For the love of science

Some wise mom told me recently that because we're just doing kindergarten this year (which isn't even required in our state) we could take it easy and skip science.

But here's the problem: my kids love science.

Because, as someone else has recently pointed out, kids play the way scientists work. Observing, wondering, theory testing and discovering pretty much make up the bulk of their day. My kids are no different. So we can't just skip science. We're doing science all the time. Sometimes our science is just a little more focused (like when it comes out of my lesson plan) than other times (like when we're bug-hunting in the backyard).

And science is particularly fun when it involves building after-dinner volcanoes in my paella pan with Mimi. Abby, our resident volcano expert, was thrilled to see "real" lava in action. Caleb built a Mars rover out of blocks because, as he pointed out "there are lots of volcanoes on Mars, and this Mars rover wants to take pictures of them." And Jacob, who couldn't care less about volcanoes, was just excited that I let him wander all over the kitchen with that ball of dough in his hand.

And as for skipping science? My kids would never put up with that.