Learning Science Skills

So far, I'm thrilled with the science curriculum we chose, Developing Critical Thinking Through Science. Noah loves all the curriculum we've purchased from The Critical Thinking Company, so I'm not surprised that we've been pleased with their approach to science.

I love that the book starts with an entire unit on basic science skills - observation, description, documentation, classification, etc. Though I worried that Noah would be disappointed that we weren't making thunder and lightening (or something equally fun) the first day, he's really been enjoying our lessons so far.

The first activity showed focused on classifying and grouping objects based on observations, then we dove into different ways of observing. Last week, we completed Sound activities, and today we worked on Smell, Taste and Touch. I was happy to find that Ava was able to do the activities with. She recognized many of the smells and tastes and used great words to describe them.

For the Touch activity, the kids felt objects (pictured above) without looking at them. But instead of trying to guess the item, they described what they felt so that the other could guess. Yes, this game would have worked better without a three-year-old as a primary player, but we made it work. Having to describe the item (rather than guess it) really made Noah more observant. After each item, we talked about the ways he had used his sense of touch to feel the texture, shape, consistency and weight of each object.

Although I generally shy away from curriculum with scripted lessons, this one helps your lead your child through their observations and ask thought-provoking questions that - if I'm being honest - I may not have thought to ask on my own.

To tie in with the morning's activities, we played the Touch Game. This is a great game that works sensory and memory skills, and I could definitely see both being put to use today.