School Fitness Workouts for Kids: Stretching, breathing and Yoga for kids

Schools often put the cart before the horse trying to educate a child's mind while ignoring bodily needs. Tired, hungry, uncomfortable children don't learn well. Here are school fitness workouts for kids to improve mental functioning. Use yoga stretches and breathing exercises for classroom phys ed. Yoga makes perfect winter school fitness workouts for kids because they can do yoga in the classroom--no need to go to the gym or outdoors. Yoga stretches and breathing exercises foster learning. 

Lest any parent object to the use of yoga in schools, for religious reasons or otherwise, this isn't meditative yoga, it's just basic asanas or postures. Call it Brain Gym or just phys ed if that makes parents feel better. 

Why use yoga in the classroom? For 6-8 hours a day, students sit in uncomfortable desks, breathing stale, recycled air. When she's not sitting, she's lugging around an achingly heavy backpack. She gets very little healthy exercise but a lot a stress and strain. Many schools have phys ed, but generally only one to three times per week. High school students get none unless it's an elective. School fitness workouts for kids are essential, even if they're just short ones. 

Do short periods of yoga for kids or other stretching and breathing exercises throughout the school day serves several purposes. Yoga strengthens lungs by teaching students to breathe deeply and use oxygen more efficiently. Yoga breathing calms the mind, body and spirit. It puts students in a tranquil, receptive frame of mind for learning. Yoga stretches and breathing exercises, even without meditation, purges the body of negative energy. Yoga is particularly useful for special needs students who can't do certain exercises or who suffer anxiety. 

The benefits of stretching periodically are many. Students experience fewer cramped muscles, stomachaches, headaches and discomfort. They are more attentive when given a chance to limber up. Students are happier and more willing to cooperate when they know that teacher cares about their whole self, not just the thinking part. Yoga requires no special equipment. It's perfect for school fitness workouts for kids and in-class phys ed. 

Try doing whole group yoga for kids stretches and breathing exercises twice a day. Start first thing in the morning and immediately after lunch. Utilize "waiting in line" time and walking halls for mini phys ed breaks. School fitness workouts for kids help keep them focused. Do whole body stretches and deep breathing exercises. If kids are concentrating on yoga stretches, there will be less need for obligatory teacher shushing in the hallway. Once students get the hang of yoga stretches, fitness workouts and breathing exercises while walking, they will do it automatically whenever they are waiting somewhere. Here are yoga for kids videos. 

Homemade Cardboard Sink and Refrigerator for Preschool Practical Life Learning Centers

Homemade Cardboard Play House Furniture and Appliances: Sink and Refrigerator 

When I was young, my parents made an entire play house for me from recycled cardboard boxes. You can use your recycle bin to make a cardboard house for homeschool or preschool learning center. Here's a tutorial for homemade child sized sink and refrigerator. 

To make these easy cardboard play appliances in less than an hour, you will need cardboard boxes, box cutter or sharp scissors, permanent marker, plastic dishpan or tub, duct tape or box tape and two pump dispensers from soap bottles. 

To make a play sink, tape a cardboard box closed. Cut slits in the box. Insert a small plastic dishpan or tub like hospitals send patients home with. Push tub down into the hole you cut. Cardboard frame will hold the tub in place and create a 'sink'. 

Make faucet, spout and handle for your play sink from two recycled dispenser bottles. Foaming hand soap dispensers look the most realistic. Cut small holes in the back of the box sink. Drop dispenser pieces into the holes so that just the top pump part shows through. Tape inside box so it doesn't wobble. Children can pretend to run water by pressing pump dispenser. 

Or make pretend handles. Make discs of cardboard, clay or cork. Cover with duct tape. Punch hole in center. Insert old pencils or straws. Cut a hole in the back of the cardboard near faucet. Insert straws/pencils and tape to back inside of box. Label "hot" and "cold." Rotate discs like knobs. Place recycled dish soap bottle on sink.

