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CathinCoffeland
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| Posted: Nov 13 2006 at 4:02pm | IP Logged
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When asked dd said the only thing she wanted to change about school was to have more science experiments.
which at her age (5) means poking at worms and stuffing her pockets full of leaves and rocks and making baking soda volcanos with daddy 
It occured to me montessori trays would be a good approach to presenting science to dd in a hands on way.
She is really liking the choice/hands on she is getting in the parish atrium and i though i could do similiarly for science stuff.
does any one do this? I understand i could set up a tray with magnets and different objects for instance but then what?
Do we talk about it? do i present it?
SHould i follow her interests or is there a good "order" to follow with science? i imagine in montessori schools they have some type of program they follow.
Any insight/ resources would be great.
Thanks Maggie
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Nov 14 2006 at 12:05pm | IP Logged
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Hi Maggie,
I'm hoping you get more answers to this because mine is pretty basic. For the little people, my understanding is that you set up trays that they can use to do very simple experiments. For instance a tray with a container of water, some objects, and a board or card with a line drawn down the middle. AT the top of one side of the card you draw a picture of a floating object, at the top of the other, a sinking object. You present it by saying "will the object sink or will it float?" You guess, or let the child guess and place it on the card, either on the float side or the sink side. Then you show her how to test them by placing them in the water to see if she was correct. This teaches them that a science experiment usually involves a question, a hypothesis, and an experiment, without worrying whether or not she gets the vocabulary.
This is a big hit around here. I just change the objects on a regular basis. Another example would be something similiar for magnets. The question would be is it magnetic or not? One other one I can think of at the moment is providing a tray with 3 cups, some soil, some sand and some gravel, a small water pitcher and some seeds. The child plants the seeds and guesses (hypothesis) which will grow first and which will grow the healthiest. You can mark the cups for her and then wait for the results.
Maybe we could generate some simple experiments like this on this list. My kids enjoy these but I run out of ideas, but I really do believe it is the process we are teaching them so I'm not sure it matters what the subject matter is.
Other things we use for science are 3-part cards about a certain subject of interest. We have 3 part cards about dinosaurs, plant parts, animals, etc. My dd (7yo)uses them fully, matching the words as well as the pictures. My boys (3 and 5) are just matching the pictures, but this is the first step.
I also have baskets of science books that the kids can look at, a tray with a magnifying glass and whatever is interesting to look at (currently it is a piece of birch bark, some fall leaves, and a dead bug!), and a whole bunch of field guides which they also like to look at.
As far as order for science goes, I have no answer for you. I do have a scope and sequence that I printed years ago that lists many science concepts to be taught but no order is given. I think it works well, especially at this young age, to go with the child's interest. I'm not sure a five year old retains much of what they are taught if they are not interested anyway. But that's my opinion. There are more experienced mom's on this list that might differ and that I can learn from.
HTH a little!
Becky
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Kim F
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| Posted: Nov 14 2006 at 7:44pm | IP Logged
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I have seen the scope and sequences also and I think you are right. There isn't a magic order - just like there isn't a magic order outside of Montessori schools. You can check the table of contents for Montessori Research and Development and NAMC for more content ideas and to compare the ordering but I really doubt there is anything sacrosanct in elementary school years.
The trays and cards would be the hallmarks. The Usborne or Make it Work science books have great experiments that lend themselves to tray work.
Kim
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Nov 14 2006 at 9:08pm | IP Logged
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I usually just set up a tray for my dd(5) that goes along with whatever science my ds (11) is doing. The tray may have cards (like planet cards to put in order) or experiments (sink/float, oil/water, color mixing), her life cycle book, or just stuff to experience (nature tray)with a magnifying glass and a guide book (sea shells, seeds, leaves, etc). Sometimes I give her specific lessons, but she learns alot by listening in on ds's lessons and then going off and doing her trays.
This week ds is looking at seed distribution for nature study, so dd has: a tray with different plants in seed that I collected on a walk yesterday plus her magnifying glass; another tray holds a chart, glue, and some more seeds for her to sort however she wants and glue them on; her life cycle book and cards for plant life cycle; some peanuts to crack and bowl to serve them in, and some dried herbs to chop and make into tea (with linen bag).
I thought of adding a seed sprouting activity, but I don't want it to run over Thanksgiving holidays since we will be out of town, so I may not do that one right now. That's better in spring anyhow.
Anyway, that's how we do it. I just try to think of simple things to go along with whatever ds is doing. That way I only have to worry about designing one sequence that they both can follow. Of course if she expresses an interest in other things I will tailor them to her interests too. One week all she wanted was frogs. So she had alot of frog stuff that week, which is cool, too.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: montessori science for little ones?
