Guest Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Hi i wonder if anyone has and ideas on teaching the solar system to 3 & 4 year olds are there any good books for younger children most of them seem to be geared towards older children. can anyone help please x jojom x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 No idea for 3 to 4 year olds! When I was a teacher we did this in Year 5! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 I think this is the problem most people veiw it as an older topic but its so interesting for little ones too ive just got to figure out how to tackle it objectively HELP anyone !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Have you tried the science museum---they may have an online shop? I have an excellent but old book now about the moon which I used with reception children many "moons" ago!! Astronauts, space rockets etc may be things to explore too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Thanks Susan i'll try the science museum x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquieL Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Well it does seem to be rather a difficult topic for under fives and perhaps you mean at a really simple level like stars, planets and our earth. After all this is something that as adults we find difficult to conceptualise. You need to start where they are at, and find out what they have seen- stars at night and the sun in the day. I would be very suprised if many could tell you that they knew something about the solar system if you started with that. I always mind-map at the beginning of a new theme to see what they know but I didi try to choose a theme which comes from the chidlren's interests. Stories like Laura's Star, The Midnight Man, etc. are good starting points. Role-play would be a rocket- telescope etc, this can be a lovely topic with lots of scope for all areas of the curriculum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posy Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Martian Rock sorry I've forgotten author It's about a group of Martians exploring other planets '-orbs' -to find another life force They end up in the South Pole with penuins (who they think are the species inhabiting earth.) At the back of the book there is a brief explanation about our solar system -pictures and text. Barb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 thanks Jacquie some good ideas there i know where im going with this topic now x ive got a book similar to that called the magic school bus maybe i could base the project around that thanks for your help Posy x x jojom x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 The moon features in many stories and the children can see it in the sky at night. I think children have a greater understanding of space / solar system due to films and TV progs. such as Superman these days. It is one of those topics that will depend on the children; you could have an astronaut role play area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliamch Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 My 3 year old loves the book Whatever Next by Jill Murphy, and is totally captivated by Buttton Moon; which I also have fond memories of! When my midddle child was about 4, I remember cutting circles of varying colours and sizes with her and then she stuck them onto black paper in a circle(ish) around a picture of the sun.Admittedly the only names she could remember were sun, moon and earth but she did like the 'red planet' and 'the one with lots of circles' Karrie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Have you got a computer? The BBC site has some interesting stuff here Obviously I know you've got a computer I meant in your setting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 As part of my 'Off We Go!' topic I do 2 weeks on the moon and aliens. Books I use are: * 'Whatever Next!' by Jill Murphy * 'Meg on the Moon' by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski * 'Here Come the Aliens' by Colin McNaughton * Non-fiction texts on rockets and the moon * 'Q Pootle 5' by Nick Butterworth * 'I'm Coming to Get You' by Tony Ross * The 'Dr Xargle' books by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross We turn the role play area into a a planet - a pop-up tent covered in silver foil makes a good space pod. We paint planets and suspend these from the ceiling. We write postcards from the moon and design and label our own aliens. We made planet biscuits with a hole in the middle, decided they looked a bit boring and wondered what we could put in the middle - the only thing we had were hard-boiled sweets and were surprised to find what happened to them when you cooked them. The children built loads of rockets using different construction sets and large appliance boxes. We danced to space music and had an alien banquet - spaghetti and ping-pong ball eyes! We made simple pulley mechanisms to make a rocket fly into space and made sandwiches to take to the moon which we ate after we'd flown there and floated around in space! We also made alien masks. A couple of the early years' catalogues sell a nice wooden rocket that has astronauts and a launch pad. They also sell a space station. This was quite pricey but mine played solidly with it for 2 weeks (I put it in a builders' tray with sand and silver foil balls - these were meant to be moon rocks!). This is a good web-site: http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/Flash%20...cfsey/cfsey.htm and there's this one too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/tweenies/gametime/gotweenies/ If it fitted into a whole school topic or your school is VERY rich you can also have a rocket come and visit your school. They bring the rocket on a big trailer and raise it up. They also do talks - the guys that came to us were very good. http://www.starchaser.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquieL Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 What a fantastic theme Moose. I was trying to remember all the books I used when I did this topic. I was actually intending to write an article/resource for Steve to put on here, after permission from the LEA as I was involved in an Arts project, but I have been so busy I never got around to it. I wonder where you are jojom? When I did this theme I rang Jodrell Bank, who have a mobile planetarium which was free for the day. You have to have a space with about 13 ft clearance or something like that. the whole school went in class by class and although it was really more geared for older children, they adapted it for FS and I think that they got a lot out of it. If you type in a search for mobile Planetarium you will find someone near where ever you are but they are quite expensive if you have to pay. If the whole school uses it it is more cost effective. I like to use Drama in my teaching and the children met the 'man' who put stars in the sky, based on the Midnight Man book. Off on holiday tomorrow or i would add the artlcle/resources/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Wow im full of ideas now thanks everyone im really excited about this topic thanks for the info x jojom x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 book 'martian rock' is by carol diggory shields and is by walker books . found it today in my local library and might just have to do this as a topic after all the good ideas . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 thanks shuttle going on amazon now to look for it x jojom x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliamch Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 (edited) Hi just remembered this site has some nice ideas Karrie Edited July 23, 2006 by aliamch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posy Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Another good book I've used is Noah and the Space Ark, all about the greenhouse effect getting so bad that Mr Noah builds a space ship and sets off to find another planet I know it's out of print but it's available from the library Posy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 checked out the web site its great full of ideas and fits in well with our nurseries montessori curriculum thanks so much everyone for your ideas x jojom x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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