Master Books Science

Master Books sells science courses under several series: Let's Talk Science for grades K-4, God's Design (labeled K-8), General Science for grades 7-12, and Master's Class Biology for grades 9-12 and Chemistry and Physics for grades 10-12. The publisher says a biblical worldview is integral to all its curriculum. In our assessment the series differ enough in format, grade range and cost that they are best judged one at a time, so this review reports what the publisher says about each and keeps our own judgments in the scoreboard.

Last updated: 2026-10-08 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	God's Design for Life: the publisher's FAQ says it takes a more traditional textbook-and-worksheet approach. Let's Talk Science: the same FAQ says it uses a conversational approach
Worldview	Christian. The publisher says a biblical worldview is integral to all its curriculum and publishes a Statement of Faith; the pages we reviewed name no denomination. The worldview label in our directory is Every Homeschool's classification, not the publisher's term
Grades	Let's Talk Science, grades K-4; God's Design, labeled K-8; General Science, grades 7-12; Master's Class, Biology grades 9-12, Chemistry and Physics grades 10-12. The publisher's BASIC 4-Subject Sets include a science course at every grade from kindergarten through grade 12
Formats	Print books, with eBook and download versions listed for some titles. The God's Design for Life student book and Adventures in Creation: Level 1 are listed as paperbacks, and the General Science series as hardcover books. Supply kits and supplemental video courses through Master Books Academy are sold separately
Cost tier	Budget (our classification). Selling prices retrieved October 2026: Adventures levels $29.59 (Level K) to $40.79 (Level 1); God's Design for Life set $80.78; Master's Class sets $65.58 to $67.98. Supply kits are sold separately
Parent intensity	2 (our rating). The publisher describes God's Design as open-and-go, with lesson plans and daily schedules built in
ESA-common	Yes. The publisher's ESA page lists 16 state programs it is available through (retrieved October 2026)
Accredited	No. The publisher says curriculum cannot be accredited and that Master Books is a curriculum publisher, not a school
Established	Master Books was established in 1975, per the 50th-anniversary timeline on masterbooks.com
Website	masterbooks.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

The scores and reasons below are Every Homeschool's own judgment, based on what the publisher describes on its public pages. We did not use the courses or read the books in full.

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	3	Mid-range in our judgment. The publisher says the God's Design standard books include structured experiments designed to teach the scientific method, says its Chemistry course is in-depth enough to prepare future STEM majors for college, and lists Biology, Chemistry and Physics as one credit with lab. We did not compare the courses with other publishers'
Ease of teaching	5	The publisher says God's Design is designed to be open-and-go, and that one Let's Talk Science volume includes the daily schedule, activity directions, supply lists, worksheets and answer keys
Content quality	4	Our judgment of the publisher's public pages, which describe what each course covers (for example, the God's Design for Life student book has three sections: The World of Plants, The Human Body and The World of Animals). We did not read the books in full
Flexibility	4	The publisher says each Let's Talk Science course is standalone, sells individual titles and describes family-style use across ages in God's Design
Value for money	5	Our judgment from the publisher's listed prices (retrieved October 2026): one all-in-one Adventures volume per level, God's Design sets at $80.78 and Master's Class sets at $65.58 to $67.98. Supply kits add $64.95 to $421.95. We did not compare prices with other publishers
Worldview scope	1	One stated worldview: the publisher says a biblical worldview is integral to all its curriculum and describes God's Design as taught from a biblical creationist worldview
Visual/design	4	Our judgment of the publisher's public pages, which describe the God's Design and Let's Talk Science student books as full-color. We did not review the printed books
Support resources	3	Teacher Guides with a weekly lesson schedule, reviews and answer key; a free placement guide and alternate schedule for God's Design; and optional supplemental video instruction sold separately through Master Books Academy, which the publisher says does not take the place of the physical course

Who the publisher is

The 50th-anniversary timeline on masterbooks.com says Master Books was established in 1975, that New Leaf Press purchased it in February 1996, and that in August 1996 it became the primary publisher of many Answers in Genesis resources. The Master's Class Biology set page lists New Leaf Publishing Group, LLC as the publisher and Master Books as the manufacturer, and the careers page on masterbooks.com says the company is a distributed workforce with its main office in Green Forest, Arkansas.

The pages we reviewed list these authors for the science courses: Dr. Dennis Englin as contributor to Master's Class Biology, Chemistry and Physics; Richard and Debbie Lawrence as authors of the God's Design series; and Carrie Lindquist as contributor to the Let's Talk Science levels. The author page for Dr. Gary Parker lists Elementary Zoology, General Science 2 and Intro to Pre-Med Studies among his titles.

