It’s that time of year again. The time when I start researching and finding resources for the upcoming year. It’s one of my favorite times of year, because I absolutely LOVE researching. Problem is, a month from now I won’t be able to find that extensive list I made in the purple sparkly notebook, or was the green one?
This year I decided to try something a little different. I decided to make a blog post and put all the resources I find for a topic here, in one post, so I can easily find them again when I actually need to use them. 🙂
Then as I find more things, I can update the list, and everything will still be in one easy to find spot! YAY!
So… keep in mind, this is my resource list. I have not tried all these things. I have not previewed anything, this is just my “gather all the things” space. I will link to things as much as I can, to make it easy for you to check them out. Yes, I will use affiliate links wherever I can (a mom’s gotta make a living, right?!). I will also try my best this year to follow up with reviews of the things we actually use (and love), and I’ll come back here and link to them when they are published.
Here we go! This year, we’ve committed to studying the sky and space for science. <3 I must admit I’m pretty excited about this one myself. I have never studied astronomy, but I’ve always had a keen interest in the sky, so this should be a fun science year for sure.
Astronomy Resources:
Curriculum:
The Stargazer’s Notebook We likely won’t use this as written, but we have committed to spending one night a month under the stars.
Astronomy 2 (Pandia Press) It’s not likely that we will use this, but it’s an available resource. There is now Astronomy 1 available as well for younger kids.
Magic Forest Academy Stars Unit
Magic Forest Academy Moon Unit
Master Class with Chris Hadfield (Get an extra month on your subscription with this link.)
Telescope:
We were thrilled to be gifted a telescope, and we are excited to learn how to use it. I don’t know much about telescopes, and ours is an older model, but this is the one that is closest to ours.
We also have an observatory about an hour away from us. A local college astronomy club runs weekly star gazing events, and we’ll definitely be taking advantage of their telescope and expertise in getting our set up and working. 🙂
Tools:
Planisphere: This is the one we purchased, but make sure you’re getting the one you need for where YOU live!
Red Flash Light! This allows you to see in the dark and still see the stars!
Star Rover app for iphone: This app is fantastic. You can hold it up to the night sky and it will tell you everything you’re seeing in the sky! We love this one.
Save the Date Events:
Every year for the Perseid Meteor Shower we get donuts and make hot chocolate and sit out in the back yard to watch. <3 Here’s the date for this year’s show.
Books:
Websites:
Video:
Cosmos. Definitely at the top of the list. (Amazon and Netflix)
The Farthest Voyager In Space (Netflix)
Edge of the Universe (Netflix)
Secrets of the Solar System (Netflix)
The Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson (Netflix)
The Beginning and End of the Universe (Netflix)
Free with Prime:
Games:
We love games! They are one of the best ways we’ve found to really cement knowledge and, of course, they’re tons of fun! Here’s a few we’re looking at. I can almost guarantee we’ll have Constellations in our game closet very soon. 😉
We are always very heavy on video in our homeschool… it seems to stick better. I’m really excited there are so many videos available on Amazon Prime! If you’ve got any other suggestions or ideas, leave a comment of join us in my private facebook group. We love sharing resources for secular relaxed eclectic homeschoolers with older (8+) kids. 🙂
Stay tuned, I will definitely be adding to the resources as I come across new things.
PS. If you can’t see the list of books and videos on the page… turn off your ad blocker. 😉