Use a tall rectangle box placed upright for refrigerator. Duct tape pieces of cardboard to make a shelves. Place an old plastic dishpan or plastic box in the bottom for a vegetable drawer. Cover all cardboard surfaces with contact paper and seal edges with duct tape so cardboard appliances last longer. Place small clothing rack near the play kitchen to hang aprons and chefs hats. Dress up is essential in child's play. 

CBT, Rewards, Punishment and Classroom Management

I’ve been a certified special needs teacher since 1986. Special educators teach in different ways, using hands on and multisensory learning and individualized instruction. Discipline is different too. 

We used behavior modification. Despite its bad reputation, it’s actually very effective. It works well with young children, non-verbal and those who aren’t ready for cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or REBT (rational emotive behavior therapy). Actually behavior mod works for everyone, even fully functional adults. 

In special education, we focuses on positive reinforcement over negative reinforcement (removal of positive) and punishment. We teachers learned that for every “negative” (admonishment, correction, discipline, thou-shalt-not) we should give four positive supports (praise, reward, encouragement, smiles, hugs.

This isn’t candy-coated hand-holding. Positive just plain works better. From years in general ed and homeschooling, these principles work there too. I’ve written for years about this kind of instruction. I’m writing a series on initiating special education techniques in the general education classroom. 

These are principles we should be using with all students. They are more effective than traditional educational techniques. 

Healthy School Snacks Ideas for Lunch

I'm on a mission to root out unhealthy school snacks that claim to be healthy and expose their true lack of nutritional value. I've had it with school snacks that proclaim to be healthy but are in fact full of junk. 

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars and Eggo Nutri-Grain Waffles and most cereal and granola bars. Loaded with high fructose corn syrup, artificial color and hydrogenated fat, low protein and junk carbs. These are just cookies with a fancy "nutritional" name added. Look for snack bars with no HFCS and protein.

Sun Maid yogurt covered raisins: We are supposed to assume that because these raisins are coated in yogurt and not chocolate, that they have the health goodness of yogurt and are better for us. Wrong. Yogurt covered raisins are basically candy covered raisins. But they don't taste as good as Raisinets.

General Mills and Post Cereal Bars: Initially Post and GM had the audacity to market these as milk and cereal bars. Pulleez- they are basically Coco Puffs and Fruit Loops mixed with marshmallow and pasted together with more marshmallow. In short they are candy bars. Make Rice Krispie Treats at home and you'll be farther ahead. Or give your kids Coco-Puffs with milk. Or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks: Betty Crocker isn't the only one selling us a crock with her packaged 'fruit snacks'. Fruit snacks are a misnomer for highly sugared gelatin tidbits, similar to Juji Fruits and Dots, that come luridly colored , in bizarre flavors and are shaped like cartoon characters. Just the names Fruit Gushers, Fruit by the Foot (a sort of high fructose tape) make me ill. In my day, we called these fruit snacks candy. Welches and Sunkist Fruit Snacks are one step up. They at least do not have artificial color and do contain some fruit juice and 100% RDA of Vitamin C. You could just send the child to school with an orange or a banana.

Hands-on Geography Social Studies Earth Science Lessons and Games Using Globes

April is Earth Month and it's a good time to explore earth science and world geography. With the National Geography Bee right around the corner, here are hands-on social studies lessons, map activities and geography games with globes. Playing geography games with globes helps students visualize the big picture better than with maps. Use map activities to locate specific places and use globes for accurate place countries in the world at large. Use geography games with globes to demonstrate earth science lessons, just in time for Earth Month in April!

Race Around the World map activities: Divide students into teams of 2-4. Give each team a globe and attach a world map to the wall or bulletin board. Call out countries, cities and provinces for teams to locate their globes. The first team to find the location wins a point. After the location is found indicate it on the wall map with a pin or sticky note arrow (available at most office supply retailers).

