Observing the Science of Beans

Today Nana was making beans and invited Hunter to observe their pre-cooked state. She set out two uncooked beans and told Hunter that when they were done soaking, we would compare the soaked beans with the original.

A few hours later, after Nana had left, we rinsed off the soaked beans and took a couple out.

"Look how the uncooked beans are hard and tiny, but the soaked ones are soft and bigger. The beans absorbed, or soaked up, some water and it makes them grow and become softer. Isn't that neat?"

We put the beans back into a pot of water and put them on the stove. "Now we're going to cook the beans and they are going to absorb even more water. When they're done cooking, we'll see how much bigger and softer they get."

Pretty simple little experiment, no fancy lesson plans, worksheets, or equipment required. I didn't have to go to the library and get books about absorbency, or about beans, or print out coloring pages about it. I didn't buy or make the beans especially to demonstrate this little science lesson. In fact, the whole conversation took ten seconds. And that's what I love about this "school of life", this teaching Hunter about his world "precept upon precept... here a little, and there a little." He loves it when I answer all the "why's" about anything and everything there is to learn about.

Sometimes I think little kids get lost in all the lessons and drawn-out explanations we give them when all they want is the straight facts. When they get bored of us, we decide that they don't like to learn, when in reality they just don't like our teaching methods.

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:"

Isaiah 28:9-10