Disclosure: Some Complimentary Product Received.
Sometimes, Curriculum disguises itself. Even the most experienced parent could pass right by the thing that could alter the entire course of their Learning at Home all because it didn’t fit the description. Know Yourself Academy does NOT fit the description. And that’s what we love about it.
At first glance, you might think these are simply workbooks. They are gloriously colorful, with durable, hefty binding and when you flip through you’ll find graphic novel style stories, well drawn comic characters, crosswords, coloring pages, and cryptograms. However, Know Yourself Academy ( http://www.knowyourself.com) and their products are NOT workbooks – this is a full fledged curriculum that covers first, Human Anatomy and Physiology, while it sneaks in advanced science, geography, math, history, ELA, Art, Reading, and Project Based Learning.
For the review, we received Dr. Bonyfide – Book 2: Bones of the Foot, Leg, and Pelvis, Know Yourself Book 1 : The Five Senses, Know Yourself Book 2: The Renal System, Dr. Bonyfide’s Know Your Bones Coloring Kit, an Organauts Keychain, and a Skull sticker. It was a wonderful introduction to the great products that Know Yourself has to offer. This was not my first time seeing Know Yourself. I had previously purchased the entire Dr. Bonyfide set of 4 Bones books so I was well versed in this superb learning tool. Not only is my opinion unbiased but it comes from a satisfied customer.
Let’s talk about the fact that this is indeed curriculum. No parent guide is necessary, as everything is included in your books. You’ll find a introduction to the lesson (Quick Start), suggested schedule (Learning Calendar), a materials list (Home Inventory Checklist). Nothing else is needed for you to teach or for a child-led learner to teach themselves. These lessons span multiple ages and abilities. I would confidently use this for an advanced Kindergartner with help through middle school. I truthfully didn’t come in contact with the information presented in this series until my high school years and I believe an older learning would still find it enjoyable and educational.
For the Know Yourself Series, the Learning Calendar will give you an estimation of the time needed to complete a single book. For example, Book 4: The Renal System gave us an estimated 15.5 hours from start to finish. I broke the lessons up into 1 hour segments of study, 4 days a week, over 4 weeks. The timing was perfect. While studying the Renal System we studied Ancient Assyria in the year 810 BCE, help our story heroes clean up the Euphrates River’s environmental pollution, met a famous Queen of Babylon, learned Cuneiform and made our own clay tablets, created a mythical creature, and learned all about the kidneys and nephrons by completing a hands on activity to illustrate how our own bodies filter toxins. This doesn’t even cover half of the activities included in the lessons.
Do you and your learner like to cook? In Book 4, there are recipes for Tahini Hummus and Walnut Butter Cookies, while Book 1, which covers The Five Senses and Greece, gives you the instructions for a Classic Greek Salad and Koftas with Yogurt Sauce! Speaking of Know Yourself Book 1: The Five Senses, you start your adventures in Greece and learn about Aristotle. Cash learned to say “Kalos Orisate” which is “Welcome” in Greek, as guess what? Suddenly our all inclusive curriculum covers language lessons and word roots as well! There are a total of 12 books in the Adventure Series, with each covering a different system of the body. You will NOT run out of material!
I can not complete my review with mentioning the original 4 book Set from the Bones of the Body Series. Start your lesson by assembling the skeleton from the Dr. Bonyfide Know Your Bones Coloring Kit and dive right into Book 1: Bones of the Hand, Arm, and Shoulder. By the time you finish, the entire skeletal system is covered. Just like the Adventure Series, there are a ton of activities and extended learning all bridged by the bones! Expect to find lessons in ASL fingerspelling, activities using X-ray glasses, the etymology of tons of words, mnemonics, symmetry,… it’s truly way too much to name here. Do you know where the 3 Proximal Tarsals are? You will after completing Book 2!
For Advanced or Gifted Learners, you can get any of the curriculum by Know Yourself Academy and give it to them as a gift for the holidays or a birthday. Seriously, the second they see it, it’s gone. Don’t even try to keep it on your shelves for school. The hardest part about writing this review was finding the books, because Cash was constantly absconding them. I could always tell what he had been reading when he started substituting the common names for body parts for scientific ones… “Ouch! I bumped my patella!”. When you see an advertised special for these, buy them and hide them for gifting at the right occasion. I’m getting a few things as stocking stuffers.
Know Yourself Academy gets our full stamp of approval. It’s creative learning, cloaked in fun, adventure, and good old fashioned educational goodness. I think I learned as much Cash did with this one. Not only will we continue to use and enjoy Know Yourself Academy products, but we will also enthusiastically recommend them. Thank You So much, Know Yourself Academy for letting us further explore your awesome curriculum. We not only learned about our bodies, but about the world as well. We can’t wait to see what comes next!
Want to see what others in the Melanated Homeschool Review Squad thought about Know Yourself Academy? Take a look here for more reviews:
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Ready to experience Know Yourself Academy for yourself? I’m excited to not only be a customer but a partner! Use the special link below and get an additional discount on your order:
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