We received the Book of Astronomy set which includes the teacher’s guide and one consumable, non- reproducible student workbook.  The teacher’s guide does not include a schedule, and it is an exact replica of the student workbook except it includes all of the answers for the written exercises.  Both of the books houses most of the information needed to complete the course including text and exercises.

The Book of Astronomy is pretty much open and go. It leaves room for parents to create a schedule which best fits their learning environment.  If you are a parent who prefers a schedule, Memoria Press sells one individually.  This curriculum is also true to the classical education approach by incorporating plenty of memorization.  The girls and I are working through The Book of Astronomy together although it could be used as an independent study.  I am just as interested so I figured this is one topic we will study together.

There are four units which make up the Book of Astronomy:

Unit 1 focuses on introducing the constellations, the summer sky, and Summer-Fall Zodiac.

Unit 2 focuses on Orion, the winter sky, and Winter Zodiac.

Unit 3 focuses on the spring sky, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Spring Zodiac.

Unit 4 focuses on the solar system including planets, moons, and comets.

Since I was able to create a schedule for the program to best fit our learning environment, we used the Book of Astronomy three times each week.  There is a substantial amount of information in the text so we read it aloud and discussed for understanding.  Each day didn’t include a writing assignment, but the girls wrote the stars in order of brightness to help with retention.  The exercises in the book include listing the starts and constellations, answering fact based questions, and copy work.