Intensely Grossed Out Learning

I heard one time from an educator's speech that the key to powerful, retentive learning is three things; repetition, duration and intensity.  The first two of course pretty much sums up every learning process from lectures to workbooks, memorizations and so forth.  But the final element is usually the one that's lacking.  Put simply it means making a mark, an experience or event connected to the lesson that the student will never forget forever.  This of course, is a challenge but also, an advantage to a homeschooler since time can be spent to accomplish this.

 

When I was browsing for a Science curriculum this year,  I was particularly looking for one that included an introductory course on the human body.  Not something detailed that my girls will find tedious and boring, but one enough to make an indelible memory and appreciation of how "wonderfully made" we are (Psalms 139:14)!

 

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey was that.  A simple, activity based learning that will  just be enough to get a taste of this subject. Yet although it is already packed with lots of activities for  impact learning, I wanted it to be even more intense!  I stumbled across Squishy Human Body from a fellow homeschooler's Instagram feed and the perfect combination was born!

 

 

The girls were already hesitant to begin with just because they are squeamish by nature so it took a little nudging and re-assurance that this is no Halloween project.  To top it off, the starter unit for the subject is on the skeletal systems so it took some convincing that this is neither ghostly or spiritistic. In the end, the girls took to the task and explored.  There were a lot of 'yucks' and 'ewwws' but that was my goal.  The organs in "Boney" (as we now affectionately named the model) were slimy and gross but they just right to leave an impression.

 

 

It will take ingenuity and lots of preparation to make learning intense but it's a challenge I welcome readily since it definitely fits their learning and my teaching styles....oh and did I mention, it's lots of fun too!  After learning some of the main bones in our skeletal system, a game of Simon Says using the bone names, made those hard sounding names more receptive to little ears and hopefully easier to remember. 

 

 

So shake your pelvis and lift your humerus to do the wave and join in on the party!!!  Homeschool Science is such a blast!!!