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The Book of Astronomy: Constellations and the Solar System Review by Kelly Kiggins-Lund and Missica Pullen

Student Book and Teacher Guide
Memoria Press
1-877-862-1097
4603 Poplar Level Rd.
Louisville, KY 40213
https://www.memoriapress.com/

My son loves looking at the stars in the night sky. One particular evening, he said to me in an awe-laced tone, “I like looking at the stars, Momma. They remind me of how powerful God is and how much He loves us.” Recently, my son had asked if we could study astronomy. When I saw The Book of Astronomy: Constellations and the Solar System Student Book and Teacher Guide from Memoria Press, I knew God was providing us an opportunity and asked to review it.

The Book of Astronomy Student Book is broken down into four units. Unit One explains constellations and a myriad of facts about stars, like their names, lightyears, and magnitude. It also begins to describe how the night sky changes based upon the season and which stars and constellations are visible at certain times of the year. Unit Two details the winter sky and its prevalent stars and constellations while Unit Three discusses the stars and constellations in the spring sky. Unit Four talks about the solar system and discusses each of the planets, the sun, and the moon, as well as comets. The Book of Astronomy clearly describes the stars, constellations, and the solar system in a way that my son, who has diagnoses of ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome (High-Functioning Autism), could understand yet kept him engaged in the learning process. He excels at science and appreciated all the various diagrams included in the text. The included exercises help students retain information. My son’s favorite was connecting the stars to draw the various constellations. The appendix includes a few additional charts, definitions, and a pronunciation guide. Please note that this book is suggested for those in third through fifth grade. Now, my son is sixteen, and he didn’t feel that the curriculum was too young for him, nor did I. The book supplies suggestions for both younger and older students and is easy to adapt to meet the requirements.

The Book of Astronomy Teacher Guide mirrors the Student Book. For those not comfortable teaching new topics, this book makes teaching easy. The Teacher Guide includes all the exercises from the Student Book and provides the answers, which makes correcting assignments a breeze. The Teacher Guide, like the Student Book, is clear and concise. I like that it provides fascinating facts but that the information isn’t overwhelming. I even learned new things as I taught my son, which is always a plus in my book.

If I were searching for a curriculum to use to teach my son about the stars and planets, I would purchase The Book of Astronomy: Constellations and the Solar System Student Book and Teacher Guide from Memoria Press. It is comprehensive yet easy to understand. It provides fun exercises. Furthermore, we learned about the stars and are looking forward to visiting a local planetarium and observatory in the near future to put these skills and knowledge to use.

- Product review by Kelly Kiggins-Lund, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2017

Another Reviewer’s Perspective:

The Book of Astronomy: Constellations and the Solar System
Memoria Press
www.MemoriaPress.com

Do you have a child who simply loves astronomy? Do you have a child who can spend hours gazing up at the stars, searching out the constellations? I sure do! My son could stay out all night long, gazing into the heavens above, pointing out the various constellations. That’s why I knew The Book of Astronomy: Constellations and the Solar System Set, by Memoria Press, would be a great fit for our family.

This set is made up of two books. There’s a Teacher’s Manual that includes answers to the student activities, as well as tests. The Teacher’s Manual also includes the same text as the Student Book. The Student Book is a combination of text and activities. As your student reads through the text, they will be asked to complete tables, draw the lines of constellations, and answer questions. The Student Book is a consumable resource, so your child can write directly into the book. This made the course extremely convenient for us to take with us in the car, and for my son to take with him to Grandma’s house.

The course is arranged in four units. The order in which the material is presented just makes sense. We begin by learning what constellations are, the motions of the earth, names of stars, and the summer-fall constellations. It’s important to remember the location of stars in our view changes as the earth moves about in the solar system. Unit two focuses on the winter constellations such as Orion and Gemini. Unit three teaches the Spring constellations, including Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (my personal favorites), while Unit four covers our own solar system.

I really like how the program incorporates mythology into the text. We have previously used the D’Aulaires Greek Myths Set, and that program works very well alongside The Book of Astronomy. We frequently found ourselves going back to D’Aulaires to read up on references made in The Book of Astronomy. This program is intended for grades 3-5, but my 11-year-old son has greatly benefited from the lessons. He has thoroughly enjoyed working through the lessons during the day and then taking his telescope out at night to locate the stars and constellations he learned about earlier. I personally feel as if 3rd grade may be a bit too young for this program, unless the student is advanced with reading. I would venture to say this would be appropriate even up to 7th grade, or older depending on the student. As a 3rd grade student, my son would have required help.

Overall, we have both truly enjoyed using this science course. I have truly enjoyed learning alongside him, and we as a family unit have learned a great deal more about the constellations in our night sky. If I could change one thing, I would include a teacher’s plan in the Teacher’s Manual. That would make it more convenient to have a schedule included, but as it is, that would not prevent me for purchasing this product for use. It would be simple, the way the book is arranged, to develop your own schedule as you see fit. We plan to continue using this until it has been completed, and I highly recommend it to others.

-Product review by Missica Pullen, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2017

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