HELP YOUR MIDDLE SCHOOLER STAY HEALTHY OVER THE SUMMER MONTHS
Experts agree that there is a direct link between student health and academic achievement. And the end of the school year shouldn’t signal the end of your preteen’s healthful habits!
Over the summer, be sure to:
¨ Maintain routines. Don’t throw your preteen’s bedtime—pr alarm clock—out the window just because it’s vacation. Instead, remain on some sort of regular schedule, even if the actual bedtime (or waking time) gets pushed back a little.
¨ Encourage your child to move. Summer bread isn’t for sitting around, so get your preteen moving! Help your child find an enjoyable activity—such as jogging, biking, skate boarding, etc.—and encourage it often. Better yet, get the shoe family involved. Exercise benefits everyone.
¨ Eat dinner together. Your preteen may be lured outdoors by longer, warmer days, but make sure your family comes together for dinner. Eating together is a terrific way to stay connected.
¨ Be a good role model. Your preteen takes “healthful habits” cues from what you do—not what you say. So don’t simply tell your preteen how to do positive things for health. Do them for yourself, too!
Source: “Top 10 Ways to Help C hildren Develop Healthy Habits,” American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3030485. Reprinted with permission from Copyright © 2009 The Parent Institute
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR PRETEEN IS DOING AFTER SCHOOL
Warmer weather and longer days can also mean more opportunity for your child to get into trouble in the first few hours after school. Answer yes or no to the questions below to find out how well you are monitoring your child’s after-school time:
1. Do you make sure your child has an adult contact after school, such as a relative, neighbor or sitter?
2. Do you keep in touch by phone when your child is out of school and you are not there?
3. Do you encourage your child to be involved in supervised extra-curricular activities after school?
4. Do you have rules about who may be in the house when you are not there?
5. Have you and your child discussed the dangers that kids can get into after school (such as alcohol, illegal drugs) and how to avoid them?
How are you doing?
Most yes answers mean you are working hard to keep your child safe and productive after school. For no answers, try those suggestions.
Reprinted with permission from © Copyright 2009 The Parent Institute