Growing Healthy Homes has created an amazing resource in their Nutrition 101: Choose Life! curriculum. We received this curriculum in their e-book format, and IT IS HUGE! This is a 448 page book!! The first 283 pages are the textbook, which includes recipes and activities. After that, there is the answer key, and 31 appendices which are a wealth of additional information for the entire family!
Nutrition 101 includes six different units, with four chapters in each unit:
- The Brain and Nervous System
- Digestion and Elimination
- Respiration and Olfactory
- Muscular and Skeletal Systems
- Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
- Endocrine System and Emotions
I set out to use Nutrition 101: Choose Life! with all of my children. As I read aloud, I found myself simplifying information for the younger children, which meant my older daughters were missing out on the depth of this study. Rather than continue to simplify the material, I chose to assign it to my 9th grade daughter as a nutrition/health course instead. In a situation like mine, with a wider age-span between children, a mother could teach a simplified version to the younger children and assign the older students to work through it independently.
My 14 year old daughter, worked through the material in Nutrition 101 on her own. She enjoyed learning more about the human body, its systems, and how to keep them healthy with good nutrition. Several times she heard me talking about a health issue or concern and she'd voluntarily share something beneficial she'd learned in her nutrition course. I intend to continue using this course with her as either her health credit, or as part of a nutrition and cooking elective credit.
What I like best about this book, though, is the appendices. There is so much information in there: how to select properly ripe and fresh veggies, kitchen safety rules, fiber-rich foods, protein-rich plant and animal sources, calcium-rich foods, sugar alternatives, and common household toxins. Those are just a few of the topics covered in the back of this book. It makes an excellent reference for the Mom as well as a text for our students. I love the charts that list food sources for different vitamins and minerals! This is not your typical health textbook!
PROS
- versatile curriculum -- can serve as Jr./Sr. High health class or be adapted to include elementary students
- Christian curriculum
- hands-on activities
- healthy recipes
- science experiments
- re-usable and non-consumable
- colorful, attractive, and well-designed book
CONS
- some people may not agree with the authors' views on health, diet, and safe products
- some people may not agree with her Choose Life! food pyramid which differs from the standard FDA food pyramid
- very large book to print for your family's use (although there are ways to make this more manageable)
I'm thankful we received this curriculum to review. It will be a blessing to our family as we bring our children up through high school, and as we teach them about healthy nutrition and lifestyles.
Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is available as an e-book on a CD-ROM for $79.95. The printed book can be bought for $99.95, and the book and CD-ROM can be purchased together for $129.95.
Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
Trusting in Him,
April
