Wednesday, August 20, 2008
QCX 521 Review 1: Kids health - Mummy, I want to grow up healthy!
Childhood is an exciting phase and a stage of discovery as the child embarks on the journey of life. Let's focus is on kids between age 3 to 14 years old - where kids get curious and begin to constantly ask questions and seek truths
in their doubts and prepare themselves to be teens. Along with them, parents and teachers will be their essential scaffold to support and guide them.
Many times, adults may not be able to understand how kids' problem mainly because the childhood period in the past is different from the problems face by kids presently.
A recent news article on TODAY newspaper on a Primary 5 (P5) student getting help from counsellor after suffering from severe academic pressure from parents. As an alarming increased number of students are seeking helpline for emotional support and therefore, it is important for us to address this issue.
There are many websites available on
kids health nowadays that can easily access to read on information and tips to keep them healthy and happy. I mention happy because I think that mood is part of health development. Their health is view from a holistic point and can be categorized into
three main sections:
1) Physical fitness - Exercise
2) Balanced healthy diet
3) Mental well being - feelings
Good physical fitness can be achieve through the first two sections, exercising and eating right. In this way, food and nutrition can be taught through first the importance and effect nutrition requirement, where good calories and bad calories present in heart and junk food. Teachers can also introduce simple recipes for them to make healthy breakfast for school (Like Leonard, my nephew) and teach them to make the right food choice!
Like the
Primary 5 student mentioned above, we might not notice that their stress can come from facing bullies in schools and academic pressure from parents and peers etc. Thus, I feel that the
best solution is to either advise them or let them experience themselves but teach them the right or best way to handle the matter positively.
In my perceptive, a suggested simple sample lesson plan for kids health will start by bringing the focus of the lesson on them and adopting the MOE initatives, Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) model:
Anticipated question from the teacher, "Hey, kids today's lesson will be just about you because you are our future tomorrow. Take a look at the cartoon below and think... Is the boy doing the right thing handling stress this way? What would be the right way of relieving any form of stress? " 
We, as teachers will provided a guided worksheet with questions to help them discover more about their personality, character and current lifestyle to instill some thinking skills in our students.
Use of ICT (MOE initatives) by introducing them to the sources where they can seek help with sensitive topics, ask questions and play games while learning in the following websites. They will get to know more about the benefits of exercising, keeping themselves healthy and happy. Try this! They are fun and pretty easy to access:
For kids and parents, click http://kidshealth.org/ and
http://www.cyh.com/SubDefault.aspx?p=255For educators, click here for free resources http://classroom.kidshealth.org/ Finally, the teacher could sum up the lesson with the brainstormed ideas suggested by the students.
As adults or educators can share our personal experiences for their reference and be a good listening ear and advisor to them. Hope this helps and bring smiles to the kids and your life. Smiles :D
Mummy, me and daddy =D
Labels: Kids' health, Nutrition, QCX521, Review, Teachers' Resource
by
Pei Yun @
9:48 PM -
0 comments
in their doubts and prepare themselves to be teens. Along with them, parents and teachers will be their essential scaffold to support and guide them.