There are multiple days I remember distinctly from my time as an educator. The day a girl raised a chair over her head and said, “I’m gonna get that skittle head,” about a girl in the class that had just left my room. The day I tried, and failed, to help a coworker change a tire in the parking lot after work. The day I handed a student who had tested me like no other the 8^th Grade Literacy Student of the Year award at our end-of-year promotion ceremony.

But there’s one only memorable day that includes an astronomical event. The partial solar eclipse in 2017. And this year, April 8, we’re in for a bigger, even better sequel: a total solar eclipse.

What are Indianapolis schools doing for the total eclipse?

Most schools in Marion County and the surrounding suburbs have already cancelled school or gone ahead with an e-learning day. Even Brownsburg (notorious Brownsburg who doesn’t cancel school for any amount of inclement weather unless the literal four horsemen of the apocalypse break through the cloud cover) cancelled school for the day.

Chances are, if you’re an educator, you’ll be at home. Chances are, if you have kids, your kids will be at home. And if you’re not an educator, hopefully you get to be home with your kids to enjoy the most important sliver of the day. It’s a moment you don’t want to miss. And some simple preparation will ensure you maximize the event.

What’s up with the 2024 eclipse?

It’s going to get dark for a couple of minutes during the day? So what, you might ask? It gets dark for literally hours every night and nobody’s making a big to-do out of that.

Fake scoffing aside, I tend to think astronomical events are undeniably cool. Like dinosaurs, Michael J. Fox, and mini coopers.

What’s more, total solar eclipses don’t come around every day. (Kind of like dinosaurs, Michael J. Fox, and mini coopers.) The next one is scheduled for 2044. And when solar eclipses do come around, it’s no guarantee you’ll be in the path of totality to experience the eclipse in all its glory.

If you live in or around Indianapolis, it just so happens that this year, we are smack dab in the path of totality. At approximately a few minutes after 3:00pm, we’re set to experience 3 minutes and 44 seconds of total, glorious darkness.

How parents can prepare for the eclipse

The first and most important thing you can do to prepare yourself (and any kids who will be involved in the festivities) is to get solar eclipse glasses. You cannot look at the sun or a solar eclipse without these. Permanent eye damage could result.

The good news is these are cheap. Like $2 or less per pair (I saw a big bin of them near the entrance to my local Kroger the other day). Totally worth it, even if it’s a pair of glasses you will use for less than five minutes over the next 20 years.

Got your glasses handy? Good. The rest is easy. Come April 8, just put them on and stare.

Okay, that’s not all I’m going to say. I want to make sure you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth here.

First things first. If you’re not willing to shell out for eclipse glasses or you happen to forget come the fateful day, all is not lost. You can craft a pinhole camera at home out of readily available materials (you can find 24 other tips for enjoying the day at that link from Astronomy.com; I’m only going to offer four because, well, 25 tips is overkill).

So if you’re a parent (or any kind of human, really), here’s four tips to make the most of Eclipse Day 2024 for yourself and your kids. (Or maybe just your kids. Because their happiness is more important than yours, right?)

1. Do some homework

Hey, it’s an education blog. What did you expect? The thing is, even just some basic knowledge of astronomy and background on what a solar eclipse is can boost your appreciation and enjoyment of the actual event. NASA (it’s always them for the win, isn’t it?) has great educational resources for parents and educators.

Maybe your kids’ school will do some learning in advance. If so, use that to start a conversation at home (heck, maybe they can just teach you what they learn, saving you the time and effort!). If not, download a quick activity from NASA and buckle up for some after-dinner family homework. What could be better than ice cream and a healthy helping of “What is the Sun’s Corona?”

2. Set multiple reminders

The window is small. Less than four minutes, remember? You don’t want to get caught with your pants down (this could be literal if you’re an afternoon pooper) when total darkness hits us. So use that magical phone in your pocket and set a reminder ten minutes (and five minutes and one minute) before the event to be sure you don’t miss it.

3. Put your phones away

I got this one from the Astronomy.com article. And look. I’m not saying you can’t photograph the eclipse. I’m suggesting that doing so may in fact take away from your ability to enjoy and simply be present in the moment (make sure your kids put their phones away too!). I’m going to quote from that article because I think it makes the case pretty well: “No picture will capture what your eyes will reveal. Trust me, I’ve seen them all. Only the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent of photographers have ever come close. And — no offense meant — but you, with your point-and-shoot pocket camera, off-the-shelf DSLR, or cutting-edge smartphone, are not one of them.”

Again, you do you here. But I don’t think you’ll regret experiencing the moment with your kids sans phone (and sans their phones).

4. Create an artifact to capture the experience

This is the second key tip I got from that Astronomy.com article. And I think it might make my suggestion to not take photos a bit easier to stomach. Because I think you absolutely should try to capture some of the magic of the eclipse. Just not with your iPhone.

Instead, shortly after the eclipse, create a shared artifact to help you remember the experience. Maybe jot down your collective thoughts or record a video of you and your kids’ immediate reactions. Make sure your kids play an equal role in the reflection. They can even take the lead. What matters is that you create something together and reflect, even for just a few moments, to serve as a touchstone for the memory.

A final reminder

The last thing I’ll leave you with isn’t so much a tip as it is a reminder. The number of people who get to experience a total solar eclipse in the path of totality is vanishingly small in the grand scheme of the 8 billion plus humans currently living on the planet. We are lucky enough to live where we live as these celestial bodies dance in just such a way to make something magical happen. It’s okay to be in awe of the universe. Education ought to have some moments of awe.

I guess what I’m saying is. As long as you have those eclipse glasses, you can forget all the tips and just stand in awe. That’s okay too.