Whatever day today is

WinstonsGirl

@mrsconn23 The glasses look great!!  So cute!!

@jh715 Yay for more Canadians!!  Welcome

2 more days till the weekend.  So, I'm creating my own wellness option class this year.  Basically, I an do whatever I want around wellness.  I asked the kids to brainstorm ideas today, and got nothing back.  They all signed up for this class but don't know what they want to get out of it.  I've got some ideas myself, but any suggestions from you ladies?  Especially if you know of links to lesson plans?  I do want them to have some input into Comprehensive School Health ideas and projects for the younger grades, but it's been hard to find much out there.  

OurWildKingdom

@WinstonsGirl, I would definitely include lessons on stress management and time management. I didn't really learn anything about either till I went to college.

6fsn

@WinstonsGirl to piggy back a little. To me wellness isn't just body wellness. I need to have an overall mental and financial wellness too. Stress, time, money, food, exercise all should be touched on. 

kvruns

6fsn said:

@WinstonsGirl to piggy back a little. To me wellness isn't just body wellness. I need to have an overall mental and financial wellness too. Stress, time, money, food, exercise all should be touched on. 

exactly, in our wellness program at work it isn't just about eating right and exercising, it includes all of the things mentioned here plus just overall taking care of yourself like getting checkups at the Dr, flu shots etc (this last part may not work for teaching kids but it is overall health related). 

OliveOilsMom

kvruns said:

6fsn said:

@WinstonsGirl to piggy back a little. To me wellness isn't just body wellness. I need to have an overall mental and financial wellness too. Stress, time, money, food, exercise all should be touched on. 

exactly, in our wellness program at work it isn't just about eating right and exercising, it includes all of the things mentioned here plus just overall taking care of yourself like getting checkups at the Dr, flu shots etc (this last part may not work for teaching kids but it is overall health related). 

I learned nothing about money responsibilities while in school.  I think it would have been very beneficial to me.  Especially if colleges in Canada are like in the US where there are people who prey on the students in the cafeteria with credit card applications.  That was where I got my first one and the trouble started.  My parents also weren't the greatest role models in financial responsibility! 

How to write out checks and how to address envelopes is apparently something the youngest generation doesn't know how to do!  A friend works in the legal profession and had a law student come up to her and ask how to address an envelope to send a letter to another lawyer!!!

short+sassy

6fsn said:

@WinstonsGirl to piggy back a little. To me wellness isn't just body wellness. I need to have an overall mental and financial wellness too. Stress, time, money, food, exercise all should be touched on. 

This might be over-reaching, but it would be great if the school would pay for a professional to come in and give some first aid instruction.  Not necessarily for the students to be certified, because that does have a per person fee (at least in the U.S.), but just to be exposed to some of the basics.  Or perhaps if yourself or someone from your school reached out to an organization that provides this training, they might volunteer to provide one of their employees to give the talk.

The rest of my post is my soapbox rant on not making personal finance a much greater priority in school.

On the subject of money, it GALLS me...galls me to no end...that a personal finance class is not a requirement for high school graduation.  Yet, at least in my day, most high schools didn't even OFFER a class like this.  Much less require it.

Things like how to set up a budget.  Wants vs. needs with a budget.  The basics of how loans work...especially student loans.  How credit cards work.  The factors involved in a person's credit score and the importance of maintaining a good score.  The time value of money.

But how silly of me to be so practical and expect students to be taught useful information.  Because, of course, I also figure out the circumference of a circle and area of a triangle every day//sarcasm.  Sorry to pick on you Geometry, but I have never done any of those things since leaving you behind as a HS freshman.  The best I can give you is, every once in a great while, I take measurements and figure out the area of a room.  But I didn't need to take a whole class about you to figure that out.  A personal finance class would have been 1,000x more helpful.

WinstonsGirl

Thanks ladies.  I am definitely planning to look into food, stress, physical activity and mental wellness.  Not sure if I can get away with financial stuff, but we do actually cover that in Health, both myself and with presenters.  

It's funny to see my grade 9 girls while talking money (taxes, credit cards, saving for retirement, debt, etc.).  Half are totally into it, taking notes, asking questions, and the other half twirl their hair and daydream because they are going to marry rich (I have heard this from many of them).  I wish them luck with that dream!!

I was lucky that we had a short PD session today.  I couldn't get logged into the program the PD was on, since mine was not working, but that gave me time to look into some of the lessons included with the program and there were about 6 that I could use tomorrow about figuring out who you are/what is important to you, stress relief, decision making and conflict resolution.  Good lessons too, so that was a lucky outcome

short+sassy

WinstonsGirl said:

Thanks ladies.  I am definitely planning to look into food, stress, physical activity and mental wellness.  Not sure if I can get away with financial stuff, but we do actually cover that in Health, both myself and with presenters.  

It's funny to see my grade 9 girls while talking money (taxes, credit cards, saving for retirement, debt, etc.).  Half are totally into it, taking notes, asking questions, and the other half twirl their hair and daydream because they are going to marry rich (I have heard this from many of them).  I wish them luck with that dream!!

I was lucky that we had a short PD session today.  I couldn't get logged into the program the PD was on, since mine was not working, but that gave me time to look into some of the lessons included with the program and there were about 6 that I could use tomorrow about figuring out who you are/what is important to you, stress relief, decision making and conflict resolution.  Good lessons too, so that was a lucky outcome

(Eye roll), but, "Great!  All the better to learn now how to manage your future husband's money and look into how investing works.  Because why settle for a mansion in Fiji when you can buy a whole, private island?"

I don't think there are many people in this world who ever feel like they have "enough" money, lol.

Heartening and refreshing for the ones that are interested.  They are already laying the groundwork, at such a young age, to set themselves up for a less stressful and more comfortable life.