Discovery Institute Academy is a brand-new venture that “offers high school-level science taught from the perspective that nature reflects intelligent design.” It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time, because the need for it is so obvious and urgent. The first class offering — on chemistry — is intended for homeschool students, and it will be awesome.
Starting this fall (Semesters 1 and 2 of 2023-24), the class will meet live three times a week with teacher Kristin Marais. She has 10 years of public high school teaching experience and is certified to teach in Washington State, including chemistry, biology, and general science. Go here for information about registering, credit, course structure, tuition, and more. This is not some droning recorded class — students will meet with Mrs. Marais online both as a group and, as needed, in private. As you’ll see, she is a VERY dynamic and enthusiastic instructor! (Quite different from my own experience of high school chemistry, I can tell you.) She loves this subject, and she loves teens.
A Problem for Parents — Solved
For most parents of homeschoolers, it’s tough to tackle hard science subjects like chemistry, so a resource like this is extremely important. One thing that’s unique about these two semesters is that they cover the topic thoroughly while bringing to bear the perspective that recognizes design in nature. As Kristin says in the video here introducing herself, chemistry itself produces ordered patterns — but not information of the kind that drives biology. For the latter, you need intelligent agency. That is a profound point that is lost in the vast majority of high school- and college-level chemistry courses.
Check out the video below where Mrs. Marais takes you into her lab to perform a home-based decomposition reaction. The results are spectacular (also messy). As she emphasizes, “That’s what chemistry is all about: we want to see things.” Indeed. And starting this fall, your student will have the opportunity to join her in seeing some pretty amazing things. Register now, though, since space is necessarily limited.