With the warm weather finally here (at least we hope so), we thought we’d start out by talking a little about personal hygiene for kids.
What is Personal Hygiene for Kids? By Barb Nefer
Personal hygiene is important in every stage of life, but good cleanliness habits start in childhood. Kids who learn what it is and how to follow proper hygiene practices will usually carry that into adulthood. Hygiene education starts with the family, and eventually youngsters can learn what to do and follow cleanliness rules on their own.
Personal hygiene is generally defined as cleanliness of the body and proper maintenance of personal appearance. This generally includes all body areas and clothing. Kids do not naturally understand the importance of personal hygiene and how to maintain it. They learn about it from their family and usually need assistance until they get older and are able to do it on their own.
There are several basic types of hygiene for kids. First is cleanliness of the body, which alleviates dirt and odor. A child should be taught to bathe or shower every day and to wash her hands frequently. Dr. Lynn Smitherman, a pediatrics professor at Wayne State University, cites hand washing as one of the most important cleanliness habits children can learn. At the very least, a kid should learn to wash her hands before meals and after using the restroom.
Second is oral hygiene, which means brushing the teeth regularly. It should be done at least twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. Ideally the child should learn to brush after every meal too. The Journey to Caring website states that teaching your child to brush correctly is just as important as frequency.
Third is wearing clean clothing. Children should learn to choose a clean outfit, including underwear, each day and to change out of play clothes if they become excessively soiled.
Personal hygiene expectations for children must be age appropriate. Youngsters can start to learn hygiene basics as toddlers. For example, they can learn to wash their hands and brush their teeth with parental modeling, although they will still require assistance with bathing, showering and dressing. Kids can gradually do these activities independently as they reach school age, and this will lead to bathing, showering and dressing on their own.
Bad personal hygiene can harm a child's health in several ways. Unclean kids are more prone to illness, either from the dirt itself or from exposure to cold and flu germs and other illnesses carried by others. Cavities and gum disease are caused by neglected oral hygiene and can lead to premature loss of teeth.
Character Education: Positive Attitude/ Optimism
During counseling this past month our students have been learning about the parts of their brain that controls their emotional state (amygdala), helps with good decision making (prefrontal cortex) and stores memories (hippocampus) during our mindfulness lessons. I found this article, which highlights the character education topic of the month, positive attitude/optimism, and how it works within the brain. ENJOY.
Cultivating Practical Optimism: A Key to Getting the Best from Your Brain
By Donna Wilson, PhD
Neuroscientists recently discovered that optimism is associated with brain pathways connecting the left prefrontal region to the amygdala. Further research has demonstrated that optimism, traditionally considered to be an unchangeable trait, is a way of thinking that can be learned and enhanced. People with a positive viewpoint have less stress, better creative problem-solving skills, and better health outcomes than less optimistic people. In addition, optimistic learners are more likely to persist in the sometimes-hard work of learning, motivated by the belief that they can accomplish their learning goals.
Many teachers realize that as students become more optimistic, they are motivated to progress through learning difficulties and to attain higher levels of achievement. More optimistic students also have greater resistance to depression and the negative effects of stress.
We use the term practical optimism to describe an attitude about life that relies on taking realistic, positive action to increase the likelihood of successful results. Emphasizing positive emotions helps students become more resilient and more likely to persevere with learning tasks. Their persistence is fueled by the belief that they will triumph over difficulty, learn from their mistakes, overcome plateaus in their performance, and progress. The mantra "I think I can! I think I can!" from an all-time favorite story, The Little Engine That Could, illustrates practical optimistic thinking.
Trash or Treasure?
One of our strategies that can be used to develop a positive environment features six steps for easy implementation, including a read-aloud story (Wilson & Conyers, 2011, p. 243). This strategy has been used by teachers, counselors, and school psychologists to promote practical optimism in schools:
1. Introduce practical optimism and its benefits. Ask your children if they would like to learn a way to more consistently sustain practical optimism.
2. Read aloud the following story:
Treasure Hunters and Trash Collectors
It seems that in life there are two types of people. The first are treasure hunters. Every day they seek out what is useful and positive. They focus on it, talk about it, and think about it. Each of these moments is treasured like a bright, shining jewel that they store in their treasure chest forever.
And then there are trash collectors who spend their lives looking for what is wrong, unfair, and not working. They focus their energy, time, and thoughts on the trash, and every day they put that trash into a big trashcan.
The treasure hunters proudly carry their treasure into the future, while the trash collectors drag their heavy, smelly trashcan from one day to the next. The question is: When they get to the end of the year, what does each person have -- a treasure chest filled with useful, positive memories, or a trash can full of things they didn't like?
The choice is yours. You get to decide.
3. Ask your child/children to think of five things they like or can feel good about.
4. Ask your child/children to write, draw, or create a concept map of these five things.
5. Tell your child/children to approach five people and share with them their five things.
6. Continue to use this process once a week or once a month, encouraging your child/children to find and add more things to their practical optimism list.
Once learners understand that they have the capacity to increase their levels of practical optimism by the choices they make, many are highly motivated to do so. They become more likely to think of setbacks as temporary. They recognize that by using more effective learning strategies or investing more study time, they can overcome obstacles and turn setbacks into triumphs. This progress in turn can lead to more academic success and enhance optimism even further. Practical optimism is a means for getting the best from your brain and your life.
Research
Wilson, D. L., & Conyers, M. A. (2011). BrainSMART: 60 strategies for Increasing Student Learning. Orlando, FL: BrainSMART.
