Astronomy Without A Telescope

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Astronomy is an old subject learnt by human being since the age of our early ancestors. It is a rare subject that the modern children will learn right now. Even, it is not included in the common public or private school in my country. On the other hand, astronomy is a subject that has built up the human civilization around the world.

1. Astronomy has helped the ancient people to discover new places around the world.
   With the use of compass and the navigation of stars and other sky objects, new lands were discovered. Even the three kings met baby Jesus with the help of a star according to the bible.
2. Astronomy has helped the farmers
   The ancient farmers to determine the time for planting and for harvesting.
   By watching the cycle of sky objects, farmers can decide the time of farming. I think I was not only for the ancient farmers, but there are some farmers in my country that still use the system.
3. Astronomy inspiring astrology
   The sky objects’ behaviors have led human being in analyzing the effect toward human being. The practice or study is called as astrology. Before 1600, astrology has played very important roles in making decisions. Even many people consider it as an irrational point to consider, but the fact unavoidable happens. Maybe it doesn’t only  for the ancient culture, but it also still happens in some traditional cultures this days.
4. Astronomy have taken a part to some other subjects.
   It is related and build each other with Maths, Language arts, Mythology, Science, and religion in the ancient time until it is today.
5. Astronomy has taken a part in the relation between God with human being.
   For whatever religion and belief, the sky has already made people amazed and it leads human to look for the creator. This factor makes the human civilization

Therefore, there are a lot of reasons for children to learn astronomy in the modern days.

Many people just think that this is an elegant or luxurious subject that needs a lot of money to learn. At least learners need a telescope to go along with the subject. When you only have limited budget, purchasing a limited telescope would not worth it, I think. It is great to save more money to get much better device to do stargazing, if you want to make a long term work with stargazing. However, I don’t say that stargazing is not important for children. Stargazing is an important activities for children for some reasons. Actually it is not an absolute necessity for children to have the telescope to do astronomy lessons. We just love doing it.

Well, stargazing is a part of astronomy, but astronomy is not always about stargazing. In the ancient time when astronomy has a great importance in the human civilization development, there wasn’t any sophisticated telescope like the one that we can purchase. Therefore, undoubtedly, astronomy is not an exclusive subject at all. Even it can be learnt by and taught to children from the simple forms.

What To Do Without the Telescope

There are a lot of activities for children to learn about astronomy without any telescope. The activities can be both hands-on and observation.

When our kids were young, it was easy to teach them their alphabet and how to count. As the years pass, certain subjects become more difficult to teach. It can be easy to be intimidated by certain subjects – like the sciences.

This year, a new course is available that will help solve your problems. Experience Astronomy.

Why Experience Astronomy?

For centuries astronomy was considered one of the seven classical liberal arts of education. Experience Astronomy allows students to join this long-standing tradition and really grasp the God-created order of the heavens.

• You, the parent, don’t have to be the expert: I’ll do all the teaching for you (via video).
• It’s integrative: The course includes integration with history, literature, and even the Bible.
• No special equipment needed: Your student will study the stars the way the ancients did—with their own two eyes.
• It’s interactive: Your student will get outside on a weekly basis to take notes or draw specific observations in the sky.
• From the comfort of home: All the required activities can be done online or in your own backyard.
• Christian emphasis: The subject of astronomy is studies through a Christian worldview.

What Does Experience Astronomy Cover?

The e-course integrates astronomy with others subjects, such as history, classical literature, and the Bible. Throughout the year students learn:

• how to use the sky for navigation,
• how to find dozens of major constellations,
• the phases of the moon,
• the motions of the stars throughout the night and throughout the year,
• how eclipses work,
• how astronomy has shaped both the Biblical calendar and our modern calendar,
• information about the planets, asteroids, comets, and meteor showers,
• mythologies associated with the constellations,
• and more!

What’s Included?

Experience Astronomy is a full-school year video e-course geared towards 6th to 9th graders.

• Starting in September your students will look forward to the engaging, weekly teaching videos.
• Students will receive a field guide and are expected to complete weekly outdoor observation activities, giving them a firsthand knowledge about the motions of the sun, moon, stars, and planets.
• A course guide with supplemental reading, writing activities, and more will be provided.
• Weekly online quizzes to test your students understanding of the materials will be provided. Don’t worry, the grading will be done for you!

The regular price for Experience Astronomy is $97 for the school year, but if you buy now you can get it for 25% off until the end of April 2016. There are also multi-student discounts available.

Preview the first couple lessons, or go here to get answers to some of frequently asked questions. Click the picture bellow to go to the Experience Astronomy lesson.