Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum
Why choose Guest Hollow’s High School Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum?
Homeschooling with Chemistry in the Kitchen is
math-free, practical, fun, and flexible!
Most chemistry curriculums are comprised of thick, boring textbooks that require a firm grounding in algebra and feature labs with chemicals that can strike fear in a homeschool parent’s heart. Our chemistry curriculum is like nothing out there in the homeschool market (that I know of)! You don’t need to know any higher level math to do it. You don’t have to purchase a $250 lab kit with chemicals galore and test tubes.
This is a PRACTICAL chemistry course for those of you who have students who hate math, hate science, and are in tears thinking of that scary chemistry textbook they are supposed to choke down.
This is also the perfect science curriculum for those students who LOVE science and want to learn some down-to-earth science they will use and enjoy knowing throughout their lives.
Scroll down to see a video review by a mom with a chemistry major!
Guest Hollow’s High School Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum won FIRST PLACE in the Practical Homeschooling Reader Awards. Thousands of homeschoolers ranked the curriculum they have used, and the products with the highest satisfaction ratings won. Our High School Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum garnered the highest satisfaction rating out of all the chemistry program nominees. Click for more details.
Prerequisites: None
Approximate Daily Time Commitment:
45 min. – 2 hours depending on activities that are chosen and reading speed
$47.00
Guest Hollow materials are downloadable/online. There are no physical copies. | Already a customer? Go to “My Account” to log in and access your downloads and your online schedule membership. Need help logging in? Check out our help page. |
Grade Level / Age
Guest Hollow’s High School Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum is suggested for:
● Grades 9-12
● Approximate ages
13-18
What You Get
Guest Hollow’s High School Chemistry in the Kitchen comes with:
✔ A printable PDF schedule
✔ An editable schedule in Microsoft Word format
✔ Access to an online version of the schedule*
✔ A fantastic printable workbook
✔ An optional introductory ‘chemistry basics’ supplement. A four-week companion study for those who need to learn or refresh themselves on basic chemistry concepts.
*Access to the online version of Guest Hollow’s High School Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum schedule is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed due to various potential circumstances.
I’d like to see the book & resource list!
Click here to see the required books and resources for Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum.
You’ve never seen a chemistry course like this one!
In this very unique and non-traditional chemistry curriculum, students will learn “Guest Hollow” style with loads of great books, fun hands-on activities, fascinating videos, online articles & images, and free printables scheduled in. It’s meaty enough to be a “core” curriculum, but flexible enough to be reduced to the bare bones, if you already have a daily schedule that is weighing your student down.
There is NO textbook in Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen. That keeps things fresh, interesting, and non-intimidating. Students also learn a bit of history and other subjects like physics, because chemistry is NOT something that happens in a vacuum. It’s the world all around us and tied to many other things. Your student will learn lots of interesting and fun facts while getting to learn another important skill s/he can actually put to use – cooking!
Chemistry that actually makes sense!
Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum brings chemistry to life.
Since this is a non-traditional chemistry course, students have lots of hands-on activities that yank chemistry topics right out of the abstract and put them solidly into “real life”. Cooking yummy foods you can eat afterwards (like Devil’s Food cupcakes!) is a big component of this year’s studies – a real bonus for budding chefs!
There are plenty of other activities to choose from like making a density tower, making color changing ” chameleon eggs”, evaluating milk chocolate bars, and lots more! Learning chemistry has never been this fun!
The Concepts in Chemistry in the Kitchen
Students will explore many chemistry concepts in this curriculum, but they will NOT learn some of the more traditional chemistry topics that require higher level math skills. They also will not cover some of the topics in as much depth as they would in a traditional chemistry course.
Some of the topics that ARE included:
- Acids & bases
- Different types of atomic bonding
- Gases
- Ions
- Molecules and some of their properties
- Oxidation and reduction
- The periodic table and elements
- Solutions
- Organic chemistry
- Much more!
Some of the topics that are NOT covered:
- Chemical equations
- Entropy
- Rate Laws
- Stoichiometry
- The mole – other than a brief video introduction & explanation
- ETC.
