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Hi everyone, I currently work with children who are in pre-k and kindergarten, who are all very interested in learning about space. I want to teach them because they have the interest and desire to learn, but I’m not sure how much is too much for this age group.

Kaitlin, I like that you're responding to their interests and natural curiosity!! One of the basic things to keep in mind when teaching the younger kiddos is that they understand very concrete explanations. You might want to start with planet Earth -- something that they know. Explain how big it is, but that we're fairly small in relation to the huuuuge solar system. You might explain how huge the sun is in relation to the Earth, or give some info on our moon. Introduce the fact that there's other planets in our solar system and explain how people have walked on the moon, etc. You might want to tell them stories of visits to the moon or other fun facts. Let the kids tell you what they know so that you can go from there. See where they're curiosities are - do they want to know about other planets, or are they curious about how the solar system effects their lives? That would be a good lesson on seasons maybe. Hope that gives you some starting ideas. I'm sure others have some too. Good luck!

I agree with Tonya, starting with more concrete things help. Take the kids outside and and ask them to observe what's in the sky and what's on the ground and go from there. Then ask them what they see at night which could lead into a lesson about the moon and stars. Good luck! What a fun age!

Along with what Susan and Tonya wrote, teach these kids what they already know so they can have some understanding and perspective on things in relation to themselves. This way, they can learn more clearly than talking about planets they cannot physically see. In the Kindergarten class that I currently help at, the teacher taught them about the constellations. She had a specific book (I can't remember at the moment) but this book told stories about how each constellation got their name and it included diagrams of the constellations. One activity they did was draw their own constellation and created a myth to go along with it. Also, maybe during the nighttime when the kids are at home, they can look at the stars and see if they can spot a picture (Sort of like how kids look at the clouds and point out a rabbit or something).

Arlene, I don't think that was the book, but now I'm so determined to find out what the book was! But I LOVE the "Me and My..." series. I recently received the book Me on the Map and now I want to buy the whole series.

I haven't heard of it, but thanks for sharing that essay! I'll look it up later. It's definitely a though-provoking quote. And now that it's warmer now (it's like the weather jumped from winter to mid-spring!) it's a great way to show kids first-hand about seasons and weather. I remember in a previous classroom for toddlers, there was a weather chart wheel where each part of the wheel had either "hot, warm, cold, rainy, windy, or snowy" the children were asked "What was the weather like today?" during their morning routine. This is a great idea to teach kindergartens about climate and weather.

Kaitlin, I too am in the Pre-K/K universe and would also like to introduce them to Space Science, honestly any science for that matter. The language program that is being used in my school has as part of its focus, a knowledge of your surroundings and one of the pieces is Earth is the planet the we live on. I think that that is a great jumping off point. I want to expand that into at least having them start to become familiar with the Solar System that the Earth is a part of. Thank you for your question. It sparked some ideas in my mind. Cheers, Anthony M. O'Bannon