I’m not a fan of textbooks, and I refuse to buy a health book; it’s not happening. So I decided to round up resources for a homeschool high school health course.
I scoured some typical course studies for health and determined we would include the following topics:
- First Aid
- Disease transmission and prevention
- Personal responsibility for health (diet, exercise)
- Marketing and advertising effects on health and behavior
- Stress
- Healthy Relationships
- Addictions
- Goal Setting
Here are the resources I found to explore the topics above:
First Aid
I am hoping to organize a Red Cross first aid training event for homeschooled teens in our area.
Disease Transmission and Prevention
Read An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
Watch and discuss the following TedEd videos (each comes with learning explorations):
How Scientists Changed the Way We Think about Disease
How Do Germs Spread?
How Does Cancer Spread?
How to Eradicate a Disease
What Did Dogs Teach Humans about Diabetes?
Research Project: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Vaccinations
Personal Responsibility for Health Part 1 Diet
Watch and discuss the following TedEd videos (each comes with learning explorations):
What Is a Calorie?
What Is Fat?
What Are Carbohydrates?
How Does Sugar Affect the Brain?
Sugar: Hiding in Plain Sight
How Do Vitamins Work?
(short from YouTube): How Much Water Should I Drink? from SciShow
Documentaries
Most of these are found on Netflix and Amazon; you can also try your library:
Food, Inc. (1 hour 33 min)
Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead (1 hour 37 min)
Forks Over Knives (1 hour 36 min)
Fat Head
Some of these documentaries contradict each other and contradict the TedEd videos–which is the reality of nutrition. Lots of discussion should be included after viewing.
Personal Responsibility for Health Part 2 Exercise
Watch and discuss the following TedEd videos (each comes with learning explorations):
The Benefits of Good Posture
The Hidden Risks of Sitting
What Makes Muscles Grow?
Research project: Choose a topic about exercise and complete research. (How much exercise should you do daily? What are the benefits of exercise?)
Stress
Watch and discuss the following TedEd videos (each comes with learning explorations):
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation
How Stress Affects Your Body
Sleep: Why We Need It and What Happens Without It (short YouTube video)
Marketing and Advertising Effects on Health and Behavior
Teach your student to recognize marketing tactics.
View food commercial or alcohol commercial.
Analyze the commercial:
1. Who is the target audience?
2. What is the major message/purpose of the commercial? What do the commercial’s creators want the consumer (you) to believe about the product?
3. Make a chart that includes facts AND misleading information. Write down examples from the commercial.
4. In what ways does the commercial try and sway you to buy the product (celebrity endorsement? testimonial? strong message? visual techniques?) Give specific examples from the commercial.
Healthy Relationships
Read and discuss Dating with Integrity by John Holzmann
Read and discuss Every Young Man’s Battle or Every Young Woman’s Battle or And the Bride Wore White
Addictions
Current Events Project: What drugs are a problem in your area? Collect newspaper articles about drugs in your city/county from the past 6 months and make a notebook. Which drugs pose the biggest problems? Research these drugs. Present your research in a Power Point presentation. Possible things to include in your presentation: description of the drug, its street/slang name, effects on the body, addictiveness, resources for people who are addicted.
Bible Study: What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol? What does the Bible say about being drunk? Compile all the verses in a notebook. Study them. Write your own conclusion about drinking alcohol.
Goal Setting
View and discuss One Step at a Time
I’m still looking for more resources on this topic
I hope this is useful for someone else like me who can’t bear to buy a health textbook. I would love to hear about additional resources you are using for high school health!
I’ve been putting off my high schooler’s health credit because the curriculum is underwhelming and I’ve been unsure what to do. We will give this a try this summer. Thank you!
Thank you! This is so appreciated! I read the comments of “Lisa” above. Yes, she is speaking truth about the condition many teens are in. My oldest went to public school and what was in “health class” amounted to drugs, how they are consumed, and what effects they have. The biggest issue is that the family unit is broken in many homes and drugs and depression are the result of that sad situation. Sex was covered one day in PE, not health class, and really focused on how not to get pregnant or contract STDs. This is a good selection of topics. Thank you again!
Thank you for this helpful resource!
Love it!!! thanks so much for this