Recycled post from our yahoo blog...

Original post, March 2006
In a recent post to an unschooling list, there was a fearful entry wondering how our children learn science naturally. It seemed odd to me at the time, as when I think of learning science, i nearly always think of the observation required to succeed in the scientific world. Today a wonderful example appeared in our backyard.

I watched my children learn physics as they experimented with a railroad tie. It fell off of our retaining wall a few days back, during a large thunderstorm. It came to a rest on a bump of dirt, a clump of grass. Sitting on one end, they laughed as the other popped into the air. They took turns sitting on the opposite edges, they sat stones and deadwood and our picnic supplies on one end as they jumped on the other. After a while, I offered to move it atop another tie, to see what would happen. They happily agreed, and after rearranging a bit, they were able to teeter totter. I sat in the shade nearby and read my book. They discovered that if one side of the teeter totter was shorter than the other, then the latter needed more weight to evenly balance. They learned that if you jump off one end, the other person was likely to be injured and need help. They learned that a single pivot point was not a reliable way to maintain a lever, and they learned that sometimes to get things done, you need more people on one side.

They learned that other people have discovered similar laws of physics, and that there are even names for the parts of their teeter totter (although fulcrum is not exactly what they'd call it, "Too boring" the girls agreed.) I won't say I was in awe, I know that kids can learn on their own. I was excited to see them have the freedom to learn in a way that fit their styles, so to speak. Emily and Rachel got in there, moving stuff around. Sam was the object of their experimentation (and lets just say we're lucky he's still in one piece, they tried to fling him over the wall before I stepped in and requested they use inanimate objects BEFORE trying it with a person) Dan sat back and observed, as did Breanna. Josh lectured us all on the laws of physics, as the older brother he feels much more knowledgeable and wise than the rest of us. :-P

All in all, I'd vote for a productive day. I'd wager they learned more today than I did in at least two weeks of college physics. }:-\