# data[].attributes.body
- Something that I learned through this module was the 4 domains of development. I learned that the domains were cognitive, language, social emotional and physical, with sensory as an addition.

- This is useful in the classroom because it gives educators a basis for what each activity or lesson should focus on in order to help that child/student in their development. The domains and development follow a sort of pattern, and knowing these domains allows for the educator to see if the students are on track in their development.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Developmental Domains in Early Childhood

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Developmental domains are specific areas of a child’s developmental progress and growth.

# data[].attributes.body
- Something that I learned about through this module is the different ways a teacher can be helpful in a first-aid emergency. For example, if my student is a diabetic and their blood sugar gets low and they pass out. I can't get sugar into their system by food so I would have to distribute a glucagon injection in order to help them.

- This is useful in teaching because being first-aid trained means that you can help one of your students in a state of emergency when that emergency occurs. It increases the safety and preparedness of the teacher and of the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
View CPR resources made available from the AHA. Including CPR history, CPR Facts & Stats, cardiac arrest vs. heart attack, course help resources, and more.

# data[].attributes.body
- Something that I have learned is that chronic conditions are more common in the classroom than I thought that they would be. By collaborating with a student, parent, health care provider, to keep the student healthy, safe, and included, educators are addressing the needs of that student.

- This is important for educators, as it allows for them to provide appropriate support and accommodations for the students. Collaboration with students, parents, and healthcare providers ensures a holistic approach to maintaining the student's health, safety, and inclusion in the classroom. This approach fosters an inclusive and supportive learning environment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Beginning primary school, or moving to secondary school, can be a challenging time for any student and family. This can be even harder when the student has a chronic (ongoing) health condition. To get the most out of their schooling, students with a chronic illness need ongoing and coordinated support from their families, schools and medical carers.

Chronic illness affecting children

Chronic illnesses are usually associated with older people and not with children. However, a small but significant number of children in Australia suffer from chronic illnesses - mainly asthma, but also diabetes and cancer. Cerebral palsy, epilepsy and cystic fibrosis, along with musculoskeletal disorders and illnesses affecting sight, hearing and allergic reaction affect smaller numbers of children.

Effects of chronic illness on schooling

Students with a chronic illness may miss a lot of school. This might be because they need to go to hospital, recover at home or attend regular medical appointments. This can lead to:

Difficulty completing work on time or taking part in exams

Decreased academic performance

Difficulty keeping up relationships with school friends

Difficulty getting around the school environment

Difficulty participating in some school activities (for example, physical education or excursions)

Feeling less confident and less motivated, also possibly affecting self-esteem and body image.

Supporting students with chronic illness

The family and the school need to work together to establish and maintain good communication and cooperation. Everyone needs to understand what is needed and expected to support your child. The family and the school also need to be clear about what can, and cannot, be done so that everyone's expectations are achievable and realistic.

The important things to remember are that you:

Share information

Develop a care plan

Keep up good communication

Make changes where necessary

Seek extra support.

Sharing information about chronic illness

You and your child should decide what information about your child's condition should be shared with appropriate school staff. Remember to:

Decide how much information should be shared with school staff, classmates and the wider school community.

Try to find a balance between the need to give adequate care and support for your child, and their right to confidentiality and privacy.

Work out who will be responsible for passing on the information, who it will be given to, how and when. This could be your child, a family member, a friend, another parent chosen by the family, a staff member who works closely with the family or a support group or association.

Develop a chronic illness care plan

In consultation with your child's doctor, family and school principal, a school-based care or management plan should be developed. This plan should be accessible to relevant staff and reviewed every year, or whenever there is any significant change to your child's condition or treatment.

Make sure that relevant information is communicated to casual teachers and other staff who have occasional care of your child.The plan should also indicate which school staff will be responsible for carrying out certain tasks and what to do in case of emergency.

The Victorian Government School Policy and Advisory Guide offers help for schools in developing a health support plan for students with a chronic illness.

Keep up good communication

Regular communication between the school and the family is the best way to monitor how your child is coping at school and at home (academically, socially, physically and emotionally). For younger children, writing daily messages in a home-school communications book may help. Teachers and parents can then describe changes in energy levels, whether your child is keeping up with schoolwork, taking part in everyday activities or how they are feeling generally.

When a student misses a lot of school because of their health condition, both the parents and the school should try to reduce how much this affects their schoolwork and social life. For example, it might help to:

Send home schoolwork

Establish email contact

Refer to the Visiting Teacher Service

Organise a Program Support Group.

The school should also immediately let you know if your child has received any additional medical care.

Making changes for students with chronic illness

The physical environment may need to be modified to allow full access to school facilities and activities for children with chronic illness. For example, ramps, rails, adaptive equipment or disabled toilets may be needed.

The academic environment may also need some changes. For example, adapting the curriculum, work requirements, timetable or subject choices might be necessary for your child. For VCE students, you should work out whether the school will need to apply for special provision on behalf of your child.

