Five Simple Steps for a Healthier School Year

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 Your child is going to school.  As a parent, what can you do to make it the healthiest year ever?

Perhaps your child is a preschooler and will be attending a daycare or nursery school.  Maybe your child is already in elementary school.  Here are five simple steps that may keep your child from getting sick.

  1. Wash hands often: everyone should have their own towel…perhaps a different color for each member of the family.  This helps colds from spreading like wild-fires!
  2. Dress appropriately: when it is cold, children should be dressed warmly, with hats or hoods on their heads…no ifs, ands or buts!
  3. Get enough sleep: young children need LOTS of sleep so set up bedtime routines and stick to them.  Our body renews and cells regenerate during sleep.  Did you know that children between the ages of 2 and 5 need 11-14 hours of sleep?  For more information about sleep and young children, you can go to: http://www.sleepforkids.org/html/sheet.html.
  4. Make every meal and snack count:  a good breakfast is a MUST and snacks can provide additional important nutrition, especially for picky eaters.  For more ideas on healthy meal planning for the whole family, you can visit: http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_eating/habits.html
  5. Keep a sick child home: I know it is difficult, especially when parents work…but your child will get better sooner and the teacher and the other children in the class will thank you.  With these tips, your children may stay healthy this school year and you won’t have to keep them home.

On September 24th, the Show-Me-How with Miss Vivian program will be at Family Christian Store, 7165 North Academy Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO.  There will be one presentation from 12 to 12:45pm.  I’ll be reading Johnny Lion’s Bad Day to the parents and children and then we will all make Paper Plate Lions.  This program is appropriate for children from two to seven years old.  In addition, there will be a flyer for parents to take home about staying healthy this school year.  I hope we will have a good turn-out…please spread the word and tweet this and post to Facebook…maybe some of your followers are local to Colorado Springs.

SAVE THE DATE

STAYING HEALTHY

THIS SCHOOL YEAR!

SHOW-ME-HOW STORY-TIME PROGRAM

Saturday, September 24, 2011

12 to 12:45pm

Family Christian Store: 7165 N. Academy

719-598-1500 to RSVP

  • Bring your young children and listen to a story
  • Help your child make a simple craft project
  • Get a free flyer: Have a Healthier School Year

Vivian Kirkfield is a local author, former kindergarten and Head Start teacher and mom of three. Her parenting program and award-winning activity book for ages 2-7, Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking, has helped thousands of parents build self-esteem, develop pre-literacy skills and create a stronger parent-child connection.

For more information: 719-237-3111 or vivian@positiveparentalparticipation.com

12 thoughts on “Five Simple Steps for a Healthier School Year”

  1. Here is my confession: When school first began, I didn’t have necessarily the healthiest snacks laying around, and I sent my daughter to school with snack cakes the first week. Then I remembered how much the “sugar crash” can put a damper on energetic learning and play, so I remedied the snack cabinet dilemma quickly. Bad mom!

    I love the look and feel of your blog, and I’m subscribed RSS. Take care!

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    • Now i will smile for the rest of the day.:) And confess as well to the fact that I would be a “junk-food junkie” if I kept that stuff in the house. I protect myself by not buying stuff that will tempt me…and reward myself every night with a very small scoop of ice-cream and a tiny dollop of whipped cream. Then I sit down and relax with a BIG bowl of air-popped popcorn with just a little sunflower oil and celtic salt.
      And you are NOT a bad mommy.:)
      Thanks for stopping by and subscribing!!!

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  4. Washing hands often is a big one at our house. School beginning often means a re-introduction to lots and lots of germs. We wash when we come home. Use sanitizer in the van. Also, we have tried teaching kids since they were little to not touch their face, eyes, mouth, etc. Always a challenge. Thanks for the post!

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    • Thanks for stopping by, Pedro! BTW, I love your blog and enjoy reading your encouraging words about finding time to write. 🙂
      Sometimes, when our kids are young, we despair because we think they are not listening…but when you look back you find that most of the time, they were. 🙂

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  6. Thank you. It is is true about kids. They are picking up so much. Great thing is they have acquired mine and my wife’s passion for reading. Thanks for ur blog. Even though I’m a dad in this online mommy world (LOL), I can relate to what you’re writing here.

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  7. Washing hands! It is very important. I always ask my sons to do it and want to make it as a good habit for my kids.
    Get enough sleep is another problem for my kids. We still try our best to make them sleep earlier at night.

    Thank you for this post, Vivian.

    If you have time, please visit my blog and I would be more than happy if you would like to share your thought there.

    Yulia
    http://www.mylifeismyrainbow.wordpress.com

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    • Thank you so much for being such a faithful follower of my posts, Yulia!
      You are such a wonderful mother to your two little boys!
      I just visited your blog and commented on the wonderful story about JJ’s 4th birthday.

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