This book begins with a lesson on the nature of astronomy, and then it covers the major structures of our solar system. Starting with the sun and working towards Pluto, the student will learn details about all nine planets (or is it eight? - your student will have to decide) in the solar system.

Along the way, the student will also learn about Earth's moon, the asteroid belt, and the Kuiper belt. After that, the student will move outside our solar system and learn about the stars and galaxies that make up God's incredible universe. Finally, the student will learn about space travel and what it takes to be an astronaut!

About the Young Explorer Series:
When we decided to offer our customers a boxed curriculum, we knew that our eclectic approach to science needed a bit of fine-tuning, so we knew we needed Young Explorer, Jeannie Fulbright's elementary science program. Not only does this in-depth curriculum, with its gorgeous full-color pictures and captivating, God-exalting text, sparkle in comparison to the mainstream dry-bones science program, it utilizes what we believe is the most sensible method to teaching science, the immersion approach.

While other science programs, with their yearly superficial overviews, quickly become tedious as children encounter the repetitiveness of topic matters, the Young Explorer science immersion program will allow your family to enjoy the depth and riches that genuine science can give. Most home taught children who enjoy science are being taught with a science immersion program.

Because this program utilizes a combination of the Charlotte Mason and classical methods, you can count on each Young Explorer book to acknowledge the evidence of Creation, have easy-to-follow lessons that are self-contained, include hands-on activities, and support National Standards of Science. Recommended for ages six through twelve, but written with a fourth grader in mind, you may find that your older children will enjoy doing the coursework on their own, while younger, less confident readers will prefer parental involvement.

Although the author encourages you to select books based on topics and not grade level, she also favors the following sequence due to the difficulty of the subject matter: Astronomy, Botany, Zoology 1: Flying Creatures, Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures, Zoology 3: Land Animals.

Every hardback book comes with eye-popping, full-color pictures, recommended activities and projects, and engaging conversational text.

Another outstanding component of Timberdoodle's First Grade Core Curriculum!

Methodology:
This wonderful book uses the classical and Charlotte Mason methodology to give elementary school students an introduction to our solar system and the universe that contains it. Narration and notebooking are used to encourage critical thinking, logical ordering, retention, and record keeping. Each lesson in the book is organized with a narrative, some notebook work, an activity, and a project. Although designed to be read by the parent to elementary students of various grade levels, it is possible for students with a 4th grade reading level to read this book on their own.
As you might expect from a book that uses the Charlotte Mason approach, the student notebook is emphasized in every lesson. Students are told to make illustrations for each lesson and are given notebook assignments to reinforce what they have learned. Notebook assignments include making a mnemonic phrase to remember the order of the planets in the solar system, making a comic strip called "A Day on Venus," making an advertisement to sell the earth, and writing a play about the discovery of Uranus.

Activities/Projects:
The activities and projects use easy-to-find household items and truly make the lessons come alive! They include making a solar eclipse, making craters like those found on Mercury, simulating the use of radar to determine hidden landscape, keeping track of the phases of the moon, making a telescope, making fog, and making an astrometer to measure the brightness of a star.

CURRICULUM INFORMATION

Recommended Use:
We recommend that you spend the entire year covering this book, devoting approximately two sessions per week to the course. The sessions will be something like 30 minutes to an hour, depending on exactly what you are doing on that day. Of course, if you want to cover the book in less than a year, you will simply have to devote more time to it.

Pre-requisites:
This course is recommended for students in grade levels K-6. The student needs no prior science or math experience to be successful in this course. Astronomy may be taken before or after any of the other Young Explorer series courses (Botany and Zoology).