Extra funding support for students with a chronic illness

Your school may be eligible to apply for extra funding or support for a student with a chronic illness. Staff may also need education or information about the specific condition or chronic illness in general. Discuss this with your child's school principal.

Special services for students with chronic illness

A variety of specialist staff may be available or may be called in to assist your child. These include visiting teachers, education support officers, psychologists, guidance officers, speech pathologists, social workers and other allied health professionals. Talk to your principal about whether any of these services may be available.

Visiting teacher service

In Victoria, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Catholic Education Office provide a Visiting Teacher Service. Your child's school is responsible for applying to the Visiting Teacher service. If your child attends an independent school, please contact your child's school principal to discuss additional support.

Visiting teachers may work with visually, hearing and physically impaired students, as well as students with a chronic health condition. They provide additional educational assistance, advice and support to school-aged children and young people, their parents, schools and school communities.

Student welfare coordinators

Schools have dedicated staff members called student welfare coordinators who help develop programs to meet the individual needs, interests and abilities of those students who may find education challenging. They may also be called pastoral care coordinators or primary welfare officers.

Royal Children's Hospital Education Institute

The Royal Children's Hospital Education Institute brings together and passes on education and health knowledge for students, schools and the community by:

Partnering with school systems, individual schools, teachers and families

Providing support, information and advice to schools

Conducting research and distributing knowledge to inform decision-makers

Delivering training and professional development for people working with students who have a health condition.

Special programs for students with chronic illness

In addition to specialist professionals to assist your child, the Victorian Government and the Catholic and independent school systems offer programs to meet the needs of children with a chronic illness.

Program for Students with Disabilities

The Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) provides additional resources for the education of students with disabilities and additional learning needs in Victorian government schools.

Your child's school can apply for the PSD by completing an educational needs questionnaire that will determine if your child meets eligibility criteria under one of seven categories, including:

Physical disability

Visual impairment

Severe behaviour disorder

Hearing impairment

Intellectual disability

Autism spectrum disorder

Severe language disorder with critical educational needs.

If your child is eligible for the program, the school is then responsible for organising a program support group (PSG) to monitor your child's progress. The PSG can include a parent, advocate, teacher, principal and, if appropriate, the child.

There is a similar program within the Catholic and independent school systems called the Literacy, Numeracy and Special Learning Needs Program.

Ronald McDonald Learning Program

The Ronald McDonald Learning Program is a unique educational 'catch-up' program that tailors tuition for children who have missed school due to serious illness. Parents must apply for this service. It is recommended that you apply for this program as soon as possible, as the processing of applications and the allocation of a suitable tutor may take some time.

Where to get help

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Supporting a student with a chronic illness requires a 'whole school' approach.

# data[].attributes.body
- Something that I have learned through this module is that there are many ways that illnesses can be transmitted. With that being said things like washing hands and cleaning/disinfecting schedules are things that were created to prevent illness.

- This is useful in teaching because as a teacher, you have to be mindful of the other ways that illness can be given to you or your students.

# data[].attributes.body
- Movement in the classroom is not only a benefit to the students physical wellness but also regulates their mood, manages their positive behavior and prepares their brain for learning.

- This is useful for educators to know because although recess is a great way for students to be active during the school day, that is not the only time in the day that activity can be brought to class. There are many online resources such as Go Noodle and Danny Go that allow the students to move around and be active while they are still in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Movement in the classroom is so incredibly important. Studies have shown that humans in general are sitting for longer and longer periods of time. I don't know about you, but If I sit for longer than 30-45 minutes, I start to lose my focus, get distracted, and lose interest in what I'm working on.

If I (as an adult) experience those feelings, then I'm pretty sure those feelings are even more extreme for our students.

Getting students up and out of their desks is a great way to boost engagement, build community, and provide opportunities for cooperative learning.

All those things are possible when we are intentional about planning for movement in the classroom.

In this post, I have four routines I'm going to share with you that will help you bring in more movement in your classroom.

Why should we incorporate movement in the classroom:

Movement routines get kids out of their desks. When kids are up and moving around it can help improve their attention and focus for the specific learning activity.

Movement activities incorporate collaboration. This means students are interacting and discussing with their classmates. This helps students hear a variety of responses and perspectives to a question. It can either validate their thinking or share a new perspective to think about.

Movement activities help create a positive classroom community. When students are used to moving around and partnering up with their classmates on a regulary basis it will help you create a positive classroom community where students enjoy working with all their classmates.

Movement in the Classroom Routine #1 - Loops of Learning

I love using this routine as part of our morning meeting, a warm-up for reading, or even right before dismissal. It is a whole group routine that is pretty easy to teach your students. Once they are familiar with the routines, you have a super quick and easy way to bring in more movement in the classroom.
Here's how you do Loops of Learning:

Split students into two groups. If you do loops of learning on a regular basis, you might just want to have your A group and your B group (or your inside circle students and your outside circle students).

