Though I’ve spent a lot of time with my daughter the past few days, I don’t know that I’ve done any official teaching. Yesterday, in just half an hour, my wife led my daughter in a brilliant science lesson.
There are a host of black caterpillars crawling on the remains of our sunflowers. While my daughter helped my wife remove the seeds from these dying flowers, they discussed what kind of caterpillars they were. They got out a book that had belonged to my wife when she was a child: Read About Butterflies and Moths. The caterpillars looked they were Swallowtails.
A quick check on the internet confirmed their hypothesis. It also showed that the caterpillars had two features to protect themselves: horns they display and an odor they emit when scared. My wife and daughter proceeded to prod the caterpillars on the bottom. They saw the horns. They smelled the odor. It smelled like parsley, the odor of the food they like to eat (and which birds will not eat).
My daughter loved learning with her mom. I hope I can find teaching moments like this next week.
Learning Together 