Some of the publisher's science courses, as its series and product pages list them (retrieved October 2026):

Series	Titles	Grades or ages the publisher lists
Let's Talk Science	Single-volume levels sold as Adventures in the World Around Me (Level K), Adventures in Creation (1), Adventures in the Physical World (2), Adventures on Planet Earth (3) and Adventures in the Scientific Method (4)	Grades K-4; ages 4-5 (Level K) to 8-10 (Level 4)
God's Design	Beginners: Life, and Heaven & Earth. Standard: Life, Heaven & Earth, The Physical World, and Chemistry & Ecology	Beginners K-2; standard books labeled grades 3-8, with the placement guide recommending grades 5-8 for Life and Heaven & Earth and grades 7-8 for Physical World and Chemistry & Ecology
Elementary Zoology	Revised curriculum pack	Ages 8-12, 4th to 6th grade
General Science 1 and 2	Survey of Earth & Sky; Survey of Geology & Archaeology	Grade 7-12, one year and one credit each, per the series page
Master's Class	High School Biology, Chemistry and Physics	Biology grades 9-12; Chemistry and Physics grades 10-12; each one year, one credit plus lab
Intro to Pre-Med Studies	Curriculum pack	Grades 9-12

How the publisher says the courses work

Master Books' About page says each course has a simple-to-use daily schedule based on a 180-day school year and pre-planned lessons, and that its Teacher Guides are perforated and three-hole punched. The science series differ in what a family must buy and how a lesson runs:

• Let's Talk Science. The series FAQ says the single volume is all that is required and includes the teaching aids, daily schedule, activity directions, supply lists, read-aloud stories, worksheets and answer keys. The series page lists 2 days a week for 20 minutes at Level K, 3 days for 20 minutes at Levels 1 and 2, and 5 days for 20 to 30 minutes at Levels 3 and 4 (see also the time FAQ), and says the projects use everyday household materials.
• God's Design. The series FAQ says the Beginners books need only the single text, while each standard book needs both the Student Book and the Teacher Guide. The schedule FAQ says the series is scheduled for 4 days a week, with about 20 to 30 minutes a day in grades K-2, 30 to 40 minutes in grades 3-5 and 40 to 60 minutes in grades 6-8. The Teacher Guide is described as consumable student worksheets, a weekly lesson schedule, reviews and an answer key.
• General Science. The curriculum packs include a Teacher Guide, a suggested daily schedule, worksheets, quizzes and tests, and an answer key; lessons are scheduled five days a week and take 30 to 45 minutes.
• Master's Class. The Biology set is a 36-week course with a schedule included, an expected 5 hours of course work a week, and weekly lab reports. The Physics set says the course work requires approximately 5 hours each week and that practice exercises, lab reports, hands-on experiments, quizzes and exams are included. The Chemistry set says its Teacher Guide includes all coursework, a schedule and supply lists for the labs.

On placement, the publisher says the author designed the God's Design series to be used twice: children can begin with the Beginners books in K-2, then cycle through all four standard courses in the elementary and middle school years. The same page says God's Design is an elementary and middle school curriculum and is not designed as a college-prep high school course.

The publisher describes God's Design as designed for family-style teaching, with synchronized scheduling that combines Beginners and standard books so siblings study the same topic on the same day, and Let's Talk Science as designed with flexibility for multi-age learning within a family setting. The pages we reviewed make this statement for those two series, not for every science title.

On supplies, the publisher says the God's Design supply kits are optional add-ons and that the supplies are ordinary items most families already have or can pick up easily. The Master's Class Biology kit page and Chemistry kit page say each kit provides the non-household materials needed for the laboratory experiments, the Master's Class series page says the Physics kit includes most things needed for each lab, and the Biology set page lists the kits among its optional resources.

What the publisher says a lesson involves

• God's Design. The publisher's FAQ says each lesson follows a three-part approach: introducing facts, making observations or conducting experiments, and reviewing. The schedule FAQ says the reading portion typically takes under 10 minutes, the hands-on activity or experiment takes 10 to 30 minutes, and the review and discussion take another 10 to 15 minutes. The first FAQ names a 3-D cell model made with gelatin and grapes, a Sandy Skeleton and a Flood in a Jar as examples of hands-on pieces. The student book for God's Design for Life has three sections: The World of Plants, The Human Body and The World of Animals.
• Master's Class Biology. The publisher's page describes a 36-week course in which students use a light microscope, learn dissection skills and write lab reports each week, with 28 chapters in the table of contents and an expected 5 hours of course work a week.

