Allen Kindergarteners Learn About the Bones that Hold Them Up

Mr. Bones, Allen’s skeleton model, hangs from its rod in the front of Kylie Korthas’ kindergarten classroom, while her students carefully assemble skeletal models at their tables. They are unconcerned about the macabre presence in their room. They are studying themselves.

Both kindergarten classes are working their way through a unit on the human body. For the past week the focus has been on their bones. Miss Korthas circles the room as her students paste noodles onto construction paper.

“Next we are going to add the patella to our pictures. Can anyone tell me where the patella is?” she  asks as she adds a glob of glue to a sheet of construction paper.

Five hands shoot up, and together the students call out, “It’s the kneecap!”

In addition to learning the names of bones like the femur, sternum, and patella, the students have learned a great deal about the skeletal system in general. The kindergarteners can tell you how many bones a baby (about 350) has and what happens to those bones as the child ages. They can also tell you what bones need to stay healthy and strong.

Even local ER doctor Andy Wilson got involved last week. He visited the kindergarteners to talk about what happens in an emergency room when someone breaks a bone. He even brought in x-ray film of a break before it was fixed and afterwards so the students could see the results. While they had more stories about their siblings’ breaks than real questions, the students enjoyed Dr. Wilson’s visit.

Since the beginning of the year, both kindergarten classes have been learning about themselves in a unit called, “Who I Am.” Through the first part of the year they will study their families and friends in social studies and the structure of the human body in science and math.

“We try to include as much hands-on work as we can,” explains Miss Korthas. “We use song, movement, art as well as direct instruction to catch the attention of all of our learners. We want them to retain as much of the information as we can, and experience is an important way of doing that. At the end of the unit, they will at the very least have an idea of what’s going on when they go see their doctor.”

 Christine Malcuit teaches the other section of kindergarten and is guiding her students through the same unit. During their science section, they have been talking about bone strength and what bones need to stay healthy. As an experiment, they placed a leg bone from a chicken in a jar of water. In two weeks, they will take the bone out to see how soft it can get and how quickly it can deteriorate.

“This is out-of-the-box thinking for kids their age. This kind of lesson really sticks with them. It also reinforces the main lesson about wellness: taking care of yourself is one of the most important things you can do,” Mrs. Malcuit says.

The kindergarteners will continue to study the body this fall, moving on to the muscular and circulatory systems, digestive system and the brain and nervous systems.

“The kids get excited about the learning. They understand and relate to it. They even make extra stops by Mr. Bones to compare their bones to his,” Miss Korthas says.

Mrs. Malcuit smiles when she thinks about some of the comments they make thanks to the lessons on the bones. “Now that they know the names of things, they especially like to tell me when their phalanges are tired of the writing exercise they’re doing. That makes me laugh.”