mad method

Every year my need to mimic traditional schools decreases leaving me greater freedom to experiment. Last year's great experiment was using composition books for our history and language arts. We did some science in composition books, but it came late to the party and never developed the way I hoped. This year is going to be different.
Usually I choose a branch of science such as biology and we work on learning the facts. This year we are going to learn the scientific method.
Composition books are frequently used in science labs as a way of recording data and such. My goal is that my kids will be able to draft and complete their own experiments. I plan to have a workshop at the beginning where we will work through an experiment together, then I intend to move them on by providing them with kits that they can do without help. (Check out Meijer's Kid's Science section or Toys R Us' Imaginarium.) Once they work successfully with the kits I'll restrict them to books. (Janice Van Cleave, Blood and Guts, that sort of thing.) When they are doing well with the books I'm going to ask them to design their own experiment to develop a better understanding of something they've already done. Hopefully they'll still learn a lot of facts, though my only contribution to that will be to make sure the experiment kits and books come from a variety of disciplines. I'll probably go back to my normal method next year, but I hope we will always do a lot of hands-on learning.