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¶ … Children during their elementary school years are just beginning to develop their basic life habits. Food preferences, health behaviors, safe practices, and enthusiasm for learning are all being integrated into the child's sense of self at this stage. Children are learning to play with others in an empathetic fashion, to take pride in meaningful academic accomplishments, and are beginning to take responsibility for their personal safety and well-being. The developmental psychologist Erik Erikson called this stage one of 'inferiority vs. industry:' "children need to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority" (Cherry 2013).
One of the delights of teaching this age group is that they can be an active part in designing the classroom to make it a positive environment. For example, at the beginning of the year, the teacher can brainstorm rules for the classroom with the children, which can then be posted permanently. Because students have input into the creation of the rules, they will be less likely to take issue with them. Student art and learning activities can be used to decorate the classroom year 'round to reinforce learning (such as having the children illustrate posters comparing solids, liquids, and gases for science). Posting student...
Children at this age are natural 'problem solvers' and the idea that they can 'solve' the problem of how to ensure everyone is good in the classroom and is learning all of the time is exciting (School age (5-8 years), 2013).
Teaching students about appropriate health behaviors does not have to be a formal part of a 'health unit' but can also be integrated into the curriculum. For example, when the issue of food comes up in a story or social studies, this can be a great springboard to talk about healthy eating habits. Students are always eager to talk about their favorite foods. Discussing which foods are 'good for you' and which are 'sometimes foods' as well as food production and nutrition can be a regular part of class. Having a cafeteria on-premise with healthy options that are labeled as such can be an important step in encouraging students to think about what they eat -- for students who bring their own lunches, discussing what makes a 'balanced' lunch can be a useful classroom exercise.
Students can be asked to empathize with characters in history and literature as well, as a source of psychological 'health' to encourage them to be respectful of others. Talking about issues…
References
Alber, R. (2011). Twenty tips for creating a safe learning environment. Edtopia. Retrieved from:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-create-safe-learning-environment-rebecca-alber
Cherry, Kendra. (2013). Erik Erikson's stages summary chart. Retrieved from:
http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm
VIC. Retrieved: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/parents/health/pages/schoolage.aspx
Nutrition and Cognitive Learning Among Elementary School Students -- a Proposal Many elementary school children are at-risk for poor nutrition. While many children do have good nutritional habits because their families lack money to buy sufficient food, they are not the only group suffering from poor nutrition. Many children, from all social and economic backgrounds, have enough food yet have diets that are high in fat, sugar, and sodium, resulting in
According to Copland (2001), although the following job description is a parody, it is not too far from the truth concerning the current set of responsibilities that confront the nation's elementary school principals: Position Opening: Elementary School Principal, Anytown School District. Qualifications: Wisdom of a sage, vision of a CEO, intellect of a scholar, leadership of a point guard, compassion of a counselor, moral strength of a nun, courage of
Organization Analysis The cycle of production, so to speak, is based around the school year, which runs from fall to spring. Students are organized by grades based on this cycle, and the teachers are organized on the basis of which grades they teach. This means that, for example, James will have a different teacher for each grade, and that the interaction between James and each teacher will be different. However, it
Student Achievement at the Elementary Level Elementary education is one of the most important stages of schooling today. This is so because this level of education provides students with important basis points that they can use throughout their lives, not only during their secondary and tertiary education, but also in their adult lives and the workplace. Hence, ensuring a top level of achievement at the elementary level is highly important. The challenge
Student Achievement at the Elementary Level One of the most important assets of a nation is its children. We regard children as precious because they constitute our future. The way in which a nation will develop and be successful in the future is its children. Today, children are even more precious because the very survival of humanity as a whole depends on them. Whether we can survive environmental disasters like global
In other words, sports participation may actually discourage some children from being physically active. Another current intervention is to reduce the amount of time that a child spends in front of a screen of some sort. Screens, whether computer screens, video game screens, or television screens all encourage children to be passive recipients of entertainment, rather than active players in a game of some sort. What is fascinating is that