TIPS FOR PARENTS
Set your child up for Success
Your child will be more likely to have a positive Science Fair experience if you follow these tips:
- Be positive about your child's work.
- Be aware of the boy-girl syndrome; girls CAN do science projects also.
- Be aware of the "perfect project" syndrome; allow yourself and your child to make mistakes. Edison made many before he came up with the right answer!
- Be honest with your children: If you don't know the answer, tell your child.
- Look around for ideas: take youngsters to your garden, library, etc.
- Seek out people to help you, friends who could "assist" your child.
- Get books for your children, join and use the public library.
- Collect and save materials; free and inexpensive materials found around the home often work best.
- Work with materials; allow your child to "mess about" with materials without your direction.
- Allow your child time for thinking, exploring, and doing the project.
- Save time especially for repeating the experiment many times.
- Stress "how to" skills, e.g., observing rather than memorizing facts.
- Examine issues with moral consequences, e.g., animals being harmed for experimental purposes.
- Help children to keep a daily log of their research activities.
- Help children write a report of their science fair research.
- Go over the results of your child's research with your child in order to help him/her practice explaining their research.
- Go to the science fair with your child and take pictures of projects that you are all interested in. These will serve as a resource for future research ideas.
- Talk to your child about future science fair projects that they would like to do.
- Keep a log of ideas as they come up throughout the year.
- If the experiment "didn't work," discuss with your child why this is so. Encourage your child to explain the results and ENTER the project anyway!
- REMEMBER, this is a learning experience for you CHILD. Projects should be done and understood by your child. You are welcome to guide.
- There are many websites that have science fair ideas in many topics. Go to Google.com and type in "science fair projects" and several sites will appear.