My daughter is only 4 so we do simple projects for science, usually. We'll be doing some science projects this month with Groundhogs Day and Valentines Day as subjects, leading up to both days respecfully. It's not hard to mix Science with just about anything you're learning, and I enjoy teaching several things from one theme to bring interest. My daughter has learned best with hands-on teaching. It just helps her learn better, and hey, it is more fun because you're using not just your mind, but all of your senses!

Valentine Flowers

You'll need a white flower (carnation, rose, daisy...)..

A vase

Food coloring

water

scissors

Snip the end of the stem with a diagnal cut using the scissors or snips. Whatever will cut cleanly is best. Remember!!!! Cut under the water!!!! Air can get into a stem if you do not do this, and it can slow the process as well as the project! Let your child pick what color they wish to use to color the water. We use purple for one, pink for another. We have to pre-mix purple, but pink is just a light dose of red in the water. Double up the dose, as sometimes it is necessary to see the colors. One experiment I read up on this did up to 30 drops...!

A fun side experiment in this is to take one or two of the flowers and slice the stem up the middle about half way. Put half the stem in one colored water, put half the stem in another color of water. See how this progresses.

Put the flower in the vase with the colored water. The flower will start to color within 24 hours. Sometimes it may take some time. Remember to be patient.

This teaches where a water goes when a plant is watered. It will show functions of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers.

Here's some technical things that I liked about this project:

"Okay, now it's time to get technical. There are two things that combine to move water through plants -- TRANSPIRATION and COHESION. Water evaporating from the leaves, buds and petals (TRANSPIRATION) pulls water up the stem of the plant. This works in the same way as sucking on a straw. Water that evaporates from the leaves "pulls" other water behind it up to fill the space left by the evaporating water, but instead of your mouth providing the suction it is due to evaporating water. This can happen because water is very sticky--to itself (called water COHESION) and because the tubes in the plant stem are very small (in a part of the plant called the XYLEM). This process is called CAPILLARY ACTION.

 

Coloring the water with food coloring does not harm the plant in any way but allows you to see the movement of water through the roots to the shoots. Splitting the stem simply proves that the tiny tubes in the stem run all the way from the stem to the petals of the flowers. Our unofficial tests indicated that the blue dye went up the carnations the fastest followed by the red dye and then the green dye.

 

Like colored dyes in this experiment, some chemicals that pollute our waters can get into the soil and ground water and contaminate our vegetables and plants growing in the soil. Some chemicals and pollutants, just like the color dyes, may travel up into the plant and affect its health or growth."

Heart Beat

We'll be studying the heart and heart rate before, during, and after exercise. Then we'll discuss the differences and make a chart while we're at it. Then I'll have her color a heart and then look at a real heart, and we'll talk about how they work. This is a real simple project, and it's science mixed with health and crafts.

Shadows

This is a simple project. We'll make a sundial for shadows outside and track it at various times during the day using a watch and paper.

We'll also be putting a trace down on the sidewalk of her shadow using chalk. When we go to check the sundial we'll also check the sizes of her shadow each time to see it move.

Skills this helps with: observing, predictions, comparing, classifying, communication, collecting and recording information, and making conclusions are among the main skills learned.

Added studies: Shadow Puppets. This brings in history, art, and other subjects. This will add in a lot of other things to learn, and I think it will add some time onto the project as a step up from learning about the other shadow work we'll do with the sundial and her own shadows.

Shadow Puppets will teach her how to interact with light and how light will react to certain objects and things that she will be using in the puppet work. This will also teach her about another culture, their history, and their art, music, and so on.

I'm finding these subjects so much fun!

We've picked up a few posters to put up for my daughter's schoolwork. Some of them are interactive, and some are simple posters that just talk about things like food groups and letters. Writing. Colors.

I made a lot of posters already by hand for her to learn by. Shapes, colors, letters, and so on. But having some professional like posters that are bought and made in a better setting can always be nice because it adds a bit of, well, importance to a learning area. This, of course, is my opinon.

We have a weather poster that I really like. You can put the dials, like a clock, toward the weather that is going on. It looks like this:

You take the arrows at the bottom of the poster, punch them out, and then tag them in the center of the dial above. It works really well for small hands and learning. I feel that this is a good step for my daughter in studying more weather because we can stretch the lesson out after we work with the "Daily" sections. I got my poster for less than a dollar on ebay. I've seen the posters at stores that sell School gear for over $8.00. I feel lucky that I found a good deal! And she loves bears sooo....

The alphabet is something I've concentrated on with my daughter's teachings started before we even got serious about teaching her at home. When she was small, and still barely walking well, we had one of those alphabet foam pad puzzle floor mats that we put out on the living room area. Not only did it cusion her as she learned to toddle about, but it also taught her some letters.

When her Daddy came home, he would put his chair near a letter and sit down to get ready to "stay home". As he was taking off his coat and shoes to get comfortable he would see her come towards him, all gurgling and happy. She would stop and sit back on her butt and reach up for him, wherever she was, and do the "Daddy pick me up." grasping. He would smile and say hello to her, but he would also say "Crawl/Walk to the "A"." or "Crawl/Walk to the "B"." and point to the letter he was close too.

Today, as we go to the stores or read through books, or do anything in our every day activites, she points out letters to us. And those that we though she did not know, for we felt we didn't concentrate enough on them, she surprises us with.

Now, as I prepare her for some preschool activities with letters, I have found some books I plan on using along with the studies I've found on-line. The books I plan on looking for are:

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert

The Farm Alphabet Book by Jane Miller

Alphabet Soup by Scott Gustafson

I'll be reviewing how well she does with these once they're here and we're using them! I had to order them first .

I've been preparing a plan for my daughter's learning schedule for a few months now, and she's casually getting introduced to certain activities as I'm finishing up the schedule. The best thing about the schedule is it deals with each month, but the month can be varied or changed as I need to change it.

I've gotten letters, numbers, colors, and shapes involved a lot with different theme packs that I've learned about on-line. We've not spent much on her learning at all. A few supplies, crayons, colored pencils, and paper...and a plan book for me, and some learning books we can use to help guide her more. The rest is gotten off the internet or just learning from daily life. I'm so happy we've found all sorts of resources for her on-line, because we can use our own printer to get it done. This is much cheaper in the long run, and we can repeat lessons as necessary.

I only hope her enthusiasm for learning continues as strongly as it started!

Tomorrow, we'll be going to a pumpkin farm ,and she'll be able to see a few activities that normally she'd see on TV or the Internet movies we sometimes view. Ropemaking, corn mill work, and other such farm activities. I'm hoping that this will be a fun and entertaining learning experience more than just a traveling experience. If she gets even a few things from her visit, and learns, I will be very happy!