Health Habits, Healthy Kids

‘Healthy Habits, Happy Kids’ is a social and emotional whole school learning program which was introduced at Lyndhurst Primary School a couple of years ago. Each fortnight a new ‘Healthy Habit’ is introduced for students to learn about and focus on in their classroom. Students are introduced to the fortnightly Healthy Habit at Assembly on Mondays.

In the coming weeks, we will let you know what the ‘Healthy Habit’ is for that fortnight, and we would love it if you could discuss the ‘habit’ with your children. For example, you could ask whether they know what the ‘Healthy Habit’ is, how do they show this habit, why is this habit important.

We would love for you to get involved and connect the students learning at school with their home. The ‘Healthy Habits’ that will be covered in Term 1 are Empathy, Responsibility, Tolerance and Peacefulness.

The Healthy Habit for weeks 5 and 6 is RESPONSIBILITY. Being RESPONSIBLE means not letting people down, and doing what you agree to do without having to be told all the time. It also means doing your chores, trying to be on time so that you don’t upset other people’s plans, being sensible, and helping those who need it, such as younger children and animals.

What Does Responsibility Look Like?

Responsible people:

R– requirements

meet the requirements they are given.

E– expectations

always set high expectations and goals.

S– supervision

do what is right even if no one is looking.

P– parents

respect their parents and do what they ask.

O– others

realise that their responsibilities affect others.

N– never

never choose friends who want them to be irresponsible.

S– self-disciplined

are self-disciplined to make responsibility a daily habit.

I– independence

increase independence as they become more responsible.

B– bullying

know that bullying someone is never responsible.

I– involved

are involved in the community.

L– liability

accept liability for their actions.

I– initiative

initiate creative solutions for problems.

T- trustworthy

are trustworthy: they treat the property of others as they would their own.

Y– YOU!

are like you! Your integrity defines who you are!

Teaching kids responsibility

Helping your kids learn to be responsible is one of the greatest life tools you can give them.

by: GreatSchools Staff | February 29, 2016

Teaching your kids to be responsible, and giving them more important responsibilities as they get older, isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it! By teaching children to do things for themselves, you’re not only getting a little break. You’re teaching them to be people who have confidence that they are capable and competent.

If you’re not ready for them to make a complete dinner or take over big chores totally, that’s OK. Here are a few examples of how to get started building your child’s responsibilities.

At dinner

If your child has never cooked before, ask him to join you as an assistant. Before you get started, talk about what you’re making, what you need to do, and what you’ll need help with. Having a sense of what’s expected will help your child be less nervous about messing up.

Have your child help gather the ingredients and get out the equipment you need. As you put the meal together, show him everything you’re doing. Ask him to stir the pot, measure the flour, and do anything else he can.

Start with simple meals, and let your child take on more and more of the responsibility each time you cook together. Of course, safety is key in the kitchen, so keep a close watch when a child is near knives or fire, especially if he’s a beginner at these tasks.

Homework

If your child has a big school project to do, you may not be comfortable saying, “This is your responsibility” and leaving her on her own. Instead, you can teach her how to take control of the project herself, while still keeping an eye on her progress.

Ask her to explain the project to you, as though she were the teacher giving the assignment. Let her do the talking. This will help you both figure out if she understands what she has to do, and when. If she’s confused about part of it, you can read together (out loud) any explanations the teacher may have sent home. If there’s still confusion, make it her job to ask the teacher for help.

If she’s clear on what to do but you suspect she’ll have trouble actually doing it, have her write down a list of the days she can work on it, and what she wants to accomplish each day to get done on time. This will teach her to take control of her own schedule.

Your child may find all this difficult, so check in with her regularly: “Did you follow your plan for your project today?” If so, great. Tell her what a good job she’s doing at being responsible for her work. If not, remind her that it’s her plan, and she’s the only one who can follow through to get it done.

Taking care of themselves

Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to spend your morning reminding your kids to get dressed, bugging them to brush their teeth, and frantically packing their backpacks as the bus pulls up? Teaching your kids to take care of their daily needs is a gift to you as well as to them.

If there are a lot of things to get done before leaving the house, use a chore chart listing each chore. Brush teeth, get dressed, pack lunch, put homework in their backpack, for example. What seems obvious to you may seem like a lot to remember to a child — and learning to make lists is a good way to learn to handle responsibilities.

Then you have to let your child do it. This is hard for parents who want their kids to look a certain way when they walk out the door. Let your kids pick out their own clothes (if you can get them to do it the night before, even better!). Remember: If they leave home without socks or a coa

Growing Patch Report

The growing patch has been flourishing over the summer holidays and we have managed to produce some wonderful veggies and fruit for our students to try this term

The growing patch was started a couple of years ago at Lyndhurst to connect the students to the garden, healthy living and mindfulness. Under the supervision of the wellbeing team and their teachers, the children are able to sow, tend, cook and then try the crops we grow.

The lessons connect the students with their environment, involves them in cultivating, harvesting and preparing the seasonal food they grow to eat.

Last term we planted strawberries, corn, zucchini and more of our carrot seeds that we collected from a carrot flower after leaving it in the soil and not harvesting. So now we are growing carrots sustainably which we are very proud of!

We experimented with growing potatoes in a container last term, it’s a great way when you do not have much space in the garden. They are almost ready for harvesting we shall keep you posted if we get a good crop.

Please come and say hello when we are out watering the garden, it is lovely to chat with so many of you while we are outside each morning and afternoon through the week.

The Wellbeing Team

Help Needed

The students and teachers would love some help from any keen green fingered parents, grandparents or carers on Friday mornings. If you can spare any time please contact the school office.

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