Ever heard of the adage, “Homeschool is a way of life”? It couldn’t be truer for the subject of Health. Things like germs and hygiene, nutrition and food choice, puberty and hormones I think are best taught through daily living and appropriate family conversations. Not textbook, student-teacher interaction. Sure, books can be used to aid or supplement discussions, but I feel Health is more of a natural topic for family life more than one for school. However, my state requires that Health be taught, right along with Math and English, from elementary through ½ credit in high school.
What I’ve Done
With that being the case, my very first inclination was to look up Health curriculum and teach it like a school subject. But, I just couldn’t bring myself to pay for overpriced sets to have my children fill out workbooks and take tests on things like covering their mouths when they sneezed, or brushing their teeth each day. So, sometimes I search the internet and the library, piecing things together myself, particularly for my younger children. Other times I’ve used a website I found that offers free lesson plans for traditional classrooms, but are easily adaptable for home education.
We’ve covered how germs spread, what the body needs to grow, how medicine works, body systems, organs and their functions, nutrition and food groups, regular exercise, sleep, fire safety, emergencies, puberty and hormones, where babies come from and how they grow, drugs and alcohol–and on and on. (Keep in mind I have a wide range of ages and each topic taught was tailored for age-appropriateness.)
After teaching on these areas year after year, I felt like I was repeating myself without much change in the depth of learning. It was more like reminders and continuous review, particularly for my older children–especially since these things are regularly discussed in our home life with way more depth than a worksheet could provide. The last few years I’ve just felt like teaching Health is drudgery and their was no enjoyment. . . this coming from someone who holds two degrees in healthcare. What a shame! This should be my topic, y’all!
New Ideas
For my littlest ones, we’ll keep plugging along for a few more years since they still love picture books, coloring pages and the like after a discussion. But, for my older crowd, we are going to take a new direction. Here are a few ideas we’ve considered, some of which we will try this year. Maybe you’ll find something fresh for your homeschool.
- Movies: Select a series of movies to watch throughout the school year, maybe once per month, that have a health-related topic. Have a discussion afterward and log that as health for the month.
- First-Aid/CPR: These classes are now conveniently offered online, and at the completion of the course, you can request a certificate be mailed to you.
- Healthcare History: Research the history of Healthcare in our country, how it is different from other countries, what shaped it; this could also be paired with the period of History you’re studying to narrow the focus (ie. what was Healthcare like in the Middle Ages)
- Biographies: Select a series of well-known doctors, nurses, etc. and study their lives and contributions to health care.
- Discoveries/Inventions: Self-explanatory. . .who invented the blood pressure cuff, who discovered penicillin, who invented the microscope, how does an MRI work, etc.
- Disease and Illness: Find a sickness to research–maybe one that runs in the family; what causes it, who is most likely to get it, is there a cure, can in be prevented, etc.
- Healthcare Positions: go beyond what is familiar (family doctor or nurse) and research things like paramedics, healthcare administrators, phlebotomist, pharmacist, neurosurgeon, etc.
- Meals and Nutrition: assign one meal a month that your children are responsible for making, that is a healthy choice for your family. They will need to record the recipe, do the shopping, the prep and the cooking.
- Bible: Seek God’s word for topical discussions on health (the body vs. soul, eating, exercise, etc.) and learn those verses.
I hope these ideas have helped you brainstorm ways to teach Health in your homeschool. If you have to teach Health as a subject, what ways have you approached it for your family?
