SOUTH SHORE YMCA NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER

Learning Through Discovery

Posted: Feb. 25, 2013

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Young children are natural explorers and scientists.  When you think about how scientists make new discoveries you realize that it all starts with questions.  Questions lead to hypotheses and experimentation.  Results of the experiment are excitedly shared with colleagues where discussion and analysis lead to a conclusion about the data.  Children are doing this everyday at Nature Center Preschool when they ask questions of their peers or teachers.  Whether they are building with blocks and wonder how high they can go before the block tower falls; or walking the nature trails, observing animal tracks, trying to figure out what animal made the tracks and which direction they were traveling; children are asking questions, making guesses, experimenting to find out new information and ultimately, coming to conclusions about the world around them.  While children play cooperatively, they share information and experiences with each other.  These discoveries and subsequent collaboration in the Preschool setting are the building blocks of learning.