Teaching/Learning Astronomy at the Elementary School Level

Extract

There are those who argue that children have little familiarity with the sky and that the study of astronomy should be put off until they're older. We believe, on the other hand, that children have an intimate daily rapport with the sky, the sun and moon especially, based on genuine affection for these celestial bodies which is often expressed in their fantasies, reminiscent of ancient mythology and present-day primitive cultures. Their initial conceptions of celestial objects and phenomena bring to mind ancient philosophical conceptions and the kind of erroneous thinking induced by present-day culture and mass media, and make us aware of how difficult it is to develop personal perceptions and of the powerful emotions that prevent or inhibit us from building new ones.