The Fabulous Human Body Homeschool Anatomy Curriculum

My kids have been very interested in the human body recently, so I have been on the lookout for a homeschool anatomy curriculum that introduces the body systems in a fun and engaging way. I am so excited that I discovered The Fabulous Human Body from the Young Scientist Series by Heron Books. This elementary science curriculum is a great way to introduce kids to the human body systems. Keep reading to learn what makes this curriculum a great fit for your next human body study.

I received compensation and The Fabulous Human Body curriculum from Heron Books in exchange for my honest review, but all the opinions in this post are my own. 

Independent Learning with The Fabulous Human Body

The Fabulous Human Body is a homeschool anatomy curriculum from Heron Books. It is part of the Young Scientist Series.

This curriculum includes course materials that make learning about the systems of the human body fun. The curriculum makes it easy for kids to explore and discover on their own.

What’s Covered

The main curriculum for The Fabulous Human Body comes from the textbook. This curriculum covers 7 different human body systems:

Cells, tissues, organs, and systems: The first part of the curriculum helps kids understand how the main organs in our bodies are made up of smaller parts, and how those major organs combine into the systems of the body.

Skeletal system: Kids learn about bones and joints, focusing on the skull, teeth, spine, and ribs.

Muscular system: This section tells kids the names of some major muscles and explains how muscles work.

Circulatory system: In this section, kids learn how the human heart works to pump blood around the body. Beautiful illustrations help kids see the functions of the heart and the veins and arteries.

Respiratory system: Kids learn about the lungs and how they work.

Digestive system: In this section, kids discover how food travels through the body, how nutrients are absorbed, and how waste is produced.

Urinary system: The next part of the book talks about the importance of water in the body and how the body handles excess water.

Nervous system: The last section talks about how messages are sent through the brain and spinal cord.

Homeschool parents should note that the Reproductive system is not covered in this book.

Download a free chapter of The Fabulous Human Body here.

The Book

My kids loved the book The Fabulous Human Body. Every page has colorful illustrations. Even my daughter who can’t read yet enjoyed looking at the pictures and asking questions about the physiology of the human body.

My son who is in 2nd grade was able to read the book independently, with a little help pronouncing some new vocabulary words. He was fascinated to learn more about how the human body works.

The book also includes lots of interesting facts. He loves trivia, so this made our study of the human body even more interesting for him.

I had to take the book away from my son when it was time for dinner. He didn’t want to put it down!

Learn more about The Fabulous Human Body here.

Student Learning Guide

What makes The Fabulous Human Body unique is the Student Learning Guide.

The Student Learning Guide is not like a traditional teacher’s guide that is written to the teacher. Instead, this resource is written directly to the student. The Guide includes a detailed checklist that kids can complete. By working through the checklist in order, they will complete the curriculum.

I love the way the Student Learning Guide ties all the pieces of the curriculum together. It also includes lots of simple activities kids can do to help them understand and remember what they are learning about the wonders of the human body.

Download a digital copy of the Student Learning Guide and materials list for free here.

Young Scientist Journal

Every book in the Young Scientist series comes with a Young Scientist Journal. This notebooking journal has blank pages, lined pages, dot grid pages, and graph paper. This allows kids to record their observations and draw what they are learning about the human body.

The lines in the journal are very small, so the lined pages in this journal would be perfect for middle school or high school students. My young children enjoyed writing and drawing on the blank and grid pages.

Check out all the books in the Young Scientist Series here.

Educational Cards

The educational cards are my family’s favorite part of The Fabulous Human Body curriculum! The curriculum comes with an optional set of 39 flash cards that help kids explore the different human body systems in greater depth.

Each of the cards includes a detailed full-color illustration on one side. On the other side are the name of the body part, a short description of what it does, and the system that it comes from.

My kids used these cards for matching and sorting games. They enjoyed reading the explanations of each body part on the back of the cards. I love that these cards allowed my kids to explore the human body in an open-ended way. They enjoyed sorting the cards in different ways. Then, they were free to read about any of the systems that they wanted to understand in more depth.

I also really appreciate that the cards are numbered on the back. This made it easy to put them back in order after we are done playing with them.

Teacher Resources

The curriculum also comes with an envelope full of teacher resources.

This includes a materials list so that you can gather everything you will need for the activities in one place.

