I recently started leading a natural health homeschool class with a few moms and their teenage daughters.  It’s been such a sweet way to connect in a small group setting during Covid, while also laying the foundation for natural wellness.  Though my daughter isn’t participating in the study because of her school course work, she joins our meetings when she’s able.  Super big plus for me because I love spending time with her.

After looking at many different curricula alternatives, we ultimately settled on using Every Herb Bearing Seed from Queen Homeschool.  It’s a year-long, 36-lesson curriculum taught from a Christian perspective.  The book is very reasonably priced at just $34.95.  It’s a bit different than many other health class options because it doesn’t read like a textbook.  Though there are short stories to go with each lesson, they’re more of a jumping off point.  Then each lesson provides a few topics for students to research on their own.  It is expected that the students find the information for themselves.

I really like that concept, and it has made for some very interesting conversations when we meet together.  Because each student finds their own resources, the discussion topics have led to nice healthy debates.  Given the nature of this curriculum though, I would definitely suggest using it with older students only.  I think the research requirements would be too overwhelming for younger students, though it would probably work for mature 8th graders.

The one downside I want to share is that because natural health information is often censored on the internet, it takes a little extra perseverance to find answers to some of the topics.  It’s much easier to find the mainstream thoughts, which tend toward an overall negative outlook regarding alternative and naturopathic health care.  The view that modern medicine is “science-based” and naturopathic care is more-or-less “quackery” is fairly evident.  However, I have success using DuckDuckGo, and a few of the other moms have discovered lots of cool stuff on Pinterest as well!

The book covers many, many topics, including:

• all body systems
• allopathic vs. naturopathic medicine
• germ theory vs. terrain theory
• biological dentistry and heavy metals
• homeostasis
• lactose & gluten intolerance
• probiotics & fermented foods
• food is medicine (huge topic, lots of good variety in the book)
•  water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins
• minerals, electrolytes, micronutrients
• excitotoxins
• enzymes
• detoxes
• organic vs. conventional foods
• pesticides, herbicides, fungicides
• GMOs
• medicinal and culinary herbs (another huge topic with wide variety covered)
• herbs for boosting immune system
• free radicals and oxidative stress
• autoimmune disease
• exercise
• homeopathy (again, huge topic with lots of variety covered)
• essential oils
• complementary care

I sure wish I had taken a class like this in high school!  If you are looking for a thought-provoking natural wellness curriculum for your older homeschooled students, this could be a great choice for your family.  I think it’s going to be particularly successful in the small group setting for which we’re using it.  I can tell we’re going to have lots of good discussion as we journey through these topics!

TIME TO START YOUR HEALING JOURNEY

Let’s heal our health.  Join me in the journey to create natural, wholistic, healing homes that offer safe havens where our families can connect, thrive, and find joy in wellness. When we fuel our bodies properly, practice the self-care we need, and experience connecting relationships, we can all resiliently thrive together and fulfill our God-given purposes.

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