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K Science
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So it’s my day to post I guess, ha! I think that I’m just getting far enough along in the year that I’m starting to have more questions!
So, I have a 6 yo ds, this is my 1st year hsing, and we are “doing” Kindergarten. I decided to wait until next year to try 106 DoC hoping that the now 3 yo ds would benefit a little more from tagging along w/his older brother next year. So I’m winging science. I started out just getting some topical books from the library, like one on bats, one on pumpkins, etc. But ds6 is not that into all the reading, and I’m not willing to push him at this point. So I found a book with a bunch of experiments divided into general catagories – weather, geology, physics, etc. What I’m not sure about is how to approach this. Do I just pick some experiments and go for it or do I have an “area” that we work from (ie: weather) before we move onto the next topic? I guess what I’m asking is how do I approach science in a methodical way or is that even important at this age?
Again, I feel the need for more “hands on” stuff in our curriculum at this point, so I think science is a good place for that. If you have ideas for incorporating this into other areas I would welcome the ideas! Thanks 🙂
Becky
have you read much of what CM says about Nature Study? SCM’s “Hours in the Out of Doors” does a great job of summarizing it. We are doing 106 Days this year, and I have a son who can hardly be pulled away from books long enough to eat, so I may not be speaking well to your situation. BUT, knowing the little I know from what CM says about early years science – they can have a very solid foundation in science from observing nature in the early years. What I have seen in my son is that he gets on different “nature kicks” – for a while he is really into birds, then insects, etc. Before we started 106 Days this year, we just studied whatever “kick” we were on. We went to the aquarium once and then read/watched/talked about fish for a long time afterwards. I would say you don’t necessarily need a certain order to study things at this age, just do whatever topic is interesting to you at the time and observe as much as you can first hand. Do what you can to foster that love for learning and encourage his interest in nature, exposing him to as many facets of it that you are able. We did have several science/nature experiment books when he was younger that we would periodically do experiments out of and we all enjoyed that. Maybe not be so methodical with a curriculum at this point, but maybe pick a certain day(s) to do Science/Nature study just to make sure you are doing it – and enjoy!
This is our second year of hsing. We tried 106 Days last year, and it was a great resource! I, however, am not a “science person” so I found myself ill-prepared for many of the experiments. We enjoyed each lesson, but only made it to lesson 27 and then stopped.
I scheduled it again this year, but my pattern repeated. I found a lot of comfort from this forum because I realized that I was already doing enough science just by reading living science books and weekly nature study. We are reading the Tale of … books by Arthur Scott Bailey and LOVE them. We have already learned so much about badgers, owls, frogs, and foxes that we would never have learned otherwise. I’m so glad our science is more laid back and relaxed. It doesn’t feel so structured (which is odd for me), and I love it too, now.
Blessings,
Lindsey
I agree with mjemom and Lindsey-you don’t need to do much at this age. I would pursue nature study and read/do experiments on whatever he is interested in. He will learn and remember so much more this way!
This is what we did with our oldest two-ages 13 (8th grade) and 14 (9th grade)-for most of their elementary years and they are doing great in their upper level science classes and still have quite a love of science. We are following the same plan with our younger 5!
-Rebecca
While both boys love to be outside and spend a lot of time outdoors, I don’t think ds6 is very interested in nature. I’ve tried to point out things on occasion, but he’d rather spend his time in the sand box or dirt pile making roads or whatnot. Right now we have a very very small yard, but we are moving to a place with 3 acres and lots of trees. We’ve already spent a lot of time on the land, cleaning it up and its been fun to watch the boys play. Ds6 is learning to climb trees! 🙂 I have always had a garden and so he picks little things up from that, but I just don’t know if its enough. If I take them to the park they want to play on the slides and swings, not look for frogs and other interesting creatures. I’m hoping the new place will provide more of that in the future.
BTW, no I haven’t read a lot of CM – the 1st volume and I think most of the 2nd. Its on my wish list because I don’t like to read on the computer and its a lot of pages to print! I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed by Charlotte, though. She is so amazing and I agree with what she’s saying so much, but in my reality I just don’t always feel I can quite live up to her standards. And I’m not sure my son is ready for all of it either – like reading for all the subjects. I started out with that and it was totally killing his love for learning. So I cut it back and its going much better. But I really feel like I need more hands on stuff and that he might respond well to doing some experiments rather than reading books about animals or whatever. Which btw he does not seem very interested in animals. or bugs. idk, he’s a weird kid, what can I say? his first word was truck – Lord knows I don’t understand it! 🙂 I played dolls and the regular girl stuff!