Have your students form two concentric circles. This means one group of students will form the outer circle and face in. The other group of students will form the inner circle and face out. I would suggest practicing your circle formation a few times when you introduce this routine to help improve the efficiency of it.

Each student should be directly across from another student. This will be the person they will discuss the question or prompt with.

You (the teacher) will give the class a question to respond to. It could be an open-ended question about a book you just read, or a closed question to guage their comprehension of the text. You could even do this with true and false or multiple choice questions - just make sure students get a chance to explain their thinking along with their answer choice.

Once students have answered and discussed the question with their partner, the circles will both rotate in opposite directions. Now students will be standing face-to-face with a new partner.

You can repeat and continue asking questions, having students answer, and having the circles rotate until you have finished the questions or when students have adequately moved.

This movement routine works great with open-ended questions about a read-aloud, or you could even do this to review homework or questions on a worksheet. Students can complete it individually and then share their answers with loops of learning.

What I like about this movement routine is that it gives more students a chance to share their thinking before you reveal the correct answer.

And it's fun. Students love the loops of learning.

Movement in the Classroom Routine #2 - Quiz, Quiz, Trade

Another way you can incorporate movement in the classroom is with the routine Quiz, Quiz, Trade. This is a fun routine to use if you are getting ready to prepare for an end-of-unit test and you want a fun way to help your students review the material.
Here's how you do Quiz, Quiz, Trade:

First, give every students a task card with a different question on it. Ideally each student would have their own question or question stem to respond to. You could even pass out short little reading passages with questions on it, but the most important thing is that not every student has the same question/text in front of them.

Before students start to move around, encourage them to read their own question and figure out their answer first.

When you are ready to begin, students will stand up and move around the room to find a partner. I encourage students to find the first person they bump into.

When students have found a partner, each student will take turns asking their partner their question and then responding.

Once both students have responded to the question or the task cards, they will switch cards. Get it. They quized, quized, and now they are trading cards.

Now students have a new question to ask and they can go about finding a new partner to repeat the quiz, quiz, trade process.

I like doing this routine with students because it makes it ok if students end up partnering up with the same student more than once. Sometimes students try to partner up with their friends multiple times. Or maybe you have a few really shy students who only try to partner up with a few other students.

But if questions are constantly being rotated, if a student does partner up with a classmate more than once, they are still getting exposed to a different question stem more than once.

Movement in the Classroom Routine #3 - Small Group Scoot

I love using scoot for independent practice. It allows students to work independently, and quietly, while still having the option of walking around, standing, and moving in between questions.... but sometimes we never had enough time (or practice problems) for the entire class to do a scoot, which is why I like using small group scoot as a regular option for independent practice.
Here's how you do Small Group Scoot:

1. Form small groups of students. This really does work best if you already have your students desks in groups of 4-6. Each group of students will get a set of response questions or task cards. Depending on your goal or focus skill, you can give each group the same sets of questions or task cards, or give each group a different set of practice questions.

2. Place one response question or task card on each student's desk.

3. Have students stand up, push their chairs in, stand behind their desk and then read and respond to whatever task card or response question is on the desk in front of them.

4. When the teacher says "Scoot", all students will rotate around their table in a clockwise direction.

5. Every time a student scotts, they are reading a new task card or answering a new questions.

6. Students will scoot until they've completed all the task cards or questions at their table.

Task cards are my favorite resource to use for small group scoot. If you already have a set of task cards and are looking for meaningful ways to use them beyond just scoot or independent practice, check out this blog post I wrote about how you can use task cards to improve reading comprehension.

Movement in the Classroom Routine #4 - Four Corners

So while I'm not a huge fan of regularly giving students multiple-choice tests for reading throughout the school year, this routine can be really helpful when you are getting ready to start test prep at the end of the year. And if you happen to be in a school district that does require multiple-choice practice on a regular basis, this could be one way that you can increase the engagement of anything related to multiple-choice.
Here's how you do Four Corners:

First, you will need to label all four corners of the room with one letter: A, B, C, D. If you happen to regularly use multiple choice tests with additional options like EFGH, then just be sure to label the corners A/E and B/F and C/G and D/H so you can use your corners for both answer choice options.

Next, students will answer a multiple-choice quesion. You could have students just do one question at a time, or you could have them answer all of the multiple-choice questions and you just review their answers using four corners.

As a way to make multiple-choice test more meaningful, I also like to encouarge students to explain their answer choice. I will often give them a post-it note that they can use to explain their thinking for which answer choice they selected.

Once your students have answered their questions, you'll need to give them some sort of command to move to the corner of the room that corresponds to the ansswer they chose. A simple "go" or "move" or even "choose your corner" will work.

Once students are in the corner, I like to give them a chance to share their thinking with other students in that same corner. AND I like to have a representative from each corner share why they chose that answer choice.

Now, Here is the part that might be the most important...

