It’s scary when it comes to Science. It’s every scarier when you are to teach Science to your child especially when he/she is young.
How do I do it?
Am I teaching the right way?
Am I teaching the right thing?
Yep. Those are some of the questions that run in our minds as parents when we are being assigned the task of teaching. I know is scary and it scares me too but hey, aren’t we suppose to learn together with them? Isn’t that more fun than being a “know-all” or a genius parent? True or true?
Often times, parents tend to shy away from the Science subject because the subject gives you the impression about formal experiments and chemical reactions. Frankly speaking, Science is fun and it is around us all the time. It allows the child to explore, discover, and nurture their curiosity about the things around them. Science teaches your child to think, it makes him/her find out the why and the how. Yes, Science is important in our everyday life. So how do we introduce this subject to a child?
Let’s start with a question
When we want to know something, we always start with a question. Allow your child or even yourself as a parent to ask a question that brings meaningful information to you and your child. From the questions asked, it always (or most of the time) encourages the child to explore, discover, and find out the answer. Do it together with your child at the start. Do research together and show your child how to get to the answer.
Get out of the house!
Nah, not kicking you out for being naughty but getting outdoors with your child to experience the real world rather than just watching how things work or searching answers through the internet. We know the technology has been very advanced and you can easily find the answer with Mr. Google but it is the real world that your child will gain the real experiences, not through gadgets. Go to the park, jump into a muddy puddle, feel the rain, plant a plant…there are so many opportunities for learning out there! If you are feeling lost, go to the Science Center (considered outdoor?) or places that allows your child to explore and learn.
Now let’s bring the outdoors home
What do I mean by that? If you have been to the garden and would like to have your own mini garden, for example, why not start planting some mini pots of plants at home? Get some seeds, start planting and observe and make a chart to watch your little plants grow. It’s science lesson, isn’t it? Having their own plant also allows your child to learn by doing him/herself and being responsible for it. Having to watch the little plant grows will stimulates them to think and to ask questions too. You can even bring different types of items found, while you are outdoors, back home and learn about the topic of float and sink!
Indoor Science Lessons
No time to go out? Bad weather? We do understand that there are days where you can’t get out of the house. So, why not explore Science at home with household products? Smarties have done several Science experiments at home and you can teach your child on the types of indoor, easy peasy Science experiments that we have done. Below are some of the experiments we have done.
Rainbow Water Experiment
Constarch Goo Science Experiment
Egg Experiment
Exploding Milk Experiment
Increase vocabulary with daily life science
As you are giving Science lesson causally, you are also exposing your child to new words thus adding new descriptive vocabulary into your child’s word bank. Words such as sink, float, slow, heavy, light, dry, fast, rough and smooth are a few examples that can be reinforced and help your child gain a better understanding of their world. For younger child, use simple words while older child can learn more complex words. Just make sure that your child understands. You know your child best.
Science lesson is very practical and relevant to our everyday lives and is a perfect subject to complement a child’s natural curiosity due to lots of talking, listening and observing the world around them. While learning along the way, it can even spark ideas in a child’s mind. How great is that? So, get started with “exposing” Science to your child. Remember, make the learning fun because that will keep their fire burning 🙂