Why Science in Early Education?

I now have received my first question from a homeschooling parent.  It went something like this "I want to include hands on science for my child, but I find it hard to squeeze it in with all that I NEED to do with math and language." 

This is a huge problem for all educators, not just homeschooling families.  As teachers we hear all the time that if kids can't read and do basic math, then they are doomed.  Granted, I teach middle school science, as well as home school my two six year old boys.  I am seeing how reading and math effect kids on all different levels. 

First, it is true that if a child can not read and follow directions, process basic information, or read for engagement and entrainment they will struggle academy and professionally.  Second, only emphasising reading and math for the sake of building foundational skills without application, is thwarting your child's scientific and social literacy and stopping their natural curious nature. 

When I was an elementary student, I was considered stupid and a "low achiever" by many of my teachers.  Why?  I had bad handwriting, poor gross and fine motor skills, I was a terrible speller, and I did not see the value of doing endless math drills because I was never sold on the value and application of the concept.  I spent most recesses staying the room to practice sitting still, or working on my handwriting or spelling.  I would be pulled out from science experiments, art, or music to make me a better speller.  What is crazy is that it took until I got in high school and collage to got into the advanced for me to be able to prove to my teachers that I was smart despite my handwriting and spelling.  Oh wait, that was because all work had to be typed, busy work was non existent, and I could use spell check.   

I can still remember the first time I felt like I might be worth something in elementary school and it is probably why and I am such an advocate for the "non schooly" kids I work with.  In 5th grade we went to outdoor science camp for the week.   All of the sudden, it was OK to make mistakes, to guess and then test something.  It was valuable for me to notice the things around me that were not just the things placed in front of me by someone else.  There were not right and wrong answers, but things to explore and discover.

What I discovered is that I really did like learning.  I just did not have the patience of task, for what appeared to be, for task sake.   As educators, we know what we are doing and why we are doing it, when we plead with our children to sound out their letters, practice their basic math facts we are doing it because we know they need this foundation.  We know from personal experience and professional learning that this is necessary.  Guess what though?  The kid usually does not care, unless there is value shown typically by allowing them to use the information for something that matters to them.  Imagine if I told you, I am going to teach you how to do something, and in 12 years, you can go out into the world and use it to make your life better.  We, as adults, would never stand for that.
So, how do we do we include science and experimentation with the time constraints of life?  My biggest advice is thematic teaching.  Have things that are connected.  If the math concept is division, the science concept can be building a scale or balance to prove that things are split evenly.  Let your child try and build some tool, rather than just going and buying it.  The act of building, testing, tweaking and rebuilding is science.  If you are reading Charlotte's Web, have kids observe spider webs and see what kinds of food different types of spiders eat, let them build a web and play blindfold web tag, run a test to see if there are less mosquitoes in rooms with spiderwebs. 

Why is science important?  Kids are naturally curious about the world around them.  They are faced with numerous problems and obstacles in their day to day life, that can be solved through observations, questioning, testing, reworking the idea through reflection and revising their solution.  Our job as parents, teachers, and caregivers, is to nurture them through this process.  Allowing our kids to mess around with their world with out the parameters of correct or incorrect, but with a spectrum of learning levels.  Scientist do not really mind being wrong.  I tell my students that if they want to always be right, study history (I say this in jest, as there is a lot of discovery involved in interpreting and untangling the past.)  When you are "wrong" in science you are just discovering another way something does not work and getting closer to something that does. 

So, I encourage you to see where and how science skills can be incorporated into your busy day.  What are the questions your child(ren) are asking about the world around them?  Have them keep a list (or you can keep it.)  Don't miss those teachable moments, and by all means, ask for help from others about ideas to keep our children willing to explore the world around them.  I can say with years of experience, when kids are inspired, their willingness and attentiveness to the math and reading follow.  Just like there is a window for teaching our children to become literate in the literal sense when they are young, kids also have a time where we can either keep their curiosity alive, or we can suppress it to the point of extinction.