Finding stimulating ways to toggle kids’ interests during the school year can keep educators on their toes, but avoiding brain drain during the Summer months can often take a herculean effort on the part of parents. That said, when parents embrace the concept that our primary goal is to build the framework for life-long learning, we only need to look as far as our kids’ level of motivation – seeking ways to get in their world – to keep the juices flowing.
Kenny is clearly fascinated with human anatomy. Though we did not perform any actual dissections this year, we did take time to perform an experiment or two, with the latter not exactly turning out as expected, but a learning experience all the same.
I had full intentions of driving him into the city for one of The Houston Museum District’s Cow Eye Dissection Labs, but with everything that happened this year with Kenny’s health, and in our family, we simply did not get around to it.
Of course, it is never too late; we plan to make this happen for him sooner rather than later, but the other day, by chance, I came across this Virtual Eye Dissection website, and knew he would be intrigued.
As instructed, before he began, Kenny took some time to review the basic eye anatomy per a pop-up window.
When he told me that he did not realize there were six muscles attached to each eyeball, I told him about Meredith’s eye surgery for Exotropia – an outward deviation of her right eye.
The mis-alignment severely impacted Meredith’s depth perception; even at age 1, she barely crawled, and obviously, never pulled up on furniture.
However, after her exotropia strabismus surgery, where the surgeon made a small incision through the tissue covering the eye, cutting the appropriate muscles and repositioning them properly, her visual acuity returned.
Shortly after surgery, Meredith started pulling up on things, and all was well with the world. These are the real-life facts that personalize learning and make it “stick.”
By clicking around he was able to find out what each of the parts of the inside and outside of the eyes do.
After reviewing the anatomy, Kenny “picked up” the scalpel and followed the directions:
“Click on the scalpel. Drag it to where the sclera meets the cornea.”
At any point in time, he could click back on the “Eye Anatomy” button in the bottom, left corner to review any anatomy he missed.
After removing each “part” with the scalpel, he dragged and dropped it into the appropriate box in the table on the right. Watching the different parts fall into the grid was interesting. If he tried to drop it into the wrong area it simply would not allow for it, and he could try again.
After dissecting the eye a few times, Kenny KNEW the anatomy of a human eye.
Once the parts are all dissected and properly identified, a rather big-eyed brunette pops up with congratulations!
The Virtual Eye Dissection is one of the FREE educational games and animations offered through eschool online. The only requirement to play is Macromedia Flash Player 6, which came loaded on my computer, and likely is on yours too.
Like Zygote Body, another way to grasp (in 3-D!) Human Anatomy, there are an endless number of FREE online resources available to tickle the interests of children of all ages, and across all different areas of learning, throughout the Summer months.
What are you and your children’s favorite FREE online resources and why?
Heather Sanders is a leading homeschooling journalist who inspires homeschooling families across the nation. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods and homeschools her three children, Emelie, Meredith and Kenny.