I’ve been a mom for 6 years, but I’m brand new to formally schooling my sons. Together with my husband, I decided that kindergarten for Shiloh was going to be mostly recess with reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic sprinkled in for good measure. It’s going well so far, but my favorite part is the incidental learning, the unplanned “classes” that happen as we live life.
One of the boys discovered an old college anatomy textbook I had on a bookshelf, and when I explained that these were pictures of what our bodies look like on the inside, both kids were soon engrossed in the different systems. Throughout the day, they followed me about the house with the massive book, peppering me with questions.
I understood their fascination. It’s probably genetic. I developed my interest in anatomy books from my mom. She reads them for fun and even integrates them into her devotional time, worshipping the Creator while perusing his intricate design.
Upon noting my boys’ interest in the human body, I got several children’s “body books” from the local library. Shiloh and Shadrach quickly found their favorite pages in each, namely the ones with illustrations of preborn baby development (“Did I look like that inside you, Mama?”) and the digestive system. (They are little boys, after all!)
I consider these books and the discussions about them our informal biology class. The boys now know the esophagus is for food, and the trachea is for air (and that we need to be careful when eating so that doesn’t get mixed up). They understand that when they are sick, the tiny good guys are fighting the tiny bad guys inside of them. They know that the muscles that wiggle their fingers are actually in their arm. They can trace the path of a bite of sandwich from the mouth to the, well, you know where.
Their introductory understanding of anatomy and physiology comes into play frequently in ordinary conversations. Recently, I told Shiloh to use the bathroom. He balked, telling me matter-of-factly, “But Mama, my pees haven’t gone through my kidneys yet.” Nice try, bub. I still made him go. Then, the other day, Shadrach was jumping on the trampoline. “You wanna feel my heart? It’s blinking so fast.” I did indeed feel it.
Blinking hearts and kids’ anatomy books. Yeah, I love this kind of biology class.
Made for Eternity 