In our assessment: strengths

• Low-prep design. The publisher describes God's Design as open-and-go, with lesson plans and daily schedules built in, and says the single Let's Talk Science volume includes the daily schedule, activity directions, supply lists and answer keys. In our judgment this is the feature most likely to matter to a parent teaching several subjects.
• Published placement guidance. The publisher posts a placement guide and a free alternate schedule for God's Design and a placement FAQ, which helps a family decide where to start.
• Prices by course. Listed prices run from $29.59 for one Adventures level to $80.78 for a God's Design set and $65.58 to $67.98 for a Master's Class set (retrieved October 2026).

In our assessment: trade-offs

• Integrated worldview. The publisher says a biblical worldview is integral to all its curriculum, describes Let's Talk Science as having full Bible integration and a Creationist perspective, and publishes a Statement of Faith that includes Genesis as a factual presentation of actual events and a global Flood. Families who want a science course without integrated Bible content will not find that in this line, as the publisher describes it.
• God's Design is not a high-school course. The publisher says it is not designed as a college-prep high school course; the high-school science courses in the table above are Master's Class, General Science and Intro to Pre-Med Studies.
• Supply kits and video cost more. God's Design full-level supply kits are $124.95 to $150.95 (the Beginners kits are $64.95 and $79.95), the Master's Class Biology kit is $131.95 without a microscope and $421.95 with one, the Chemistry kit is $254.95, and the separately sold Physics lab kit is $210.00 (retrieved October 2026). Video instruction is sold separately through Master Books Academy.
• Grade labels differ between pages. The God's Design series page gives two different grade and age tables for the same titles, and the student book page says 3rd to 8th grade while the set page says 5th to 8th. The placement guide is the clearest statement of where the publisher recommends starting.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• In our judgment, Master Books Science fits families who want a science course taught from the biblical creationist worldview the publisher describes; who want lesson plans and schedules built in; who want to teach children of different ages together using God's Design or Let's Talk Science as the publisher describes; and who want to buy one title at a time.

• In our judgment, it fits less well families who want a science course without integrated Bible content or a creation perspective; who want a college-prep high-school science course from the God's Design series (the publisher says it is not designed for that); or who want video instruction included in the price rather than sold separately.

Cost honest assessment

Selling prices below are from the publisher's product pages, retrieved October 2026. The publisher's sales page says masterbooks.com offers 20% off retail every day.

• Let's Talk Science: Level K $29.59; Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 $40.79 each.
• God's Design Beginners: Life and Heaven & Earth $41.59 each.
• God's Design standard books: the Life student book $44.79 and Teacher Guide $35.99; the Life set, Heaven & Earth set, Physical World set and Chemistry & Ecology set $80.78 each.
• General Science 1 and 2 curriculum packs $83.15 each.
• Master's Class sets: Biology $67.98, Chemistry $65.58 and Physics $65.58.
• Supply kits: God's Design Beginners Life $64.95 and Heaven & Earth $79.95; God's Design Life $124.95; Heaven & Earth, Physical World and Chemistry & Ecology $150.95 each; Master's Class Biology without a microscope $131.95 or with a microscope and slides $421.95; Chemistry $254.95; the separately sold Physics lab kit $210.00.

For a one-year Master's Class Biology course, the textbook-and-Teacher-Guide set is $67.98, and the optional kit adds $131.95 or $421.95.

ESA eligibility notes

The publisher's Educational Savings Accounts page (retrieved October 2026) says families using ESA funds can get Master Books through the state programs it lists: the Arkansas Education Freedom Account; the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account; the CHOOSE Act (Alabama); Florida's Step Up For Students; the Georgia Promise Scholarship Program; the Indiana Education Scholarship Account; the Louisiana GATOR Scholarship Program; the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program; the New Hampshire Children's Scholarship Fund; North Carolina Education Student Accounts (ESA+); the New York Children's Scholarship Fund; the South Carolina Education Scholarship Trust Fund Program; Texas Education Freedom Accounts; Utah Fits All; the West Virginia Hope Scholarship Program; and the Wyoming Education Savings Account. The page says ClassWallet can be used for purchases on masterbooks.com but is not currently supported for Master Books Academy courses, and that a direct-pay screenshot uploaded to ClassWallet must include tax in the total. Families should confirm with their own program before ordering.

Alternatives

Other science programs are listed in the directory, including Apologia and BJU Press. We make no comparison here: each publisher's scope, prices and worldview wording are on its own pages, linked from its directory entry. For a side-by-side of science options, see the best science curriculum guide.