Plants

With summer now underway, the gardening bug is starting to bite. Even some of us non-gardeners are contemplating a small veggie or herb patch to lower grocery bills, and then there's Michelle Obama's inspiring White House plot. So let's all hop on the garden bandwagon and start planting. Read More »

Teaching science to preschoolers can sound at first offputting, almost grandiose. Oh, but it's not! It's so fun that it seems almost like cheating to say you're doing it in the guise of opening their little minds to the world around them. Experts tell us that teaching science is essential to children because it's a way of thinking -- using observation, experimentation, analysis to get through life. It strikes us that it's really just a restatement of what these little darlings have been doing every day we've known them -- watching, taking it all in, giving it a whirl, and seeing what happens. Science for preschoolers is code for being curious, plain and simple. And you've got to answer all those incessant "why?"s and "how much farther?"s anyway, so why not do so with the confidence that you are really just engaging in scientific dialogue with a very small person?! Read More »

Science and preschool…. Can those two words possibly belong in the same sentence? Making babies and caring for newborns can, of course, seem like one giant, marvelous science experiment from the parental point of view. But now that our milky bundles have finally turned into something resembling small human beings, can it really already be time to start teaching them science? The Savvy answer to that one is yes and no. There is no prior knowledge required on our part, and very little “teaching” involved, but is it definitely time to get our preschoolers into science. It’s not hard – young children are into science no matter what. Read More »