HIF1O/2O – Grade 9 Exploring Family Studies Online Course (Ontario)

HIF1O/2O, Exploring Family Studies, is an Open course in which students explore daily living skills and personal and family well-being. Topics include food and nutrition, relationships, personal finance basics, clothing, and living spaces, with a focus on practical skills for everyday life.

Both. The same course runs as HIF1O at the Grade 9 level and HIF2O at the Grade 10 level, and it earns one Open credit either way. Choose the grade that fits the credits you still need toward your diploma.

In HIF1O/2O you build practical life skills: making healthy food choices, understanding personal and family relationships, managing everyday resources, and exploring topics like clothing and living spaces. The course emphasizes skills you can apply immediately in daily life.

HIF1O/2O is a practical, project-based Open course that many students find approachable and relevant to daily life. The work focuses on real-world topics like food, relationships, and personal well-being rather than heavy theory, so engaged students generally do well. Free 24/7 tutoring and teacher support are included.

HIF1O/2O (Exploring Family Studies) covers broad life skills — relationships, personal well-being, everyday resources, food basics, clothing, and living spaces — while HFN1O/2O (Food and Nutrition) focuses deeply on food: nutrition science, healthy eating, and hands-on food preparation. Both are Open courses with no prerequisite worth one credit; choose based on whether you want breadth or a food focus.

No. HIF1O/2O is an Open course with no prerequisite, so any Grade 9 or Grade 10 student can enrol. It is a popular elective for students who want a practical, life-skills credit in a flexible self-paced format.

Yes. Students take HIF1O/2O at OES to earn the credit alongside their day school, to get ahead, or to fit it around a busy schedule. It’s self-paced and open year-round, so you can start any day and finish in as little as 4 weeks or take up to 12 months.

Yes. Ontario students who started Grade 9 in the 2020–21 school year or later must earn at least two online learning credits to graduate, and HIF1O/2O at OES — a Ministry-inspected online school (BSID #667186) — counts toward that requirement. An opt-out process exists through school boards, and specific provisions apply to students affected by the 2021 school closures.

HIF1O/2O meets the Ministry of Education’s attendance and participation expectations through activities blended directly into the course. OES requires students to log in at least once per week for attendance, and participation activities appear throughout the course and are reflected in the grade book — preserving self-paced flexibility while satisfying the requirements for online courses.

Ontario’s Growing Success policy pre-determines the evaluation structure for every credit. Beginning in the 2026–27 school year, HIF1O/2O is graded on classroom work completed throughout the course (65%) plus a Ministry-mandated final evaluation worth 20% for Grades 9–10, with attendance and participation also reflected in the final grade. A credit is granted at 50% or higher — and as an inspected private school, OES may administer final evaluations online, while school-board online courses generally require in-person exam sittings.