Teaching Family Life at Home
Unbelievably, you find yourself teaching at home. While math, language arts, and science are important, so too is the continuation of health studies. This may seem difficult, but NEVER FEAR! You can do this and we are here to assist. Here you will find some tips to guide you in sharing valuable information and also having great fun with your child.
STEP 1: Set the Scene
If you read my post The Talk, you may recall that I advised against making a huge deal out of this information. Health is a class like any other- important information through which you will be guiding your child. My advice would be NOT to announce that “Today is the day!”. Rather, just introduce the information gradually, as you would any other lesson.
Privacy
This is a topic that requires a level of privacy. If your children are close enough in age that you feel the lesson will be appropriate, then a small group could work well. However, if siblings are not ready for this information, if possible it is best not to have younger (or older) siblings listening in and commenting. The bottom line is that you know your children and you know how they relate to each other. Your instincts will guide you.
STEP 2: Getting Started
I love physical activity to begin a lesson.
For anyone who remembers Raffi, he had a great expression- Shake the sillies out! I often ask the children to pantomime my instructions. For example:
Imagine that you are wading through chocolate pudding.
Pretend that your balloon blew away and you are reaching for it.
Pretend that your head is a paintbrush and you are painting the floor.
You get the idea. Believe me, elementary students (even fifth graders) are not above some outright silliness. A few activities, followed by some deep calming breaths and you are ready to start a lesson.
STEP 3: Where to Begin
If you follow my blog, you will know that I highly recommend vocabulary as a starting point. I explained a game that I play (3 letter body parts). I cannot overemphasize the benefits of beginning with a game. I can honestly say that when I enter a classroom for a lesson, the reaction is always positive- “It’s health class!” I am certain that fun is a large part of the reason that my students look forward to health class.
Take Your Time
Family Life is a lot of information to take in and understand. There is no need to rush. My lessons were one per week, spaced out over a period of several months. I propose the following schedule for your first lessons.
1. Where to Begin A good primer for vocabulary.
2. What is Happening To Me? A beginners introduction to puberty.
After these two lessons, you may want to take a break from sex-ed, so I would go with
3. You Don’t Want To Be The Kid Who Smells A very important lesson on the importance of hygiene.
Follow these guidelines and you will be amazed how easily one lesson will flow to the next. Follow my blog and I will demonstrate how to segue from one topic to the next. Each week I will publish a new topic and fun and informative ways to present it.
Tips For Parents-as-Teachers
First and foremost, check your own attitude. Are you comfortable with the material? If not, work at it!
Be engaged. I never felt that these lessons were something to finish in a hurry. I viewed it as a chance to become connected with my students, and to help them to develop a positive attitude toward their bodies and the changes that were coming. Every fifth grader was taught the fifth grade motto and I had them say it (actually shout it) often:
I AM SPECIAL!
While you obviously may not want to share too much very personal information, fun stories about your own “growing up years” will go a long way. It was always entertaining for me to find my students completely amazed to learn that I actually was once a child! They loved the stories that I shared about myself and also about my family.
Finally, let me remind you- your child did not meet his or her first teacher in Pre-K or even kindergarten. You were their first and best teacher and you still hold that position. Enjoy it and please reach out with any questions. This is such a difficult and unusual situation. I would love to help!