| Welcome Homeschoolers! |
 Homeschooling gives you time and flexibility to really explore science. And while teaching
science can seem scary (What if the lesson goes wrong?!), it doesn't have to be. Some of the
best learning comes from our mistakes. Science also involves other subjects--thinking, reading,
writing, math. We want to help make your science program fun, easy, and successful. |
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| Homeschool Focus |
| Homeschool Hints |
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Observation and Measurement
In our last newsletter, we wrote about developing observational skills in children and focused primarily on using the five senses. Observation is the fundamental science process skill, so refining a child’s observations is important.
Quantitative observation involves identifying a number or quantity. If a child notices that an insect has legs, the next question is how many? Adding number and quantity to observation gives the child more precise information. Measuring is also a part of quantitative observation.
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Developing Observation Skills
Developing a child’s observational skills is an important first step in science education. As students make observations, they are learning to collect and organize information. Observation leads to questions, which are the basis of inquiry. Questions lead to a search for answers by making inferences, and then using more detailed observations and actual experiments to see if the inferences are true. Science is all about finding out “why.”
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Keeping a Lab Notebook
Hands-on learning is a lot of fun in science, but it's important to make sure that you focus on the concept being taught so that your child makes the connection. Keeping a scientific log, or journal, is a must for science lessons. Have your child start by writing down the purpose of the experiment. What is it you want to learn or prove? Ask your child to predict what may happen and write this down also.
Read more in our
Lab Notebook Activity sheet... |
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Webs to Whales Nature Tales combines books with interactive software to engage a child's
interest and curiosity. You can use the book with the CD or the software alone; the CD-ROM
includes an ebook of the story. The CD-ROM uses interactive lessons with an optional read-to-me feature and is easy to children to navigate on their own. Printable activities are included as
follow-up activities. Click on the product covers for more details about each title. |
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 Webs to Whales Nature Tales series has won a 2007 Teachers’ Choice Award for the Family from Learning® magazine!
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Reviews
Read the latest reviews on our products from
The Old Schoolhouse magazine:
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The website offers additional resources for use with our books and software.
- Critter News
Use these news articles as additional teaching resources, to learn about new discoveries, and
to expand your child's awareness of our world.
- Teaching Resources
Sample activities are available to download and try out. We also offer new lessons and
activities (not included on the original CDs). Use these materials online and/or print them. Currently, we have new lessons on ocean conservation, animal camouflage, rainbows, and the spider life cycle.
Our products are correlated with both national and state science education standards. If you
don?t see your state's standards listed, please contact us.
- Nature Tales Newsletter
Sign-up for our Quarterly Newsletter, Nature Tales. These are full of interesting articles and activities as well as product specials and announcements.
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