The recently touted "mind-body connection" is at least as old as our Montessori educational philosophy. Dr. Maria Montessori espoused the concept over 100 years ago as an integral component of her principles for whole-child education at the Casa de Bambini established in 1906 in San Lorenzo, Italy.  Montessori's prescience reverberates in the Health and Wellness curriculum at Red Oaks, updated to reflect our informed take on education for the 21st century.
 
This curriculum, which addresses physical well-being as well as social persona and attitudes, is offered in the Upper El as an agenda for adult socialization. The program promotes positive body consciousness through physical education, strength training, and yoga, while instructing children in the positive self-management of natural adolescent impulses such as interpersonal aggressive behavior, self-consciousness, and social cliques. Students learn to employ sound judgment concerning their own behavior, understand one another's perspectives, and exercise inclusive behaviors that build connections.  
 
PE teacher Susan Waldrop instructs children in nutrition, health, personal well-being, peer relationships, and their emerging sexuality. Faculty member and yoga instructor Dari Olitt is working with Upper EL students twice a week on yoga, pilates, relaxation, and meditation skills. In addition, she will be joining Susan Waldrop in teaching social skills. In collaboration with UE classroom teachers, Waldrop and Olitt will strive to address the rising national health concerns for children such as obesity and at-risk behaviors that families face and that increasingly plague our nation's youth.
 
Outcomes of the program focus heavily on the promotion of positive peer relationships and effective conflict management. 
 
Studies show that aggressive children display different patterns of thinking from those who are well-socialized.  Children at risk display fewer positive problem-solving strategies and rely more on aggressive strategies to solve social problems. The ability to think effectively and critically is reliant on children having the means to employ positive interpersonal strategies naturally and with confidence.
 
"I am very excited by what is called the Second Step component of this curriculum," says Waldrop. "It takes the 'No Bullies' program to the next level by giving faculty members the tools to help children end bullying before it begins. As PE teacher, I am often at the center of situations where even the most respectful and mild-mannered students can get heated, because adolescents still need to learn the boundaries between competition and aggression. My role is to help students identify those boundaries and build healthy competitive relationships based on respect and sportsmanship."
 
In keeping with the outline for a 21st Century classroom, our Health and Wellness curriculum takes a multi-faceted approach to teaching content. Students will:
 
*  Work with teachers as their guides and mentors
*  Engage in careful observation of the learning process
*  Reinforce their learning through problem solving
*  Work together with faculty and classmates to foster an atmosphere of
    initiative and industry through the application of principles
*  Enrich their learning by means of sensory information and movement
*  Discover their potential in an atmosphere of safety and exploration
*  Encounter the inestimable value of process over product
 

Establishing a common, pervasive language of well-being and a code of ethics within the school and especially within the classroom is a key component to the success of this curriculum. In every classroom at Red Oaks, teachers model this standard through their attitudes and behaviors, and through the implementation of social problem-solving models and their basic expectations of mutual respect and thoughtful attitudes to all community members. However, children on the cusp of young adulthood are of special concern.
 
Planning for positive outcomes is what education at Red Oaks is all about. The quest of preparing our students to enter the broader community of secondary education and college is of paramount importance to us. Helping them to become mature, healthy, proactive, and inclusive citizens is a crucial goal.
                                                                                                                                       
Effective socialization is a school-wide priority that begins at the Primary level where children develop positive relationships with fellow students and adults -- not only with their own teachers but with all staff members at Red Oaks. As respected members of this community, through association and education, they are empowered to respect others.
 
This curriculum enhances their awareness of themselves as healthy, robust individuals with the power to effect positive change and to withstand negative peer pressure. It makes our children resilient in ways that portend productive lifestyles and promote civic and social leadership. Our students' membership in our extended family at Red Oaks and our commitment to a curriculum that supports their personal and social development gives them wells of confidence they can carry with them into the future.