Learning About Our Bodies

To kick off this month’s focus on health and hygiene, we have been learning about key parts of our bodies. On Tuesday, we looked at pictures of lungs, and discussed the importance of deep breathing for regulating our emotions and maintaining focus. This tied in with our study of pollution last month, as the students keenly discussed at length the importance of preventing pollution to protect our lungs.

On Monday, we talked about muscles and practiced relaxing and tensing various muscles in our bodies, leading up to the challenge of remaining still and relaxed “all over” for a minute or more. Children may choose and practice during the work period, by unrolling a rug on the floor and turning a sand timer. We also practiced various stretches and yoga poses to become aware of different muscles in our bodies.

On Thursday, we investigated the spine, and learned about the spinal cord that sends messages from our brain to our muscles. We played “Simon Says” and with a lot of laughter discovered that sometimes it’s hard to “stop” the message from going out to our muscles when “Simon didn’t say!” We also demonstrated good posture when sitting and standing to protect our precious spinal cords and allow then to do their jobs well. We will be continuing to emphasize the importance of this through the year.

We are looking forward to talking about germs, nutrition, and exercise during the remainder of May. Please think about ideas for body related show-and-tell!