Homeschool Scouts: How to Count Badges as Science Curriculum

Homeschooling and Boy Scouts goes hand-in-hand. Scouting provides homeschoolers and outlet for group activities and making friends. Homeschooling provides scouts the ability to reach higher ranks thanks to a flexible schedule and creative educational opportunities.

As more and more homeschoolers have become boy scouts, many have noticed that boyscout badges fit nicely into a homeschool curriculum. The process of earning a badge involves extensive research, exploration into a subject, and also physical demands on the scout. A homeschooler can easily count the work done as part of his homeschool curriculum.

In some cases, the badges alone can work together to create a curriculum. In other cases, the work that goes into earning a badge can replace a month or two of curriuclum. Here are some tips for counting boyscout badges as homeschool curriculum.

Middle School Astrology involves learning about Space, planets, and space exploration. Two badges that can be an integral part of this class are Astronomy and Space Exploration. A scout can complete these two badges plus do a study of each planet, the sun, and the moon for a complete course.

Middle School Life Science is all but complete with this list of badges. Begin the year with a study of cells, microscope use, and classification of living things, then do the following badges to complete the course. Animal Science, Bird Study, Insect Study, Fish and wildlife management, Mammal Study, Pets, Reptile and Amphibian Study, and Veterinary Medicine badges will give the scout a full understanding of life science.

The Chemistry badge isn't going to take you through a full year, but is a great way to top off a course. The badge should be completed at the end of the course and used as a final exam project or extra credit for Chemistry. If you are taking the chemistry, then it makes sense to use earning this badge this as part of the curriculum.

Applied Science can be a high school science elective (to be taken in addition to biology and chemistry or physics). Robotics, Surveying, computers, composite materials, Engineering, Inventing and Nuclear Science scout badges can be earned in the course of a school year. Each of these badges independently displays how science in used in the world.