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Parenting: ESA talks anatomy with interest-based learning

Interest-led learning
ESA students learn about human anatomy
Posted at 3:30 AM, Nov 02, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-02 06:58:38-04

"These are the spines right here," one Pre-K4 student at Episcopal School of Acadiana said.

They are only four years old and know their way around the human anatomy.

It is all part of Episcopal School of Acadiana's interest-based approach to learning.

"They begin the year by studying the human body," Barbie Hedge, prekindergarten-4 teacher at ESA, said. "We start with questions and have done it for many years--we've evolved into an interest-based learning approach. We talk about different systems and things...each year is different. Last year we talked about illnesses, germs and viruses, and this year we're talking about the digestive system."

"What are y'all learning about food?" I asked one of the kids.

"That you eat it, it does down your body, and you poop it out," the Pre-K student said.

"If you don't chew it then it might get stuck in your esophagus and you'll choke and you won't be able to breathe, " another said.

"The fact that they are picking up on these things is interesting," Hedge said. "Each year you may have someone a little bit different that adds to the conversation a little more and it takes a twist."

That twist leading them into surgery, how germs are literally everywhere, and which foods will keep their bodies fueled for years to come.