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How do we spark curiosity through science?
When you homeschool, you have a lot more freedom and flexibility than in a classroom. There is no need to stick rigidly to curricular outcomes. Kids can have fun investigating the world around them and doing hands-on activities and experiments.
You don’t have to know everything about science either. I see our role as one of letting them explore and providing the tools and resources that help them to investigate. Children already have a natural curiosity in the world around them and we can be learning with them too.
Take their lead. Watch and listen to them. If they are making observations and asking questions then they are thinking scientifically.
For example, when my daughter spotted a swarm of bees hanging about on a bush nearby, she was curious about what they were doing and began asking questions.
To explore this interest, activities might include:
Researching bees
Writing an information report
Learning about life cycles
Creating a labelled diagram showing the anatomy of a bee
Simulating pollination
Finding out about beekeeping from a local beekeeper
On this occasion, my daughter was happy to do a little research about bees and check on the swarm each day until it moved off. Using their interests is a natural way into science. We ended up getting our own hive of bees not long after that so she got involved in beekeeping!
As well as starting from their interests, another fun place to begin with science is with kitchen chemistry. There are a heap of easy, low prep experiments that you can do using readily available ingredients from your home; make sure you stock up on vinegar!
Kitchen chemistry experiments include activities such as:
Making erupting volcanoes
Creating a density tower
Testing the pH of your fridge foods using homemade indicator
Pen chromatography
Making a bouncy egg
Invisible ink
Making elephant toothpaste
As I absolutely love science, I create and provide online homeschool science sessions for primary aged homeschoolers. The goal is to bring kids together and help to fuel their curiosity in the world around them through engaging, hands-on science classes.
We investigate interesting topics such as forensics, the periodic table, our brains, animal adaptations, bioengineering and microorganisms, to name only a few. I include interactive activities and experiments to keep them engaged and curious. The more questions they come up with, the better!
If you are looking for fun, engaging science group classes to support what you are doing at home, check out upcoming homeschooling classes here and reach out if you have any questions.
Let's work together to spark science curiosity!
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