Know

Personal Health

School-agers range in age from anywhere from 5 to 12 years old. This large span includes a great deal of change as far as personal health is concerned.

Younger school-age children are still learning proper personal hygiene skills and will rely on you to model good hand-washing techniques (see Lesson Two) and hygiene habits. School-age children may have occasional bathroom accidents. If a child does have an accident, keep in mind that they will probably be very embarrassed. Do not make the incident any bigger than it needs to be. Make sure to provide the child with privacy, clean clothes, plastic bags, and any necessary items he or she will need for cleanup. Your program will have specific policies on this topic, check with your coach, trainer, or administrator if you have any questions or concerns. In the Learn Activities section, you will find aChanging Soiled Clothing了解如何处理事故以减少污染的事故。

学校对学龄儿童来说可能是非常累人的，他们可能需要一些安静的时间来放松和积聚在你的计划中。休息是个人健康的必要部分，因为它给我们的身体和大脑有机会放松。在他们在能够专注于家庭作业或其他任务之前，儿童可能需要休息。

You can help model personal hygiene and resting behaviors by taking care of your own personal health. Be sure to get enough sleep so that you are refreshed and energized to working with school-age children.

Puberty

年长的学龄儿童的经验of change inside their growing bodies. Changes associated with puberty may be embarrassing or startling for children. It's important to be sensitive to these changes. According toKidshealth.org.，青春期可以早8岁开始，特别是女孩。物理开发课程提供有关身体变化和发育里程碑的更多信息，您可以在学龄前期间预测。您还可以通过访问健康的Kids.org，找到有关Body Macth的更多信息，由美国儿科学院开发的网站：https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/puberty/Pages/Physical-Development-of-School-Age-Children.aspx。

重要的是要了解儿童和青少年可能会经历的变化和青少年，并且可以通过这种发展阶段来帮助他们的方式。

• Create a fun, safe environment. Do not tolerate teasing, name calling, or bullying.
• Have books on puberty available in your professional library and safe websites identified that children can visit for more information. When older school-agers ask questions, it is important to have accurate and age-appropriate information available.
• Have sanitary pads and tampons available in the girls' bathroom.
• Have a stock of sample-size deodorants on hand.
• Be sensitive to children going through puberty changes.
• 请注意，激素变化会导致情绪波动。
• Promote healthy habits.

有机会是，你记得你的青春期多年的尴尬，因为它觉得一切都在改变，包括你自己。在与较旧的学龄儿童合作时，有机会面临从进入青春期时开始变化和变化的学生。青春期可能是一个难题的讨论，但重要的是要记住，您有责任帮助，支持，教导和保护这些儿童。他们可能会带来与你的问题来到你的问题上，他们不舒服地与家人讨论。记得在回答问题时始终坚持事实，并尽可能使用质量资源，例如建议书籍Staying Fit (Body and Mind)booklist located in the Learn Activities section below. The following websites also contain great information, resources, and downloads:

• CDC BaM! Body and Mind
• 孩子们健康

Another great resource is theBoys and Girls Clubs of America。They have programs for children of this age group concerning puberty and growing into teenage youth. The programs are calledSMART GirlsandPassport to Manhood。Each program has activities and information appropriate for school-age children.

Oral Health

There are many reasons school-age children may want or need to brush their teeth. Older school-age children may be sensitive about or embarrassed by bad breath. Children with braces, retainers, or other orthodontia are required to brush regularly. When a child spends the entire day in your care, for example during summer programs, they may need the opportunity to brush their teeth throughout the day, most likely after eating a meal.

牙刷应该标注和存储在一个方式that they are not touching each other and are allowed to air dry. You should speak with the families of children with braces or retainers to make sure you know of any foods or beverages the children should avoid. You will also want to ask about any cleaning procedures needed before or after-school hours.

For storing toothbrushes, programs can make their own storage containers using egg cartons, or you can talk with your coach, trainer, or administrator about purchasing a toothbrush holder from a childcare supply company. You also want to be sure that each child has their own toothpaste tube, or if you are sharing toothpaste, that you prevent cross contamination of germs by dispensing smears or pea-sized amounts of toothpaste onto a large piece of wax paper, a paper plate, or bottom of a rinsing cup, and then onto each child’s brush.

You may be caring for children who are in a variety of stages of dental development. Some may still have the majority of their primary teeth, while others may have a mouth full of permanent teeth. When working with younger school-age children who are in the process of losing their primary teeth, you should be prepared to store teeth. However, you should never assist a child in pulling out a loose tooth. Instead, let it come out naturally.

情绪健康

School-age children can experience many stressors throughout their day. You can help alleviate stress by creating a safe, healthy, caring, and fun environment where school-age children can learn and grow. In the Self & Cultural Understanding course, you will learn more about how to help school-age children cope with stress, how to encourage a healthy self-image, and ways to incorporate these methods into your daily plans. For now, here is a list of potential stressors for school-age children:

• Common childhood fears like moving to a new home, going to a new school, making new friends, etc.
• Parents' divorce
• Current events, war, media coverage, deployment of parent or loved one
• Death of loved one
• Being abused (physically, emotionally, sexually)
• 同辈压力
• Pressure to do well in school
• Puberty
• Sports loss
• Fight with friend

Since eliminating all of the sources of stress in children's lives is not possible, it is vitally important that we teach children healthy methods to cope with stress. The Learn Activities resource,My Personal Stress Plan,contains concrete steps youth can take to reduce their stress.

