving it equal billing to intelligent design) or they are secular but written for a traditional classroom environment which has other challenges.
Having an entire well-written edition on evolution where the story jumps off the page is just incredible. The fact that the book can be used in a homeschool setting or a group learning environment makes it even better. I’ve enjoyed reading the stories as much (possibly more) than my children have. This is a must-have volume for all secular homeschoolers to use on its own or in addition to your other science curriculum.
Resources for Integrating Science & History
To help you along in your lesson plans and integrate your subjects, there is a teacher’s guide for Discovering Life’s Story: Biology’s Beginnings. You can grab your free copy of the teacher’s guide here.
Leave a Reply