5 Ways to Help Your Child Struggling with Science
How is your child doing with science in school? Are they struggling? There is no question a deep understanding of STEM concepts is incredibly valuable for your child. Besides nurturing critical thinking skills, career opportunities abound in various STEM-related fields. What can you do to help your child?
I’m Virginia-based school assembly performer Joe Romano. I’ve spent the last 30 years traveling the country, offering science school assemblies (and other program topics) to schools just like yours. Each month I write articles like this to help busy parents and school administrators navigate the ever-challenging world of raising children.
In this article, I’m going to offer a few simple tactics and strategies to help you help your child in STEM.
Science/STEM School Tip #1: Be Open to Your Child’s Questions
Teachers know they need to be receptive to their students’ questions. But sometimes parents get distracted. With the craziness and uncertainty, we find ourselves facing, it’s easy to let things slip through the cracks.
Be mindful of your child. You likely already know when something is bothering them. As a parent, you’ve learned the signs. When you see them, approach your child. Offer to listen. Offer guidance. And this brings up another potentially crucial point.
Make it your mission to understand what your child is studying. Sure, we’ve all heard the jokes from other parents. “I don’t understand half of what my kid is doing in school.” It’s almost a cliché at this point. But do your due diligence. Learn what your child is learning. That way, if they approach you with questions, you can help.
Science/STEM in School Tip #2: Expect a Mess
Science can be amazing fun for kids. And that’s key in helping a child struggling with science. Let them have fun. And encourage it. But with that fun, things might get messy!
Some kids get over-excited and may cause a mess when they are experimenting. And even with all the precautions in the world, some experiments are just going to make a mess. Ever seen the classic Diet Coke and Mentos experiment? Yup, Big mess.
If you accept there’s going to be messes from time to time, prepare for it. Have designated science experiment areas in your house. Make it fun. Let your child craft a sign that designates the area as their ‘lab.’ Caution your child to do certain experiments outdoors to minimize the mess.
Science/STEM in School Tip #3: Let Them Explore STEM Concepts
After reading Tip #2 above, you might think I’m suggesting you turn your child loose in a lab filled with beakers and explosives to do anything they want, consequences ignored! Not true. You have to supervise your child with many experiments both for safety and to minimize the mess.
But there are oodles of concepts your child can safely experiment with. Let them dig in and ‘get their hands dirty,’ metaphorically speaking. Your child may want and appreciate your assistance if they are struggling to make sense of a certain concept, but kids being kids means they are going to want to explore on their own.
Let your child do their thing. Be there when they need you, but for your child to truly ‘get’ science, they will likely need to try things out for themselves.
Science/STEM in School Tip #4: Suggest Additional Avenues to Explore
One reason some kids struggle in science? They don’t see how the concepts they learn in school apply to their daily lives. If that’s the case with your child, you can point things out in the real world that tie into what they’re learning in school.
If you notice your child showing an interest in a topic, whether it is nature, technology, or something else, encourage further exploration. The two of you can go to the library or on YouTube to find experiments in science related to those things they’re curious about.
Science/STEM in School Tip #5: Encourage Reading During the Summer
I’ve written articles about the ‘summer slide’ before. It’s the phenomenon where kids who don’t read or engage in active learning during the summer months ‘slide’ academically and have to play catch up.
In a nutshell, keep your child reading over the summer. Ongoing reading during the summer months helps prevent the summer slide. And your child will have an easier time when the new school year starts.
Get Your Entire School Excited About Science
Want to get every student in your school into the mood for science? My fun and amazing school assembly on science, “Is It Magic or Science?” gets up to TWELVE students involved! With goofy experiments, music, and crazy science experiments, your students will leave the assembly fired up to learn more STEM concepts! Contact me today for more information.
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