The Learning Umbrella

Tuesday was my sister’s first day of “8th grade”.  We don’t really make a big deal about “the first day of school”, and in fact she actually has some summer assignments lingering that she hasn’t completed.  BUT… tuesday was the day she started her new unit studies that will carry her through the 8th grade! 

I got pretty lazy with putting together her Human Anatomy unit study, so we’re basically just using Janice VanCleave.  I really like most of her books, although I occasionally think the activities are silly.  Not always though, as some of her activities and experiments are great.  The part I really love about VanCleave is her simple way of explaining things, with simple illustrations.  It may not be the most complete diagram or explanation, but it will usually be the one that actually makes sense to a kid.  In that way, her books are like the lectures you might see a teacher give, with the material simplified and clarified.

In addition to just reading this book and doing whatever activities seem interesting, J. is also going to dissect a cow eyeball and do some coloring pages from the Human Anatomy Coloring Book.  I love that whole series of coloring books, and I’m still using my old college set, just by making copies for her.  We used the Botany Coloring Book earlier this summer.

She’s not going to have a complete mastery of where everything is in the body.  She’ll not be participating in the fun game I do with my Dad where I challenge him to list off all the different muscles of the back and point to them (I honestly don’t know if he’s right - but it’s fun to see his eyes roll back in his head while he’s thinking).  But that’s not the level of knowledge a lay person needs to have.