Healthy Menus for Homeschooled Kids

One advantage of home schooling is better control over your child's diet and nutrition. Other parents have to pack food in a lunchbox or rely on whatever the school cafeteria serves. Even when parents pack a healthy lunch, they don't know if a child skipped the main course and lunched on dessert. As a home-schooling parent, you can prepare healthy meals and snacks in your own kitchen and see what your child actually eats.

Fast Healthy Lunches

• If teaching keeps you so occupied during the morning that you don't have much time for meal preparation, it's good to know you can prepare a fast lunch that is still healthy. Stock up on whole wheat pita bread or wraps, as well as whole grain bread for sandwiches. Sandwiches are easy to prepare and nutritious, depending on what's in them. Instead of spreading butter on bread, use hummus, low-fat cream cheese or peanut butter. Then add foods that provide protein and vitamins but not sugar or empty calories. The United States Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid website suggests low-fat meats such as lean turkey, ham or roast beef rather than fatty luncheon meats like bologna or salami. Additional sandwich fillers could be lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers or peppers. If your sandwich base is peanut butter, add sliced apples or bananas.

Hot Meals on Cold Days

• Hot soup or vegetarian chili helps to warm a cold or rainy day. Stew made with lean meat can simmer all morning in the slow-cooker while your children are learning. Home schooling permits you to serve freshly prepared meals that don't have to sit in a lunchbox all morning. Hot, healthy meal ideas include cheese omelets made with low-fat cheese, fresh vegetables and egg whites; whole-wheat pancakes served with fruit toppings; veggie burgers or tacos. Avoid sweets or prepackaged convenience foods like cookies, tortilla chips or bakery items. These foods are high in sugar and often contain artificial coloring.

Nutritious Snacks

• Snack time is important. Home-schoolers need a break once in a while, and they also need food for fuel in optimal learning conditions. Keep your refrigerator stocked with fresh seasonal fruit and throw some grapes in the freezer to snack on. Also keep fresh carrot and celery sticks for healthy munching. Kids love to dip so think about providing fresh fruit like strawberries, bananas or apples along with flavored yogurt or plain yogurt with honey. Peanut butter spread on celery and topped with dried cranberries or raisins makes a satisfying snack for kids of any age. Trail mix made with dried fruit and nuts is a healthy choice for munching, as is air-popped popcorn.

Make Meals Educational

• Make meal planning and preparation part of your home-schooled children's learning experience by letting them participate in menu selection as well as assisting you while you make lunch. You can teach about the food pyramid while they pile healthy toppings like pineapple, red peppers and low-fat cheese onto mini pizzas. Tasks like making sandwiches, washing fresh fruit or setting the table can improve hand-eye coordination when children are young. They may be less picky when it comes to eating food that is good for them if they have played a role in its preparation.