My children are 26 and 23. I also have a 4 year old grandson. This only means I have experience and in no way demonstrates any level of expertise.
My one piece of advice is to thoroughly answer their questions. Children are naturally inquisitive. Many parents will unintentionally patronize their children by delivering overly simplistic explanations to answer their questions. The simplified version often comes across as magic or 'because I said so'. Perhaps an anecdote.
We had my grandson during a rain shower and he offered that angels were crying (a fine example of bullshit adults dump on young inquiring minds). Knowing my daughter didn't teach this I said that wasn't true, God was pissing. I was having a bit of fun, but my daughter knew exactly who was responsible after my grandson shared his newfound knowledge. We had a good laugh and promised to correct the situation.
I started with a verbal explanation of the hydrologic cycle, of course knowing that some demonstration would be in order. We next boiled some water allowing him to see the steam (not to discuss phase change, but show him that water does indeed go into the air as vapor). Next we put the lid on and allowed some to condense (like a cloud in a way). Lift the lid and shake a little to make it rain. He then challenged me with making it rain outside.
To try and teach 4 year old the difference between boiling and evaporation we poured a pint of water on the lawn and a pint in a flat shallow dish that was left out in the sun (solves the question of the water going into the ground). He was relentless in how often he would go check the status of the water.
Now, I don't expect that my grandson has a complete understanding of the hydrologic cycle, but he now knows the rudiments and will call bullshit when someone dismisses his inquiry with some superficial reason. In addition, it will serve to deepen his curiousity regarding how things work and as he gets older he will continue to question other superficial explanations for phenomenon.
A bonus is that when he starts school he will already have an understanding of what's being taught so that he can delve deeper.
My one piece of advice is to thoroughly answer their questions. Children are naturally inquisitive. Many parents will unintentionally patronize their children by delivering overly simplistic explanations to answer their questions. The simplified version often comes across as magic or 'because I said so'. Perhaps an anecdote.
We had my grandson during a rain shower and he offered that angels were crying (a fine example of bullshit adults dump on young inquiring minds). Knowing my daughter didn't teach this I said that wasn't true, God was pissing. I was having a bit of fun, but my daughter knew exactly who was responsible after my grandson shared his newfound knowledge. We had a good laugh and promised to correct the situation.
I started with a verbal explanation of the hydrologic cycle, of course knowing that some demonstration would be in order. We next boiled some water allowing him to see the steam (not to discuss phase change, but show him that water does indeed go into the air as vapor). Next we put the lid on and allowed some to condense (like a cloud in a way). Lift the lid and shake a little to make it rain. He then challenged me with making it rain outside.
To try and teach 4 year old the difference between boiling and evaporation we poured a pint of water on the lawn and a pint in a flat shallow dish that was left out in the sun (solves the question of the water going into the ground). He was relentless in how often he would go check the status of the water.
Now, I don't expect that my grandson has a complete understanding of the hydrologic cycle, but he now knows the rudiments and will call bullshit when someone dismisses his inquiry with some superficial reason. In addition, it will serve to deepen his curiousity regarding how things work and as he gets older he will continue to question other superficial explanations for phenomenon.
A bonus is that when he starts school he will already have an understanding of what's being taught so that he can delve deeper.
