Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Starting the science education early

My son loves science. He has grown crystals in our kitchen, created chemical reactions with science kits and made slime more times than I can count. I have marveled at the teachers in his preschool who started the science conversations early, and I love hearing about all the experiments he gets to do in school now.

Science didn't come easily for me in school. (I could probably find a way to blame the nuns here, but I won't.) I just didn't have an innate interest in the natural sciences and biology as I did in other subjects. I would like to encourage my son's interest, however, so I've tried to talk to him more about science at home. Because of this, we have both learned a lot.

Looking back more at those preschool years now, I realize how much influence those early teachers had in fostering my son's love of science. I also realize that we were lucky: It turns out that a lot of teachers don't feel confident in introducing science to their students.

But science at an early age is really about feeding children's curiosity: Which apple do you think will taste sweeter? What do you think will happen to this jar of water if we leave it out for a week? Let's look at how these bugs on the playground are similar and different.

To be fair to those teachers: I understand the reluctance. But maybe we need to give everyone an easier way to start those conversations.

What kind of science activities do you do with your children at home? Tell me in the comments.

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