The Human Body

With this blog, my goal has always been to keep a record of the fun things that we have done so my kids can enjoy looking back on the highlights of their childhood. I guess it's the lazy mom's version of a scrapbook. As I highlight the big events in our lives, I want to include some of the fun things we do in school. I think it will be fun for my kids to look back and see how much they have learned. I also get asked a lot about homeschooling. I hope documenting some of our days on here will give some of you who are considering homeschooling (or just curious about homeschooling) a glimpse into how it works for our family. Please keep in mind that every family is different, but this is what works for us.

This week, we studied the Human Body. It was a fantastic week, chocked full of science experiments. The boys received a membership to Magic School Bus Young Scientists Club for Christmas. What a wonderful gift! Every month, they will receive a package in the mail full science experiments on a certain subject. The first month's was Human Body. There were 7 experiments, and we had a blast completing them together. I threw in a few additional experiments, and it made for a fun, hands-on week of learning.

Meet "Skinny". This guy was a great deal! I found a book at Half Price Books for $1.00 on clearance. It had great facts about the body and pop out pieces for the kids to make this model. I am pretty sure they learned something. Later today, A told me, "mom, I think I hurt my femur." :)

I found a cool online game to review body systems.  They love anytime they are allowed to get online, and this one really was a great review. 

 Making a model of a lung. It was cool for them to see how the lungs fill with air. 

This is their picture of a human body. I did the heart and arteries/veins for another project. They filled in the rest. I was pretty impressed. They can name every organ and bone that they drew. This wasn't actually in the lesson plans. I had drawn the circulatory system for a different activity. They were the ones that wanted to add the other body systems to the picture. That's something I love about homeschooling. Allowing them to extend and continue an activity if it's something they are interested in.

Not pictured: We did a lab about germs/handwashing. It involved glitter. Kids think glitter is fun. Moms… not so much. I think we'll probably be finding glitter all over the house for the next two months! Even though we did the project over a tray at the table, glitter NEVER goes away!