Homeschool Help! My Child Hates Science!

Practical Help for a Student Who's Not In to Science

Being a homeschool parent can be stressful. When you hear things like, “Noooo! Not science!”, “Do I have to do science?” or even, “I hate science!” repeatedly you may feel like you’re at the end of your rope. We get it! But it doesn't have to be that way.

Below you’ll find questions and steps to help you figure out what makes science and your child such an explosive combination and to get you both to a more peaceful, balanced equation.

This is Part 2 of our Homeschool Help! series. Missed Part 1? Read our 8 science study tips here.

What to do when your child hates science

1. Pray.

God created the intricate details of your child and knows them (Psalm 139). While you may not have all the answers (and certainly we don’t claim to!), God certainly does. Take some time to pour out your heart to Him (Psalm 62:8) and ask Him to help you work through this science struggle with your child, to give you wisdom and understanding (James 1:5) and guide you and your child to the place He wants you both to be.

2. Figure out what the pain points are.

What is causing your child’s frustration with science? It could be one thing or a combination of factors. Here are some questions to consider.

• Is the curriculum not a good fit?
• Does it seem too hard? And, if so, is it really? Or does your child just need better tools/help to be successful?
• Is your child feeling like a failure?
• Is your child lacking inspiration, or does science not align with your child’s current interests?
• If your child is taking science in a group setting at a school, co-op or online, are there any social issues going on that could be causing your child to not like the class? Are they being bullied or teased? Do they feel dumb because they don’t know the answers? Are they being pressured to help someone cheat?

3. Talk with your child about why they don’t like science.

We recommend talking while doing an activity you enjoy together or eating a yummy snack. Keep it calm. Let your child share their thoughts and don’t jump on them with phrases like, “Now that’s a dumb reason,” or “You’re kidding, right?” Give your child the gift of listening. As James 1:19 says, “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger . . .” Good words for us parents! If your child is taking science through a live class, it may be worth your while to check in with the teacher, too, to see what their perspective is. Maybe your child feels like they are struggling, but their teacher will point out that they really aren’t.

4. Once you have some grasp of what the pain points are and your child's perspective, do what you can to remedy those areas.

We have laid out some ideas of how to deal with each of the pain points we mentioned above. Obviously, we don’t know all the intricate details of your exact situation, so you’ll need to exercise your own wisdom as you proceed, but we hope and pray the ideas below will be helpful!

a. The curriculum isn’t a good fit. Whether you have a child who loves beautiful things and can’t stand a science book they think is ugly or you have a child who can’t read the small print or you have a hands-on child who dies a little bit inside every time they’re told to go sit with another book, it could be that the curriculum just isn’t a good fit for your child. If that is the case, take a deep breath and be willing to try something different. Be thankful that you, as a homeschool parent in this era, have many options and the ability to find something that works well for your child! Concerned about the money you invested? See if you can return the unwanted curriculum or try selling it online or to someone in your local group. Or you might be able to swap or borrow curriculum from another homeschool family in your area.

i. All that said, maybe your curriculum just needs to be tweaked to help you all make it through the school year. One student we know of thought her video-based chemistry teacher talked too slow. She decided to start watching the classes at a faster speed like 1.5x, and her mom was OK with that! The student’s learning didn’t suffer, and she felt like she was able to make the curriculum work for her. Maybe your social child hates science because they are trying to do it all alone. If one of your child’s friends is doing the same curriculum, figure out how they can get together for at least some of their assignments or study sessions. You could form a group of families using the same curriculum and get together occasionally. Be willing to be creative with your child to come up with a solution.

ii. Have you discovered that you have a child who isn’t pleased with any curriculum and that, while they tell you that they WLL do this new approach they like, they consistently later find something they don’t like and don’t want to do it anymore? In this situation, it could be fair for a high school student to chip in or even pay fully for the new option of their choice. We know of a student who paid for one of his courses himself because his parents told him he didn’t have to keep doing the option he didn’t like if he paid for the new class himself. While the new course didn’t become his favorite class, he stuck with it and did well because he had his own money invested in it.

b. Does it seem too hard? And, if so, is it really? Or does your child just need better tools/help and can be successful? If your child isn’t good at math and is suddenly thrust into a robust high school chemistry or physics course that is heavy on math, they could be struggling with the math part. Extra math work or even tutoring could solve the problem. Maybe your child has never had to memorize terms until this new science course, and no one has ever taught them good techniques for memory and review. A few strategies and consistent study habits could make a world of difference! For a few ideas, check out our other blog post on study skills and science helps.

