• Teaching Our Children: About Solar and Lunar Eclipses

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    Jake teaching the girls about eclipses!

    Recently the girls were learning about eclipses for their science unit in school.  Even though we had studied that section for a couple days they were not consistently getting the concept.  Jake came up with a great visual tool to demonstrate the solar and lunar eclipses so that the girls to remember it more easily.  Thankful for a husband who is creative and invests time in teaching our kids!  Thanks Babe!

    Diagram - Balloon & Orange

    The orange is the moon and the balloon is the Earth.  We used a flashlight for the sun!

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    For kids who are visual learners this is an easy way to help them grasp the differences between a solar and lunar eclipse!

    We shut off the room lights so they could see how the sun (flashlight), moon (orange), and Earth (balloon) aligned to make a solar and lunar eclipse.

    Solar Eclipse:

    During a solar eclipse the Moon will cast a shadow on the Earth.  When a solar eclipse happens the moon is in between the sun and the Earth.  You can demonstrate this by placing the moon (orange) between the sun (flashlight) and the Earth (balloon).  When the Moon is between the Earth and Sun it will block some of the sun from hitting the Earth and cast a shadow.  Only the people directly in the shadow can see the entire eclipse of the Sun.

    Lunar Eclipse:

    During a lunar eclipse the Earth will cast a shadow on the Moon, therefore no light will be hitting the Moon.  The Earth will cast a shadow on the Moon because it is between the Sun and the Moon.  You can demonstrate this by placing the Earth (balloon) between the Sun (flashlight) and the Moon (orange).  Since the Earth is bigger than the Moon the entire Moon will be in its shadow.  Anyone on Earth that is on the night side can see the lunar eclipse.

    If you really want to “show” the kids more about the Solar and Lunar Eclipse you may be able to catch the next one depending on where you are located and if the weather cooperates for you!

    Next Lunar Eclipse: Saturday, April 4, 2015 – It will be a Total Lunar Eclipse and will be visible before dawn from the Pacific Ocean, Americas, Asia, and Australia.

    Next Solar Eclipse:  Friday, March 20, 2015 – It will be Total Solar Eclipse and will be visible from Iceland, Europe, North Africa,  and Northern Asia (unfortunately, we will not be able to see it in North America).  It looks like the next one we’ll see from the United States will be on August 21, 2017 which will be visible from North America and South America.

  • Free Ebooks: A Dad’s Book of Play, More Than A Pot Roast, Stock Market Investing for Beginners, Achieving Combined Excellence, The Solar System, 30 Perfect Popcorn Recipes, The Artful Marketer, Retirement Basics, Better Than Credit Repair, and more!

    The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading).  The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.

    Download a free copy of A Dad’s Book of Play – 75 Activities To Do With Your Toddler by Innovate Media

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  • Book: “God Gave Us So Much” by Lisa Tawn Bergren

    I recently read the book treasury “God Gave Us So Much” by Lisa Tawn Bergren to my twin daughters.  “God Gave Us So Much” is a limited-edition treasury of three books.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the depth into creation, love, and heaven the author went into for a children’s book.  The author created a pretty steady stream of “Questions” and “Answers” dialogue between Little Cub, her parents, and grandparents.

    I read the books to my girls in three separate settings.  The first book “God Gave us the World” which was a huge hit with the kids.  One of my daughters is fascinated with earth, planets, traveling and science so she had a lot of wonderful questions about the story.  It was neat hearing Little Cubs questions about all the different types of bears that live around the world and how God made each bear unique.

    The second book was “God Gave Us Love” which I read to the girls on Valentine’s Day.  It was a great reminder of all the people who love us in life and especially that God loves each one of us.  It had practical applications on ways to show love to others.  Ultimately I liked how the book encouraged the kids to know that God loved them.

    “God Gave Us Heaven” was the third book in this treasury and it paints an amazing picture of heaven!  Little Cub asked a series of common questions kids ask regarding heaven and the author did well in answering them.  I especially liked the analogy of Jesus being our “bridge” to our forever home.  She painted a pretty clear picture for children regarding heaven and salvation.

    The books mention God and many of the questions little ones ask regarding God, the world, love and heaven.  I really like how Lisa emphasized on how  our world was designed by God, that he loves us and wants us to live in heaven with him.  The only thing that caught me off guard was there is no mention of “Little Cub’s” gender until the end of books and all three of us assumed by the conversation that Little Cub was male so we were surprised to find out Little Cub was actually a female. These books had a good mixture of adventure and giving credit to God.  Each book peaked the curiosity of my girls enough to allow us the opportunity to continue the conversation for several minutes after reading the book and answer their additional questions about life, love, and heaven.

    Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah.  The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”