Before you reveal the correct answer, give your students a chance to change their answer based off of the thinking they have heard. It's possible that they heard some new evidence shared or a different way of looking at the question that they hadn't considred before. And ultimately we should be more concerned with our students's thinking (or change in thinking) then just the answer.

Finally, reveal the correct answer to your students.

I like doing Four Corners during test prep because it can help break up all the multiple-choice practice. I usually would just have students answer one question at a time followed by a four corners routine. AND since I let students change their thinking or answer during the process it really helped boost the confidence of students who typically get anxious about standardized tests.

Four Corners is such an easy way to incorporate movement in the classroom.

Another way you could do this is to label the corners with a specific category or descriptor (see list below) and after reading a shared text, let students go to that corner:

You could label the corners:

I have a strong connection to make.

I have a question I'd like to discuss.

I have a prediction that I want to share.

I have a strong opinion about this text.

After a shared reading experience you could have students write down their choice and then go to the corner to discuss the text with other students.

Once you start incorporating some of these movement routines into your classroom, you'll start to see all the different ways you can switch them up slightly.

Put it into practice...

Here is your challenge. Pick one movement routine to teach your students this week. You don't have to do all four, but definitely pick one and plan to share it with your students this week.

I hope you and your students love the extra movement in the classroom.

Happy Teaching!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
4 Easy Activities to Incorporate Movement In The Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Movement in the classroom is so incredibly important. Studies have shown that humans in general are sitting for longer and longer periods of time. I don't

# data[].attributes.body
- Something that I learned was that most of the time, over nutrition is more seen than under nutrition. Meaning that food that is being eaten is higher in calories than in nutritional value. It is important to make sure that the students are eating the right amount of calories within their day, so by implementing nutrition programs, schools can help students eat more nutritious and healthier food options.

- This is useful in the class, as educators can see whether or not the student is getting the nutrients that they need. With the school implementing nutrition programs, the students that need a school-provided lunch are given foods that are healthier and have more nutrients.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During the school year, the focus for many households with students is a hectic schedule full of schoolwork, sports and socializing. The foundation for all of these activities is a healthy diet, yet many families and college students across Silicon Valley struggle to access nutritious food. Good food and nutrition play vital roles in helping children, adolescents and college students learn and grow. When students have access to enough healthy food, they are able to concentrate, graduate and pursue their goals.  An investment in access to food can make a lifelong and generational impact, providing an opportunity to build strong, well-educated and healthy children and young adults who become tomorrow's entrepreneurs, business leaders, healthcare workers and educators.

1. Physical Health

Nutrition impacts overall health, including the immune system. Kids and college students with access to proper nutrition are more likely to have better overall health and development outcomes.

Children who do not have access to nutritious food are sick more often and more likely to have to be hospitalized and can suffer growth impairment that precludes them from reaching their full physical potential. They are more likely to have poorer overall health, iron deficiency anemia, and developmental problems.

Reliance on sugary or calorie-dense comfort foods in times of stress can become a necessity for food insecure households, which can lead to poor nutrition and health outcomes. Children whose families are food insecure are more likely to be overweight or obese as compared to children whose families are food secure. This can lead to chronic conditions down the road.

"[It is important that kids eat vegetables] so that they grow up healthy ... it is what their doctors recommend and more than anything, as a child myself, I did not have that opportunity [to eat nutritious foods]." - Floridalma, client

2. Academic Performance

Food plays a vital role in preparing children and students to learn and making sure they are healthy enough to attend school each day. Nutrition impacts brain development, memory and cognitive function, energy, attention and focus, which are all critical to the ability to absorb and retain information. Children who have a balanced diet are more likely to have improved school attendance, better grades, and higher test scores than those with poor dietary habits.

When children are hungry, it negatively impacts their learning. They have lower math scores and lower grades; they are more likely to be absent or tardy; they are more likely to be suspended from school and are more likely to repeat a grade.

Food insecure college students are more likely to fail assignments and exams, withdraw from classes or the university, and earn lower grade point averages than their counterparts. Additionally, they reported missing out on professional development opportunities, such as internships, which may affect their future career ambitions.

"So I think folks are used to this idea that when you come to college you are signing up for these expectations of what a college student is. And part of that is the starving student, 'I'm just going to be broke and eat ramen because that's all I can afford.' And we're really trying to combat that messaging with the message that students should be getting nutritious food, they should be getting assistance with those food needs because they are in a unique population that really comes up against these barriers to getting access to nutritious food. "
- Victoria, Student Affairs Case Manager, San Jose State University

3. Mental Health

Nutrition impacts mental health. When kids and college students lack the healthy foods they need, stress and anxiety can interfere with learning and well-being. When nutrition needs are met, students can begin to focus on their wellness.

Household food insecurity impacts mental health and behavioral issues in children and adolescents including aggression, anxiety, depression, and ADHD.