The curriculum also comes with a short final exam and a detailed answer key. These optional worksheets could be given as a test after kids finish the curriculum or used as a study guide throughout the human body unit.

The teacher resources also include a blank certificate that you can give to your child after completing the curriculum.

Learn more about the resources included with The Fabulous Human Body here.

Using this Homeschool Anatomy Curriculum

My family has really enjoyed using The Fabulous Human body in our homeschool. Here are some of our favorite features of this homeschool anatomy curriculum.

Student Learning Guide

As a busy homeschool mom, I know that the Student Learning Guide is a great addition to this curriculum. I love that I could hand the guide to an older student and they would be able to work through the curriculum independently. This is a great way to help kids practice and develop independence while they are working on their human anatomy unit study!

I also love that I don’t need to do any lesson planning for our human anatomy lessons because all the lesson plans are already done for me inside the Student Learning Guide. When it’s time for our elementary science lesson, we just open the Student Learning Guide and complete the next items on the checklist.

Great for Independent Learning

One of my favorite parts about the Young Scientist Series is how I can use this curriculum to encourage my kids to learn independently. My kids enjoyed playing with the educational cards. This is an activity that kids of any age could do independently. The cards were a great way to get my kids excited and ready to learn more about specific topics in the book.

The checklist in the Student Learning Guide makes it easy for kids to learn independently as well. My son is very motivated by checklists, so this was a great tool for him. I was able to give him the checklist and he worked through the checklist in order, completing the curriculum without any help from me.

Young Scientist Journal

My son was so excited about the beautiful journal that was included with the curriculum. He begged write and draw about what he was learning because he could use the journal. This was very motivating to him and a great addition to the curriculum.

We have been studying Leonardo da Vinci in our homeschool. My son said that he felt like Leonardo da Vinci when he was recording his human body observations in his notebook. This was a great way to help my son make a connection to a famous scientist!

Cards

The cards are another great feature of this curriculum. My kids both loved playing games with the cards and this was a great way for them to get some hands-on learning.

My son enjoyed sorting the cards by body system and looking for other ways to sort the cards as well. He was learning what organs are a part of which systems while playing with the cards!

I also love the beautiful illustrations on the cards and throughout this curriculum. They were very engaging to my kids and made my kids excited to explore more about the human body.

Learn more about The Fabulous Human Body educational cards here.

Activities

The engaging activities included with this curriculum are one of the best ways to help kids remember what they are learning.

Homeschool parents should know that the activities aren’t mentioned in the book; they are included in the Student Learning Guide instead. This allows kids to read the book without distractions. It also makes the Student Learning Guide a critical part of homeschool science lessons.

I love how simple the activities are. Most of them don’t require additional supplies and can be completed in just a few minutes, which makes them practical for busy homeschool families.

Open Ended

I appreciate the fact that this curriculum is open-ended and allows students to work at their own pace. The Student Learning Guide is structured like a checklist. This means that kids can complete the lessons at their own pace without feeling like they are falling behind. This is a great way to customize the curriculum to your child’s level because they can work at the speed that they need to in order to understand the material.

I also like that the book and cards can be used independently, without the Student Learning Guide for more open-ended exploration of the human body.

Beautiful Illustrations

One of my daughter’s favorite parts of the curriculum was the beautiful illustrations that are included on every page of the textbook and every card. The illustrations are colorful and detailed, and they add a lot to my kids’ understanding of the human body.

Simple Text

I love the way this homeschool anatomy curriculum takes complicated concepts and explains them in simple and age-appropriate language for kids to understand. The recommended grade level for the curriculum is 4th-6th grades. However, my 2nd grader was able to read the book independently, with just a little help on new vocabulary words.

This is a great introductory level curriculum about the human body for elementary or middle school students.

Try this Homeschool Anatomy Curriculum For Yourself

If you are looking to introduce human anatomy to elementary or middle school students in your homeschool, I highly recommend The Fabulous Human Body. The engaging illustrations and resources for independent student learning make this resource a valuable addition to any homeschool.

Heron Books is offering Homeschooling 4 Him readers 30% off on any purchases in their store using the code 4Him30. This code will also be good for the new books in the Young Scientist series that will be released in the summer and fall of 2022!

Check out all the books in the Heron Books Young Scientist series and grab The Fabulous Human Body for yourself here.