Comments on: How Failure Teaches Kids to Think Like Scientists

By: Erica MomandKiddo

Erica MomandKiddo — Mon, 04 May 2015 10:47:51 +0000

In reply to Rosanne. Very true. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

By: Rosanne

Rosanne — Sat, 02 May 2015 02:04:23 +0000

Thank yo so much for these fun activities :) I really appreciate you saying this: "What my kids learned: Scientists have to persevere! Scientists aren’t always successful!" You know when something jumps off the page at you?! Yeah ;) Why do I feel like I can't fail at science experiments when Thomas Edison did a whole lot before he got it right?! I think God will use this little comment you made to take our science to a whole new level as I choose to just learn from it all and not have expectations and teach my kids by my example to persevere...and in the end, yes, our expectations can sometimes then be met! :) Thanks again.

By: esivy

esivy — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 17:36:52 +0000

In reply to Erica MomandKiddo. Very interesting!Sometimes I'm not sure if something has always been out there and I'm just now noticing, if I'm just noticing things because I'm now looking for it, or if one person with clout observed something and now everyone else is echoing the same thing (a false magnification).

By: Erica MomandKiddo

Erica MomandKiddo — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 17:13:16 +0000

In reply to esivy. I'm not as familiar with what you mention, but I recently heard an NPR story about a school that emphasizes teaches kids resilience, which is sort of like teaching that failure is simply a part of learning.

By: esivy

esivy — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:15:09 +0000

In reply to Erica MomandKiddo. I'm curious if you're aware of the current debate surrounding the intense high school schedule and the viewpoint that it's turning out over-achievers who "don't know how to handle failure." I'm wondering how often I encounter wording like yours due to the debate, or independent observations, if that makes any sense.

By: Erica MomandKiddo

Erica MomandKiddo — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 09:16:45 +0000

In reply to esivy. That's good to know for moms like me who get a lot of things wrong. LOL.

By: esivy

esivy — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 14:29:11 +0000

I *love* that you shared all your trials and tribulations in getting this experiment to work. As a scientist, I can tell you that it's so true that this is the way real science works. But as a mom and a perfectionist, I always like to get things right before I show it to anybody. My kids are older, and I've been reading a lot about secondary education and about how today's kids need to learn to fail. It's hard to find examples of how you teach kids that! But this is perfect.