Teaching Healthy Living Strand of Curriculum
The Healthy Living strand should make up 30% of HPE instructional time and should be explicitly taught outside of gymnasium time. It can be taught directly or integrated into other curriculum areas. Like in any lesson, the topics covered should be presented using effective lesson design using authentic tasks that the students can understand and apply to their lives.
There are many resources available to help with the health component of the HPE program, they can include such resources as: Expert guests, Public Health kits, OPHEA, on-line resources, school resource area and books. The Healthy Living Strand focuses on four health topics: Healthy eating; Personal safety and injury prevention; Substance use, addictions, and related behaviours; and Growth and Development from the 1998 curriculum.
There are many resources available to help with the health component of the HPE program, they can include such resources as: Expert guests, Public Health kits, OPHEA, on-line resources, school resource area and books. The Healthy Living Strand focuses on four health topics: Healthy eating; Personal safety and injury prevention; Substance use, addictions, and related behaviours; and Growth and Development from the 1998 curriculum.
Internet Health Resources
There are many resources available on the internet that can supply you with a wealth of information. However, some are better than others and the user should look at them with a critical eye to determine their suitability. The site
http://www.canadiensensante.gc.ca/init/kids-enfants/index-eng.php
was reviewed by myself and my colleague Jennifer Boon to determine it's effectiveness as a teaching resource for grade 2 Personal Safety and Injury Prevention. On this website there are a number of topics covered in regards to safety; boat, food, road, rail, toy, safe sleep, injury prevention, bullying/cyber bullying, obesity, and medication/illness. This website is easy to navigate, it is developed by the federal government, and offers links to other areas of interest. It also offers a link to recalled products. Often we don’t know where to go to find out that information, and because it is government published it is accurate. It would be a great website for a teacher to send home as a resource for parents. Although it was determined that this website would be a great resource for parents it does not contain a significant amount of information or resources that a teacher would be able to utilize for their teaching practice.
For the full site evaluation follow this link to Download the complete analysis of the site.
Other Internet Resources You May Find Helpful
Personal Safety and Injury Prevention
http://www.canadiensensante.gc.ca/init/kids-enfants/index-eng.php
Healthy Eating
http://www.healthyeatingpei.ca/toolkit-section6.php
http://www.power4bones.com/grownups/
Substance Use, Abuse and Addictions
http://www.camh.net/education/resources_teachers_schools/drug_Curriculum/
http://bit.ly/nNZIOM
Growth and Development
http://kidshealth.org/classroom/prekto2/body/functions/senses.pdf
http://www.ocup.org/public/units55/ChangeU.pdf
http://www.ophea.net/programs-services/more-resources/always-changing
http://www.canadiensensante.gc.ca/init/kids-enfants/index-eng.php
Healthy Eating
http://www.healthyeatingpei.ca/toolkit-section6.php
http://www.power4bones.com/grownups/
Substance Use, Abuse and Addictions
http://www.camh.net/education/resources_teachers_schools/drug_Curriculum/
http://bit.ly/nNZIOM
Growth and Development
http://kidshealth.org/classroom/prekto2/body/functions/senses.pdf
http://www.ocup.org/public/units55/ChangeU.pdf
http://www.ophea.net/programs-services/more-resources/always-changing
The Goal of Health Literacy
The Ontario Curriculum, Health and Physical Education (revised), Grades 1-8, 2010, page 6
The healthy Living Strand of the curriculum is only one component that is designed to provide students with a comprehensive health literacy.
The Ministry of Education have completed a comprehensive strategy that has determined that their are many components required to provide a foundation for a healthy school and ultimately equip students with fully functional health literacy. The high-quality instructional program is only one component and a comprehensive health strategy also requires a healthy physical environment, a supportive social environment and community partnerships. Integrating all of these components will help produce students that have the skills needed to get, understand and use information to make good decisions for health throughout their life.
The Ministry of Education have completed a comprehensive strategy that has determined that their are many components required to provide a foundation for a healthy school and ultimately equip students with fully functional health literacy. The high-quality instructional program is only one component and a comprehensive health strategy also requires a healthy physical environment, a supportive social environment and community partnerships. Integrating all of these components will help produce students that have the skills needed to get, understand and use information to make good decisions for health throughout their life.