Earth Science Jeopardy: Students may play individually or in teams. Draw a Jeopardy grid on a Dry-Erase board, overhead projector or chalkboard. Label five categories across the top of the Earth Science Jeopardy board. Here are some suggested earth science categories: Rivers, Mountain Ranges, Africa, Asia, Islands, Europe, United States, South America, Bodies of Water, Northern Hemisphere, Locations that begin with ____ (fill in letter). Fill in dollar amounts as in regular Jeopardy. Players select a category and value. The geography games leader calls out a place and team members must locate it on globes. Give teams buzzers or bells to sound when they find the answer.

Latitude and Longitude Hide 'n Seek map activities: Explain the how lines and degrees of latitude and longitude work. Official latitude lines--also called parallels--go east to west and longitude lines go north and south. There are 180 latitude lines--90 above the equator (north) and 90 below (south). There are 360 lines of longitude (180 in the eastern hemisphere and 180 in the western hemisphere). They are divided into 24 groups which define time zones as well as geographical locations. Use coordinate geometry to place cities and landforms in lines of latitude and longitude. Ask students to list different earth science landforms located with the latitude and longitude markings. Ask students list cities and locales based on latitude and longitude coordinates or bearings.

Time zones bingo map activities: Using the small dial attached to the top of the globe, teach students how read lines of longitude to determine time zone. Call out a time zone. Students fill their card by locating and listing a city or province in that time zone. Require older students to calculate what time it is in different countries by giving the time in another time zone. Explain the Greenwich Mean Time system.

Easy Classroom Fitness Workouts

The Ultimate Guide to Quick Fitness Workouts About half or more of all students live sedentary lives. And the classroom environment makes the problem worse. Learning is doing. We know that children who sit all day do not learn as well. They get distracted, bored and sleepy. Here are over 70 activities to get in a quick mini workout throughout your school day. Easy, interactive and fun! No materials required! 

Do you make exercise a part of your day? Is family fitness a priority? For many parents, it's not the lack of ambition, it's their crazy-busy lifestyles. How do you fit quick workouts into an already hectic day? Here are multitasking mom's mini workouts to wedge in your cram-packed schedule. These aren't hardcore extreme fitness regimes but they do satisfy the family fitness vs. time crunch dilemma. 

Get double duty out of the things you already do now by adding in quick workouts. The trick is to extract exercise from every activity you do. Long ago, people weren't obese and didn't work out. They did work constantly. Turn chores into mini workouts--do chores outside for a fitness trifecta: fresh air, exercise and productivity! As with any fitness, be sure to warm up, cool down, don't overdo it and obey your doctor when you exercise with children. 

Quick workouts out in public. Take every opportunity you can find to walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk through your plant, office, school or facility at break time. Don't ride anything or take the elevator. Walk the entire store when you grocery shop, stopping in every section. Run up the stairs to exercise with children. 

Family fitness routines: Walk your child to the bus stop (Why drive 2 blocks on a nice day?) Take a family bike ride to do errands close by (drop off library books, mail letters, grab a few groceries, pay bills). Park farther from buildings and stores so you will have to walk further. Teach children to use the stairs as an exercise machine (carefully so they don't get hurt, though.) Walk the dog, cat, hamster, etc. Take a family walk to do nearby errands--get the newspaper, buy milk, drop things off at church. Pull kids and stuff in the wagon (take turns pulling). Bag your own groceries and carry them out. When you go downtown or to a shopping mall, park and walk to each store (don't drive the car to hit stores a few doors down). 

Family fitness through community activities. Volunteer for Walk for Warmth, March of Dimes Walk-athon, jogging benefits and marathons. Enter your family in a parade. Walk the local outdoor farmer's market, craft show or flea market. Garage sale at a block sale. 

Quick workout at work. Whatever your occupation, try to get up and move around every 15 minutes or so. Go to the copy room or mail room. Hand deliver a few messages instead of emailing or texting everything. Touch base with fellow employees. Teachers and homeschool parents, "cruise" the classroom. You will help students and monitor problems. No one teaches as well from behind a desk. Check in with supervisor, spot-check problems, communicate on the move. 

