About the Health Education Program

Health Ed Journeys is CATCH Global Foundation’s comprehensive K-8 health education curriculum. Covering national and state-level health standards, Health Ed Journeys offers an upgrade to CATCH’s classic evidence-based health program, which is backed by over 120 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

Health Ed Journeys provides a 36-week scope and sequence for health education in schools, spanning the following topics:

• Foundational Health Literacy
• Nutrition & Physical Activity
• Physical Health & Hygiene
• Mental Health
• Substance Misuse Prevention
• Injury & Violence Prevention & Safety

Health Ed Journeys lessons are designed to offer easy and flexible implementation for teachers in various contexts and environments. The health education program can be used on its own or in combination with other CATCH programs including PE Journeys, SEL Journeys and the CATCH Whole Child Coordination Kit. Our curriculum map provides an overview of how all of our CATCH programs fit together.

Curriculum Map

What’s Included:

• Flexible lessons that can be delivered all in one class period, or broken into shorter segments over multiple days.
• Student-facing content that can be integrated into any standard LMS.
• Clean and clear lesson overview = easy and quick prep for teachers.
• Standards-aligned lesson objectives.
• Guiding questions to promote critical thinking.
• Active & Varied Lesson Activities: Most lessons include one activity that involves physical movement and one that involves completing a worksheet or game.
• Interactive reflection & formative assessment at the end of each lesson.
• MVP Challenge: Optional extension activity provided with each lesson.
• Grade Level Differentiation: Provides key focus areas for grade-level differentiation and concept mastery.
• Presentation Slides: Teacher-led lesson visuals with slide-by-slide script in speaker notes.
• My Health Journey Digital Workbook (with option to print): Students use this resource to set and check-in on goals, complete worksheet activities, and track their progress through the year.
• Summative Assessment: Each unit concludes with a “My Health Journey” summative assessment lesson. This lesson is intended for students to work on their My Health Journey workbook and/or complete the unit test.
• Options to break out activities for use in stations or blended learning environments.

View CATCH Health and PE Adoption Rubric

Family Engagement

Schools and youth-serving organizations are invited to share important health information with families by inviting them to watch and participate in “Are You an MVP?” — an interactive gameshow and contest. This unique video series provides an easy-to-share activity for families to do together, along with creative health challenges that they can complete for chances to win cash prizes for both themselves and your school!

Learn More

Each Health Ed Journeys lesson can be taught in a single 20-30 minute session, or broken into “bite-size pieces” of 5-7 minutes each. Each lesson has 4 main pieces, plus an MVP Challenge extension activity. There are a total of 36 age-differentiated lessons, and it is recommended to follow the sequence in which they are presented, however, units may also be reordered to suit individual needs.

Health Ed Journeys currently offers documentation showing alignment to the 2024 SHAPE America National Health Standards and the standards of several states. Additional documentation for other states is coming soon. Please contact our team at [email protected] if you have a request for a specific initiative or state.

In addition to our documentation for national and state standards, Health Ed Journeys is also recognized in the following curriculum adoption resources:

• Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE): Comprehensive Health and Physical Education (CHPE) Curriculum Guide for 2024

CATCH Training is an integral part of a successful CATCH program. Beyond being educational and informative, this hands-on training is fun and encourages communication and teamwork!

Learn more about our Health Ed Trainings