A thank you and a homeschool science tip

First off, thank you to the anonymous person that put the Lilly colored table runner in my husband's box at work.  What a fun surprise!  And to receive it on the 4th!  Thank you.  As you can see below, the perfect place was waiting.  On our table in our entrance way:

I've been homeschooling for 6 years now and it's funny having newbies ask me for advice. I wish I had all the answers! But I've been all over the place with schooling and am constantly learning and tweaking.  I'm sure all homeschool parents are.  Plus Tabby and Hunter are so very different when it comes to learning and interests.  One great thing about being their teacher is I get to learn so many things right alongside them.  And, we can go at whatever pace they need.  Anyway, I thought that maybe once a week or so, I would try to post a "homeschool tip."

When Hunter was able to sit up alone, at 6 months old, I used to put him in front of our frontloader washing machine.  He would sit there a long time watching it spin.  He has never lost his interest in washing machines.  He actually has a love of all things appliance and motors of any kind.  He has been very interested in electricity for over a year now.  (He's currently 4.)  His pediatrician urged me to feed his love of learning and was happy to hear I was doing so.

I'm not really a "science person" so I did what I always do when I have a question.  I buy a book.  (OK, I do google too.)  At a used curriculum sale, I found a book for younger kids that had some experiments in it.  They looked easy enough for me!  The ones where you hook up a battery to a lightbulb, etc.

So I bought lightbulbs and alligator clips and battery holders from Home Science Tools.  Hunter took right to it and within a day learned how to hook up parallel and serial circuits.  He quickly surpassed what I showed him with the battery and lightbulb.  He hooked multiple lights together, plus a little motor with a fan on it, and learned to control it all with a knifeswitch.

For his 4th birthday, he received the Science Wiz Electricity Kit from friends.  It is for ages 5-9.  Everything is broken down well in the booklet with simple colorful pictures.  We have had a lot of fun going through the book.  It seems after every assignment we do, Hunter goes back and adds to it.  It's fun to watch him work.

So if you have a child interested in science, check out the Home Science Tools website - they have a nice range of items that are affordable and interesting.

Here are some pictures of Hunter working with the Science Wiz Electricity book and kit: