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Denver Museum of Nature and Science – field trip

Written by Joy
Denver Museum of Nature and Science – field trip

One of the joys of living next to a large city, is the many places that you can go on field trips.  Denver has a multitude of museums that we can choose from.  One of our favorite museums is the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We love it so much, we bought a membership for the family.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has wonderful programs and Imax movies that they play.  The one we saw yesterday was the Journey to the South Pacific. It is a beautiful story of a boy growing up in the islands of the South Pacific, discovering and learning all about the sea life that surrounds him.  We are looking forward to seeing the other Imax movies they have showing at this time.

Kids at the Shuttle docking game.

Kids at the Shuttle docking game.

Another favorite area of the museum, is the Space Odyssey section.  This area covers anything and everything that you want to learn about Space.  My kids love to sit at the Shuttle docking game and try to park the space shuttle.  I also love the many workers and volunteers that talk with the kids and let them ask any question.

Sarah and Claire checking out the seals.

Sarah and Claire checking out the seals.

I think my favorite area is the Wildlife section.  They have different animals from around the local area, to the whole United States and even animals from around the world.  The kids can read about these animals, look at what their habitat looks like and see what all they eat.

Sarah and Samuel talking about the Walrus'.

Sarah and Samuel talking about the Walrus’.

While we haven’t seen some of these animals alive, like the walrus and sea lion,

Claire reading about the Bison.

Claire reading about the Bison.

in the area we live in, we have seen live bison,

Samuel reading about the Elk.

Samuel reading about the Elk.

elk and deer.  In fact, we see these often when we ride through the Rocky Mountains.

Kids reading about animal scat.

Kids reading about animal scat.

We enjoyed this little impromptu field trip.  I love going places with the kids like this.  There is so much hands on learning and it really does bring education and learning to life.  If you ever do get out to Denver, CO, I highly recommend going to this museum.

2014, family, field trips, homeschooling, , , , , ,

The Answers Book for Kids Volumes 5 and 6 ~ review

Written by Joy
The Answers Book for Kids Volumes 5 and 6 ~ review

I am excited about this months books for Moms of Master Books review.  That’s right, I said books!  We received the two newest books from The Answers Book for Kids by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge.

If your kids are like mine, then they tend to ask a lot of questions. It is just their way, they are always curious. Sometimes it can be hard to answer questions when you just don’t know how to explain it to them. Especially for me, when it comes to asking questions about the Bible and Creation. It can be hard to explain to young children, to where they can understand. This is where Ken Ham and Bodie Hodges come in at. They have this great series of books called, The Answers Book for Kids that helps you answer those questions that are asked by kids.  Yes, these books are actual questions that kids have asked.  I can’t wait to tell you about Volume 5 and Volume 6.

The Answers Book for Kids are wonderful!  They are small hardback books, with the dimensions of 6×6 inches.  They are very bright and colorful and just the right size for small hands to hold.  There are 48 pages for each book with 20-22 questions, per book.  The pages of the book are very sturdy and are very easy to clean, for when those curious and sticky hands want to look through the book.

The Answers Book for Kids, Volume 5, answers 20 questions from kids about Space and Astronomy.  In this book, Ken Ham and Bodie Hodges will answer questions that kids have asked about Space and Astronomy and answer them, by finding the answers from the bible.  What I think I love the most, is they give scripture that you can look up to see where they got the answer from.  Here are just a few examples of the questions that were asked by kids:

  • How big is our galaxy?
  • What is the purpose of stars?
  • How hot are the sun and other stars?
  • Will the sun ever run out or blow up?

The Answers Book for Kids, Volume 6, answers 22 questions from kids on Babel and the Ice Age.  Here are some of the questions that are answered in this book:

  • How big was the Tower of Babel?
  • In what time period was the Tower of Babel built?
  • What is the Ice Age?
  • How does an ice age happen?

I love the formats of those books and love how Ken Ham and Bodie Hodges, takes the time time answer these questions that are asked by kids.  They use scripture to answer the questions and then explain it to kids, in a way that they can understand.

If you have a curious child, who is constantly asking questions, these books are just for them.  I know my children have thoroughly enjoyed reading them.  When my kids found out that there were 4 more books in this series, they asked if I could order them!

These books are $7.99 each on the New Leaf Publishing Group website, or you could even buy the ebook for $5.99.

What questions have your kids recently asked you, that have had you stumped or you just didn’t know how to explain the answer to them?

 

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , , , , , ,

Exploring The World of Astronomy

Written by Joy
Exploring The World of Astronomy

It is such a blessing being part of the Moms of Master Books review team.  The book that I get to share with you this time is, Exploring The World of Astronomy.

Exploring The World of Astronomy is just one book, in a series of science books, written by John Hudson Tiner.  In this book, Mr. Tiner will help you discover many details about the amazing planets, stars and space that God created for us.

In the Exploring The World of Astronomy book, there are graphs, charts, explore more sections and chapter reviews in the 13 Chapters and 173 pages of this book.  This is a paperback book

There are a few ways that you can use this book, to help your children understand about the world that God created.  Elementary students can use this book with help from the parents.  Together, you can sit down, read over the sections in the chapters and then discuss the questions at the end of the chapter.

My younger kids and I took just a couple of pages at a time.  By taking it slow, we were able to look at words they did not recognize and find their meanings.  My kids always surprise me, by being able to remember more than what I give them credit for.

I feel like this book is really geared toward the older elementary/middle school student.  This age group could definitely use this book, on their own and be able to comprehend what they are reading.  They would also be able to read and answer the questions, by themselves.  This astronomy book for also make for a great refresher course for the high school student.  The Explore More sections in the book would give the older students a chance to delve a little deeper into the subjects they are reading.

My oldest daughter, who is 16, enjoyed reading this book, just for fun.  She liked the couple of pages in the back of the book that gave extra questions, she could research.

While we liked Exploring The World of Astronomy’s content, there were a couple of things that I did not like about the book.  The first thing that I do not like, it is a soft cover book.  The majority of books that I have gotten from Master Books, they have been hardback and are very sturdy, this one is not.  The other thing that I have always loved about Master Books books, are they are always so beautiful and full of color.  This book is just black and white.  I would have loved to of seen all of the space and planet pictures in full color.

Is this a book I would recommend to someone wanting to learn more about Astronomy?  Absolutely.  The information inside of the book is worth it!  If your family is a science loving family, I think you will enjoy this book as much as we have!

 

2013, homeschooling, review, , , , , , , , , ,