A Monday Evening Post

I'm not sure what I'm actually going to post about. There are probably a ton of things I could be doing right now instead of wasting my time on the computer, but, well, you know how these things go. :)

I've been thinking a bit more about my plans for my kids next year. I'd like to present the idea to them of working collaboratively on a science notebook. Since I am not (yet?) educated enough to go through the usual Montessori science topics for elementary, I thought I'd start with introducing different topics from the APS (Alberta Program of Studies). I don't know if I'd go in order, necessarily, although that's definitely a way to start. It could be a scrapbook of sorts, either the two of them working together to create a page or they each have their own pages for the different sections. It's just an idea that's brewing at the moment and the details aren't quite there.

Let me have a look at the science topics for grades 1-6:

1
A. Creating Colour
B. Seasonal Changes
C. Building Things
D. Senses
E. Needs of Animals and Plants

2
A. Exploring Liquids
B. Buoyancy and Boats
C. Magnetism
D. Hot and Cold Temperature
E. Small Crawling and Flying Animals

3
A. Rocks and Minerals
B. Building with a Variety of Materials
C. Testing Materials and Designs
D. Hearing and Sound
E. Animal Life Cycles

4
A. Waste and Our World
B. Wheels and Levers
C. Building Devices and Vehicles that Move
D. Light and Shadows
E. Plant Growth and Changes

5
A. Electricity and Magnetism
B. Mechanisms Using Electricity
C. Classroom Chemistry
D. Weather Watch
E. Wetland Ecosystems

6
A. Air and Aerodynamics
B. Flight
C. Sky Science
D. Evidence and Investigation
E. Trees and Forests
Science


That's 30 topics. I don't think they'd go through all of them in a year. I could see them going through a topic like "Creating Colour" (perhaps combine it with just the idea of "Colour") fairly quickly, perhaps looking through National Geographics to cut out pictures with fabulous colours, putting in samples of art where they've mixed colours... For something more exploratory, it could be instructions to an experiment pasted in and pictures or a log of an experiment. I translated some of the Edmonton Public Schools units into French and still have them--they probably have activities and the like that could be done, too. (And they're already in French--woo hoo!!!)

What kind of time are we talking? Maybe a couple of weeks per topic? I suppose it'll really depend on their interest. Once the interest for one topic has waned, I could introduce the next. Or if they come up with one of their own, there we go. It's not the topic, per se, that's important to me, but the engagement in an interesting learning activity.

Of course, if they go through all that in a year, I'm going to have to figure out new topics to introduce if they haven't come up with their own!