Many different chemistry concepts are covered in this curriculum, but in a way that leaves out much of the “blah blah blah” kind of stuff that makes many students’ eyes glaze over. We also don’t expect students to be able to classify what they know, as in, “I just learned about oxidation and reduction” (although many will probably retain a lot of that), but rather that they understand and absorb the practical knowledge behind those concepts like, “I need to blanch those apples before canning them to keep them from turning brown.”
Chemistry is explained using real life examples students can relate to. This is a PRACTICAL chemistry course.
See the F.A.Q. (scroll down) for a more detailed list of the weekly topics.
Check out this review by a mom with a chemistry major:
Does this curriculum come with ____________?
✘ books?
No, you need to purchase the scheduled chemistry books separately. Learn more.
☑ a printable book list?
Yes. We provide a book list with a handy checklist to help you plan what you want to buy or borrow and in what format. We also let you know when each book is scheduled in, so you can arrange to check out books from the library before you need them! Books are also ranked to help you prioritize items.
☑ a schedule?
Yes. You get the same weekly schedule in 3 different formats: PDF, Microsoft Word, and online*. Just open it up and you are ready to learn!
*Access to the online version of the curriculum schedule is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed due to various potential circumstances on our end and yours including but not limited to various computer, device, and internet configurations.
☑ a supply list?
Yes. Most recipe ingredients and supplies are listed at the beginning of your schedule week-by-week.
✘ a teacher’s manual?
No. The chemistry schedule is all you need!
✘ tests?
No. There are no tests with this curriculum. However, some parents have created and shared quizzes, tests, lab report templates, and more in the *files section of our Facebook Guest Hollow Chemistry in the Kitchen User’s Group. You can join the group and download these files for free! *We do not make any claims about the group’s files as we didn’t create them.
☑ a workbook?
Yes. You get a wonderful 197 page full-color workbook with the purchase of this curriculum (121 student pages and an answer key for the workbook at the back).
Chemistry in the Kitchen Workbook sample pages:
Gallery of Photos From Real Families Using Chemistry in the Kitchen:
“We wanted to explore the formation of sugar crystals a little more so we made some rock candy.”
Chemistry in the Kitchen (density tower)
A Guest Hollow Chemistry in the Kitchen graduate cooks up a batch of treacle tarts. “This curriculum gave my kids an independence in the kitchen I never thought possible.”
Week 8: “We made crusty potatoes from the Einstein book. They were delicious!”
Chemistry in the kitchen
“These are AMAZING! I love chemistry! Devil’s food cupcakes with mocha cocoa frosting.”
Yum!
Creme fraiche! (week 13)
Have a photo to add to our gallery? Email us!
Click or tap to see a sample!
Take a look at a week from the online version of the schedule here.
Take a look at a sample of the printable schedule here:
Click here for a sample of the workbook pages:
Want to know how to use the Guest Hollow PDF Schedule or the editable Microsoft version of our schedule? Go here! (This page gives lots of insight as to how our schedules work!)
Have a question about printing your Guest Hollow schedule and materials? We cover that, too!
F.A.Q. for our High School Chemistry Curriculum
You’re invited!
Click or tap the button to join our Facebook groups! You can get additional questions answered, see pictures of students’ projects, get help and encouragement from other homeschoolers, or browse through the multitude of posts to get a feel for our products and see what real people think of Guest Hollow!
Like what you see? Join the Guest Hollow family, and add Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen Curriculum to your cart!
Reviews: See what our customers have to say!
If you’ve used Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen, we invite you to write a review and leave your thoughts about our curriculum. Scroll down to the review box below the following customer reviews. We look forward to seeing your feedback!
Kimberlie Flanagan (verified owner) –
My daughter and I both are enjoying this curriculum. I highly recommend this curriculum if you have a student that is not strong in math or has not enjoyed science previously. My one concern was that there might be too much reading as my daughter is not a strong reader. You can easily adjust the amount of reading to fit your student. I have my daughter read some of the material silently and we enjoy reading other books aloud. We are having fun and learning too!
