Scientific Journaling with preschoolers to help reading comprehension

Scientific Journaling! Keeping a scientific journal with preschoolers can be a fun and educational way to help them learn to think critically and get interested in science. Unfortunately, reading alone cannot guarantee comprehension. In other words, you never know what your child learned or understood. Only tasks and activities associated with reading can monitor content and vocabulary comprehension.

Journaling allows me to track my daughter's understanding and therefore acquisition of the language. Plus it's a visual #cue #visualnotetaking for the future references and retelling. To be honest, I find it's much easier to draw things when I'm explaining then. Moreover, it also serves as a portfolio to track progress.

We always work together on her journal 📓. I model first the task then let her do it independently. Also, the choice of creative material is unlimited - pens, pencils, markers, cardstock, stickers etc.etc
What did we do?

1️⃣Read (anything - science/fiction)
2️⃣After each story, I ask her to draw the main character with the attributes OR scientific thing. For instance, we've drawn:
- the catastrophic weathers
- Germs
- Protons/electrons
- Planets, solar system
- earth structures, landscaping
- habitat
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I also tried a conventional way of journaling to copy or to writing but at age 4+ it doesn’t work. Maybe later, so far drawing and gluing pictures is an excellent workaround.

Overall, scientific journaling with preschoolers can be a fun and educational activity that helps kids develop critical thinking skills and an interest in science. Here are a few tips for scientific journaling with preschoolers:

1. Keep it simple: Preschoolers may not have a lot of experience with writing, so it's important to keep the format of the journal simple. A simple lined notebook or a blank sketchbook can work well.

2. Encourage creativity: Encourage kids to express their observations and ideas creatively through their journaling by using drawings, stickers, and other creative elements in addition to writing.

3. Make it hands-on: Encourage kids to engage with the world around them by incorporating hands-on activities and experiments into their journaling.

4. Use prompts: Provide prompts or questions to help kids think about and reflect on their observations and experiences.

5. Don't worry about spelling and grammar: At this age, it's more important for kids to get their ideas down on paper than to worry about spelling and grammar. Encourage them to focus on expressing themselves and their observations.

6. Keep it private: Encourage kids to feel free to express themselves openly and honestly in their journals by keeping their writing private.

7. Encourage kids to read their journals: Encourage kids to look back at their old journal entries and reflect on their observations and experiences. This can help them to see how they have grown and changed over time.

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