Maybe your child just needs kind encouragement to not give up yet. Maybe they need kind encouragement to pick up the tool of a better attitude. You could consider posting a verse like “The sluggard says, 'There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!'” (Proverbs 22:13) or Philippians 2:14-15. (With the verse from Proverbs in mind, some of your children may appreciate the opportunity to “roar” as they go tackle “the lion” of their science work and get it done!) Be thoughtful in your evaluation of this topic, remembering these words from 1 Thessalonians 5:14, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

If you find that the material is truly too hard, slow down your pace to make it workable for your child, adapt the curriculum to your child’s needs (e.g. do oral tests instead of written tests for struggling spellers/writers), or shelve the curriculum for now and come back to it later or pick up something new that will lay the missing foundation to help your child be successful in the future.

c. Is your child feeling like a failure? Another way to word this question is, “Does your child feel like they can’t measure up so why even bother?” If your family is full of science nerds who eat the Periodic Table for breakfast and weave the laws of physics into normal conversations while your left-out child is making their breakfast cereal into a mural and loves helping the neighbor lady arrange her flowers just right and is hoping you won’t notice how many questions they got wrong on their last science quiz because they simply couldn’t remember to save their life, they may feel like there is no way they will ever measure up . . . Now that could make any otherwise good student hate a subject! Let your child know that you value who God made them to be and that you want to be there to help them be ready for the good works God prepared for them to do (Ephesians 2:10). Do this even if you were hoping for a Nobel Prize laureate in physics and it looks like you’ll have a landscaper! Finding out that they are valued despite “not fitting in” with your family’s nerdiness or expectations may be just what your child needs to make peace with science.

d. Is your child lacking inspiration or does science not align with your child’s interests? Maybe your child is hooked on history right now or astounded by art or marveling at math while science is boring, dull, lackluster, blah . . . While we as parents may want to start lecturing our children about how, “There are many things we must as responsible people do even if they are uninteresting . . .” let’s take a deep breath first. Remember that you too (probably) had times when you put off things you didn’t like as a child. (Most of us even do this at times as parents.) Here are three possible approaches you could take.

i. Talk with your child about how putting off things doesn’t make them go away. The sooner they do their science the sooner it is over, and they will be free to enjoy the rest of their day without it hanging over them. Also, remind them that the Lord values good work and doing our work heartily (Colossians 3:23-24). But we as parents need to remember this does not mean our children need to always get A+’s in everything. Sometimes our best and heartiest work under certain circumstances may in fact be a B or a C or less.

ii. Consider ways to connect science to what your child loves. If your child loves history, study the lives of great scientists of the past or scientific advances and how they changed people’s lives. For your art or music-minded student, perhaps you could study the science of color and light or of sound and how the human ear works. For your budding mathematician, show them how math is so integral to science and that liking math will be a huge blessing and help to them with science.

iii. Slow down or take a break from science. While this might not be possible in the high school years, for younger grades slowing down or taking a break from structured science could be just the thing until your child’s interest is more science-friendly. Better to take two years to finish a course or to take an intentional, short break than unintentionally make your child hate science for years to come by forcing it down their throat.

e. If your child is taking science in a group setting at a school, co-op or online, are there any social issues (like bullying, teasing, feeling dumb for not knowing answers or pressure to participate in cheating) going on that could be causing your child to not like the class? As the parent, if you suspect this could be the negative factor in the science equation for your child, consider having a few conversations: one with the teacher of your child’s class, one with another student or two, one with your child and one with other parents of students in the class that you know and trust. It will hopefully help you to discover what others have observed and what has been the experience of other students in the class. When you talk with your child, as we’ve said before, do so while engaged in an activity you both enjoy or eating a snack. Let them know that you care deeply and truly want to know if something bad is going on. If you find that any social issues are affecting your child’s affinity for science, you can prayerfully, graciously and courageously take appropriate actions to either make the situation right within the class or remove your child from the setting entirely and pursue a different science opportunity that will be safe and healthy for your child.

5. Trust God.

You’ve prayed, talked with your child, tried multiple suggestions, and your child still hates science. As homeschool parents, it is vital to know that the Lord created our children, and He knows them (Psalm 139). Maybe it’s not His best for them to love science right now. Maybe there’s a lesson He’s teaching us parents in this science-loathing season. When we have done all we know and can do to help our children love science, may we continue to pray for our children and for ourselves and trust the Lord whether our children love science or not. And may we not lose focus on what is most important in life: loving the Lord, loving our children and helping our children love the Lord . . . even more than science.

We hope and pray this blog post is helpful to you as you work through your child’s science struggles. If you think Science Shepherd Homeschool Curriculum could be helpful to you, take our quiz or check out our recommended course progression to discover which course could be the best fit for your child. You are also welcome to contact us and get personalized advice!

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world . . . Philippians 2:14-15

Until next time!
Science Shepherd

“Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”