This month, our 4th and 5th graders learned about self-care and self-advocacy, two important skills that help students stay calm, healthy, confident, and ready to learn. Students explored what it means to take care of their minds and bodies and how to speak up for what they need in difficult or stressful situations.

We started with a movement activity where students showed agreement or disagreement with statements about asking for help, managing stress, making healthy choices, and standing up for themselves. This helped them reflect on their own habits and needs.

What Is Self-Care?

Students learned that self-care means taking care of their physical, emotional, and mental well-being. We discussed how self-care helps us:

Students also shared examples of self-care, such as getting enough sleep, limiting screen time, taking breaks, connecting with friends or family, and doing activities that bring joy.

What Is Self-Advocacy?

Self-advocacy means asking for what you need and standing up for yourself respectfully.
 We practiced using phrases like:

Students role-played real-life school situations, such as:

These role-plays helped students practice communicating clearly and respectfully.

Building a Self-Care Plan

Each student created a personal Self-Care Plan, identifying:

What Students Learned

By the end of the lesson, students understood that:

Try this at home:
 Ask your child, “What is one self-care strategy or self-advocacy phrase you want to use more often?”