Want to Know More About Apologia’s Exploring Creation Health and Nutrition?
Today I want to share a full review of Apologia’s Exploring Creation Health and Nutrition. I chose this curriculum to do with my 11th and 9th grader almost as an afterthought. You can read my curriculum plans HERE where I barely mention it. But wouldn’t you know it–this curriculum ended up being some of my very favorite curriculum I’ve ever used in 15 years of homeschooling. Yes, I’m serious. It’s so so good.
I’m going to walk you through my top reasons we enjoyed this course and how we used it. Read on for a look inside the curriculum, topics covered, and a video review as well.
Exploring Creation Health and Nutrition: a Creation-Based Curriculum
Like many homeschool families, I want don’t want my kids’ curriculum to contradict what we believe. As Christians, I want our science curriculum to be taught from a creationist point of view. All of Apologia’s curriculum is taught with a biblical worldview and Apologia Health and Creation is no different.
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What is Apologia Health and Nutrition?
This curriculum is extensive! There are so many topics covered. Here is a sampling of what is covered:
- the nervous system and our thoughts and feelings
- mental and emotional stability
- interpersonal harmony
- our senses
- macro and micronutrients
- diet and calories
- movement and exercise
- infections
- spiritual life
- reproduction
The full course includes a textbook and student notebook. I highly recommend the notebook in addition to the text. It includes study guides, tests, and so many other activities and in my opinion are essential for getting the most out of this course.
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Who is Apologia Health and Nutrition For?
If you have a desire for your teens to know how intricate and amazing the human body is, this course is for you.
For the health-minded person or someone who is interested in diet and fitness, this will be very fun to teach your teens.
If your high schooler needs a health credit, this is it!
As the parent, if you feel like you don’t know enough about the right foods to eat or nutrition, this is great for you as well!
If you wonder how health applies to the Christian, I highly recommend this course for you!
How We Used Apologia Health and Nutrition This Year
I used Apologia’s Health and Nutrition with my 11th and 9th grader this year. We had the perfect time slot on Tuesdays while my 4th grader was in her band lesson to read the text with my teens. They then would read another short reading during the week and complete any projects on their own before we met again the following Tuesday.
We used the lesson planner in the Student Notebook for help to work through the text.
Why I Loved Apologia Health and Nutrition
This is a hard one to narrow down into a concise paragraph. With every chapter we finished reading together, I found myself welling up with amazement at just how intricately and beautifully the human body is designed. God’s love for us, His creation, exudes in every cell of our bodies. I could go chapter by chapter and share points that stood out to me. Here are just a few.
- In module 2, Physical Influences on Thoughts and Feelings, we talked about the nervous system and how chemicals in the brain send signals throughout the body. With this, we talked about how to reduce stress, such as limiting screens and the dopamine rush they can induce, and many other practical tips and reasons why they would help.
- Mental health is a big topic these days. We talked about the differences between severe mental health issues and stress that all humans endure at certain points in life. We went into depth about what true self-care means and made a huge list of practical ways to take care of mental and emotional health, such as avoiding junk food, getting enough omega-3 fatty acids, and relying on the faithfulness of Jesus to help us make big decisions.
- We covered interpersonal harmony which included topics like gender roles, family, birth order, healthy friendships and unhealthy, romantic relationships, loneliness, good communication skills, conflicts, boundaries, and more.
Food, Nutrition, and Calories!
- I’ve always been very interested in cooking healthy foods, scrutinizing ingredients, and making good food choices for my family. There is so much confusion when it comes to food these days! Keto, Paleo, vegan, carnivore, etc…it can all be so confusing! I usually find the simplest paths are the best. Food is made of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. These are macronutrients. Each food is also made of an array of nutrients that our bodies thrive off of…the micronutrients. I found the modules on macro and micronutrients to be full of solid, non-confusing information that our kids really need to make good food decisions when they get out on their own and are cooking their own meals.
- Weight loss is another topic that is highly confused in our country. It really is simple as well. If we consume more calories than we burn, we will gain. If we consume less calories than we burn, we will lose weight. I do believe the quality of those calories we’re consuming are highly important and hormone imbalances play a large part in weight loss, but for most of us who can’t lose weight, it’s a calorie intake issue. Module 9 teaches about calorie intake in such a straightforward way. The kids calculated their basal metabolic rate based on their age, height, weight. This gave them a good idea of where their calorie intake should be. They tracked their calories for a couple of days to get the feeling for what a healthy calorie intake looks like as well. This is such invaluable information for teens facing a world of high calorie, low nutrient foods!
Peace, Rest, and Reproduction
- We covered a whole module on peace–what other health curriculum does that!? This chapter was just beautiful. It talks about how even God took a day of rest and how we should emulate that as well. We talked about “adolescent angst,” taking breaks, the importance of sleep and keeping a sleep record, how our hormones can effect our sleep, the difference between joy and happiness, working through hardship–oh my gosh this section was so amazing! So many stories of hardship and how God never failed to walk through it with them!– pursuing the simple life opposed to keeping up with the Jones’s, making wise purchases vs using shopping as an emotional coping mechanism, how we can hone in on our skills, and more. In this module, the kids each worked on a project where they stretched some skills.
- The last chapter was on sexual reproduction. This chapter taught about God’s gift of life in the most beautiful way. It clearly pointed out all the parts of the reproduction systems and how sex is a gift to married men and women. Also, how that gift creates a new human life too. We talked about puberty in boys and girls. It even explained the different stages in the menstrual cycle, what foods and supplements might be helpful for the different stages, and more. I’ve read lots of articles on this topic, so I was able to give my daughter some extra reading materials to learn more. I absolutely loved the way this chapter was taught.
Favorite Topics Covered In Apologia’s Health and Nutrition
Final Thoughts
You can see the curriculum we’ve used in the high school years HERE, HERE, and HERE. If you’re looking for a curriculum that covers health and science all with a biblical worldview, this is the one!
The best of all was the very end of the book. The author, Dr. Laura Chase, shares a blessing to the kids who have worked through the text. She shared the most heartbreaking things that happened in her life and how God was with her the entire time. She prays blessing over the kids reading the text and encourages them to follow God throughout all their lives. It was beautiful. Admittedly, I read through it several times and not once did I get through it without tearing up.
Rarely have I found a curriculum that applies to our everyday life in such a meaningful way–this is it. Highly recommend!
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