Eating a nutritious diet requires an understanding of food and it’s components. While a basic knowledge of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitimins and minerals, is the basis, it’s important to teach homeschool students practically. This is done by involving them in actual eating lessons. You can literally turn ‘lunch into a lesson’. Here are some aspects to consider teaching your young ones.
Portion Size
Eating healthy foods is not enough. They need to be eaten in the right portion size. Explain to your homeschool kids that too much of a good thing can also be bad for them. Even if the good thing is drinking water. Help them plate the portions of different foods in healthy sizes so that they can visually imbibe the correct amount of food to be eaten.
Variety is the Spice of Life
It’s easy to fall into the burgers and fries or pasta and garlic bread rut of meals. Encourage your young eaters to taste at least one new food each week. It’s okay for them to simply taste it in a small portion. They don’t need to polish it all off if they don’t like it. However, the more things that you introduce them to, the more variety of nutrition they will gain.
Freshly Cooked not Processed
This is not a ploy to increase the work that you already have to do around the home in addition to teaching the kids. Any food that is processed is going to have a reduced number or nutrients as well as the addition of presevatives. By cooking even a simple vegetable and meat dish at home, you will be providing them with better nutrition. It could begin with one meal each day to start with, that doesn’t come out of a packet or a can.
Don’t Eliminate All the Fun
Sugar in any form is undesirable in the diet. However, almost all the treats that your homeschool students are used to will have a sugar base. This doesn’t mean that you eliminate everything sweet from the family diet. It simply means teaching them how to eat sweets in moderation, so that it doesn’t trigger health issues such as obesity or diabetes.
