The People’s Pediatrician Goes to 5th Grade

I am the mother to 3 amazing children and my eldest child is 11, on the brink of starting middle school next year. I love coming into their classrooms and teaching a lesson on human physiology with the additional goal of introducing the concept of a medical career to these budding minds. What I know for sure is that representation matters and is important to see in every small and big corner of the world. I hope children see some version of themselves in me and believe they are capable of whatever they put their mind to with heart, hard work and dedication.

COVID stopped me from creating these lessons plans until now. I am very excited to go to 5th grade this month and teach the heart—first, anatomically in all its beautiful complexity beyond its conventional, standard heart shape ❤️ and second, philosophically with a self-compassion lesson specifically designed for the tween mentality.

Wish me luck! Science has to be fun to be effective so there will be dancing, multiplication, pulse taking and anatomy learning with a special shout out to the most special, intelligent thing that the heart does for our bodies—nourishment of itself first (via the coronary arteries) in order to then do its job (pumping blood to the rest of the body) diligently. There is such beauty and wisdom in this physiology correlation that I plan to teach to the students, including how this specific aspect of the heart should parallel our emotional lives. May we all spread these important lessons to children as young as possible so we don’t have to course correct as adults.

I am attaching my lesson plan draft for anyone that would like to create their own teachable version in any kid friendly environment. Please reach out and share any of your own projects. I would love to see them.