20 Nov My Body: The Digestive System

I love, love, love that as a homeschooling Mom, I can teach my children all about their bodies in a fun and natural way.  With me, they are able to learn exactly what they need to know in an appropriate and controlled way, leaving their incredibly curious minds completely satisfied. My experience in public school with anything health and body-related was unenlightening, to say the least.  Teachers were embarrassed and hesitant to speak frankly. Their awkwardness affected the subject matter and the students, making the entire subject a dreaded one. I remember thinking even back then: “I will NEVER make this very normal subject such a weird, uncomfortable subject with my children!” I love making our learning time an adventure, while answering their questions.  

My Body Series

We have been doing the Five in a Row curriculum for the past few months and as part of this curriculum we have been studying the classic children’s book, Madeline.  As the story goes, Madeline had a bit of a medical emergency in which she had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance to have her appendix taken out.  This was a great opening for us to start a discussion on Health and Wellness as well as a series I had been wanting to get started, which I am calling “My Body.”

Start by Creating a Body Outline

For this series we started by outlining our bodies on a large piece of white paper on the floor.  This involved much silliness and many giggles and wiggles, but we eventually finished.

I cut the outlines out and taped them to the back of each child’s bedroom door. I wanted them to be in a place that we could access often, but where they would not be picked at or destroyed unintentionally.

Color and Cut Out The Body Systems

I am not remotely interested in reinventing the wheel, so I searched and found website called EduPics, which contains pictures of many of the body systems and body parts to color.  I downloaded the Digestive Tract and did a little resizing in Photoshop so that it would fit on our bodies nicely.  This required that I print it out on two pieces of paper.

Glue The Organs Onto Your Cut Outs

Please excuse the PJs and crazy hair.  It’s a Homeschooler’s benefit and prerogative, isn’t it?  As we colored in and cut out the Digestive Tract, we talked about what each part was called and what their uses were in our body.  This included healthy food and drink choices.  Sorry, people, but there was a lot of talk about poop and hilarious laughing.

We then glued our pieces onto our bodies, being careful to get it in the right position, with everything lined up!  As they worked on their bodies, I had them tell me about the pieces that they were gluing on.  Clark explained to me that he colored some brown sections in the stomach to represent chunks of food.  He also asked some really great questions, like:  “What if I ate a whole cupcake and didn’t chew it?  How would it get down this tube, since it’s so little?”  “When we eat lots of candy on Halloween does it all get pooped out?”  I love how his brain works!

Luci took quite a bit longer than Clark to get her coloring done. I love that she doesn’t let him rush her when she is working intently.  She works very hard to stay within the lines!

And there we are! A great start to our “My Body” series! It’s interactive and involves creativity, so the kids love it!  We will continue to incorporate bits and pieces as we work through our curriculum.

Don’t miss the rest of our Five in a Row study of Madeline HERE! We had the best time!

Follow along with the rest of our My Body series! Here’s our study of The Respiratory System.