When college students don't really know if they'll be able to get enough to eat, it can lead to a series of problems that make it harder to stay in school. Food-insecure [college] students are more likely to experience stress, poor mental health and depression, poor/fair health status, poor sleep quality, fatigue and lack of energy, irritability, and headaches.

4. Social Interactions

Proper nutrition can impact social and emotional development. When children and adolescents feel well, they are more likely to engage in social interactions and participate actively in learning experiences.

Hungry children have more social and behavioral problems because they feel bad, have less energy for complex social interactions, and cannot adapt as effectively to environmental stresses.

By the time they are teenagers, food insecure children are twice as likely as their peers to have seen a psychologist, twice as likely to have been suspended from school, and have greater difficulty getting along with other children.

5. Healthy Habits

Food and proper nutrition lead to a healthier life. Developing healthy eating habits during childhood sets the foundation for lifelong dietary choices. Children who are exposed to a variety of nutritious foods are more likely to continue making healthy food choices as they grow older. Children in households with uncertain access to nutritious food are twice as likely to have low self-esteem and less likely to believe they can make healthy choices.

"Sometimes the behaviors around food, such as how and when we eat, are just as important as the food itself. Fostering a healthy relationship around food makes us feel good about our food choices, takes away the 'good food, bad food' mentality and sets us up for healthy habits for years to come." - Alex Navarro, Director of Nutrition

6. Long Term Outcomes

Good nutrition positively impacts kids, students and families for generations. Young kids turn into college kids, and too many students see their futures jeopardized because they struggle to get the nutritious food they need to focus. When students don't know if they'll be able to eat it can lead to a series of physical, mental and emotional challenges that make it harder to stay in school and do well. And staying in school and earning a degree can be an important first step toward breaking the cycle of poverty many children from food insecure families find themselves in.

It can make a generational difference for families when kids are able to graduate, pursue higher education degrees or technical job training, and attain higher paying jobs. When families can start to accumulate wealth and pass that on to younger generations within their family, financial security is easier.

Silicon Valley workers with a bachelor's degree earned an estimated $60,000 more than those with only a high school diploma (2.5 times more) in 2021. Those at the highest level of educational attainment (graduate or professional degree) had incomes over 4.5 times greater than those at the lowest level (without a high school diploma or equivalency).

Workers who experienced hunger as children are not as well prepared physically, mentally, emotionally or socially to perform effectively in the contemporary workforce.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Top 6 Reasons Healthy Food is Important for Students in School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During the school year, the focus for many households with students is a hectic schedule full of schoolwork, sports and socializing. The foundation for all of these activities is a healthy diet, yet many families and college students across Silicon Valley struggle to access nutritious food.

# data[].attributes.body
- Abuse can be seen in many forms such as, physical, emotional, sexual and threatened. If a mandated reporter does not report the suspected child abuse, there are major consequences to that person.

- Being a mandated reporter is important in education because it helps ensure the safety and well-being of children. Teachers and school staff are in a position to observe the signs of abuse, neglect, or other issues affecting a child. This responsibility is crucial because children may not always be able to advocate for themselves or disclose what they are experiencing. These educators are advocates for these vulnerable children, as they help to intervene and protect them from harm.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If a child is in immediate danger or has been severely injured, call 911 or other emergency services. If you are concerned that a child is being abused, maltreated or neglected, call the police or local child protective services.

Child abuse may include sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse such as abusive language or threats and/or neglect. Neglect may be apparent when very young children are outside or left alone and unsupervised, often appear physically ill, or appear malnourished or starved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What to do if you suspect child abuse - SafePath

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If a child is in immediate danger or has been severely injured, call 911 or other emergency services. If you are concerned that a child is being abused, maltreated or neglected, call the police or local child protective services. Child abuse may include sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse such as abusive language or threats and/or neglect.

# data[].attributes.body
- Something that I learned through this module was that at a young age, kids will start to develop these common sexual behaviors. Educating these children about things such as, boys and girls are different or having rules about personal boundaries is a way to help them understand appropriate behavior and boundaries as they grow up.

- This is important because it is crucial to provide age-appropriate education about these topics to promote healthy development and prevent harmful behaviors. Educators teach the students about appropriate behavior in order to model respectful relationships and prevent anything that could be considered hurtful for the child.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Talking about sex and sexuality with young children

It's never too early to talk with your child about sex. Talking about sex, sexuality and bodies from when your child is young can help your child understand that sex and sexuality are healthy parts of life.

Open and honest conversations when your child is young can make later conversations easier. And these early conversations also lay the groundwork for children to make healthier choices about sex when they're older.

The key early messages are that your child can come to you for open, honest and reliable information, and that they shouldn't feel scared or embarrassed to ask you about sex and sexuality.

And the good news is that talking about sex and sexuality isn't a one-off conversation that you have to get exactly right. It's a conversation that continues and evolves as your child grows up.

Sexuality isn't just about sex. It's also about your child's identity and the way your child feels about their developing body. And it's how your child understands and expresses feelings of intimacy, attraction and affection for others, and how your child develops and maintains respectful relationships.

