She did really well. Her experiment was to take four different materials, in this case, polyester, cardboard, cotton and a Band Aid, and determine which burnt the fastest. She had to keep a Log Book of her observations. The more detailed the better. She’s quite good at that and I had to keep myself from laughing out loud at what she wrote. Not that what she wrote was wrong, just completely not what I expected. A lot of what she said was normal. Burning slow, doesn’t burn only melts, lot’s of smoke, only burns if you hold it up in the air. The typical things.

But then there were the atypical. My favorite was an observation she made on the Band Aid. “When Dad tried to light the band aid, the sticky part wouldn’t burn. But when he picked up the Band Aid, the pad burned and he burnt his finger. Note: Do not try to light a band aid with bare hands.” Now THAT is what children would write. Which is why I was glad we decided to let her “drive.” She called the shots. The only thing she didn’t do was set the materials on fire. She made a note about that as well. Personal safety.

She assembled everything on a thick poster board, which portrayed the before and after. She put the materials (burnt and unburnt) in blank CD cases in the center. It made for an easy way to display all of the items. She labeled everything using our label maker. On one side of the board she listed the materials used. On the other, she listed her observations on each material while burning (from Log Book). It turned out really well.

Whether she places in the science fair is not the point. The fact of the matter is she did this by herself, with little or no guidance from us. We were just the helpers if you will. She feels good about what she accomplished. That’s just one step closer to getting her to learn she is really quite remarkable. It’s going to be fun watching her discover that.

In that respect, my job is easy. I’m the cheerleader. The coach. The guidance counselor. The funny thing is, I’m learning right along with her.