Anyway, sorry for the long post – I really appreciate everyone’s advice so far!
Becky
Becky,
Sounds like your son is into physics and possibly architecture. Sandbox play, building ramps and roads and such is still science. Might want to look in your science experiment book for some experiments for physics stuff-levers, pulleys, ramps, friction. Go with what he enjoys and his interests will expand as he grows and you can move on then.
You could even teach him math in the sandbox-build 4 roads or if I build 2 roads and you build 3 how many are there.
He is still quite young so don’t feel like you have to push him. Short bursts of reading are fine. Make sure you include reading about things he likes-trucks, trains, construction vehicles. You might want to check out Macaulay’s books on castles, cathedrals, etc just for the pictures-you could read them if he wants but the pictures alone are great and would give a lot of information on building stuff especially if you just gave him some info to go with it (you pre-read and then “narrate” back to him what he’s be interested in). Field trips: drive by a construction site and stop to watch (lots of physics there!), go to a train depot or even on a train ride so he can really get a look at them, go to a fire station or police station.
My eldest boy was like this when he was little. We just worked with it. He is now a science and history buff. He may always be interested in cars and such but he will also show interest in other things too. Enjoy it!
-Rebecca
Becky: Your son sounds like my 8ds. He enjoys being outside and making things in dirt and sand. I could leave him out back all day with a pile either one and he would be just fine! He also likes to build structures with his Magformers. Have you heard of those? They are magnetic geometric shapes that you can build with. All sides of the shape are magnetized so you can make just about anything. My son has built some amazing structures with his. He also like Magnetics, the structures he makes with those are complex (even my engineer-type husband can’t match it!). He doesn’t like Legos very much like most boys do. I used to think that he was strange too, but like your son, he has a different bent. Anyway, all this is to say that not every child will be enthralled with nature study but you can still have a wonderful CM education!
I agree with mjemom and 6boys1girl. For us, I went with the current “kick” which went from trains to dinosaurs to ocean creatures to insects and back again to dinosaurs. So I just go with it and try to read from those kind of books to encourage a love for books. I go as deep as I can with what he is interested in, from activities to books to field trips. Then we learn other subjects based on his interests. He draws dinosaurs and makes other crafts of dinosaurs and we use little dinosaurs for math play. I have not read all the CM either and I also feel like I could never live up to her standards. But, as I have heard, “If you shoot for the moon, you’ll at least end up with the stars.” So maybe leave biology/nature for later and do physics now. He sounds like a brilliant child. Do whatever experiments he is interested in.
Hey Becky – you know, my girls LOVE science experiements and I would just say, themes don’t matter too much at this age, for some reason they are able to put 2 and 2 together even if you do it out of order. If you can group experiements together by a theme then that’s great, but if that slows you down or bogs you down or gets you off track then just flip open the book and do whatever experiement you have the supplies on hand for. You can always refresh his memory by saying – remember the time we did the ballon experiment, well this has a lot to do with “air presure” too! Using a little science terminology when you can is great. Just have fun with it!
Blessings,
Rebekah
Thank you everyone! This is such great advice! I am going to look into the physics stuff – even though its very daunting to me – I was terrible in Physics. I just don’t “get” it. Maybe dad will have to help. 🙂 The Magformers sound awesome – I have seen some magnetic-based building stuff and wondered about it. Do any of you feel you have too much building stuff? My boys have so many toys – good stuff too, so I can’t just get rid of it and they play with all of it (we have lots of grandparents and aunts and uncles – it can add up fast!)- but I’ve been trying to limit things. For example, we have lego duplos, which is cool for the 3yo ds and the 6yo ds still plays w/ them too, then we have a box of small legos, and we have tinker toys. I’ve been reluctant to get any more building sets because I don’t want to over-do, but the magnet stuff seems like it adds a different dimension. And though I think legos are cool, they can also be a bit limiting, imho.
We have done a lot of the stuff mentioned – train rides and train parks, daddy is a roofer, so he’s been ‘on the job’ with him, which he loves (what boy doesn’t like hanging out with his dad?). Now we are rehabing the new house we bought, so ds is getting some more experience using different tools – prybars and hammers, etc. Anything like that – that is “real” – is appealing to him. But its sorta hard to manufacture those kinds of experiences. I think what most of you are saying is that I don’t neccessarily have to – those real life experiences will translate into knowledge and we can get into the other stuff when he’s older. Which is a HUGE relief! Adding some experiments for fun will be good and I won’t stress about how it all “fits”. Thanks again, everyone!
Becky
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