Talking about sex: 3 steps

These basic steps can help you talk with your child about sex.

First, acknowledge that your child might be curious and find out what they already know. For example, 'Where do you think babies come from?' or 'What have you heard about where babies come from?'

Second, correct any misinformation and give the facts. For example, 'You're almost right. Babies don't grow in their mummy's tummy. They grow in a special place inside the body, called the uterus'.

Third, use the conversation as an opportunity to talk about your own thoughts or feelings. For example, 'Some people really want to have a baby when they're ready. Other people aren't too sure about having a baby at all'.

How to talk about sex, sexuality and bodies: tips for all ages

These tips can make it easier to talk with children of any age about sex and sexuality.

Explain things at your child's level
Explain things at a level your child can understand. For example, a 6-year old won't want a long explanation of ovulation, although they might be fascinated to know very small eggs (or ova) can make a baby.

It's best to keep your explanation brief, factual and positive. If you can do this, your child will feel that they can come back to you whenever they want more information.

Use correct names for body parts
It's best to use the correct names when you're talking about body parts - for example, penis, scrotum, testicles, vulva, vagina. This helps to send the message that talking about these parts of our bodies is healthy and OK. And if your child knows the correct names for body parts, your child will be able to communicate clearly about their body with you or people like doctors if they need to.

You can be inclusive of people of all genders by talking about 'some' or 'most' people - for example, 'Some people have penises, and some people have vulvas'.

Say 'I don't know' if you need to.
Your child doesn't need you to be an expert - your child just needs to know that they can ask you anything.

If you don't know what to say, tell your child you're glad they asked, that you don't know the answer, and that you'll look for some information and get back to them. And then make sure you do get back to your child. Or you could look for the answer together.

This builds trust and sends the message that you'll be honest with your child.

Get all parents involved
In families with more than one parent, it's good for all parents to get involved in discussions about sex. When all parents are involved, children learn that it's OK for everyone to talk about sex and sexuality. This can help children to feel comfortable talking about their bodies, take responsibility for sexual feelings, and communicate in intimate relationships when they're older.

Start a conversation
Some children don't ask many questions, so you might need to start a conversation. It's a good idea to think about what to say beforehand, then pick a good time to talk. For example, if someone is talking about pregnancy on TV, you could say, 'They were talking about pregnancy on the TV earlier. It got me wondering if you know what that is?'

Some children find it easier to talk without eye contact, so you could plan to talk while you and your child are travelling in the car.

Prepare yourself
You might feel embarrassed or uncomfortable talking about sexuality, or using words like 'penis' or 'vagina' when talking about bodies. That's OK.

It's a good idea to prepare yourself by thinking about what you're comfortable with and building on that. For example, if you're OK with talking about bottoms but not breasts, try using the word 'bottom' in conversation to start with. Or you could practise with another adult.

It's important for children to know the difference between touching that's OK and touching that's not OK. Make sure your child knows that they can say 'No!' to any touching that they don't want and that it's always OK to tell a trusted adult about touch that's not OK. You can start talking about sexual abuse and talking about consent when your child is young.

0-2 years: what to say about sex, sexuality and bodies

You can use everyday moments to help your child learn about bodies. For example, bath time or while you're helping your child get dressed are good times to introduce the names of body parts.

These can also be good times to send messages about healthy, natural behaviour. For example, if your child touches their genitals while you're changing their nappy, that's OK. When they're older, you can talk about public and private behaviour.

2-3 years: what to say about sex, sexuality and bodies

Most children aged 2-3 years are very curious about their own and other children's bodies. They'll also notice that different bodies have different body parts. Your child might ask you why or say, 'What's that?' You can teach your child that every body part has a name and its own 'job' to do. For example, 'This is your vulva' or 'Your penis is where wee comes out'.

Looking at books with your child can help. You can use the pictures to help your child learn the names for body parts and understand that bodies are different. You could try books like Hair in funny places by Babette Cole or Everyone's got a bottom by Tess Rowley.

4-5 years: what to say about sex, sexuality and bodies

Children aged 4-5 years often ask where babies come from. They can understand that a baby grows in a uterus, and that to make a baby you need a sperm (like a tiny seed) and an ovum (like a tiny egg).

If your child asks 'Where do I come from?', you could ask, 'What do you think?' This helps you work out what your child is really asking and how much your child understands. You could give a simple explanation like 'Babies grow in a place inside the body called the uterus'.

If you're pregnant your child might ask, 'Where does the baby come out?' Give a simple but accurate answer like 'The baby is growing in my uterus. When the baby is finished growing, it might come out through the birth canal, which is called the vagina. Or it might come out of a cut that the doctors will make on my tummy'.

6-8 years: what to say about sex, sexuality and bodies

By 6 years old, many children are interested in how babies are made and might ask questions.

