Unit Study: The Life of Ben Carson

I have partnered with Great Homeschool Conventions to bring you announcements during this convention year. Ben Carson will be speaking at two GHC locations this season- Cincinnati & Greenville.

Read about Ben Carson

Reading biographies of extraordinary people can be encouraging and open a window to their character. There are several great choices for Ben Carson.

• Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story– Tells the story of his life beginning in inner city Detroit and follows him to his position as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins by age 33.
• Gifted Hands, Kids Edition– The story of Ben’s life for younger children

Explore Careers in Medicine

Ben loved to read and enjoyed science from a young age. Eventually, he decided to pursue a career in medicine. Have you ever talked about this vocation with your kids? Now is a great time. Dr. Carson is a retired pediatric neurosurgeon. Help your kids to understand medicine and what it takes to be a doctor.

• Explore Health Careers– This website lists many different types of medical vocations and offers a career explorer and profile.
• Becoming a Doctor from How Stuff Works– This website takes you through the process of becoming a doctor and gives you questions to ask to see whether or not it’s a good fit for you.
• Requirements for Becoming a Physician– from the American Medical Association. Lots of links to follow and explore.

Study The Brain & Nervous System

Dr. Carson specializes in pediatric neurosurgery which is brain surgery on kids! Take some time to learn about our fascinating brains and nervous system. Here are a few resources on the topic.

• Nervous System Notebooking Pages– from Cynce’s Place
• WebQuest: The Amazing Brain– a download from Teachers Pay Teachers
• Neuroscience for Kids– Lessons on the brain for middle school
• Reaction Time Lab– This is an older post of mine begging to be brought up to current blogging standards, but it’s a great lab exercise on reaction time.

Ben Carson has had an amazing journey from a troubled beginning to becoming a world renowned surgeon. He places his success on his faith and his love of reading which was something his mom insisted upon. Just think of the potential we all have if we are faithful, disciplined people who love to read!

We invite you to enjoy the unit study and what better way to follow it up than to see Mr. Carson speak in person at one of two GHC locations this season. I’m excited to see where his retirement career will lead him next.

Visit other iHomeschool Network bloggers who are mentioning Dr. Carson today. I’ve enjoyed reading about this real life hero.