What kind of astronomy can be taught to children between the ages of 6 and 11?

There are those who argue that children have little familiarity with the sky and that the study of astronomy should be put off until they're older. We believe, on the other hand, that children have an intimate daily rapport with the sky, the sun and moon especially, based on genuine affection for these celestial bodies which is often expressed in their fantasies, reminiscent of ancient mythology and present-day primitive cultures. Their initial conceptions of celestial objects and phenomena bring to mind ancient philosophical conceptions and the kind of erroneous thinking induced by present-day culture and mass media, and make us aware of how difficult it is to develop personal perceptions and of the powerful emotions that prevent or inhibit us from building new ones. The kind of astronomy we present to young children, with which we have been experimenting for years, is not the kind usually taught in schools and cannot be broken down into various different topics. We have children observe nature, do real life drawings of it, concentrate on it and listen to mythological stories so as to sensitize them to the rhythm of sounds, song, motion, numerical calculation and geometric representation.

This kind of astronomy only deals with what can be seen and recorded with the naked eye: the Earth, Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the constellations and the sky, a theater of celestial bodies in motion.

ASTRONOMY FOR CHILDREN

1. - IS NOT A SUBJECT MATTER AS SUCH

2. - IS NOT BROKEN DOWN INTO TOPICS

3. - ONLY CONSIDERS CELESTIAL BODIES VISIBLE IN THE SKY TO THE NAKED EYE