In everyday interactions with your child, you can do many things—and do them without lecturing or applying pressure—to help her learn science. Here are a few ideas:
• See how long it takes for a dandelion or a rose to burst into full bloom.
• Watch the moon as it appears to change shape over the course of a month and record the changes.
• Look for constellations in the night sky.
• Bake a cake.
• Solve the problem of a drooping plant.
• Figure out how the spin cycle of the washing machine gets the water out of the clothes.
• Take apart an old clock or mechanical toy—you don’t need to put it back together!
• Watch icicles melt.
• Observe pigeons, squirrels, butterflies, ants or spider webs.
• Go for a walk and talk about how the dogs (or birds or cats) that you see are alike and different.
• Discover what materials the buildings in your community are made of. Wood? Concrete? Adobe? Brick? Granite? Sandstone? Steel? Glass? Talk about the reasons for using these materials.
• Learning to observe carefully is an important step leading to scientific explanations. Experiencing the world with your child and exchanging information with him about what you see are important, too.
Finally, encourage your child to ask questions. If you can’t answer all of her questions, that’s all right—no one has all the answers, not even scientists. For example, point out that there’s no known cure for a cold, but that we do know how diseases are passed from person to person—through germs. Some of the best answers you can give are, “What do you think?” and “Let’s find out together.” Together, you and your child can propose possible answers, test them out and check them by using reference books, the Internet, or by asking someone who is likely to know the correct answers.
Parenting viewpoints from parents in the trenches, because parenting doesn’t come with a manual. In addition to