How to Support Your Child’s Scientific Learning Beyond the Classroom

Science isn’t just something that happens in a lab or during scheduled class time. It’s a way of exploring, questioning, and understanding the world around us. It appears in everything we do -from chemistry in the shower gel we use in the morning, the physical forces acting on the transportation that brings us to school, to the biology happening in our bodies as we go about the day. Science is exciting; it’s a subject where making mistakes can lead to new ideas and discoveries.

As parents, you play a key role in nurturing your child’s scientific curiosity and helping them bridge the gap between doing experiments and truly thinking scientifically.

Connect Science with your child’s interests.

The easiest place to begin an experiment or a discussion is by connecting science to something your child loves. For example:

“What does your favorite soccer player eat for breakfast? Why?” Oatmeal provides carbohydrates - the body’s main source of energy.

“Why has the slime gone lumpy?” Did you follow the method step by step? Did you add too much of one ingredient? What would you change next time?

“Which marker will run out fastest?”

The blue one, because I use it the most.

Experiment time.

Hands-on experiments are exciting and open doors. Children get to see reactions, test hypotheses, and explore different materials.

There are three key areas to focus on:

1. Predictions

Before an experiment begins, ask your child to make a prediction. What will happen if I push the shopping cart with one hand instead of two? If I drop a cardboard box, will it make more or less noise than a metal box?

2. Methods

Methods should be simple, easy to follow steps, like baking a cake. But the detail and sequence matter.

For example:

· What happens if you forget to preheat the oven before making the cake?

· “Add the flour and sugar” - where? In a bowl or on the table?

· With what? A spoon or your hands?

Specifics are important.

Could an older sibling explain a method to a younger one? Could your child read you the recipe while you cook dinner?

3. Reflection

Now you’ve completed the experiment, the follow-up discussion is just as important. Students need to pause and ask why.

· Why did those results occur?

· Was the experiment successful, or did something unexpected happen?

· How could we change the experiment?

· How could we make it more reliable or accurate?

This cycle - predicting, doing, reflecting, and evaluating - turns fun activities into deeper understanding. When students, and the adults around them, discuss the science behind what they observe, children internalize the concepts much more meaningfully.

A Sample Home Science Project: Crystal Growing

Here's how you might structure a crystal-growing exploration with your child (method below).

1. Hypothesis / Prediction

Discuss your prediction together. Will the amount of salt affect the size of the crystal?

2. Carry Out the Experiment - Method

With each step think about what you are doing and in what order.

Why does the water go in first, not the salt?

Draw pictures of each step. Could you write the steps out? Explain them to another family member?

3. Observations

Over 3 - 5 days, observe the changes. Take photos, discuss and compare, draw pictures, or make notes.

4. Results

When you think the experiment is finished:

· Measure your crystals with a ruler.

· Compare the sizes. Which is biggest? Smallest?

· Could you draw a simple graph to show your results?

5. Reflect and Evaluate

· Was your prediction correct? Why?

· What would you change next time?

· Would the temperature of the water affect crystal growth?

· Would leaving the crystals to grown in different areas of the house make a difference?

· Would food coloring change the crystal?

As you reflect together, you could look up key scientific words such as dissolving, saturation, and evaporation.

For more crystal ideas follow this link to see a video from Nord Anglia’s MIT curiosity correspondents.

https://youtu.be/zmtiyNlzKA4?si=TSPGCZBLh2no4sYs 

Final Thoughts for Parents

You don’t need to be a scientific expert to support meaningful science at home; positive and encouraging attitude matters most.

Celebrate their curiosity: “Excellent question. Let’s test it!”

And in all of this be prepared to say you don’t know the answer. Look it up together. Finding a fun video, book or magazine will make it more memorable. Science is a gargantuan, cosmic, mammoth subject, so enjoy discovering new things about the world together.

By supporting your child not only in doing experiments, but also in thinking about them and asking why, you help them grow into confident, reflective young scientists. After all, the world is full of wonder just waiting to be explored, together.

Discover more about our teaching approach at BISC-LP here!

Sarah Pope

Science Specialist and STEAM Teacher

Crystal Experiment

Equipment

· Salt

· Water

· 3 Paper clips

· 3 Straws

· 3 Elastic bands

· 3 similar sized glasses or jars

· 3 pieces of cotton string

Method

1. Boil your kettle and let the water cool. Fill a jar or glass with the warm water.

2. Add a few teaspoons of salt and stir until it dissolves. Keep adding more salt, one teaspoon at a time, until no more will dissolve.

3. Repeat this with two more jars, adding a little less salt to each jar than the one before. You should have three jars with three different amounts of salt.

4. Tie a paper clip to a piece of string and wrap the string around a straw. Lay the straw across the top of the jar and use an elastic band to keep it in place.

5. Let the paper clip hang in the salty water for about a week. Don’t touch it! Check it after a week and leave it longer if you want a bigger crystal. Each jar should form different-sized crystals (if any).

6. Your crystals have formed! Look closely. What shapes can you see? How do you think they grew?

7. Could this method be improved? Why not challenge your child to improve it!