Need help with homeschool science? WOOHOO! <makes happy nerd noises>
Teaching science to kids is one of my favorite things to do. In fact, it was my favorite subject to teach my children. I was such a science nerd in school. ( And out of school. And still now, apparently.)
Science is so amazing because it truly and obviously reveals the very hand of God. Yeah, I know our society separates science and faith, but that is a)relatively new in history and b)ridiculous. Regretfully both the atheists and the faithful have separated science (and reason and intellectual rigor) from faith. One did it so they can claim there is no God, and the other…I don’t know exactly why. Perhaps out of fear that we might encounter a question or a phenomenon that challenges our faith? Fear that God is not strong enough to stand up to rigorous thought? Or perhaps we simply withdrew from that battleground. I don’t know. But one of my passions is to try to get that to change!
I do know this though, and it is so important for teaching science to ourselves and our children:
Science is nothing less than the exploration of the work of the Lord. In fact, science is part of faith based studies, in my opinion. It is “natural apologetics”.
7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; 8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:7-10
It is all the cups and pots in a room looking at themselves and each other and marveling at the hands of the Artist, the Master. It is being reasonable and rational and logical and saying “Ok, but if this happened then the only reasonable and logical explanation is that Someone made it happen. Otherwise, we are just being silly.”.
Anyway, I digress :D That will need to be another post for another day when we have the time to ponder the glory of the Lord around us.
For now, let’s talk teaching science to children!
The good news is that children are natural-born scientists. Even in the crib they are exploring, learning. In fact, physics might be the first lesson they ever learn: cause and effect! “If I cry, mom comes. If I open my fingers, I drop my binky.” Etc.
Preschoolers in exploration mode are like a car with a stuck gas pedal—your job is simply to steer a bit here and there and hold on for the ride! Truly, the child will do most of the work for you in science, all you have to do is feed them data (Have your phone handy for quick google searches!).
Anyway, this page will be our master link list to our posts and favorite resources. Check back often, as we will be adding content. Also, though, you can simply type “Science” in the search bar of the blog to get access to all our posts as well.