Science is all around us. Teaching Science in Homeschool everyday life is more simple than you think and as a homeschooling mama of four, I’m here to share how.
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Unlike almost all other subjects, children can learn so much about Science in everyday life. You don’t really need to follow a curriculum. It can be as simple as observing a butterfly’s wings or as chaotic as making explosions with baking soda and vinegar. Either way, we can make learning about Science at home a beautiful and memorable experience for our children.
This year, my second daughter started Kindergarten, my eldest daughter began year 2 and my fourth baby was a fresh newborn when our school year began. We were barely able to get through reading, literacy and maths most days. I knew it was just for a season, but I knew that I didn’t want the girls to miss out on other subjects for too long.
These past few months have not gotten any less busier with a toddler and baby to care for in addition to homeschooling, so I decided that teaching literacy and maths was sufficient for now. Then, one day, I realised that I had been teaching something else all along. Science was in our every day life. It was not a sit down subject, but a ‘learn as you go’ subject.
What I will cover in this post
- What students typically miss out on in regular Science lessons
- How we can teach science in homeschooling every day life
- Some practical resources and links for Science lessons
What students typically miss out on in regular Science lessons
I was homeschooled for one year, but the rest of my schooling years were at a Christian school. I went on to teach at that school for five years, so I am acutely aware of what is taught in science lessons at school.
As much as I found it fascinating to dissect a frog’s body or heat liquid using a Bunsen Burner, most science lessons explored the world in the confines of a classroom.
Much of what was learnt in science did not stick, at least for me. However, I am sure that most people can say the same.
Science is a subject that is best learnt in real life. I think we forget as adults that much of what we do involves Science.
Switching on the lights.
Brewing coffee.
Driving a car.
Cooking a meal.
Science is all around us and we can bring awareness to our children that it is.
The trouble with learning science in a classroom is that it is harder to connect it to the real world. Of course, we can’t learn about every element of science in our every day life, but it makes it easier to connect science to real life experiences when we are living it!
How we can teach Science in every day life
Teaching science is easiest whenever your child shows interest in something.
For example, last year, one of my daughters loved learning about rockpools and the animals that typically live there. So, I decided we would take a trip to the beach and explore a rockpool.
We brought buckets to collect some shells, sand and molluscs for the girls to make their own mini rockpool at home. Allowing my girls to explore their topic of interest in real life is something that they will remember for years to come.
This is exactly what you want to be doing for science: taking note of what your children are interested in and giving them opportunities to explore the topic for themselves.
Another example is that my children love to bake with me. I never shoo them away when I am baking because they love to help. As much as it is at times inconvenient and messy, I let them.
Cooking and baking are other great ways to incorporate science. Children learn about different chemical reactions when ingredients are mixed together, how various ingredients are combined to create a delicious meal or treat and how using hot or cold elements can change the way the food feels, looks and tastes.
One of the most beautiful things for me as a parent is observing what my children are doing when they play outside.
The other day, my daughters were creating a nest for birds to come and perch on. They collected grass trimmings, leaves and sticks and placed it all neatly in a container. They waited and waited for birds to come and sit on their nest. It was the sweetest thing even if no bird showed up.
This is science.
As parents and educators, we make such a fuss about getting all the right materials for an experiment or a project. While those things are important and all part of the learning experience, we forget that science can be learned even through play.
My girls have observed through documentaries and books how birds make nests, which is how they learnt to make their nest.
So, to summarise how we can teach science in homeschool everyday life, it is simply taking note of what interests your child and exploring that topic together. If you like sit down science lessons, you can do that too. I can guarantee that your children will learn from both, but the real life experiences sure do stick better.
Some practical links and resources for Science lessons
We have been using Mystery Science, which is an online science lesson platform. They have excellent videos and activities to match.
A great kit to perform various science experiments with using household items is the 4M Steam Powered Kids Kitchen Science Kit.
National Geographic Kids has some wonderful free material covering an array of topics.
Science Buddies is great because it has lots of lessons exploring different science experiments with videos, materials needed and the method to guide your children as they perform the experiment.
Hope that this was helpful! Please leave a comment below with any questions.
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