My kids have been struggling with science recently and in spite of the fact that here in New Jersey the federal government are pushing very hard to make science more interesting, I wanted to support that with some teaching of my own. The boys and girls from my children’s school are varied in terms of their abilities in science, and unfortunately my 2 fall in the lower end of the spectrum. Despite my efforts of trying to teach my children the science behind what foods feature on the main menu of a restaurant, or trying to teach biology through the caring of a pet, the kids just hit a brick wall with this topic. Thanks to this, I have turned my efforts to the internet, in order to help my kids with their scientific education, and here are the resources which I have used.
Jay Eitner Blog
Jay Eitner is a great man who, like me, was schooled in New Jersey, since then however, Mr. Eitner has gone on to be an important part of the education system in New Jersey and is currently serving as the superintendent for the Waterford Township School District. The Jay Eitner blog is one site which I look at each and Hervey day to give me ideas and inspiration for how to better teach my kids about the sciences, and I would advise that you check it out.
YouTube
My kids spend hours and hours looking at videos on YouTube, the substance of which is usually pretty weak. I decided then that I would use their love for YouTube in a slightly different way, and so everyday we have a YouTube hour, that focusses solely on the sciences. The way in which I do this is to split it up into two 30 minute sessions, the first 30 being theory, the second being exciting videos like experiments. The video sharing website is absolutely packed with videos about exciting experiments and explosions, as well as offering lectures and classes about the theory behind the various sciences. We study physics, biology and chemistry on different days, and the kids have really taken a like to this approach.
Wikihow
I really love Wikihow and use it regality in my daily life, I also use it to great effect when teaching the kids a new scientific feature. The draw of Wikihow for me is the depth of the guides and the kids seem to really love the simplicity of the website, which they will often use when undertaking a project. The website aims to one day be a guide on how to do everything, and whilst they may not have quite achieved this yet, there is oceans of information on the website which can greatly help your kids to learn about science.
Kids love the internet, why not use this passion to unlock their potential when it comes to learning about science!