Written by Simple Homeschool contributor Stefani Austin of Blue Yonder
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science.” I would argue that the seed of science got its start not in men, but rather in curious little boys and girls.
Children are the purest, truest form of scientist. They are fascinated by rocks. They thrill to taking apart and recreating all over again. They are not afraid to get messy, to ask a question, or to postulate a wild and unexpected theory.
Science–that place where curiosity, diligence and imagination meet–is the natural home of a child’s mind.
Imparting the great ideas and discoveries of science to our students can, however, seem such a daunting task. In fact one of the questions that most worries new homeschoolers is something akin to, “How will we recreate a high school chemistry lab at home?”
Take heart, and take a good look at the humble beginnings of many great discoveries. For Newton it began with an ordinary apple. Archimedes made one of his greatest discoveries in the bathtub. Benjamin Franklin changed the world with a kite.
Our children need little more than a few modest tools and bit of training in the ways of observation and record keeping to gain a powerful understanding of science.
Here are a few simple tools for meaningful scientific discovery: [Read more...]