Homeschool Health and Nutrition for High School Students

My 10th grader has been studying Homeschool Health and Nutrition using the new Basic Set from Apologia Educational Ministries. We were provided with Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition by Dr. Laura Chase for review as part of the Homeschool Review Crew. All opinions are our own and affiliate links are present in this post.

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For my boys, a half-credit of health is required to graduate.

This is something that our ‘charter/correspondence’ school in Alaska requires.

And, it is a topic I believe every student needs to have during these years. After all, we only get one body, so we need to understand how to take care of ourselves.

My older boys completed the course using different paths back when one was in 9th grade and the other in 12th grade. My 9th grader used a standard Health textbook while my 12th grader veered off into a lot of research done in the area of nutrition and exercise to build muscles.

Homeschool Health and Nutrition: About Apologia’s New Basic Set

Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition by Dr. Laura Chase has 2 required components: the hardback textbook and the Student Notebook. 

Unlike some of their original science programs, the student notebook is not an extra, but rather an essential part of the program.

Inside of the Student Notebook is a suggested daily schedule that spreads the course across a school year (34 weeks.)

If you want to finish in a semester, you can have them complete work 5 days per week.

This guide tells them which pages to read from the textbook and what questions, projects or exams need to be completed on a given day. Exams are given after each module.

The overall progression is to work through some of the emotional and spiritual components of health before moving into nutrition and some topics also found in an anatomy and physiology course.

Everything is focused on a person’s overall well-being.

The text is broken up with questions to ponder and includes information for each of the projects to be completed.

Topics Covered in 15 Modules:

Who Am I And Why Does Health Matter?
Physical Influences On Thoughts And Feelings
Mental And Emotional Stability
Interpersonal Harmony
Treasuring Your Senses
Processing Nourishment And Hydration
Food Science I—Macronutrients
Food Science Ii—Micronutrients
Let’s Look At What You Eat
Delivering The Oxygen
Let’s Move
You’re Stronger Than You Look
At War With Infection
Peace In Difficult Times
The Gift Of Reproduction

Along with textbook reading, students have On Your Own (OYO) questions, projects, study guides, and exams.

All of these are found inside the Student Notebook with the exams at the back of the notebook rather than in the module section.

Three of the modules do not have an exam, so there is an evaluation guide in the back of the notebook to guide parents on grading.

Video Walk Through The Materials

Curious what things look like inside the books?
Join me as I take a look at this program.

Our Thoughts on Homeschool Health and Nutrition with Apologia

This is where my son and I tend to disagree. He is all about the path of least resistance. Give him a book to read and call it a day and he’s happy. Give him something to read and then ask him to dig deeper and he’s less enthusiastic.

I had wanted him to work at a pace to complete the course in a semester while he decided he preferred the 3 days per week layout found in the Student Notebook.

One upside for taking more time to do this is not feeling pressured to have it finished before Christmas break.

Looking more closely at the progression of material, I can see that some of his resistance to the program is that the first modules are focused on what he views as ‘touchy-feely’ topics.

For my introverted boys, these are things they rarely want to consider and will naturally do their best to avoid.

Things for a Homeschool Parent to Love:

Like other Apologia programs, this one is written to students in a conversational tone and meant to foster independent learning.

Tests are bound inside the Student Notebook, but the answer key is not.

For me, I do not like books with the answer key included where the student might be tempted to peak. I can open up the file on my computer and grade the test quickly.

The included rubric makes grading the course simple.

For some homeschool parents, assigning a grade to a course can be a challenge. Apologia removes ambiguity and includes a recording chart in the student notebook. This also allows the student to know how their grade will be assigned.

Projects scattered throughout the student notebook allows your student to dig a little deeper.

Looking at the Topic of Reproduction

The one section of this program that may be of concern for some parents is on reproduction.

While my son is nowhere near the end of this program where this topic is found, I did look ahead to see how they address what many schools call “sex ed.”

Apologia does have a parental note on the product page about this. They recognize that you know your child the best and whether they are ready for some of the topics covered in this module.

Everything in this section is approached respectfully and use accurate illustrations of anatomical parts.

As this is a Christian program, sex is discussed in the context of marriage with reference to other things like sexual misconduct and pornography as being outside what God intended to be ‘normal.’

No topic in this area is delved into deeply, although there are some links via the Book Extras website that look more at reproductive systems, puberty, and sexually transmitted diseases.

There is also a link to see how the beauty of sexual reproduction comes from God.

As a Christian parent, I found the section to be well done and have no problem allowing my son to work through it on his own. Of course, my husband and I will be available to discuss any of the topics covered.

Final Takeaway on Homeschool Health and Nutrition with Apologia

Like other Apologia programs, I am seriously impressed with Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition.

I appreciate that the program is meant to be student-driven with the homeschool parent needing to be available for the student to bounce things off.

While they drive the program, everything is laid out to make it easy for them to do.

Additionally, having everything studied with an eye to how we are a creation of God is something I want in my home. Our faith should permeate all aspects of our life, including the study of our bodies and how to treat them.

Is Health a subject you teach in high school?
How have you approached it?
Curious about this program? Grab this FREE Activity Book!

Don’t just take my word for how we found this to be. Visit the Apologia Exploring Creation with Health and Nutrition post on the Homeschool Review Crew website to see what other homeschooling parents thought about this resource.