Stars and such

“Mom,” my four-year-old recently said during our bedtime routine. “How many stars are there in the sky? Are there a hundred?”
“Oh, there are a lot more than a hundred,” I explained. “There are millions and billions, more than you could ever count.”
She didn’t miss a beat before giving this sigh and reply, “That’s what dad said, but I thought I’d better check with you.”

I guess when mom is the primary teacher, it's best to run things by her first. ;) Besides, having just learned counting to the huge number of 100 recently, I'm sure the concept of infinity seems suspect to a four-year-old. Come to think of it, the concept of infinity is beyond any adult's comprehension as well.

We’ve just recently begun a small study with stars, which incorporates nicely with the Columbus and Pilgrim studies we’ve done this year, as we’re learning how the explorers used the stars to navigate. It also ties in nicely with the study of Creation we’ve been doing. One her classes at our weekly homeschool co-op this trimester was a Magic School Bus class, and they incorporated some planet and star study in that as well.




In addition, we have a field trip coming up soon with our homeschool group to visit the planetarium. She’s looking forward to it already, and in the meantime, she is having fun looking at the moon and more through Grandma’s big telescope.