Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Welcome to Home Chemistry -- Science Labs You Can Do at Home!


Thanks for visiting Home Chemistry! This blog archives the chemistry experiments and demonstrations my kids and I did during their homeschooling years. You can go directly to the experiment posts here.

These are standard activities comparable to those done in school, following the book The Joy of Chemistry by Cathy Cobb and Monty L. Fetterolf, both chemistry teachers at the secondary and college level. And in case you're wondering, our approach to science is strictly evidence based, not religious.

Almost all the activities require only ordinary household substances. Instead of specialized lab glassware, we used plastic cups, saucers, spoons. They are all easily done by anyone regardless of scientific background. Throughout the year, we checked in with "real" scientists (including one Nobel laureate) to validate what we were doing. In fact, our work was featured in The New York Times and Chemical and Engineering News. And my oldest one was accepted at and is now graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology.

I hope you find these resources helpful. Good luck and have fun!

Kathy Ceceri
craftsforlearning.com

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Interested in Homeschooling?


Find out how to homeschool chemistry -- and any other subject. Check out my articles on the About.com Homeschooling page!


Sunday, March 2, 2014

Update: Where to Find more Great Learning Resources from Kathy Ceceri!


Did you know I have published tons of learning information, activities and resources online? Here are just a few of the websites where my writing can be found:
My new book for Make Magazine, Making Simple Robots, is available for preorder on Amazon. You can find links to all my books on my Amazon page.

And you can also find me on:
Twitter @kathyceceri
Facebook All About Homeschooling
Google Plus +kathyceceri

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Two New Books for Families That Love Science!

This past year has been busy -- but the result has been TWO new books with tons of amazing science and other geeky projects for kids and families!

Geek Mom: Projects, Tips, and Adventures for Moms and Their 21st-Century Families is a new book from Potter Craft co-authored by me and the other editors of Wired.com's GeekMom blog: Natania Barron, Corrina Lawson and Jenny Williams.Written primarily for moms who want to share their geeky interests with their kids, it includes fun activities like superhero costumes, math puzzles, snack food hacks, and science-y crafts, as well as a whole chapter of at-home experiments.

Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future with 20 Projects, a book for kids ages 9-12 from Nomad Press, is packed full of information about how robots work and contains "low tech/no tech" projects based on actual robotics research. No special tools or skills are needed to build any of the working robotics models in this book -- just ordinary crafts materials and recycled electronics parts!

Both these books are available from Amazon or your favorite local bookstore. You can see sample projects and photos and read more about the books on my website Crafts for Learning, my Amazing Robotics Projects Facebook page, and on GeekMom and GeekDad!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Bose-Einstein Condensate

How to make a Bose-Einstein condensate.
I'm writing up a project for the forthcoming GeekMom book that involves states of matter. Here's one I seem to have missed: Bose-Einstein Condensate. First created in 1995, it is not yet widely known or taught in schools. But an old page from website of the University of Colorado at Boulder actually does a pretty good job of explaining BEC in words and animations simple enough for kids to understand.

And for all you educators out there, here's an interesting debate on the NSTA website on if and when teachers should share the news that there are more states of matter out there than just solid, liquid and gas...


Thursday, December 8, 2011

Interested in Robotics?

I've been hard at work on a new activity book for kids from Nomad Press. It's called Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future and includes projects from a range of area -- including chemistry! I'll be starting a companion blog to the book as soon as the writing is done.

In the meantime, check out news about the book and robotics in general on my new Facebook page!


Monday, May 30, 2011

Zombie Marie Curie


http://xkcd.com/896/


A worthy follow-up to Zombie Richard Feynman. And for more on Marie Curie, read the new illustrated biography Radioactive with the cool glow-in-the-dark cover! (Review coming.)