The Human Body - Homeschool Theme Learning

In addition to our regular homeschool lessons from our core curriculum with Seton I love to add "themes" to each week that include all of our children and add some extra fun learning.  This week our theme was The Human Body! 

1.  Reading / Phonics:

Wall Chart Human Anatomy:  This book was actually mine from when I was a child and our boys love it as much as I did!  It has big pictures and fold outs that make the learning very interactive and fun!

The Human Body:  We LOVE this little book from Scholastic, and enjoy how it talks about how life is made from a Mommy and Daddy and then turns into a baby!  The language is perfect for pre-school, young elementary age and has bright colored illustrations.  It also talks about how you grow as you get energy from food that you eat!

The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body: Our kids love the Magic School Bus series and think that they are so funny!  We have a lot of their books and love that you can simply read the story or you can also follow along with the extra questions, diagrams and information on the side of the pages as well.  They really enjoy the Human Body book and seeing the body from the inside out!

 

2.  Puzzles:

Your Body 5 Layer Wooden Puzzle:  I feel like I say it a lot, but I probably cannot say it enough about how much our boys LOVE puzzles.  Our 3 1/2 year old will seriously do 20 puzzles a day if he is given the chance, so when I saw this "Your Body Puzzle" I knew it would be great for us!  There is also a girl version of this puzzle if you prefer that or would want both!  It is a great quality puzzle and I love how it layers the different body systems!

 3.  Electronic Fun/Movies:

The Human Body App from Tinybop:  We have had this app for about 6 months now and it is one of our kids very favorites!  They love exploring the human body and how it works with this interactive app.  Their favorite parts are feeding the person different food and brushing their teeth and then watch the food being digested (and all of the way out of the body, including the flushing sound of a toliet!)  You can also see how the ear works by speaking and hearing your own voice echo or playing little instruments.  They also like how you can add different layers of the body (bones, muscles, nerves, etc) and see how it the body changes.  It is a great app for all ages to learn about the Human Body!



The Human Body

The Magic School Bus Human Body Video:  Just like the Magic School Bus books, we also love the movies!  This is such a great fun movie to learn about the Human Body.  The Magic School Bus series is also on Neflix so it becomes a great resource for our little homeschool with streaming Netflix!  If you are a homeschooler who loves the Magic School Bus series like us also be sure to check out The Homeschool Belle's lesson plans that she put together to follow the Magic School Bus and lots of fun science topics! 

Magic School Bus Human Body

4.  Music:

We love music and instrument time as a part of our homeschooling!  Adding music to a theme of the Human Body we immediately knew that we wanted to have fun with the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"!  Even our 1 1/2 year old loved to join in as he has learned pretty much all of his body parts over the past few months!

5.  Health / Physical Education:

We took time this week to learn about nutrition, My Plate and about different food groups.  We learned about how food gives us energy, how we taste food with our taste buds and how food is digested.  They loved taking food from around the house and figuring out what food group it was a part of!

 

With all boys a big part of our homeschooling now is all about physical education and time to MOVE!  Have you read this article from the Washington Post about Why Kids Can't Sit Still in School?  Children need physical movement and activity in their day and it is so important for their physical and brain growth!  I love that with homeschooling we can take breaks to have an impromptu hockey game in the living room!  We talked about what muscles they were using and how their brain sends messages to their arms/hands, legs/feet to know what to do! 

6. Art/Crafts:

We had so much fun making bodies and different body parts with our Modeling Clay.  We like Playdough as well, but we all really like the Nonhardening Modeling Clay from Lakeshore Learning.  It is easy to work with, has great vibrant colors and holds together well!  We made the brain, the heart, and talked about how the muscles work as we made a little Basketball player!  It was also fun that Daddy was home from work for the morning so he could join in the fun for a while!

7.  Religion / Saint Connection:

St Blaise:  We celebrate St Blaise's feast day on February 3rd who is the patron saint of throat illnesses  Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against ones throat as a blessing is said.  St Blaise was said to have healed a boy who was brought to him with a fishbone stuck in his throat and about to die.  We used this feast day to talk about miracles, learn about our throats and safety when eating!

St Blaise

Do you do any theme learning in your homeschooling?  What are your favorite resources and ways to teach kids about the Human Body?

Oh, and since this is 7 things I figured, why not link up with 7 quick takes for the week!  Head on over to Ain't This the Lyceum for more fun!