World of Discovery

Science: What's the best way to teach it?

What is the best way to teach science? I'm sure plenty of people  will chime in with their own opinions, and I'd just like to say that there really isn't any right or wrong way to teach it. I am what my darling daughter pleasantly calls a "science geek". I subject them to long walks in nature where we find cool bugs like this plant hopper.

Kitchen science which includes making makeshift volcanos out of baking soda and vinegar, making our own rock candy, and doing a study on bubbles that we make in our kitchen sink. The most important thing is to inspire children to have fun exploring the world around them, and that includes science. My niece called me a few weeks ago, and ok...I going to just say it...once again, the school systems have just squashed her imagination . Ok I'll explain what I mean.

My darling niece is in the 5th grade, same as my dd, and she calls me for help with her homework (what she really wanted was for me to answer the questions  ). We started talking about the various questions and how to best answer them. I directed her to get some common household items she had and we did various experiments to solve the answers. She then says to me: Aunty this was so much fun. I hate science at school because all we do is read the textbook and take tests, we don't even have labs

What????!!!!  Since when have they done away with Science labs? The schools today are so busy teaching to the test that they have killed the love of learning!!!

Ok, I am getting off of my soap box now. If you prefer to teach from a textbook, I REALLY have to say that I LOVE the Exploring Creation series by Jeannie Fulbright. They are put out by Apologia Publishers. We did Astronomy in the fall and are now begining Botany. What wonderful books to teach young children very advanced concepts. I highly recommend.

Whichever way you choose to teach science, I recommend the following websites to help you in your journey:

http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/science.html

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/ka

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/matrix.cfm

http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/earthspace.html

http://msnucleus.org/membership/html/k-6/uc/index.html (secular site, so parents please screen carefully. Many nice activities)

I will be pasting many more links in my homeschool links section soon.

For those of you who struggle with Math (learning/teaching/etc)

Have you ever struggled with teaching math, or with a child who learns differently from your other children? I belong to a wonderful community of homeschooling moms and I know the biggest compliant that I hear all the time is the feeling that the kids just aren't getting what they need for Math. Of course there are many wonderful Math products available: Math U See, Saxon Math, Singapore Math and others, but I have to tell you, I have found this DVD series of a wonderful Math Instructor.

Math Tutor DVD

These instructional DVD's are intended as a substitute for a live tutor, and contain hours of problems, worked out step-by-step by a clear and patient narrator. Many basic and advanced topics of mathematics are covered, including fundamental addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, fractions, polynomials, algebra, trigonometry, even calculus.

My darling children have greatly increased their mathematical abilities. This series is great! A couple of times a week or every day if you prefer, and you will notice a difference. Some people use this in place of instructing (it's like having a tutor in your home), some use it to reinforce the concepts learned.

I like it because it offers lots of examples, isn't dry and best yet... it doesn't break the bank!!!