Homeschool Health - Teaching Good Oral Hygiene!

When I was in school, I remember when every child in our class was told to chew a little red tablet that was supposed to demonstrate areas missed while brushing and teach the importance of good oral hygiene. As a new homeschooler, I wondered how I'd repeat lessons like that with my children.

Our orthodontist's assistant helped me out in that regard when she told my son their office "pays" kids to take care of their teeth. Since my son heard the dental assistant mention "money" and "prizes", he has been obsessed with oral hygiene. He came home and made the following list of things he'd do to take care of his teeth:

• Brush teeth
• No sucking
• No cady now
• No cokc

As you can see, we haven't reached the words "candy" and "coke" in Sequential Spelling.

Every time I've looked around today and wondered where the kids had run off to, I've found them in the bathroom brushing their teeth. Jasmine has been begging me to let her get braces, too. She doesn't want to miss out on all the prizes.

Suffice to say, I am no longer worried teaching homeschool health. If I come across a health lesson I can't teach in everyday life, I can always resort to bribery.

Update 9/12/08: Last night, Andrew complained that his teeth were hurting, and this morning, I caught Jasmine brushing the baby's teeth. I finally had to issue an edict... No tooth brushing allowed without asking me first!