Examples of healthy methods of handling stress:

• Exercising
• Meditation or yoga
• 听ing to music
• Journaling
• Talking with somebody you trust
• 组织组织
• Knowing when to ask for help

(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2015)

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem refers to the way people feel about themselves, their self-worth, and their abilities. Children with a healthy self-esteem have the following characteristics, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2015):

• 安全感，归属和信任
• Sense of pride and purpose
• Sense of responsibility and contribution
• 鼓励，支持和奖励感
• Sense of making real choices and decisions
• Sense of self-discipline and self-control
• Ability to accept mistakes and failures
• A sense of family self-esteem

All of the qualities listed above are ones staff members hope their school-agers will possess. It is the role of the staff member to help school-age children see that each person is valued. You can do this by demonstrating respect for:

• 每个孩子都是个人
• The needs of the group
• 你自己和你的同事

You will learn specific methods to promote and encourage positive self-esteem in the Self & Cultural Understanding course. In addition, more information to support mental health, especially for children and youth of military service members, is provided in第六课。

看

Supporting school-age children's emotional health isn't necessarily something that can be caught on video. You will do this in a variety of ways, including protecting them from teasing or bullying, encouraging them, or sometimes just by lending an ear.

情绪健康

Do

General Hygiene Procedures for Toileting

在整个教室里有很多方法可以保持健康的环境。洗手间是一个重要的地方。按照以下步骤为自己和儿童创造健康的习惯：

• Check the restroom regularly to make sure toilets are flushed.
• Check to make sure floors, doors, and walls are clean.
• Make sure paper towels and other trash are thrown away properly.
• Make sure running water, soap, paper towels, plastic bags for soiled clothing, and toilet paper are available.
• Make sure you put disposable gloves on before handling soiled clothing. Remove gloves before handling clean clothing.
• If possible, use a separate sink for general use and hand washing after toileting. If you must use the same sink, disinfect it before using it for general or food-related use.
• Always wash your hands after helping children use the toilet, assisting with soiled clothing, or touching contaminated surfaces. Even if you wear disposable gloves, you must wash your hands.
• Make sure all children and adults wash their hands properly.

While toilet accidents are typically rarer in school-age settings, when compared to younger children, it is still helpful to prevent accidents by encouraging children to use the restroom at regular intervals (e.g. when they arrive at the program or before you go outside). Be sure to remind school-age children to use the restroom before going on a field trip or before a special event. Also watch for signs that a child needs to use the restroom. Holding the genital area, squirming, or moving uncomfortably could all mean a child needs to use the restroom.

Supporting School-age Children's and Youth's Personal and Emotional Health

• Lead by example。Model healthy habits by being active and dealing with your own stress and emotions in healthy ways.
• Show respect。证明respect for yourself, your co-workers and your school-age children.
• Plan。Plan activities that teach children good oral health.
• Teach。Educate school-age children on healthy methods of managing and coping with stress.
• Talk。Promote an atmosphere where children can discuss their feelings without fear of being teased or bullied
• 听。Be a kind, trustworthy staff member who school-age children can come to when they need to discuss difficult topics.
• Learn。在本课程的学习活动部分中使用下面的书列表。关于军事部署主题有一些阅读的书籍建议。
• Provide resources。When children or their families are concerned about puberty, developmental changes, of life stresses share some of the resources in this lesson with them so that they can have accurate, age-appropriate information

Suicide Awareness

While it’s normal and healthy for school-age children to experience manageable amounts of stress, children who are depressed or have suicidal thoughts need professional help. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children, youth, and young adults age 5-to-24-years old in the United States (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2017). Some risk factors for suicide in children and youth include:

• Previous suicide attempt
• Family history of suicide
• Identifying as LGBTQ
• 抑郁和其他心理健康问题
• 药物和酒精滥用
• Impulsivity and behavior problems
• Local epidemic of suicide in a community
• Easy access to guns
• Victim of bullying

Children and youth who are suicidal may make statements such as, “I wish I were dead,” or “You’d be better off without me.” Other warning signs of suicide include:

• 极度悲伤和绝望
• Loss of interest in friends, family, and hobbies
• Changes in sleep and appetite
• Skipping school and decline in school performance
• Irritability and difficulty concentrating

如果您担心您的计划中的儿童或青年是自杀的，您应该及时向您的培训师，教练或管理员以及一起传达这一关心，并共同传达您对儿童，家庭和心理健康专业人士的关注。告诉孩子，你担心他们，并以平静，同志的方式提出开放的问题。你可以问，“你感觉比平常更难过吗？”或者“你会变得如此悲伤，你想到了伤害或杀害自己吗？”使用直接问题和发展适当的语言。年轻的孩子可能不知道这个词的含义，“自杀”，但他们可能能够描述与抑郁症相关的症状，如胃痛或感觉比往常更生气。研究表明，如果他们有自杀思想，请询问某人不会引发自杀。自杀的孩子们往往不会与任何人交谈，因为他们害怕别人会与愤怒或忽视他们的感情反应。让孩子知道你想帮助他们感觉更好。就像是一个授权的记者一样，你不应该同意发誓要保密。 Let them know suicide is preventable and treatment is effective. Regardless of the child’s response to your questions, if your gut tells you something is wrong, get help immediately. For more information on how to respond to a child or youth’s suicidal thoughts, review this information fromThe Center for Suicide Research and Prevention at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.