School is a great place to pick up lots of things, mostly positive – including an education and friends. However, it’s also a great place to pick up germs and bad habits. It’s always a struggle staying healthy to avoid lots of missed school days which can affect your education. Your child needs to remain healthy. So before you start another school year filled with missed days due to illness, check out these tips for staying healthy, followed by tips for staying safe.
Tips to Keep Your Child Healthy This School Year
- Teach your child good hand washing techniques.
- Show your child that he (or she) should sneeze into his elbow/upper arm rather than his hand. This way he won’t spread his germs as easily.
- Teach your child to keep his hands away from his face and eyes, especially after touching surfaces.
- Don’t let your child share towels, blankets, or pillows – especially if you know someone has been sick.
- Tell your child not to share hats, scarves, hair brushes, etc. These are things which belong to one person and one person alone. It would be like sharing your underwear or toothbrush – gross.
- Tell your child to avoid classmates who are exhibiting any signs of being ill, such as coughing and sneezing a lot or complaining of a sore throat. Since many bugs can be passed just by touching, you will want to steer clear of anyone who might be sick or getting sick.
- Make sure your child eats a well-balanced diet. While this isn’t going to prevent you from getting sick, it will help you fight off illness faster which will lead to fewer missed days of school.
- Don’t send your child to school if he is sick with a fever or has thrown up in the last 24 hours. Not only is this to keep other children from getting sick, but your own child needs the rest to recover from his illness faster and hopefully prevent it from developing into anything more severe.
- Make sure your child always eats breakfast. Breakfast boosts your metabolism and gives you energy.
- Your child should also drink lots of water. It’s always important to stay hydrated. If your body is working to compensate for what you’re not giving it, then you’re going to make yourself more susceptible to illness.
- It’s good to take a daily multi-vitamin to help boost his metabolism.
- Staying active and getting plenty of exercise will help to keep your child healthy.
School Safety Tips
Here are tips for your child to ensure that he also stays safe at school.
- Walk home with a buddy.
- Don’t talk to strangers. If someone tries to coax you in his car, run and tell a trusted adult.
- Stay seated until the bus comes to a complete stop.
- Cross in front of the bus, not in back.
- Wear appropriate shoes to school so you don’t trip or hurt your feet.
- Walk inside school. Don’t run down hallways.
- Tell an adult about any strange activity in school or on the school bus.
- Follow traffic signals and crossing guard’s directions.
- Know your full phone number and address so you can give it to an adult if you get lost.
Staying safe and healthy this school year is very important. Follow the above tips and your child should have a great safe and healthy year.
