We had a bit of fun looking at how different types of sweets are made, as well as investigating the colour coating of sweets and their solubility. The idea was taken from here.
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| At the start of the experiment. |
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| At the end of the experiment. |
I thought we could extend the activity above by going into an inquiry-based chemistry curriculum (I much prefer to have some kind of structure going, if I can help it), so we went along and did chapter 1 of this curriculum.
The curriculum itself is well designed and attempts to inspire questions, rather than being a fact-based textbook. However, very soon I realised that it does not work for us because the questions that the curriculum is guiding the student to ask are not the questions that Tiger is interested in. Hence, we stopped after stuggling to maintain our interest beyond chapter 1. Yet another example of a well-intended curriculum plan that does not match the way my son wants to learn. He is the child who is interested in learning but who is not interested in being taught. One thing I've learnt from going through the one chapter in this inquiry-based curriculum with Tiger is that he wants to find the answers to his own questions, rather than answering the questions that someone else has set for him.
This post is linked up to:
1) All Year Round Blog Carnival: Autumn
2) Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop #36
3) Homeschool Mother's Journal: October 26, 2012
4) Collage Friday
5) Favourite Resources: October 26, 2012
6) TGIF Linky Party #53
7) It's a Wrap
8) Weekly Wrap-Up
9) Science Sunday
My girls are the same way...they are interested in learning, but not interested in being taught. As soon as it seems like I might be slipping into anything related to a "teacher mode", I lose my girls' interest!
ReplyDeleteHave you checked out the website www.candyexperiments.com? I've gotten some fun experiments from there before.
Thanks for linking at Favorite Resources.
My kids struggle with that at times too. It's always odd to me what works with my kids and what doesn't.
ReplyDeleteA great example of a wonderful well thought out program/curriculum that just does not fit every child's style of learning (our family has been there several times over the years). Some times it is truly trial and error. Thanks for linking up this week to my Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop!
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