Homeschool Science Tip of the Month – Try a few out-of-the-box science ideas.

There is a lingering feeling among educators that if a textbook (or encyclopedia) wasn’t cracked open or an experiment wasn’t done, then our students didn’t learn about science. And although we do need to be reading about science, doing science, and writing about science, we have loads of science-learning options at our fingertips!

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Dig in the dirt.
• Learn about HAM radio.
• Build and design something.
• Take a walk and stop to smell (and learn about) the flowers in your area.
• Sit in a backyard hammock and observe wildlife.
• Spend an afternoon coding.
• Stay up late and look at the night sky.
• Use Google maps to zoom in on features around the globe.
• Play outside in the rain.

And as things open back up, visit a science museum or the national and state parks close to where you are.

The point is that our kids are learning every second of every day. They are taking in information and there's no reason that we can't use some of those moments to learn about science in an out-of-the-box way!

Want a few more tips about teaching science?

Check out the following articles to dig deeper:

• What is the heart of science education?
• The Three Keys to Teaching Science
• Do you have to love science to teach it?