Startling Discoveries Made at HOME!
'Gradual' is a difficult concept for me. I'm an 'all-or-nothing, sink-or-swim, jump-into-the-deep-end' kind of person. I usually like change, adapt quickly and am ready to move on to new and exciting things.
I think that's why I sometimes find it difficult to move at the pace of my children. They're smart and pretty adaptable, too, but they're 4 and 2. Everything is new to them. They need time to investigate, experiment and explore. They need time to get used to new situations.
With all of that in mind, I began thinking about the upcoming transition to preschool. Soren will return to his beloved MOH this year. It will be his last year. Kieran is going to go two days a week, while I stay to make sure he uses things correctly and doesn't distract the bigger kids. This is a departure from the norm. Students usually have to be three before they can come to MOH. Kieran will be two in September, which is why I have to be there when he's there.
We have a few weeks before school is in session. I have less than a year to learn everything I can from the teachers there. They are truly amazing women. It is my hope that, after this school year, I'm ready to embark upon the homeschool adventure!
All of those thoughts were swirling around in my brain this morning and I wasn't sure what to DO with them. I knew I wanted to write, but wasn't sure about the topic. So, instead, I decided to focus on science experiments with the boys today. Here's what we did/made together:
We started with the discovery bottles. This was something I saw on another blog a while ago. We used water, vegetable oil, food coloring, pennies, small toys, blocks, colorful straws, glitter, balloons, shells and shiny costume jewelry that I no longer wear. We used plastic juice bottles, glass baby bottles (that I will NEVER need again), vases, pitchers, etc. It was an amazing day. Truly. Soren, my four-year-old was beyond excited. We talked about color mixing as we did it. We hypothesized about which objects would float and then tested our hypothesis. We discussed water displacement (when Soren put his entire arm into a pitcher, pushing most of the water onto the floor.) We discussed tides in the ocean. We talked about air, pressure, volume, etc. We found out that some things (like play dough) disintegrate in water. We found out that oil and water don't mix, no matter how hard you shake the bottles. We looked at light and talked about what water and oil do to light. We used my giant, crystal vase to create an ocean scene, complete with a balloon jelly fish, power ranger, scuba Batman, treasure and shells.
I haven't had this much fun in, well maybe EVER! GREAT DAY! I highly recommend giving these ideas a shot with your kids. Even Kieran (the almost two-year-old) was really into it. He was naming colors, objects and wanted to participate. He shook those bottles until he could shake no more!
With all of that in mind, I began thinking about the upcoming transition to preschool. Soren will return to his beloved MOH this year. It will be his last year. Kieran is going to go two days a week, while I stay to make sure he uses things correctly and doesn't distract the bigger kids. This is a departure from the norm. Students usually have to be three before they can come to MOH. Kieran will be two in September, which is why I have to be there when he's there.
We have a few weeks before school is in session. I have less than a year to learn everything I can from the teachers there. They are truly amazing women. It is my hope that, after this school year, I'm ready to embark upon the homeschool adventure!All of those thoughts were swirling around in my brain this morning and I wasn't sure what to DO with them. I knew I wanted to write, but wasn't sure about the topic. So, instead, I decided to focus on science experiments with the boys today. Here's what we did/made together:
We started with the discovery bottles. This was something I saw on another blog a while ago. We used water, vegetable oil, food coloring, pennies, small toys, blocks, colorful straws, glitter, balloons, shells and shiny costume jewelry that I no longer wear. We used plastic juice bottles, glass baby bottles (that I will NEVER need again), vases, pitchers, etc. It was an amazing day. Truly. Soren, my four-year-old was beyond excited. We talked about color mixing as we did it. We hypothesized about which objects would float and then tested our hypothesis. We discussed water displacement (when Soren put his entire arm into a pitcher, pushing most of the water onto the floor.) We discussed tides in the ocean. We talked about air, pressure, volume, etc. We found out that some things (like play dough) disintegrate in water. We found out that oil and water don't mix, no matter how hard you shake the bottles. We looked at light and talked about what water and oil do to light. We used my giant, crystal vase to create an ocean scene, complete with a balloon jelly fish, power ranger, scuba Batman, treasure and shells.
I haven't had this much fun in, well maybe EVER! GREAT DAY! I highly recommend giving these ideas a shot with your kids. Even Kieran (the almost two-year-old) was really into it. He was naming colors, objects and wanted to participate. He shook those bottles until he could shake no more!
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