Lise Brown (verified owner) –
My twin boys, who are juniors this year, and I are using this curriculum this year. What I love about it as a parent, and former public school teacher is that it is NOT a traditional, Chemistry curriculum, which is why my boys picked it. I love that everything is already laid out for me with an incredible selection of books, videos, recipes and other resources. One of my boys said this, “I’m learning Chemistry in a much simpler, but interesting and creative way. I’m not a big reader, but have enjoyed the books and really liked making a lot of different foods.” This is our second time to use some of your curriculum and we’re really grateful for the time and effort you’ve put into it. Really, really good stuff!!
Dacia Capps –
I am about to complete this for a second time with my younger son. I will eventually do it a third with my youngest! Yes we like it that much. My oldest son who did this first has autism and was able to grasp this in a way he never could have in a traditional chemistry. He also now has life long skills he will use again and again. The schedule is complete with everything. The time and effort that went into making this was priceless and the writer alone is priceless. I cannot say enough good things about her. I have been using various things she has made for almost a decade we will always come back to using her ideas and creations!!
Joanna –
We thoroughly enjoyed using this Chemistry curriculum! It was very engaging and my students stayed interested in it the entire year. Using the different types and sources for the reading materials made this curriculum much more attractive to my teenagers. We all were pleased with the videos and activities. I, as the parent, liked that it helped teach my children some cooking techniques, and that I had the flexibility to pick and choose which books, videos, and activities we covered.
Mason Krause –
This curriculum was used at my homeschool co-op during my freshman year of highschool. I found it to be generally interesting, although some books more than others. Mathematically it was somewhat lacking, but ideal for students who want an easily graspable introduction to the world of covalent and ionic bonds. The reading was enjoyable without being overwhelming, the work was in that sweet-spot of being fairly easy while keeping the sense of accomplishment you feel when you correctly name the number of bonds a carbon atom is capable of having (four). Overall i give this four stars, i would wholeheartedly give a five star review if it were not for the lack of math, but again, for some students this may even be a plus. However, because I plan to go into a STEM career, the math would have been (almost) welcome.
Kellie Krause (verified owner) –
I was able to use this with a coop with grades 9-12. I loved and read most of the books myself! There are a lot of books scheduled, however, it is easy to look through the schedule and pick the books that work best for your family or coop. It was great for our coop because there weren’t many students needing the math portion to continue their science studies in college. I LOVED that everything was scheduled so well. The students could watch the videos at home on their own and then we met to discuss ideas and do experiments. Honestly, my son who plans on going into engineering only benefited from learning the content this way. In looking at our state objectives, the balancing of equations was the only thing not present in this curriculum. Khan Academy was helpful in supplementing this. The kids at coop are hoping to have this class offered again, which is always a good sign:-)
Lilyan (verified owner) –
We did Kitchen Chemistry with 2 other homeschooling families and the girls enjoyed their time making new recipes and experimenting with various chemicals in the kitchen. Each “lab” really turned into a little tea party where we enjoyed what the students had experimented and discussed what they learned. An absolutely ingenious way of learning chemistry. The book, videos, and other resources were sumptuous. Well done!
Donna Henkel (verified owner) –
At the midway point of the curriculum, I can honestly express the joy my sons and I have had completing their weekly science assignments. My 10th grade son is an avid reader and enthusiastically devours each book. My 9th grade son likes to read, he does not love it, though he will read what is required. The book selection has sparked such an interest that he almost has an unspoken desire to read the selections for each day. As a mom, this thrills me to no end! The workbooks, videos, online links and activities are all engaging and provide a real life aspect to the world of chemistry. My sons each have a goal to pursue the trade industry rather than college, Chemistry in the Kitchen is a perfect match to educate them with a solid understanding of chemistry, while eliminating the necessary “college bound” requirements for the subject. Now for the best part, they have each eagerly and emphatically requested to use the Guest Hollow Physics curriculum for next year!
raguilar86 (verified owner) –
We absolutely love this curriculum. My son loves the hands on aspect and how the reading is fun and engaging and not boring text book reading. My younger son can’t wait until he is old enough to start Chemistry in the Kitchen.