Multitasking mini workouts at your desk. At the computer, in the car, on the bus or while reading, do these strengthening exercise with children. Tighten, hold and relax muscles in this sequence-- abdomen, buttocks, chin, Kegel (pelvis). Point and flex each foot and knee occasionally. 

Multitasking family fitness at home: Walk briskly as you gather laundry, dishes or tidy the house. When you go up or down stairs, carry something (dirty laundry, stuff to put away, etc.) Log how many times you go up or down stairs ant try to increase that number by one each day. Pick up a cheap exercise bike and ride it while you read or watch TV. Watch for exercise equipment on garage sales. Get in some upper body stretches as you put clothes or groceries on upper shelves. Hang clothes on the line and do some toe touches and side stretches. Practice lower body stretches as you gather toys from the floor.

Exercise with children doing chores. When you mop or vacuum, try staying in one place and reaching to move the vacuum to further points. Fully extend as you sort laundry on the floor and fill washer and dryer. Cleaning windows, mirrors, or the shower is a good time to work out your upper arms. Move them up

and down and back and forth about 10 times each. As the counter, do some yoga tree poses. Place one foot on the other leg and stand on one foot without holding on. Do this when you put on shoes and socks. Tighten and relax muscles to exercise with children while reading or watching TV. 

Outdoor tasks as mini workouts. Shovel snow. Shovel your neighbor's now and then. Do as much reasonable lifting and carrying as you can when you: move, buy new furniture, rearrange furniture, etc. Clean your carpets with a steam cleaner--great back and shoulder toner. Vacuum and wash your own car. Bend, stretch and extend in home remodeling. Remove wallpaper, paint and hang new wallpaper for super whole body workouts. Remember in "The Karate Kid" movie when Mr. Myagi got Daniel in shape by waxing the car and painting the fence?

Use hand tools instead of power tools-- hammer, saw, drill or screwdriver--for a good arm and hand workout. Even using power tools is good for quick workouts. Each time you scrub anything--floor, shower, carpets,--you give your arms and back some good rhythmic stretching. Get off the riding lawn mover and workout with a non-electric or walking lawn mower. Always stretch your neck and shoulder muscles to keep them limber and relaxed 

Family fitness multitasking mini workouts at play. Roller blade or bike on a date or with friends. Don't just sit and watch at the playground--play with your kids. Use any school playground when school is out. Play tag or catch. Push children on the swing or merry-go-round. Go on a nature hunt. Push little ones in the stroller. Carry the toddler or baby in a sling. Do climb and slide exercise with children. Take the kids for a walk down the street. Take a few neighbor kids or visit with the elderly. Bike to the  playground or park (bring water and a snack). Play in the sprinkler or practice throwing, kicking, batting and catching balls. Play badminton in the backyard ( a set is under $10). Set up a basketball hoop or tether-ball pole. Make a walk date after dinner with your spouse. You can use this time to catch up or just have a laugh. Coach or assist with a kids' sports team. Join a walking group

Healthy School Lunches, Snacks, Treats

Healthy Foods for Kids Nutrition and food is the core of learning. Here's a perfect food and snack guide for students in your classroom. Print out this healthy guide for parents. Nutritious snacks, party food, lunch foods. This is not a list of 'healthy' snacks based on advertising and marketing, but real healthy foods researched by a conscientious mom and teacher. Feed your kids great foods that will give them all they need for busy days! 

Apple and Eve juice boxes-100% fruit and vegetable juice, 100% vitamin C, 30% Vitamin A, no high fructose corn syrup, no additives. 

Peppridge Farm goldfish crackers- no transfat, MSG, hydrogenated fats, made with unbleached flour.

rice cakes: low sodium, no transfat.

Aldi fruit leather; organic, full of vitamins, no sulfites.

