The science curriculum that we prefer has a million experiments, projects and “Try This” sections embedded into the textbook. This is part of what we love about it. It is also what has made me lazy.
I love science and the doors it opens for exploration, trial and error and invitation to play experiences. When the boys were toddlers and preschoolers, it was normal for me to have some sort of activity for them to engage in that had no right answers. The activity was there to allow them to explore and discover. It gave them freedom to think and discover. Often, we would begin this activity with a book of some sort. This book was usually on a related topic. It provided some vocabulary and maybe an idea or two on how to use some of the materials. They loved these activities, I loved how preparing these activities made me think and be creative.
But as they grew older, I quit putting these activities together. I began to rely on the curriculum. Having everything neatly written out for me was easy and so I just let it be. Surely, these specific activities would be enough for them to grow and develop curious scientific minds.
And while they are curious and think in experimenting type ways, I have noticed recently that the boys, especially the oldest two, no longer look to science with some degree of wonder. Instead they look at it as something to do and to follow the directions so they can get through it.
I wanted to bring back the wonder so I scheduled a picture book and exploring day for the end of our first unit. I was hopeful that it might work but to be honest, I wasn’t too sure since the boys are now 13, 11, 9 and 6 – all ages that are pretty far from the world of toddlers and preschoolers. In preparation for our day, I found a book about matter and the properties of matter – What’s the Matter in Mr. Whiskers’ Room. The book discussed many of the topics that the youngest three and I had been talking about for the previous two weeks AND it was about a group of students who were exploring various materials. It couldn’t have been more perfect. As the big day approached, I gathered materials and prepared different concoctions that this particular exploring time was going to required. Then yesterday, on a whim, I invited down another homeschool family to join us.
Today was the big day! We gathered together under the tree in our front yard and read our book. Then I shared where each of the six explore stations would be. I also gave a couple of safety instructions (i.e. DO NOT use the AlkaSeltzer tablets in the gloop or ooblek because they could cause an unfortunate chemical reaction). Then I set them loose. And off they went. I was hoping for about 20 minutes of exploring before the “I’m bored.” and “Can we be done yet?” comments began. What I got was children who were still at it 40 minutes later and had to be cut off! Even the oldest who didn’t have to join us because his science curriculum is different from the rest of us jumped in for both the story and exploring. The kids came up with so many ways to explore including eight or ten that I hadn’t even considered. A couple of them even conducted an impromptu experiment complete with a hypothesis and data table.
The insights they had when we debriefed were incredible. Several times they talked about confirming things they had been learning about through experience and more than once they mentioned other scientific principles we haven’t come anywhere near yet. More than all the science learning, though, they were laughing and sharing with each other.
Did this whole process come together quickly, sure not. The planning and prep work for our exploring day took approximately an hour. I was lucky this time that I didn’t need to go and buy any supplies but I know that WHEN we repeat this process I will likely also need to shop. The clean up, even with the kids’ help, took about 20 minutes as well. It was definitely a process. BUT I will do it again because it was absolutely without a doubt worth it!
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