Science Fair

We participated in our first annual science fair this week. There were no judges this time around, so we did demonstrations instead of turning it into a question and using the scientific method. My husband thinks the scientific method is overrated. We would rather teach our kids why things do the things they do and help them see cause and effect. However, the kids who used the scientific method at the fair had very nice displays. They looked really good and were very interesting. Next year there will be judges, so we'll turn our projects into questions and hypothesis.

So #1 built an electric motor. It turned using the power of a magnet and battery. It was pretty cool to watch. #2 built a telegraph also using a battery and turning a nail into an electromagnet by wrapping several coils of wire around it. #3 built a lever with a folcrom and demonstrated the amount of effort used at various lengths. #4 built a pulley system which tok me a very long time to untangle the rope when we got to the fair. He demonstrated the amount of effort used with differing numbers of pulleys. They had a lot of help from their dad. That's pretty much what we spent doing on Memorial Day. It was fun and educational for us all.

I'm newly optimistic about homeschooling in this area. It's looking like we've got some people who want to do things with their kids that will be beneficial for them and others. I'm so relieved- homeschooling is so much easier when you have friends to do some of these bigger things with. There weren't a lot of participants, but there were quite a few people who came just to look. So I think come January when we have the next one and with judges, we'll have a better turnout. We've also got plans for an economic fair, talent show and field day. Yay!

Also this week we got a lot of gardening done which has been nice. It has also finally been warm enough to send the kids outside which has made a huge difference. We only did a little bit of school work this week, but we'll hit it hard next week. We essentially took off last week for my brother-in-law's wedding. It was so nice to spend time with family. Love it!