Thomas Edison Teaching TipWritten by Freda J. Glatt, M.S.
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4. Edison is quoted as saying that "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." What do you think that means? Do you agree with it? How did he live his life by that motto? 5. When your students are frustrated and want to give up, relate that Edison tried 10,000 unsuccessful experiments on a storage battery. Did he give up? No! He said that he had "found 10,000 ways that won't work." Just change your approach and keep trying! 6. Have your children invent something of their own and write about it from inception of idea to finished results. Put inventions around room and have class presentations. I hope these ideas have been useful and have ignited your own creativity. And remember...Reading is FUNdamental!!
Freda J. Glatt, MS, retired from teaching after a 34-year career in Early-Childhood and Elementary Education. Her focus, now, is to reach out and help others reinforce reading comprehension and develop a love for reading. Visit her site at http://www.sandralreading.com. Reading is FUNdamental!
| | Making Science Less Abstract for Preschoolers Written by Nicole Brekelbaum
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and vinegar portions for experiment. They counted how many cups of milk were needed and how many tablespoons of vinegar to add. It was now time to blast mixture into microwave for two minutes. We recommend that an adult perform this part of experiment to avoid placing children in harms way. After two minutes, mixture was ready to be taken out of microwave. We allowed it to cool for several minutes and then children compared two samples of mixture before and after it was placed in microwave. They observed that mixture was lumpier after being heated in microwave. The children then strained mixture by using kitchen towels. What remained was a white, rubbery substance - curds. They were excited. They saw first-hand what Miss Muffet ate. Then they discovered through experimentation that curds can be separated from Miss Muffet’s curds and whey. The children dyed curds different colors using food coloring and made their own rubbery type of play dough. They loved touching curds and feeling its texture. Some children even shaped curds into cool looking dinosaurs and flowers with our help. At end of day children were enlightened and had a great appreciation for science. They were all proud to show their parents what they had done. They were truly young scientists! If you would like to try this with children at your childcare business we recommend experiment for children ages 3 and up. The following materials are needed: 3 cups of Skim Milk 2 tablespoons of white vinegar Microwave-safe bowl for mixing and heating Kitchen towels for straining
Nicole Brekelbaum is the director at Young Achievers Inc. - A home-based learning center for aspiring youth located in Pflugerville, Texas. She has been providing childcare in her home since her career switch from working engineer to childcare director and mom.
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