Spaghettios: low fat, full serving of vegetables

vegetable egg rolls: lowfat, high protein, full serving of vegetables. Look for MSG (monosodium glutamate) free egg rolls.

Healthy Choice and Annie's soups chicken and vegetarian varieties: no MSG, full serving of vegetables, high in protein, low in fat. Avoid varieties with ham, bacon or sausage as these are cured with nitrites.

tuna packets: low fat, no transfats, rich in Omega-3 oils

bagels: lowfat and high protein and fiber. Look for varieties which do not contain high fructose corn syrup or bleached flour.

Hormel Natural Choice lunchmeats and cold cuts: naturally cured, nitrate and nitrite free.

baby carrots, cucumber slices, green pepper slices, broccoli florets, fresh pea pods, cauliflower florets:

Mann's pre-cut vegetable blend</b></i>

Newman's Own Salad Dressing: no transfat. use for vegetable dip and salad dressing. Made with olive oil.

pretzels: fat free. Look for oat bran varieties. good source of fiber

Lay's Baked Chips and baked tortilla chips: no transfats, hydrogenated fat, baked with sunflower oil.

Newman's Own salsa: no fat or high fructose corn syrup. Perfect dip for chips, pretzels, rice cakes and 

raisins and any dried fruits

Jif Natural peanut butter: no hydrogenated fat or high fructose corn syrup

Chex, Life, Cheerios, Kashi cereals: Dry cereal with almonds and raisins makes a delicious healthy DIY trail mix.

Kraft cheese sticks with no added growth hormones

Kraft cheese singles with no added growth hormones

Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies: all natural ingredients

popcorn with sea salt

Terra sweet potato chips: vitamin A, beta-carotene, no transfat

Silk protein milk drink boxes

Mott's Healthy Harvest applesauce pouches or cups (no added sugar)

hardboiled eggs (keep cold with ice pack in lunch bag)

shelled almonds

Luna Bars organic, made with evaporated cane juice, soy isolate protein. Chocolate Raspberry is my favorite

Clif Bars: made by same company as Luna.

Garden of Eatin' organic Red Hot Blues nacho chips

Give your children the best brain fuel available for their busy days with these healthy brown bag lunch foods. And remember to pack lunches in an insulated lunch container.

Tips for Substitute Teachers

Are you substitute teaching? Better you than me! Lol just joshin. Seriously, I subbed for 5 years and have developed this substitute teacher survival guide. Here are 10+ coping strategies including tips on classroom management, student interaction, discipline, teaching strategies and more. 

Briefly introduce yourself briefly and get to work: Name and a few quick details suffice, no long rambling filibuster, please. Students have work to do and your job is to help them. You are also not the entertainer. I know of one sub who brings his guitar with him. That might be alright for very young grades, but it's really not appropriate for junior high or high school. 

Bring some activities appropriate to the subject you are teaching. Most teachers leave lesson plans, but I have subbed in emergencies when we could not do the lessons or when the teacher didn't have time to write much down. It's nice to have something up your sleeve just in case.

Follow lesson plans. Teachers have so much to fit in that they need to know that when they are gone the students will get what is needed for that day.

Learn students' names. This means a great deal to students, especially older kids. They may act like they don't care, but they do. I try to get names down in the first half hour. I have a horrible memory, but I make the effort. Your day will go much smoother. Kids respond much better if call them by name. 

Be upfront and genuine. Never hint, threaten or use sarcasm. Tell them what they need to do. You don't have to go into a big spiel. You'll find out soon enough who's not on the same page.

Don't give hecklers airtime. Don't waste the rest of the class's time dealing with problem kids. Politely and calmly warn them. Keep going with the lesson. When everyone is working independently, deal with the problem if it is still occurring. 

Seek solution. If a child is causing trouble, politely ask what's up. Listen compassionately. If she settles down, great. Move on. If not, give her the option to get to work or go to the office, because she can't disrupt others. If he's out of control, call the office. Explain the situation. Continue to be present for the rest of the class. 

