We’ve made several changes in our home over the past year in our quest for a healthier lifestyle: whole grains, unrefined sugar, organic when we can afford it, trying to cut out high fructose corn syrup. I was so excited to receive a copy of Nutrition 101: Choose Life. It not only teaches what changes you should make, but WHY you should make them. I strongly believe that God created specific foods and nutrients to strengthen and heal our bodies. This book is an amazing look into His awesome design.

Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is a Biblically based curriculum for the entire family. It is a huge 448 page book, with over 100 of those pages in the form of an information-rich appendix. It is co-authored by homeschool mother Debra Raybern, N.D., M.H., C.N.C., I.C.A.; homeschool mother and researcher Sera Johnson, B.MU; mother and writer/editor Laura Hopkins, B.S.; and mother, grandmother and former Home Economics teacher Karen Hopkins, B.S.

The curriculum is broken up into these six units:

1. The Brain and Nervous System
2. Digestion and Elimination
3. Respiration and Olfactory
4. Muscular and Skeletal Systems
5. Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
6. Endocrine System and Emotions.

Each unit has discussion questions, hands-on activities and power recipes to make together. Some of the material is a little over the heads of my gang, so I pick and choose the info to study.  I am reading through all of it myself, and I will be using it again in a few years as a more in-depth high school study.

You can view a sample of this book HERE. I strongly urge you to take a minute to read the introduction and take a look at what is included in the huge appendix.

The Nitty Gritty:

• the CD-Rom is $79.99
• the book is $99.95
• the CD-ROM/book combo is $129.99

Things I like:

• Lessons are taught from the viewpoint that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God.
• There is something for most ages (starting in early elementary, in my opinion).
• There is so much information provided in these lessons. I am using this for our science curriculum this year. I pull whatever is age appropriate from the lesson and add in my own things like notebook pages or goodies I find on the internet.
• The appendix is full of wonderful things to help me in my quest to provide the best nutrition for my family.

Value: I will be honest… I thought the price of this curriculum was really high when I first saw it. Now that I’ve had a chance to read through and use it, I think it is worth every penny! I reviewed the e-book and printed off only what I needed to teach the lessons. I think the ideal, if you can afford it, is to purchase the book combo. You would have the physical book to read and the e-book to print off resources and activities.

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about Growing Healthy Homes!