August 26, 2005
One of the benefits of home schooling is you can take time to wonder, discover and explore. Science instruction can be a really difficult area, however, because you may have limited resources such as chemicals and equipment.
So why not go to the local school and talk to the administrators about the possibility of working with some teachers as they create these science experiences. Tell them you would like to talk about combining some of these experiences and participate in things other kids can do.
For parents who don’t feel comfortable teaching science, go into the community. Science museums are open to home schooling groups. Scientists in the field in your local area are more than happy to help out. All you have to do is ask. As someone who gets a lot of these requests, the best groups are organized clusters and where students have some background — because we can create experiences that are as meaningful as possible.
Be organized and understand you have information and resources available out there to ensure science is an important part of your child’s daily learning experience.
Listen to my podcast on making science come alive in home schooling
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August 4, 2005
Ninety-nine elementary teachers were called into action July 27-28, 2005, at the Hands-on Science Boot Camp to explore new and creative science integration strategies for making science education come alive in their classrooms. Named Operation Just Do Science, the intensive two-day, hands-on science training targeted early childhood through third grade teachers who wanted to make science more fun and meaningful in this classrooms.
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Tags: cool science activities, demonstrations, elementary teachers, General, Hands-on Science Boot Camp, National Hands on Science Institute, Operation Just Do Science, science adventures, Science Education, Science Experiments, science learning experiences, science training, scientific method, steve spangler, Teacher Training
Filed under: Teaching Moments
September 30, 2004
I recently interviewed an amazing elementary teacher in Colorado who claimed to be able to do the impossible… she teaches science every day! That’s right, in a day and age when reading, writing and math occupy an elementary teacher’s every waking second, this teachers actually uses science to teach other subjects. Pam Sanders is a 4th grade teacher at Superior Elementary in Louisville, Colorado and she’s amazing. I first met Pam when she attended the National Hands-on Science Institute in Denver in 1999. Pam is a teacher who truly gets it when it comes to teaching science. I’m so impressed with her ability to build real-world connections between science and math and to use her special brand of “gee-whiz” science to motivate kids to want to read, write and truly want to discover something new on their own. Among her many awards, Pam Sanders is the recipient of the Amgen Excellence in Science Teaching Award. The Amgen Corporation recognizes extraordinary teaching contributions and performance by educators in our communities through their excellence award.
Pam and her class joined me at 9NEWS KUSA-TV as a guest to share some of their latest science experiments. Watch the video
