As a parent, I often faced this challenge to help children to learn more while coping up with homework. Especially after this pandemic, it became very difficult to find new ways of teaching kids at home. According to research, most of the parents try to do activities with their kids. If that is the case, why not we inject science into it? That’s how I came up with this article idea. After talking to my fellow teachers and work at home moms – I finally came up with 6 ways to teach science to kids. 

All Starts at Home

Nothing is a better environment to teach science than home. Making your home science friendly and encouraging kids to explore things by asking more questions would allow them to grow as a science wiz kid. 

How about spending some quality time watching Science programs in TV and discuss them about it? Do some hands-on science experiments suitable for kids? Most importantly – develop the way they think – Critical thinking is going to be the big asset for the future generation. 

Learn from Mistakes

Learning science happens when you accept iterative and exploratory approach. Often, kids can create a mess trying something new. Instead of avoiding such mistakes, train the kids to learn from them. Ask them to record what happened and most importantly why it happened. Let them explore on their own.  Giving the kids enough space, time, and permission to try new things will develop curiosity in kids mind. 

MudWatt

Access to Good Devices / Toys

This is something overrated. Having said that, giving access to right set of devices and science toys will fasten up the progress. It is not necessary that you need to spend too much money on these kits. Even science activities with household supplies can be a best bet to teach science to the kids. Do you have a digital camera / mobile? If yes, allow your kids to take pictures of different things and ask them to observe and record different life forms. Always be there with them to support any further exploration – right intervention from adults can enhance their exploration capabilities. 

Project Approach

Always go for a project first approach. Give a problem to the kids to solve. Make that as a project. What are the materials they need, how to accomplish the results in steps, observe and record the outcome? Systematic approach helps to learn things logically. This helps to enhance their exploration skills. Each problem is a project – ask the kids to present the finds back in terms of a presentation. It can be a friendly talk in front of family members. It not only helps the children to think logically but also helps them develop presentation skills while talking based on their personal experience. 

Make Them Digital Citizens

What teachers / parents teach has great impact on the kids. Instead of just teaching STEM, teachers / parents should focus on bringing more discussions around everyday problems such as Cyberbullying. The disturbing statistics proves that more than 80% of kids are susceptible for cyberbullying. While teaching STEM – if you hold open discussions (like consequences of cyberbullying), the learning helps them in real world to tackle such issues. 

Science Clubs

If you have access to local science clubs – join your kids there. There they will have opportunities to interact with similar minded kids and learn from each other. Encourage them to think bigger about world problems such as climate change, pollution, water shortage, etc. Asking the right questions should force them into solving these big problems. When they think big, who knows, we might have our next biggest scientist to solve our issues right in our home. 

Hope these ideas will help you teach your kids about the word of science and its benefits. Every kid is special and different. Feel free to customize your learning plan to suit the need of your junior. We don’t have a one size fit all approach. Everything that you do should be beneficial to your kid and let them learn – that is all important. 

Explore the world of science with your kid.