Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

After-School Proposal Allison Malt September 5, 2005 Description of the Project: Yoga is an ancient system of mind-body health that builds strength, flexibility, self-esteem and imagination in contemporary kids and their families. Yoga helps kids' and adults' bodies work at their most efficient by strengthening muscles, toning internal organs tuning fine-motor coordination, improving posture and helping sleep cycles. Yoga games, breath meditations, and deep relaxations are wonderful self-help therapies that can become quick daily routines. Yoga has been shown to improve the health of asthmatic children. Because exercise is good for your heart and lungs, yoga exercises stretch and strengthen lungs and body without overexerting. Children are taught how to move slowly and breathe mindfully. I hope to implement this project by conducting sessions after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. An open registration would take place for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in order to obtain class sizes of 20 for each of the three days. Community Need and Student Voice: American children are more obese than ever. Overweight children often are plagued with impeded health and diseases that include diabetes and asthma. Schools once were able to provide activities that gave opportunities for exercise during the day, but now, most students go to gym class once a week at most. A study reported in Pediatric News conducted on children ages 1-5 and their parents. All the families were participants in New York's Women with Infants and Children (WIC) program. Many of the children were very overweight: one-third represents the top 15 percent of weight for their age and sex, and just less than 20 percent were in the top 5 percent. There were many overweight children in all ethnic groups in the study, but Hispanic children were most likely to be obese (39 percent.) According to two new studies, many parents of extremely overweight children don't realize that their children are so heavy. As a result, they don't make any effort to improve their children's exercise and eating habits. Other family members, teachers, and adults need to find a way to help those children and their parents, in effect, the community. The project that I propose will do just that and will enable students and their families to spend time together doing something healthy for the mind, body and spirit. Yoga isn't only fun, it's great for building self-esteem. "Unlike other sports, with yoga there's no chance of a child feeling bad if he can't get the ball over a net," says Kathi Kemper, M.D., an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Plus, "doing yoga can help kids keep the flexibility they have naturally when they're young," says Russell Greenfield, M.D., assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. After an introductory class, students would voice their opinions in order to be a part of the planning for successive sessions. Students are responsible for conducting a short yoga session at home once a week with a family member and to share the experience. Learning Objectives: This project can easily be connected to science units such as the human body, nutrition and animal behavior, and social studies units such as biomes. Learning objectives include understanding the roles of the body systems (ex: the breath of life: what the lungs do), recognizing animal habitats (ex: desert animals: how they move), and analyzing the saying, “you are what you eat” (ex: eating for strong minds and bodies.) Topics would be easily integrated into the practice and would include handouts and read-alouds when applicable. Action Steps: Yoga is simple in terms of materials and can be done almost anywhere. Necessary items include mats. Mats are sold individually but can be reused indefinitely. In the long run, each session would cost less than a dollar. The special education gymnasium would be easily obtained for this project and is a quiet, open space. Student Reflection and Evaluation: Students would be able to reflect on the project through open discussions during the first and final 10 minutes of each class. Written evaluations would be distributed mid-project and at the end of the project. Periodic assignments would also enable students to reflect on their practice and progress. Celebration and Recognition: The project would culminate in a Yoga kids party held, weather permitting, in a nearby park. Student would help to plan the party and make the invitations. Parents would be encouraged to enjoy in the games, healthy snacks and celebration. Students will be recognized by sharing a favorite pose or memory with the group.