There is a parental upbringing that gives us a sense of history and a deep desire to pass on to the next generation the great things we have learned about life. And part of that is the desire to instill in our children a love for science, for learning and especially for the love of nature.
Your curiosity about the universe and how to explore it as we often do in the field of astronomy can be as high and dry as it would be if you were studying astronomy. But when you go out there in the garden at night, your equipment is ready and the night sky wakes up working, there is no other experience like royalty and pure excitement. And that is the kind of experience we want our children to love as we do.
It really is not a big step from play to children's learning when it comes to learning about the natural world, science and astronomy. Exploration is a natural part of childhood and growing up in a fascinating and global world. So if we can find ways to take that natural desire to explore and instill a love for longevity in astronomy, we will be giving our children a truly wonderful gift.
So with a few simple family plans, we can instill in our children a love for astronomy. Here are some ideas.
* Make astrology a part of your family life. You already like to go out as often as you can to enjoy the stars. So do not let that happen to you. Put everyone in the game. Kids will love you and look forward to that night like going to the circus.
* Make each new feeling grow into new astronomy. So the first appearance may be what you experienced as a child, just lying on your back on the ground with a panorama of stars above trying to cover it all. Continue to challenge astrology. It is a fun activity and they will keep it for use as a joke on their children when they do the same thing for a few decades.
* Move on the reading path, introducing telescopes so they can focus on specific areas of the night sky.
* Now they are connected and want to know why some stars are brighter than others. They do not know that they will study the stars and they do not know. You can tell them about constellations as you show how to find them by removing the North Star. By being able to find objects in that galaxy and knowing that there is such a huge amount to choose from, they are ready to learn about astronomy and how the galaxies work.
* Imagine their joy as they watched the night sky change. The phases of the moon and the effect of the earth's orbit around the planets. Help them find their favorite heavenly bodies every night. They will soon learn to organize the movements of the stars, as did the ancient astronomers.
* Now you will be drawn to the joy of discovering new things to discover in your delightful team of emerging astronomers. If you show that you are going on a trip to see a solar eclipse, a meteor shower or a single appearance in the life of a comet, that gift will be greater than anything you can get from them for Christmas.
The wonders of the night sky will delight your kids the way we treat you for years. And you will be doing them the greatest kindness you have ever done by making them the lovers of the world for the rest of your life.
You must be logged in to post a comment.