Health isn’t one of the essential subjects, like reading or math. Encouraging healthy living in your kids, however, is very important. You don’t really need a textbook to guide them toward healthy choices, but there are options if you want to take that approach.
Here is a quick summary of the Health curricula we offer, in alphabetical order:
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A Beka Health Grades 1-12
A Beka Health is the only 1-12 grade course we offer, though we can only get it used. It promotes a very conservative perspective, and tends to make dogmatic moral statements about lifestyle choices that aren’t obviously right or wrong. There's a good progression of topics, and information is mostly scientifically validated.
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AOP Lifepacs: Health Grades 4-12
Unlike other Lifepac offerings, the AOP Lifepacs: Health courses include just five worktexts per grade, along with the accompanying teacher's guide. Students read text and answer questions. This is a very hands-off program for teachers, but the books cover all the major topics.
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Horizons Health Grades K-8
Horizons Health is well-balanced. Written from a Christian perspective, it's more even-handed dealing with potentially divisive issues, and better allows more leeway for teachers to withhold or present information as they see fit, than many secular (or rigidly conservative Christian) courses.
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Rod & Staff Health Grades 2-5
The Rod & Staff Health program consists of brief black-and-white student worktexts and teacher guides. Written by Mennonites, it's fairly behind the times on many issues, and deals mostly with eating the right foods and making sure you're well-groomed.
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Total Health Grades 6-12
Total Health provides an adaptable format allowing you to customize lesson plans and take as long (or short) a time as you want to get through each text. Students read well-written text and complete activities, workbook pages, and tests; the teacher guides include extensive support for instructors.
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Whichever program you choose, you’ll want to be sure to have plenty of discussions with your kids. When dealing with issues as important as lifestyle choices you won’t want to simply leave your kids at the mercy of a textbook, no matter how much you agree with the authors’ premises. A lot of what you’ll find in these books is pretty common sense (brush your teeth, exercise, don’t poke strangers in the eye), but especially in the upper level texts you’ll find information about sex, alcohol, and a variety of other life issues you probably don’t want your kids learning about all on their own.
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Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.
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