As a parent, you make choices everyday. Some choices are easy, like what to have for lunch, while others are much harder. Choosing whether or not to send your child back to school in the midst of a global pandemic is one of the harder choices you’ll have to make. Luckily, the CDC is providing parents with up-to-date information about the safety of in-person learning during this uncertain time. As a parent, you can make going back to school safer, too. Here’s how.
Keep Masks Handy
We’ve all been there. We’re heading into a store or public space and we reach for our masks only to find that it’s not there. It’s not an ideal scenario. And it’s even more stressful for kids. Make sure that your little ones have kids’ KN95 masks like the ones from Green Supply for when they go back to school.
Keeping your masks stored in an accessible area of your home, like the mudroom or entryway, makes maskingup for school easy. Today’s savvy parents are also adding lanyards to their kiddo’s masks, because you can never be too careful.
Stay Fit
Not only does regular exercise benefit the body, it benefits the brain, too. Exercise is important for everyone, especially children. For kids, daily exercise promotes healthy brain development and boasts perks like increased attention spans and enhanced learning skills. In fact, a 2018 study conducted by scientists at the University of Granada found that physically fit children have a greater amount of grey matter volume in the temporal and frontal regions of the brain, which helps with learning, processing visual information and motor skills. The study found that these kids also had better academic performance than their peers who did not partake in exercise.
Get moving with your kids and try a new activity together like jump rope, cone drills or a game of ball. Walking, jogging and riding bikes are also good forms of exercise for both kids and their parents.
Remember Vitamin D
Vitamin D; it’s an essential nutrient that doesn’t get as much love as its counterpart, Vitamin C. Like Vitamin C, this vitamin plays a role in preventing health problems and also works with calcium to build bones all while keeping them strong. Unfortunately, many Americans have a Vitamin D deficiency. In fact, a recent study found that 80 percent of COVID-19 patients did not have adequate levels of Vitamin D in their system. And those with a Vitamin D deficiency had a greater risk of testing positive for the coronavirus.
Factors like limited exposure to the sun and inadequate diets play a role in Vitamin D deficiency. Luckily, this vitamin is available as a supplement. Experts from John Hopkins Medicine suggest 600 IU of Vitamin D daily. Additionally, eggs, yogurt, orange juice, milk and tuna packed in water are all rich in Vitamin D.
Schedule Healthcare Visit
Regular well-child visits and vaccine visits are essential. These appointments are designed to check your child’s growth and development to make sure that they are on track and healthy. And vaccine visits keep children healthy by protecting them against vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles, whooping cough and the flu. In most cases, kids must be vaccinated before going to class. When scheduling your visit, call your provider and ask if your child is up to date and if there are any vaccinations they need before school. Your provider can also tell you if there are any pandemic protocols that your family may need to be aware of at the time of your visit.
Every day you make choices. With these tips, from masking-up to supplementing with vitamins, you can feel confident in the choices you make for your entire family.
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