Redirect or diffuse potential bombs. If you see a kid about to go off, redirect attention. If that doesn't help, get help. Don't get in the middle of fights. Have a parapro remove student to a neutral zone where her anger won't endanger anyone else. If it's just a disagreement, a class discussion can be useful. But never patronize. 

Greet students when you see them about. If they seem comfortable with it, acknowledge them. I sub in my local area and countless students stop to say "Hi" when we're out and about. 

Learn to be a tech guru: Familiarize yourself with all the current teaching tools: overhead projectors, ELMO, software on computers, Smartboards. 

Wear comfortable clothes and shoes: You never know what you will need to do. I've dealt with fire, tornado and lock-down drills, diaper changes, assemblies on dusty floors, messy projects, vomiting, class pets, nosebleeds, lunch messes, injuries, phys. Ed., mice, broken bones and pants wetting. 

Bring a water bottle: This is a must with Covid 19. On the best of days, most drinking fountains don't work, put out bath water or have UFO's in them (Unidentified Floating Objects).

.

Keep your personal views out of the classroom: I knew of a sub who got into quite a heated political debate with a student and another who tried to hold kids hostage. 

Ask other staff if you have questions: Naturally there will be some students who try to 'get away' with things. I don't trust or distrust students; if it's not in black and white, I ask support staff.

Never bully: I was called in to replace a sub who threatened a student. The class was tense and wary. I had to work overtime to show them that they were safe and that I would handle problems fairly. I have subbed in this class many times since and we have a good rapport.

Don't trash talk other subs. In the above situation, I let them vent for a few minutes and said that I was sorry and that they did not deserve that. Then we got to work. Least said soonest mended. 

Smile and laugh; relax: I don't know of any sub being eaten by students.

Don't try to change school rules. Whether you agree or disagree, follow building policies. Don't bend rules to earn brownie points with students. 

Don't ever belittle, mock, embarrass any student. Ever. 

Don't be thin-skinned: I've dealt with students who are rude, who curse, who even yell at me. But in all the schools I've been in, I have never encountered a student who's issue was with me personally. Don't let them browbeat you, but do keep in mind that students may just be hungry, angry, lonely, tired or ill. Don't take it personally. 

Try really hard to help them complete their assignments and understand the material: Students are generally very grateful for your help. If we have to take notes, I write them on the board. 

Keep moving. Don't be a desk potato. Walk around the classroom and see if anyone needs help. Watch for potential problems but also needs. 

I wish you well as a substitute teacher. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Preschool Learning Centers: How to structure

The best lesson plans include learning centers with lots of interactives, hands-on activities. Preschool, special needs, gen ed and even homeschool students benefit from learning centers. Here's a simple guide to set up learning centers with inexpensive, recycled, repurposed materials. 

1) Set up cross-curricular learning centers based on units being studied. Include math, science, social studies, literature and technology. 

2)  Each center should include a shelf or basket of books related to unit. Social studies units include books on countries and cultures. DK--Dorling Kindersley makes excellent science reference books and field guides to use in science learning centers. 

3) Manipulatives: Fill learning centers with a variety of hands-on games, crafts, Montessori type flashcards and learning sets appropriate to unit. Science centers include STEM diagrams, charts, experiments and activities. Literature units might include paper dolls and dioramas. Fills social studies learning centers with maps, globes and artefacts. Math centers should have measurement, counting, operations and other math lesson plans. 

4) Preschool centers: There are 4-6 basic learning centers in a preschool classroom. Dramatic play, practical life (house), building, science and gross motor. 

5) Tasks: List tasks to complete in each of the learning centers, according to age. Preschool and young special needs students may just explore with middle school students will have activities to complete. Keep them as open-ended as possible to address HOTS (higher order thinking skills). Also, make lesson plans self-checking for immediate feedback.