Depth

At the end of last week, we decided to spend a little more time really exploring the biology of the digestive tract. This subject has great appeal for small boys; you get to talk about bodily functions in class and no one stops you! One morning this week, as I was doing my before school day web surfing, JT was quizzing me about body parts.

"Mom, is your bicep or tricep the one on top of your arm?" "Mom, where exactly is my liver?" Then he disappeared. A few minutes later, he came back in the room and said, "You are REALLY going to like what I did downstairs!" This being the kind of comment that puts fear in my heart, I immediately went down to check it out.

The picture on the right is what I found on the board in the classroom. (The stars were an unrelated bit of earlier art) Not bad, for his first serious attempt. I pointed out that the large intestine shouldn't really be connected to the stomach. That turned into a search for a good picture of the digestive tract. Here is what we found. Cool pic. We printed one out on card stock paper and started our studies. We used the same book by Dr. Mehmet Oz that we were using to study the immune system. We read about the function of each organ. When we got to the part about how bile works to make fat soluble and it was compared to dish soap cutting through grease, we went to the kitchen for an oil, water and dish soap experiment. Later we read about the evils of High Fructose Corn Syrup (which I have been telling him for years and now he believes) and the importance of fiber in our diets.

What an exciting day for both of us! He was engaged and learning. I felt that I had provided opportunity for him to explore something important. Most importantly, he saw that when he had a question, he could do the work to find an answer.

I have found that since we have moved out of the Calvert material and onto our own agenda, we are spending more time per subject and covering fewer subjects per day. This has allowed us the freedom to really dive into each topic.

For history, we have been watching the DVD's of the John Adams series done by HBO. The series is based on the book by David McCullough. Some of the content is not appropriate for 8 year olds, but I have previewed and skipped when I thought necessary. If you have not watched it, I highly recommend this series.

In math, we continue to use the Fractions book in the Life of Fred series. We have slowed the pace a bit and added supplemental material to be sure JT is confident in each concept before moving on. We also drill some multiplication facts daily.

Overall, I think this last month is going to prove to be the most exciting month of schooling this year. I hope we can keep it up in the fall. Actually, JT has asked if we can keep having spelling tests through the summer.... I'll have to think about that one.