If your child asks, 'How did the baby get into your uterus?', ask your child what they think. This helps you understand what your child already knows. Then you can explain simply, giving as much information as you're comfortable with. For example, 'To make a baby, a sperm and an egg join together.'

You could explain how this happens when 2 people have sexual intercourse and how a vagina and penis fit together. It's also good to explain that sexual intercourse is something that grown-ups do when they both want to and that it's not for children.

You might also like to say that sometimes babies enter families in different ways, like IVF, adoption, foster care or grandparent care.

You don't have to wait for your child to ask you a question. You could start a conversation by asking, 'Have you ever wondered how you were born and where you came from?' Or you might see someone who's pregnant and say to your child, 'They have a baby growing inside them. Do you know how the baby got there?'

You could also read a book together about where babies come from, like Mummy laid an egg by Babette Cole.

It's a good idea to start talking to your child about puberty and how bodies change in puberty well before your child starts puberty. This could be when your child is around 6-8 years old.

If your child comes across sexting or pornography, stay calm. This can be an opportunity to talk with your child about what is and isn't OK for children to see. And talking about these issues is one of the best ways to keep your child safe online and promote respectful online behaviour.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sex education and talking with children about sex: 0-8 years

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Talking about sex is important for children's sex education and sexual development. At this age, topics might include body parts and where babies come from.

# data[].attributes.body
- Mental health is influenced by 3 different factors, psychological, biological and social. Mental health in children rarely is a single diagnosis, it is mostly likely going to be over-lapping elements of other co-morbid conditions.

- Understanding the influences of psychological, biological, and social factors in children's mental health is important in teaching practices. Educators identify early signs of distress and intervene, in order to connect students with appropriate support services. Knowing this also has an effect on the learning environment and allows for that environment to be diverse in the needs of the students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Created in partnership with the Child Mind Institute and OCCRRA.

Kids and parents can watch these five fun videos, set in the magical world of Hedgehog Land, where kids can follow the stories of our friendly hedgehog characters as they try to solve problems, learn new skills, and have fun together! Each episode, based on social-emotional development research, teaches an important skill to help kids grow and thrive! There's also important tools for parents, caregivers, and educators too.

Kids can watch and adults can follow along
with the videos and learning guides below:

For the adults!

OHMTK Caregiver Guide: Children experience all the same complicated, wonderful, confusing, and big emotions that adults do. It's important for them to know that it's okay to feel all emotions, including feelings that are pleasant and feelings that are uncomfortable.

OHMTK Educator Guide: Educators and the school setting play an important role in helping preschoolers learn and practice the skills introduced in the OhioPreschool Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project. This guide provides helpful tips for introducing and reinforcing the content from each video in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ohio Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids (OHMTK) - OCCRRA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Created in partnership with the Child Mind Institute and OCCRRA. Kids and parents can watch these five fun videos, set in the magical world of Hedgehog Land, where kids can follow the stories of our friendly hedgehog characters as they try to solve problems, learn new skills, and have fun together!

# data[].attributes.body
- I learned about the importance of implementing critical practices in education to address bias effectively. These include reflecting on their own biases, questioning mainstream ideas, fostering inclusive classrooms, and encouraging students to think critically about bias and injustice.

- This is useful in the classroom because it promotes culturally responsive teaching. It cultivates a learning environment that promotes fairness, inclusivity, and open-mindedness. It encourages teachers to provide diverse perspectives into the classroom, in order for the students to understand different perspectives that are not their own.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Editor's note: The author of this article is also the author of a resource listed below.
Too often, educators only offer activities about bias and racism on particular days, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. But anti-bias education is most effective when it's woven into everyday classroom experiences, rather than only taking place on special days. For children to internalize messages of affirmation, fairness and empowerment, anti-bias strategies need to be incorporated into all aspects of learning.

But how to begin? Few things interest young children as much as themselves! Anti-bias (and anti-racist) education works best when we start in our own classrooms. Although it might not seem like it at first glance, every group of children is at least a little bit diverse.

It's a good idea to design classroom experiences with diversity (race, gender, family structure, social class, language, religion and disability) in mind, especially the diversity represented by your particular students.

These strategies can help you begin anti-bias education, or go deeper into it, in your classroom.

1. Incorporate Diverse Books That Tell Stories About Children Experiencing Everyday Life

Guy W. Jones and Sally Moomaw, authors of " Lessons from Turtle Island: Native Curriculum in Early Childhood Classrooms," encourage educators to incorporate Native stories into existing preschool units such as homes, families and communities. This helps young children understand that Indigenous peoples are living in the present day - not just the past.

Jones and Moomaw stress this idea because most non-Native children are only aware of American Indians as peoples of the past. The principle of focusing on present-day life and ordinary experiences is important when talking about other groups of people as well.

Books that are explicitly about bias shouldn't be the only diverse books that children experience. Young children are especially interested in daily activities and topics such as food, play, families and work. One crucial anti-bias strategy is to provide many diverse books on these subjects.

