Staying Healthy at Forward Leap: Tips for Students and Parents

As most people know, schools and childcare places can have various illnesses run through them. They can take out everyone, including staff and the children's families.

While illness is inevitable at Forward Leap, there are some healthy habits that we all can follow to cut down the amount and severity of illnesses at Forward Leap. Read on for more information and tips that we can use to keep as healthy as possible.

Common illnesses

No one likes to be sick (at least I don't think so!). It is just something that happens, though. When it comes to schools- it is definitely something that happens!

Even though Forward Leap will only serve up to nine children, contagious illnesses will still most likely go around-just like at home daycares. The following are really common ones that we might deal with:

• Influenza

• Colds

• Stomach bugs

• Pink eye

• RSV

• Strep throat

• COVID-19
  

These illnesses can pretty much hit at any time but they usually occur less often in the summer months (thank goodness!).

The primary mode of transmission for these are by way of droplets, touch and close contact. So that is why they spread so fast and easily. Because of this I will be taking the following measures:

• Cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting every day regardless if someone is sick or has been sick.

• Cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting even more than what I do daily if someone is sick or has been sick.

• Covering coughs and sneezes and having the children do the same.

• Washing my hands a lot and having the children do the same.

• Using gloves to prepare food.

• Closing the school for a day or two to clean and disinfect if the outbreak is particularly bad.

• Closing the school for a day or two if I am really sick.

• Making sure that children who are sick are kept home.

Tips for staying healthy

Besides me cleaning a lot throughout the day to keep us healthy, there are some things that you can do at home to keep you and your kids healthy. This will in turn make it so people don't get sick as much. Here are some tips for you:

The basic stuff

These are some things that families should be doing or trying to do already;

• Nutritious meals- Having nutritious and balanced meals with antioxidant-rich foods (i.e. broccoli, blueberries and sweet potatoes) goes a long way in keeping your family healthy. You are more likely to get the vitamins, minerals, protein etc. that you need naturally without having to spend extra money on supplements. That being said- everything in moderation! Treats or not-so healthy meals are okay sometimes.

• Physical activity- It is important for adults and children to get in physical activity each day. This can look differently depending how you go about it but as long as you are getting movement in- you are doing a great job. Exercise helps a person physically and mentally.

• Sufficient sleep- Sleep is important for physical, mental and cognitive health. The Mayo Clinic states that adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night and Forward Leap students will need 9-13 hours to be healthy.

• Hydration- Keeping up with liquid intake is important for one's overall health. Forward Leap students should get at least four cups of water per day.

Hygiene

Here are some some hygiene-related preventative measures to take:

• Hand washing- This is important and simple for preventing viruses and bacteria from taking hold in your body or transferring it around. It should be done quite a lot during the day- which Forward Leap students will be doing!

• Hand sanitizer- Although hand washing is the best, the use of hand sanitizer has its place as well. It should be used when hand soap and a sink is not available. At Forward Leap, we use Myshield sanitizer which kills everything including the norovirus (unlike other sanitizers).

• Masks and social distancing- While masking is very controversial and no one really does it anymore- they can still prevent and stop the spread of illnesses. When it comes to social distancing, not being by a person who is ill is also a good way to prevent getting sick.

• Cleaning and disinfecting at home: I am sure you already do this regularly but it is good to do a more thorough job when sickness has hit your household. This is so that it doesn't keep getting passed around. That means using an all-purpose cleaner and a disinfectant (here is a great one) around the house where things have been touched. You should also launder clothes on high heat (both on washer and dryer) to get the sickness out of your clothes.

Mental health

keeping healthy mentally has full body benefits. This means it is also very important in the prevention of illnesses. At Forward Leap, we take social/emotional/mental health seriously and include it into the curriculum. Here are some tactics you can :

• Talk about feelings- Even if your child is young, you can still talk to them about their feelings at the moment and the different things that people feel. It is good to also teach them that they shouldn't bottle their feelings up.

• Get out in the world- Staying cooped up inside every single day isn't good for a lot of people's mental health. Take your child for strolls in nature, go to fun museums, check out some parks etc.

• Stress management- If a child is feeling a lot of stress and anxiety, have them manage their feelings through different techniques. This can include belly breathing and taking breaks to decompress.

Other tips for parents

The following are some more things you can do as parents to make sure that you and your children stay as healthy as possible:

• Pack well-balanced lunches and snacks- The lunches and snacks you send with your children to Forward Leap don't have to be perfectly healthy but try to add at least one healthy food item to them (i.e. raw carrots).

• Communication with me- If you have any specific health-related concerns about your child at Forward Leap, please come to me about it. I want us to be on the same page and get things figured out together.

• Establish a good sleep routine- It is important for Forward Leap students to be getting a good amount of sleep each night. You can find tips and tricks online about this.

• Know Forward Leap's policies- When your child is enrolled at Forward Leap, you are given a family handbook that has illness policies in it. Make sure to read and understand them as they are meant to allow for the recovery of sick students and the prevention of illnesses spreading to everyone.

In conclusion

Daycares and elementary schools often have illnesses that get passed around to the everyone. This means that Forward Leap will most likely experience some outbreaks. Fortunately, there are things that we can do about it.

I hope that the tips and tricks I have laid out in this post will be things that you try at home and anywhere outside of Forward Leap.

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