Stepping into the World of Science

My passions lean towards History and Literature, so as a teacher I tend to teach these subjects more heavily than Math and Science. However, I have recently become inspired to teach more outside the comfortable and begin our journey into the hands-on of Science.I want to dive into engineering and learn from failed experiments and study architecture and introduce the children to a whole other world they might very well excel in.

Nathan seems to learn much better in a hands-on approach, so last week we picked out a small model of the solar system. He did nearly everything himself while I read out loud from picture books about the solar system thanks to our local library. It was a far easier way for him to grasp abstract concepts, like orbits, gaseous giant planets that could float on water, and the overall vastness of the universe. He greatly enjoyed the process and I was reminded why I homeschool in the first place, not one of the reasons being "I can use books for every single subject".

Inspired to continue this hands-on education and to bring the whole family into the process, I ventured into Pinterest for a DIY-model of the solar system. I chose one that looked easy and affordable using painted Styrofoam balls. I'm thinking a few bucks, right?

No.

First of all I brought all the children to Joann's. A rookie mistake that cost me about twenty dollars in impulse buys.

The first purchase was a $3.59 wooden helicopter kit. Who am I to deny Nathan's ability to thrive in the 3D world, so I said yes. As one might have expected, an affordable kit is most likely "affordable" because it's cheap in other ways. I have a feeling they skimped on a good writer and the paper needed to explain  how to build a helicopter with the many little pieces, including a dozen dowels. The kit provides one flat black picture of the finished copter with a few labels and basically, "Make your model look like the picture."

But, of course, a mother of four cannot choose an impulse buy for one without including the other three, so Simon picked up a $3.59 wooden race car kit that Nathan volunteered to build. Alynna chose to decorate a cat sun-catcher for the same price. Kaeley, who is neither interested in wooden kits nor in sparkly domesticated animals stuck to window panes, so she chose an art set for $5.99

And I cannot blame the large "investment" all on the education of my children. I... um... got a little caught up in the Science kit aisle and spent $4.99 on a Fridge-Rover that "defies gravity" as it can drive up the refrigerator.

Nathan did not understand how or why to use dowels that came in each wooden set, nor did he see their use in the foggy instructions, so we now have a whole collection of dowels he decided are unnecessary.

So not only are the characters of literature much cleaner, easier for me to understand and to teach, but they are so much cheaper! As it turns out, Styrofoam is a lot pricier than I was expecting! I spent $5.99 on a dome for the sun alone!

But what is a total of $55.00 for the good of education, I ask you? All I have to say in closing is it better win us a blue ribbon in next month's Open House!