For example, a unit on families might feature these books:

2. Create Activities That Allow Children to Share and Celebrate Their Identities

Providing art materials such as crayons and construction paper that can match many different skin tones helps children to feel seen.

Educator Katharine Johnson explores skin tones with her young students by reading Katie Kissinger's " All the Colors We Are/Todos Los Colores de Nuestra Piel: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color/La Historia de Por Qué Tenemos Diferentes Colores de Piel," which helps children understand why we have many shades of skin. In circle time, Johnson provides a variety of paint chips in shades of brown, tan and peach. After the children help her find the chip that best matches her skin, she scatters the chips throughout the room. Children then help each other find the best match for their skin.

Teachers can also blend acrylic paints together to provide many different skin tone shades for self-portrait making. This lesson plan from Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) includes direction for both creating a self-portrait and having discussions about skin tones.

Another great idea comes from educator Rita Tenorio, who invites students to create "me pockets" by filling a clear, letter-sized plastic sleeve (the kind used for baseball cards) with photos, drawings and other things that help others get to know them. After everyone's me pockets are returned to the classroom, Tenorio creates a binder for them so children can look at them as if they were a book. As they look at them, children experience the cultural and linguistic diversity of their peers.

3. Prevent and Address Microaggressions with Role-Plays

Because children hear and absorb prejudices that are common in society, sometimes they will express them in the form of microaggressions. It's important to address these incidents promptly, but without shaming children. Scolding will lead to children hiding their behavior rather than unlearning biases.

Role-plays are one way to anticipate prejudicial comments that are likely to happen, as well as to respond after a microaggression has taken place.

Persona dolls (which the teacher introduces and gives a backstory to) can be used for role-plays about bias. The role-play can include lots of discussion, including what could be done differently or what a bystander could say. Since persona dolls can be expensive, it might be a good idea to ask if a parent from the class who can sew can make some. I have also printed out and laminated stock photos of children and created backstories for them as alternatives to persona dolls.

" Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves " by Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards provides several examples of how to use persona dolls in roleplays. In one instance, a teacher introduced a doll named Lucia, who was upset because "when she drew a picture of her family - herself and her grandma - another child said to her, 'That can't be your family, 'cause there's no mommy and daddy in it!'" The teacher asked the children to name how Lucia might be feeling, and led them in a discussion about the many different forms families can take.

Role-plays with dolls or photo cards can also address incidents of bias after they happen. Before doing this, it's important to privately talk to the child who was the target of the microaggression about what happened and how they're feeling. Ask their permission before having a role-play with the class. During the roleplay, be sure to talk about feelings, as well as what other children could say if they witness a similar incident. The goal is not to shame children who have committed a microaggression, but to help all children understand why the comment was hurtful.

4. Explore the Stories of Social Justice Movements

As we talk with children about injustice, it's important to share stories of the people and movements who have worked to change these injustices. This lays a foundation for children to see that all of us, no matter our age, can find ways to speak up.

As teachers introduce children to brave leaders for justice, they can share what these people were like as kids through books. For example, " Preaching to the Chickens: The Story of Young John Lewis," written by Jabari Asim and illustrated by E.B. Lewis, describes how Congressman John Lewis learned about peacemaking and speaking up for the vulnerable as he cared for his chickens.

"Side by Side/Lado a Lado: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/La Historia de Dolores Huerta Y César Chávez," written by Monica Brown and illustrated by Joe Cepeda, shows how César Chávez and Dolores Huerta's childhoods inspired them to fight for farm workers.

Adults should also offer stories that counter the idea of a single person being the only force that changed injustices like segregation. Look for books and other materials that tell the stories of ordinary people who were part of movements for justice. " Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation," written by Andrea Davis Pickney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney, talks about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King's roles in the Birmingham bus boycott. However, the main focus of the story is the sacrifices of the ordinary citizens of Birmingham that made victory possible.

5. Provide Children with Opportunities to Speak Up About Bias

One of the best ways to teach children that they can challenge bias and injustice is to give them concrete opportunities to do this!

"Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves" shares how educator Nancy Spangler provided such an opportunity to her class.

Spangler's 3 and 4-year-old class was a place where teachers and students worked hard to make everyone feel included. But one day when she pulled out a game, the teacher noticed that all the characters in the game were white.

She drew the children's attention to this and asked them if the cards "look like all the people you know?" The children said no, identifying many kinds of people who were missing from the card set.

Spangler helped the children draft a letter to the maker of the cards, where the children shared what they thought was wrong with cards. The children also used skin tone pens they already had in the classroom to recolor the existing cards so they would "look real."

More Anti-Bias Resources for Early Childhood Educators

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five Anti-Bias Education Strategies for Early Childhood Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here are a few strategies and resources that can help you begin anti-bias education, or go deeper into it, in your classroom by incorporating messages of affirmation, fairness and empowerment into all aspects of learning.