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Oregon Family Magazine

Science Kids inc

Overview > Reviews > ENGAGING, CREATIVE, CRITICAL THINKING, AMAZEMENT-INDUCING HANDS-ON INSTRUCTION

We count finding Miss Patty amongst one of our longest straws since moving to Eugene. Her classes are engaging, hands-on science experiments; she encourages critical thinking and approaches the topic of the day with such zeal and amazement, the kids can't help but be equally enthusiastic about the chemical structure of a crystal or fingerprints, or the critical components or making a real working circuit. These classes are not "fluff", but rather of great substance and highly applicable to daily life. Patty provides an array of materials the kids can touch and manipulate and be creative with. My step-son called them "art class" at first. I corrected him: "science class"; he said "oh whatever it's called, I want to go again!" Of significant value to me, Miss Patty keeps her class size small and has clearly developed an individual relationship with each of my kids. She doesn't just know their names, she sends emails after class with websites of things the group discussed that day, follows up on an idea my step-son had the previous week by greeting him with a print out an how-to-experiment, or sending home materials and a project for my daughter when she was sick and couldn't make it to class. There is a reason that hers is a household name. My kids are known to say "we should ask Miss Patty about that next week", or "I wonder what book Miss Patty might recommend for optical illusions?". Visit her in her science cottage surrounded by overflowing flower pots and garden beds. She's so fabulous, your kids will be begging to go back, and you'll be flabbergasted by the facts and concepts they come home with. My kids now know a lot more than I do about most things scientific, which Miss Patty would remind you are EVERYWHERE in the world around us. EVERYTHING in life circles back to science.

Service on Apr 12