Pages

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Self-directed learning



I just bought this book and haven't had a chance to use it yet. That is, until today. Tera had finished all her work and was looking for something to do. She decided she wanted to do a science project. Our rule is tell me what you want to do and I'll approve or disapprove the idea. She comes in with a sandwich baggie with what looked liked corroded pennies left over from her science class last semester at Monday Fun. I suggested she come up with a different idea. She was doing the "ah Mom" routine, when I told her to go get the new science experiment book . She looked through it and found an experiment she could do all on her own. I helped her get the materials down out of the kitchen cabinet. She went to work on a project that explored mixing colors. Daniel even joined in on the fun. She is so excited to do her own experiments. I heard her coming up with her "hypothesis" as she would say as they were trying out different color combinations.


This is a great book. It gives a short synopsis at the end of each experiment explaining the scientific concept. I read it to them and now they can't wait until tomorrow to see what other experiments they can do. I am thinking this is going to give me leverage in getting them to get their work done on time. I also bought another in this series called "Nature in a Nutshell". Science is going to be fun this year.