My Little Scientists

I thought I would post some specific things on our subjects for the next few weeks and add some pictures of the boys in action.

This week Luca found a Jr. Science Kit I had bought for him, but stuck up in the loft until later in the year. He was so excited to find it. He brought it down the stairs filled with joy saying, "Open it, please". The kit has all the goodies; goggles, tweezers, flask, beaker, pipette, magnifying glass, etc all in large sizes for little hands to maneuver. We happened to have some water in the school house so I filled the beaker with water and for about 45 minutes he played pouring the water through a funnel into a flask, then back into the beaker. Later in the week we added colors to the test tubes and he mixed colors.

Our first quarter of science for Nico is chemistry. This is our second time doing chemistry. We are using Real Science - 4 - Kids. I like them because they have the student book, lab book, and this year they have quizzes, midterms and lapbooking materials which are great for studying. This means less work for me! They graduate in steps of difficulty. The labs are similar year to year, but add an additional element of science to it. This week we continued talking about atoms, molecules, and bonds. For lab Nico got to make molecules and identify them. The fun part was they were made out of marshmallows so when we were done the kids got to eat them for snack. Luca even made molecules.

I love teaching Nico science. Being a chemist and majoring in Biology and Forensic Science I enjoy that he has such an interest in it. It was so beautiful we were doing our lessons outside on our school house porch.

Luca couldn't wait to eat his molecule.

 I also dug out the element kit I had bought for Brian that had the correct electron sites on them. I wish I had kept the one from my chemistry class in college.

This week also started our Co-Op. Every year we do a different topic or theme. In the the very beginning it was whoever was hosting picked what they wanted to teach. We then went for two years studying the states. Each week a hostess presented a state giving facts and information in whatever way they wanted to present it. This was fun for the kids because they got to do different things each week depending on the mom or dad that was teaching. Last year we flipped to doing science every week. We have two groups of the kids, the Pre-K and the older elementary kids. They each had the same topics but worked on their level. We had a hostess for each group. This year we are geared toward games and cooperative play based on educational games. We are doing a different subject each month. This month is Science. I had so much fun the first week seeing the different games everyone had.

Luca and Miranda are playing a game with Avi  helping them.

Nico is being introduced to a time travel game. It is so great to see the dads participate.

This is the Pre-K, K group. Luca and his harem I call it.

Nico also found a baby mouse that he really wanted to try to save. He called me at work to tell me about it, but I did not know it was going to be so small. The little thing had no hair yet. I knew it wouldn't survive, but let him try it. He fed it with an eye dropper and listened to it squeak. He has such a big heart.

 

Science is my favorite subject by far. It is so fun to learn when you can see what is happening. There is also so much to do with science it is never ending. I love that both boys have such an interest in it.