Susan Gordon (verified owner) –
My son LOVED this course. The books, the videos, the ease of changing it to fit our family was so nice. Also, he excelled on his ACT in Science. I know that completing this curriculum helped with that! Five stars!
Alicia Hansen (verified owner) –
My two science minded middle schoolers are loving this curriculum. We are working together with other families who are also using the curriculum and cooking together once a week. It is a thorough and interesting take on chemistry. In addition Guest Hollow is a wonderfully supportive company and very responsive to queries. The book selections are varied and interesting, and will become excellent reference resources on our shelves. My kids are incredibly excited to start the geography!
Casie (verified owner) –
My high schooler enjoyed Guesthollow biology, and she’s loving this curriculum as well. We appreciate that she’s getting a thorough education in chemistry and lots of practical kitchen experience at the same time. We’ve been able to find all of the required books at the library, which has been a huge plus for us!
Darlene McCullough –
We enjoyed this course quite a bit. We both learned a lot and it was much more interesting for him than a traditional chemistry course since he will not be pursuing a scientific degree.
If I had any criticisms they are:
1. Some weeks the reading was just too heavy with the other course demands of high school. We had to skip a few books for this reason.
2. We are Christians and there was only one book about a Christian, but there are many Christian scientists. I found no books from a Christian perspective and found some so heavy on Evolution that it detracted from the focus of the book for us (Missing Microbes, for example.) While I understand not everyone doing the course is Christian and that Christian or not, our students should be informed about Evolution, it would have been great to have the option of some books that came at the subjects from a Christian worldview. I did my best to counter the Evolutionary views, but it was a disappointment to me that I had to so often.
Carrie Y. (verified owner) –
We have finished up this Chemistry curriculum for my daughter’s 10th grade school year and I cannot reccommend it enough! She was so excited about taking this class and it did not disappoint. This is chemistry without the math, but the content is so rich and engaging, your student will learn so much. Also, it is presented in so many different forms (videos, books, experiments, etc..) that the information your student is studying will be much easier to comprehend and remember, which has been a blessing for us as some Chemistry concepts can be quite difficult to grasp.
The schedule offers so many different choices that you can truly customize the class for your student and your time schedule.
We did do some math on the side to supplement, but that was easy enough to do and certainly no reason to avoid using this curriculum. The course is excellent on so many levels!
On a side note, Charles and Jenn Guest are super responsive, helpful, and kind. They have always been available to answer any questions I have had. The Facebook group (there is one for each subject) is a great place to go to see and hear what others are doing, and to get advice etc… from the Guests and from others using the curriculum.
Debra Brinkman (verified owner) –
I used Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen during the 2020-21 school year with my two high schoolers (9th and 11th grades). They both hate math, so a big draw for this program was the “math-free” aspect.
This was a complete hit. They learned so much actual chemistry throughout, and we all had so much fun doing it. Towards the end of the year, I did supplement to bring in some of the “mathy” concepts like balancing equations, and they really did grasp that well. The point I made to them was that understanding the process is the hard part (which Guest Hollow made a lot less hard!) and the math is fairly easy once you have the understanding.
There is so much to choose from and you cannot do it all, which I found to be a tremendous blessing. We could focus on what spoke to us and not worry about every single book or video.
I took honors sciences in high school, and was a biology major in college for a while. I changed majors specifically because I realized how much chemistry I would have to take. Had I taken Guest Hollow Chemistry instead, I would have been better prepared. Guest Hollow teaches the concepts. My high school experience taught me the math, how to fit electrons into orbitals on a diagram, and how to use test tubes and bunsen burners — all the stuff that is easy to figure out if you understand the concepts.
Bottom line: my children both loved doing Chemistry and they both learned so much.
