While browsing education apps on my iPod touch, capsule I came across an app called Sky View. It caught my eye because I have been interested in the stars and constellations since I was young. Growing up, pharmacy I loved to sit outside and stare at the inky night sky dotted with brilliant tiny lights. They seemed so random at first, but the more I studied them, patterns and designs emerged. I could see how the ancient peoples could see familiar shapes and characters.
Although I was always interested, I never formally studied the constellations and curiosities of the night sky. I thought this little app might be a good learning tool. And, it was free, so even if it wasn’t, no harm done. I downloaded it.
I was amazed at what this little app could do. It unlocked the mysteries of the sky for me. It was better than any star chart or book I had tried to use in the past. I called my daughter over and we spent an hour or so just studying the sky with our new resource. We were learning so much that it made us more curious and we just had to learn more. So, we downloaded the paid version. It was $1.99 well spent.
Now, the whole family uses the app. We take it with us everywhere and have stopped the car along a dark stretches of country road to study the night sky on more than one occasion. The Sky View app has sparked curiosity in all of us. We wanted to learn more. The kids and I went to the library and grabbed some books on the night sky, space and constellations. Reading those books filled our family time for a few days.
Thanks to that little app, the night sky has come alive for us. There isn’t a time one of us looks at the sky now and doesn’t start wondering and talking together about it. It has allowed us to spend family time learning and not even realizing it! Are we studying astronomy in our homeschooling? Not officially. That’s what makes this family time learning so special. It is fun and will probably stay with us longer than much of our formal studies!
Now, off to find my next favorite app! Any suggestions??
What spontaneous learning experiences has your family taken part in?
Homeschooling mom, blogger and science lover, Marci, can be found at Overcoming Busy and The Homeschool Scientist.
OH, we LOVE that app…..if you want to take your Bible reading to another level…try GloBible (the free one is the one we are still using, but oh, I wish we could see more of the pics)…also for drilling math, I use a simple one: Flippin Math Facts by Brent Yokota…. Also, Stack the States and Stack the Countries are some of our favorites! If you search Constitution and Declaration of Ind…you can add some free apps that provides you with the documents, information about the signers, etc….LOVE those!
Thanks for sharing those apps! Going to download them this afternoon!
I have to totally agree, and this is what I am striving for in our home..not a 9-2 school day, but a life seeped in education and learning. It is harder to make happen than I thought it would be…but well worth the effort of UNtraining my flawed ideas of what learning should be and REtraining myself to look for learning all around us.
Thanks for the tips on the great apps ladies! Headed over now to download another!