Health- does anyone else think this is a total waste of time?

[SusanAR]

This reminds me of a ps teacher sharing with me that she will be teaching her third graders an entire unit on manners-

 

Susan

[Jenny in Atl]

Except for sex ed & the handling out of feminine protection (pads), I don't remember anything from my health classes. I think most of us were just concerned with how to get the pads out of class w/o the boys seeing what we had.

[Miss Marple]

I think we cover most of the "health" stuff in our high school biology. We even had a local family practice physician come in to help out with the "sex ed" stuff :-)

 

From the depths of my aging brain, I seem to remember an ABeka book about health and manners. It was for the very young student and I thought it was well done. IT had stuff about eating right, good posture, not belching in public, etc.

[Cindy in Indy]

I suppose if your children don't know to wash their hands, basic hygiene, basic first aid, and the facts of life, health might be useful. Most homeschoolers have already covered these topics at the appropriate ages.;)

[cbollin]

I plan on trying to incorporate in our health semester topics such as How to buy and select insurance, selecting a health care provider, and whether or not your chiropractor has ventured off the deep end and when to get a new one :)

 

I plan to try to include topics more along the lines of healthful living and more of adult health. So we're taking the life skills, living on your own approach with health and holding off as long as possible in high school on it. I figure the rest of the topics they learn as they go along in life too.

 

 

-crystal

[Pamela H in Texas]

I think it depends on how you go about it. Topics for our health course are very related to what young people 12-21 need to think about and life skills and tools they'll need growing up and when grown.

 

I guess I kinda agree with Crystal, basically.

[Scarlett]

I think it depends on how you go about it. Topics for our health course are very related to what young people 12-21 need to think about and life skills and tools they'll need growing up and when grown.

 

I guess I kinda agree with Crystal, basically.

 

 

:iagree:

 

I was suppose to teach ds a health unit...I skimmed through it this year and figure I do most of that in day to day life, so I didn't do anything formal with him. (shhhhh don't tell my VA)

[Rebecca in VA]

We did a wonderful semester-long on Home Nursing and First Aid. A Red Cross teacher taught us how to treat sick and injured people at home. It was a girls-only class, and we learned how to everything from how to deal with bedpans to how to splint broken limbs to what to feed people who are sick. I still remember the material vividly.

 

This was back in the 1970s. The Red Cross doesn't even publish the Home Nursing manual anymore (though they really should!), and I can't imagine high school students today being interested in such a topic. However, it was one of the most practical classes I ever took. I often think back on it when I'm faced with a medical situation at home.

[Rosie_0801]

"I didn't know it wasn't appropriate to feed my kid a packet of biscuits and a coffee for breakfast!"

 

Yeah, there actually was a dope in our local paper saying this. This convinces me that health studies are very important, though it beats me how a couple can get to the age where they can have produced a bunch of kids without knowing this. I don't know what you guys are supposed to teach in health, but I will certainly do my best to drum nutrition into mine!

:)

Rosie

[Myrtle]

Except for sex ed & the handling out of feminine protection (pads), I don't remember anything from my health classes. I think most of us were just concerned with how to get the pads out of class w/o the boys seeing what we had.

 

Health is to be practiced not "studied."

 

When I read people defending its inclusion in the curricula the reason given is that there are "some" kids who don't learn this at home.

 

Althooooooooghhh, when I took it in the 9th grade we learned first aid and CPR and had a really good CPR dummy to practice on.

[AngieW in Texas]

Rather than a textbook, I used several real books with my dd. I had her read through Food&Nutrition for Dummies (or maybe it was Idiot's Guide to?), Take Charge of Your Child's Health, and Eight Weeks to Optimum Health. I figure that covered everything she should need aside from the basic biology stuff that we covered in biology.

[Kris]

Weeeeeeeeeeeell -- yes and no.

 

Generally, yes, I think it's a waste of time. But I'm constantly amazed at the things The Kid does *not* know! Stuff that, I dunno, I just "knew."

 

So we'll be doing health, if for no other reason than to spark some discussion.

[Robymomof3]

Our health instruction has come from books like: Prudence and the Millers, Wisdom and the Millers, and Proper Manners and Health Habits.

[Plaid Dad]

I don't see the need for a whole curriculum for "health." The parts that are basic life skills (manners, hand-washing) can and should be taught in the course of daily life. The rest fits into biology or specialized outside classes like first aid, CPR, etc.

[Michelle in GA]

Yes,but our accrediting program requires it,so my dc do it.

[DianeJM]

I kind of like health, actually. I can pick any topic I want, have fun with it, and check off health!! Would that other subjects were that easy. In our family we all need to study nutrition, and we have all benefitted. I like having my kids research topics such as the effects of lack of sleep, of too much sun, too much sugar, why we need fiber in our diet, not washing one's face, not washing hands, you name it almost, and it can be related to health. Even now my girls are being targeted by the pediatrician for the HPV vaccine, so we can do a study centering around that, and that brings up other issues as well. Great teaching opportunity, I think.

 

There's lots to choose from, and it can all be relevant to every day life.

I've stayed away from health textbooks for the most part, but every so often we will do one.

[Jan P.]

Other than in our day-to-day life, I did not teach a "health" course to my ds during his high school years. It was not required by law in my state. I had too many other core subjects that needed addressing. I have a science background, and I read voraciously about health matters. My poor dc get an "earful" of what I've read at about every meal.

[Cedarmom]

For a course,yes. We do life skills in normal life. It is required in our state though. I will probably just list all the life skills weve done and read a couple of books and call it good.

[Jean in Wisc]

We read the ABeka books throughout elementary years. My kids have quoted back to me so many of the things they learned in those books! My teaching was reinforced with tons of reasons--from hygiene to being polite. We did not take much time doing those books, but I'm sure glad we did them! Not a waste of time at all.

 

High school health fits well with Apologia biology because it includes all the body "things" that Apologia does not do in their book. It is not my favorite subject, though. :))

 

Jean

[TravelingChris]

I always combine health with PE and the kids mostly did PE. The oldest one did and the next one is scheduled to learn CPR and First AId from the Heart Association. The one who is involved with this now took a class on Florida Virtual called Physical Fitness for a half credit. She learned about things like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, how to read a label, etc plus did a lot of exercising. Most of it was not a waste of time. I hadn't realized that she didn't understand the labels. She did by the time she was done with that class.

[SusanAR]

I guess I ask this because health is required for graduation in AR. We will study two years of Latiin because most colleges require two years of foreign language, but I don't think we will bother with the state requirements of health and computer technology. There just isn't enough time to do it all!

I think CPR would be helpful, but I don't think I could count it as credit. My background is science related, so my dc get 'health' all the time.

Maybe I just wanted your permission to stray from the 'state requirements'.:001_smile:

susan

[coopers5]

if you're looking at college prep, anyway. I agree that this is something we should just be teaching as we go about our days and showing by example, etc.

Or it is "rolled in" with biology, as someone sort of alluded to.

[hswarden]

Yes. Unless you are really willing to take the time to develop a curriculum that is useful. I have been unable to find anything redeeming about the one I used, which I borrowed wholesale from a school.

[threetreasurs]

Yes - waste of time definitely.