Solar Eclipse on Sunday, May 20--Info. and Ideas

It will be Sunday afternoon/early evening. It will be partial for most of the U.S. and not at all for the East Coast.  Eastern Asia and the West Coast will be prime. Every since we read Every Soul a Star in the National Homeschool Book Award Club, we have really been interested in solar eclipses.


Space.com has a lot of great articles about it. Here are a few:
Sunday's Solar Eclipse: Where and How to See It
'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse on May 20
Annular Solar Eclipse Photo guide


Here's some sources of information about eclipes:
Solar Eclipse Primer


Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration


Here are some ways you can safely view the eclipse:
How to View an Eclipse
How to Watch a Partial Solar Eclipse Safely
How to Safely View the Upcoming Solar Eclipse


Want some solar eclipse worksheets or crafts or activities?
Label the Solar Eclipse
Crayon Resist
Do-It-Yourself Solar Eclipse
Sun Facts, Printables, and Activities for Kids

NHBA Book Group, Wonderstruck, Finger Spelling, and More

I've shared previously about Currclick.com's National Homeschool Book Award club.  We usually read the books aloud as a family and then Mrs. Bergerson who leads the group has wonderful information, discussion, and activities.


The past two months we have read and discussed Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. He is also the author/illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret which was recently made into an award-winning movie.


This month during the book group, one of the main themes was finger spelling. The group learned and practiced the alphabet and their names using finger spelling. Then they did a cool activity. Mrs. Bergerson had them trace their hand and cut out the same number of hands as letters in their name. Then using tape or glue stick, the hands were to be shaped into shape of the finger spell letters. We then glued ours down to a piece of construction just to "make it pop!"

Mija has really gained an interest in finger spelling and sign language as a result. American Sign Language University is a website with lessons, videos, activities, and even jokes! Want to teach it as a homeschool subject? They offer a syllabus for teaching it in a homeschool.

HERE is a site that has fun video quizzes. You watch the letters being signed and then enter what you believe the correct answer is. You can set the number of letters It's actually related to the ASL University site.

Here's a few more sites to check out:

ASL Alphabet Coloring Sheets

Finger Spelling Bingo Cards

Enchanted Learning worksheets

Funbrain Sign the alphabet online game

ABC Teach flashcards and posters

ASLPro

Signing Time Blog

How about you? Do you know any great sites or activities for including ASL?

Linked to:

National Homeschool Book Award Club by CurrClick.com

We've been using CurrClick for awhile.  Of course, there are all the cool downloads, but now there are also online classes and clubs.  Mija has really enjoyed them and frequently asks when her next one is!

One of the most recent club she "attended" is also one of the newest.  It is the NHBA club, otherwise known as, the National Homeschool Book Award Club.  Yes, there is a National Homeschool Book Award.

The meeting is on the last Thursday of each month. It lasts about an hour and included discussion and activities.  One book is covered over a two month period so there is plenty of time to read it.  We didn't even get half way through through the first book before the first meeting and mija fit in fine.  

The format was really great.  Small segments of the hour were broken down into comprehension questions, discussion, a project, and topical learning.  I also liked it because there were times when the teacher actually shut off the chat box, so the attendees had to pay attention to what she was sharing and couldn't...well...chat.

This is mija attending the class with her star wheel.
I'm not sure why Mick Jagger lips were involved!

The book for January and February is Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass.  We've been reading it aloud as a family.  It was actually a great book for us at this time because we've been doing astronomy for science.  I really like subject integration like that!!  In fact, the project in January was making a star wheel.

They also discussed labyrinths in the book and in the club.  As a result, we went to a local labyrinth to check it out. You can find a labyrinth, too, at

World-Wide Labyrinth Locator.

There's still plenty of time to read the book if you'd like to join us in February.  Oh, and did I mention the club was FREE!!  All you have to do is sign up HERE.