Natalie Goodson (verified owner) –
I am using this curriculum with my 8th grade son this year. We are about 1/3 the way through it. So far, it’s been a lot of fun and we’ve both learned a lot. So far, his favorite things have been the Periodic Table videos, the gummy bear osmosis lab and making homemade bread and chocolate cake. Some recipes have gone better than others, but they’ve all been learning experiences.
Carrie Taber –
This is my first year homeschooling my daughter and I am so thankful I found Guest Hollow! Their curriculums have been so easy to follow, and it has eased my mind knowing that their hard work is helping me teach my daughter. My daughter actually looks forward to class….and I’m not sure the last time that happened! I highly recommend Guest Hollow and I can’t wait to choose our curriculums for next year!
Terra (verified owner) –
Guest Hollow has been a welcome change in our homeschool! The book list, videos and content has so much flexibility . The curriculum is so well laid out, and inviting to our children. My reluctant teen, surprised me and really enjoys the chemistry books, always requesting to do chemistry first! So thankful for all you do! Many thanks for such quality work.
Lara Aston (verified owner) –
As people are wrapping up their year and others are looking at this curriculum for next year, I’d like to tell you my experience with it. My science loving, kitchen/cooking loving youngest daughter, started this curriculum last summer. We went hard and heavy through the summer with most of the books, all the videos, most of the cooking, and a fully engaged mom. Our goal was to finish 8 weeks through the summer to lighten her load a little through the school year. She thought the curriculum was fun and had no issue with doing it through the summer. We made marshmallows, cheese, and a number of other recipes. I am a big narration fan and she narrated to me daily what she learned and kept notes about what she read. By the end of that 8 weeks, she had already learned, absorbed and retained more chemistry than my other 3 children combined learned in an entire year from a commom homeschool textbook chemistry course. We continued through September at a slightly slower pace as we added the rest of her junior year subjects and extracurricular activities into her days.
On September 30, my husband of 33 years could not get out of bed because he had a severe back ache. We thought he had a herniated disk as his back had been hurting for about a month. However, he actually had cancer throughout his spine, pelvis, ribs, liver, and one lung. He died 15 days later. At that point, I honestly have no idea what my daughter did for school for the next 4 months. I do know she continued to work through her books, I graded some things periodically, and she narrated chemistry to me often, though I cannot tell you much of what she learned.
However, about the middle of March, my fog somewhat lifted and I engaged with her again over school. I can tell you that she has learned a phenomenal amount of chemistry this year, even in the midst of tragedy and a mostly absent mom-teacher. She hasn’t cooked as many things as she did earlier, though she has still made several recipes. But as we close in on week 30, I am amazed at her understanding of the periodic table, how different elements work together, information about molecules and bonds and how all these things apply to regular daily life. I’m amazed at the information she throws out throughout the day as she applies things she has learned.
If you are looking for a curriculum that will teach your student hard core chemistry and chemical equations, I’m not sure if this curriculum will meet your needs. However, if you are looking for an opportunity for your student to learn how chemistry affects day to day living and make broad connections about God’s master plan and design of His amazing creation, I don’t think there is a better program on the market. It is fun and engaging and has many opportunities for you to connect with your student in interesting ways. I highly recommend you give it a try.
Leah Hesterman (verified owner) –
My daughter absolutely LOVED Guest Hollow’s Chemistry in the Kitchen! It was a real game-changer for her. She read extra books she didn’t even need to read because she was so engaged. She did the whole curriculum on her own, though we all got to taste the fruits of her labor 😉 Two thumbs way up! We recommend Guest Hollow to everyone we can.
Becci Manies (verified owner) –
This was our first Guest Hollow purchase – my daughter loved it! We had a great time making the recipes for the labs together and the required books are so good. You never knew you wanted to know that much about salt lol – give it a try!
Homeschooling Through High School –
I used the four week intro with my son. It is the perfect prep for those who have never thought about Chemistry and it’s also perfect for those who need a refresher.
You can see a preview here in this video.
https://youtu.be/wgjeuS3yL9s