You don’t need to have a degree in chemistry to help your children become better science thinkers.
When we were doing some research we came across a conversation Twitter had with Steve Spangler (television personality, author and science teacher) and he spoke about how parents can keep scientific discovery and enthusiasm alive at home. We've attached a snippet below, and encourage you to check out the whole article here.
As parents we should model our own curiosity by making observations about the world around us, asking questions, and trying to explain why things are the way they are. Just by being curious, observing and asking how things work, you can peek a child’s natural curiosity and create a desire to want to learn more.
Ask your children lots of “why” questions. Even if you don’t know the answer, asking the question helps to develop critical thinking skills. It’s not so much that you don’t know the answer, it’s that your child asked the question in the first place.
Encourage children to solve problems. Learning how to find answers is a lifetime skill.
Visit your child’s science class. By visiting the classroom, this shows both your child and the teacher that you are interested in science. If you are unable to personally visit the class, make it a point to inquire about what your children are learning about in science.
Ask questions about science programs at the parent-teacher conferences or PTA meetings. Find out if students are doing inquiry-based experiments and hands-on activities as part of their science curriculum. Inquire about science assemblies, guest speakers, and programs that have been successful in other schools. See if there are activities you can do at home to supplement class instruction.
Seek out ways to help your child’s teacher and school. Volunteer to help with science related field trips, find materials and equipment, start an after-school science discovery club, or assist with classroom science projects.
Check homework and don’t expect that all homework will be easy. Look at completed work regularly. If you had a bad experience with science when you were in school, don’t expect that your child will have a similar experience. Be positive in your comments.
Keep past math and science homework, notes and tests. Put all materials in a binder so your child can check earlier work when he or she needs a refresher. This binder is actually a portfolio that shows your child’s progress from the beginning of the school year.
Challenge your child to “prove it!” The job of a scientist is not to just arrive at a stab-in-the-dark answer but to prove what he or she believes to be true using good scientific reasoning. Whether or not your child comes up with the correct answer to a problem, play the devil’s advocate and challenge them to “prove it.” Questions like, “How do you know that?” help to develop critical thinking skills and help the child to analyze his or her own reasoning.
Show how science relates to the real world. Try to relate science to real-life situations, such as understanding the concept of air pressure to predict the weather, or how recycling helps the environment.
See the full conversation at: https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/2014/10/08/early-childhood-science-education-is-important/
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