Thoughts on Health Education in the Home

Over the course of this year, I plan to do a series of posts on home education in various subjects required by or related to those required by the state we currently reside in. This is partly to develop my own homeschooling philosophy and specific ideas via writing, and partly sharing some toddler-appropriate ideas and visions that may be of help to you. This post is on health education, focusing on how to sequence said education in the K-12 age range.

What is Health?

I may not have mentioned this on the blog before, but my PhD training was in interdisciplinary health sciences. Basically, my cohort was made up of nurses, rehab therapists, and other health professionals who wanted to learn about how their professions could interact for better health outcomes. Therefore, we started out on day 1 exploring how various organizations and agencies define "health." Two such organizations are SAMHSA and WHO.

SAMHSA stands for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a part of the United States government. SAMHSA's 8 dimensions of wellness aim to describe the whole person. The linked wellness guide gives definitions and suggestions, most of which seem to fit neurotypical extroverts rather than neurodiverse introverts. That said, social relationships (of various numbers and quality) are important throughout one's life to protect from dementia and various mental health disorders.

Here are the 8 dimensions of wellness, with examples of areas that an individual can address to improve their own wellness according to the guide.

• Emotional--feelings/emotions, self-care, stress
• Spiritual--beliefs, involvement, time
• Intellectual--personal interests, education, brain exercise/games, conversation
• Physical--nutrition, physical activity, sleep, medication safety, preventive medicine, substances, sleep
• Environmental--green living, change of scenery, home/work environment
• Financial--work, checking/savings, debt, retirement/other accounts
• Occupational--work relationships, balance, accomplishment
• Social--community, new people, social time

WHO stands for the World Health Organization. Its definition of health encompasses the total person (mental, physical, and other dimensions) and encourages people to aim for more than simply being disease-free. Health indicators at a local and national level include mental health diagnosis rates, maternal mortality rate, and the density of skilled health professionals per number of people needing to be served.

How do Schools Teach About Health?

In most states, health is a required subject. That said, most school districts have considerable leeway in how to implement health education curricula for the schools under their juristiction. At the national level, there are some standards for outcomes, but not really any for specific curricula (as it should be!). Here's a link listing state-level standards, if present, for each state. A few states do spell out expectations for curricular areas in their legal codes.

Features of a Good Curriculum

Are there standardized features of what makes a "good" health education curriculum? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say yes. Focus areas include

• Clear goals and outcomes
• Basic and accurate functional health knowledge, presented at the appropriate level for a given age, development, and culture
• Individual attitudes, beliefs, and vlaues
• Norms and social influences on health behaviors
• Protective factors
• Awareness of perceived risks and harms of individual behaviors

Format-wise, a good curriculum should also include

• Basis in research and established theories (scientific not colloquial definition of a theory)
• Skills practice to help students become more confident and competent in health behaviors
• Personalization to better engage students
• Teaching and learning strategies and materials that include the widest possible variety of students and teachers
• Enough time allotted for teaching and learning
• Information for teacher professional development

National Student Outcome Standards

Although standards are not in legal codes at the national level, there are nevertheless national standards for student outcomes. Each standard has sample behaviors to show positive oucomes for the ends of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12

1. "Understand functional health knowledge to enhance health"
2. "Analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, social media, technology, and other determinants on health behaviors"
3. "Demonstrate health literacy by accessing valid and reliable health information, products, and services to enhance health"
4. "Demonstrate effective interpersonal communication skills to enhance health"
5. "Demonstrate effective decision-making skills to enhance health"
6. "Demonstrate effective goal-setting skills to enhance health"
7. "Demonstrate observable health and safety practices"
8. "Advocate for behaviors that support personal, family, peer, school, and community health"

How Can Homeschoolers Teach About Health?

If you homeschool, you know that you have the freedom to choose your own curriculum and approach for each child. I see several ways in which health education can be incorporated into a homeschool routine, since at least one parent is working for some time period with each child during the days and weeks.

The biggest piece of home health education is your mindset as a parent. Framing health as what will set your child(ren) up for longevity and a more successful life, look a health education as a natural part of your everyday lives. The less children see learning as compartmentalized, the more likely they will be to integrate it where it fits best.

What are some age-appropriate topics and behaviors, according to the National Standards link above? By the end of second grade, most children should be able to identify which situations and people are likely safe and likely unsafe; encourage family members and peers to make healthier choices; and recognize positive and negative influences on one's health behaviors. By the end of 5th grade, most children should be able to describe specific ways to reduce health risk (like eating fruits and vegetables), explain how social media influence health behaviors (assuming that they use social media), and persuade family and peers to make beneficial choices. 

By the end of 8th grade, most children should be operating at higher levels of thinking for health behaviors. For example, they might analyze how factors such as education and income level affect health status, explain how regulations influence health behvaiors, and adapt health-related messaging to various audiences. Finally, by the end of 12th grade, most children should be able to analyze the effects of their own responsibilities on others' health as well as how social norms affect health behaviors, and they might collaborate to improve health at multiple levels (individual, family, etc.).

How do you set the stage in toddlerhood? Here are my thoughts, from a Charlotte Mason perspective. CM philosophy emphasizes nurturing habits, starting with attention to task and speaker. Recognizing that children are born as persons, with the rights and (eventually) responsibilities pertaining to that nature. Given those presuppositions, some things we have worked on with Child since infancy are:

• Talked through whatever we were doing (e.g., changing a diaper) to build awareness of process, reasons for behaving in certain ways, and facilitate respect and appropriate autonomy
• Given choices that are all acceptable to us (e.g., which jacket would you like to wear today?) to minimize the risk and opportunity to make undesirable/unsafe choices
• Encouraged at least a taste of an unfamiliar food but not pressuring to eat a certain amount or clean one's plate at a certain rate
• Narrated how we think Child might be feeling at a given time, but not telling how to feel in any situation

What are your favorite ways to introduce and sustain healthy habits in your home? Feel free to share in the comments!