Life Skills: Health-The Definition

Teaching character and life skills to students

Each month we define and discuss a word of character development and life skill with all of our students.

This month the word is Health and will be defined this way.

Young students: Health means: “My body and brain are working well!”

Older students: Health means: Well being in mind, body and spirit.

Here are the worksheets for our students:

Health Worksheet Tiger Tots

Health Worksheet 5-6

Health Worksheet 7-12

Health Worksheet Teens : Adults

If you would like to see how we will talk about this subject with our students please follow our discussions here during the month of January or come in and TRY A CLASS.

 

Food and drink is SELF DEFENSE

What did you eat today?  Did the hot weather encourage you to drink the promoted drinks or to go back to the basics of water?  Did you see the latest report from the American Academy of Pediatrics about energy drinks, including drinks like Gatorade for our children.  As a teacher I must not only set the example, but I must help our students take a deep look at what and how they eat. Even those of us who “eat good”, is what we are eating really good or just better than what others are doing?  This is not a matter of comparisons.  It is a matter of doing what is best for us and our children.

As a family, as a school, as a community, can we be on a mission to change – make a difference in our community?  Starting with our own diet, we can all be resolved to learn about our food and our health.  No excuses, we will be the teachers and parents that our children deserve.

Deep breathing brings better health

While all of us breathe without thinking about it everyday 24 hours a day, we may not be breathing in a manner that is bringing the largest benefits to our health.  Breathing all the way into our diaphragms, deeply is so important for our health and  even our thinking ability.  The oxygen we take in affects all of the cells in our bodies from our bones and muscles to our skin and brain.  In fact the very deepest part of our lungs is where the oxygen needs to get to do the best the job of helping our brain cells.

Did you know that without oxygen that the cells go from being oxygen – burning to one that ferments glucose for fuel.  So it makes good sense to breathe deeply and to doing so as an exercise is a good way of getting started.

  1. Stand up straight with your arms by your side.
  2. Pushing down on your diaphragm and allowing your abdomen to expand, inhale to the count of 10.
  3. Hold your breath to the count of 20.
  4. Exhale to the count of 5.
  5. Repeat 10 times.

If you are able to do this exercise 2 times every day, once in the morning and once in the evening, you will begin to feel your energy level increase within a short amount of time.  You may want to try it at home or work, inside or outside, while taking a walk.  The important part is to keep your concentration and to do it in an area where the air is as clean as possible.  You probably would not want to do it near a busy highway.

Clean up of our waterways

I have just learned that September 19th is an international day devoted to cleaning up the waterways and is used as a day of awareness of what we can do to contribute to the health of our oceans and rivers.  I would like to invite our school and community to join with Balanced Life Skills in creating one or more projects that we can do on that date to help in this cause. 

If you know of a beach or creek or any waterway that needs the attention of humans – to undo what humans have done – please contact us so we can put groups together to spend this one day working on this important type of self defense. 

Talk to your friends and neighbors and lets make a difference in our environment.