Anonymous
03/06/2025 09:35
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Does anyone know whether that HS Health class will ever go back to being ONE semester? please.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 18:47
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
There was a bill in current MD House re: financial literacy elective class. Don't know if it is moving forward or the bill was withdrawn by sponsor. Half year health and other half finance and investing could be better than one year of health.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 18:44
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Anonymous wrote:I've always wanted a life skills class.
I remember going to college and there were kids who didn't know how to do laundry, or write a check, or all sorts of other practical things. And I went to a non-Ivy but still top 25 university so these were "smart kids"
I think a course could cover a bunch of real-life skills and be interesting. Cooking, budgeting, cleaning, food safety (everyone gets their servsafe), etiquette, public speaking/interview/networking skills, laundry, basic clothing maintenance (buttons, hems, ironing), car maintenance, etc.
Bring back home ec !?
Anonymous
02/21/2024 18:43
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Anonymous wrote:Please- I’ll write too. It’s so ridiculous. It was a knee jerk reaction due to the mental health crisis during COVID.
Hey BOE you aren’t helping my kid with his mental health my forcing him to take a class where he’s being talked down to and one that gives loads of busy work.
It's not the BOE's policy. You should write your MD state legislators.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 18:26
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Anonymous wrote:Please- I’ll write too. It’s so ridiculous. It was a knee jerk reaction due to the mental health crisis during COVID.
Hey BOE you aren’t helping my kid with his mental health my forcing him to take a class where he’s being talked down to and one that gives loads of busy work.
+1 not want a teacher who likes to brag how good they manage their own finances. Please, save it for your significant other.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 18:25
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Anonymous wrote:I think it’s should be mental health and nutrition one semester and financial health (literacy) the second semester. I am floored it’s not mandatory.
+1!
Anonymous
02/21/2024 18:21
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Please- I’ll write too. It’s so ridiculous. It was a knee jerk reaction due to the mental health crisis during COVID.
Hey BOE you aren’t helping my kid with his mental health my forcing him to take a class where he’s being talked down to and one that gives loads of busy work.
Hey BOE you aren’t helping my kid with his mental health my forcing him to take a class where he’s being talked down to and one that gives loads of busy work.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 18:19
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Another semester of gym would be good - esp for kids not on a team sport.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 16:29
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
When kids stop engaging in risky behaviors, I will argue for 1/2 year of health. I think it’s really useful to educate kids about not only sex (STIs and birth control), but vaping, substance abuse and mental health. My kids have discussed important topics covered in those classes with me.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 16:21
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
I don't mind the full year of health at all. We talk to DS about healthy choices all the time but reinforcing those is not a bad idea.
That said my kid is currently in online health A and B and it's not even half a year. They started a few weeks ago and will finish in May. Thursday evenings, lots of easy homework. Done by end of year. I don't know how they knew to sign up for it but they did and they have several other friends doing the same thing.
That said my kid is currently in online health A and B and it's not even half a year. They started a few weeks ago and will finish in May. Thursday evenings, lots of easy homework. Done by end of year. I don't know how they knew to sign up for it but they did and they have several other friends doing the same thing.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 16:13
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
I think it’s should be mental health and nutrition one semester and financial health (literacy) the second semester. I am floored it’s not mandatory.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 15:42
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Given how times have changed…and drugs have changed…I hope they start each class with a recent news story of someone who died from fentanyl…usually unknowingly ingesting some harmless drug laced with it completely unbeknownst to them.
Kids need to realize that anything can be laced with fentanyl and you can literally die the first time you try something.
You can’t fix dead, so kids need to realize this.
Plus: safe sex.
A class that centers on these real stories coupled with discussions about how to navigate situations in high school and college is worth the time.
Kids need to realize that anything can be laced with fentanyl and you can literally die the first time you try something.
You can’t fix dead, so kids need to realize this.
Plus: safe sex.
A class that centers on these real stories coupled with discussions about how to navigate situations in high school and college is worth the time.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 14:42
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
I've always wanted a life skills class.
I remember going to college and there were kids who didn't know how to do laundry, or write a check, or all sorts of other practical things. And I went to a non-Ivy but still top 25 university so these were "smart kids"
I think a course could cover a bunch of real-life skills and be interesting. Cooking, budgeting, cleaning, food safety (everyone gets their servsafe), etiquette, public speaking/interview/networking skills, laundry, basic clothing maintenance (buttons, hems, ironing), car maintenance, etc.
I remember going to college and there were kids who didn't know how to do laundry, or write a check, or all sorts of other practical things. And I went to a non-Ivy but still top 25 university so these were "smart kids"
I think a course could cover a bunch of real-life skills and be interesting. Cooking, budgeting, cleaning, food safety (everyone gets their servsafe), etiquette, public speaking/interview/networking skills, laundry, basic clothing maintenance (buttons, hems, ironing), car maintenance, etc.
Anonymous
02/21/2024 14:06
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Anonymous wrote:I don't think I've ever heard a kid say anything positive about anything they've learned in health. Is there any momentum to get the state to go back to a half year credit? [/quote/]
Yes please. The second semester is not necessary. B-O-R-I-N-G.
Anonymous
03/18/2023 14:29
Subject: Any momentum to lobby the state to make health a 1/2 year again?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After 3 years of MS health ed plus 1/2 a year, what on earth are they discussing? Every year MS health ed is the same thing.
From what I could tell, Montgomery County health was about sex-ed, drugs, and a little bit of mental health.
When I went to school elsewhere, our health class covered sex-ed and drugs, but it also covered nutrition, body systems, diseases, and first aid (including the Heimlich and CPR certification). Admittedly, there wasn’t much focus on mental health.
If the extra semester of health means they actually learn more about health than safe sex, avoiding drugs, and mental health issues, it sounds like it would be beneficial.
So, you don't have kids in MCPS and know nothing about it but advocate for it. They did all those things in MS. Then, they do them all in the one semester of HS. Now, doing something like financial literacy makes sense. Another health education doesn't. Every semester its the same thing. Enough with the mental health non-sense. Talking about it in general terms isn't helping anyone. Parents need to step up and help and get their kids help with true mental health issues. Between student support/advisory and health ed, so much time is wasted repeating the same information vs. giving our kids a good well rounded education.
Pp you quoted
My kids are recent graduates of MCPS. One of them even took “Honors Health” as she was interested in a health career and was hoping for a more rigorous health class, which she didn’t get. You seem to be agreeing with me that the repeated semesters of health focusing on mental health is insufficient. That’s why they need a semester with useful content.
I agree that MCPS wastes a lot of time on fluffy topics when instructional time would be better served focusing on academic content and/or development of specific skills. I think instruction on financial literacy is also a good idea. It could be folded into existing math/economics classes (although with the current problems with math instruction, I hate to divert time/focus from main topics) or stand alone. Maybe we should just have a life skills class that includes financial literacy, practical health, and other miscellaneous general information that people need in life but usually just fumble through by themselves.
Everyone takes honors health. There is no on-level option.
This is not true (or maybe only at some schools)
Only Honors Health is listed in the HS course bulletin
http://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/CourseLists/Index/225/#Health_Courses
It would be great if they'd also add new requirements for Honors Home Ec and Honors Checkbook Balancing .
First lesson would have to be: “This is what a checkbook looks like.”
Yes let’s get rid of what little flexibility kids have right now in their schedule. Let’s add a full year class on car and house repairs. How about another full year class in public speaking? Or a semester of keyboarding?
I mean we wouldn’t want kids to have the ability to take classes to figure out their potential college major like CS, Law, Medicine or have time to enrich themselves with additional Arts classes.
There's a significant portion of kids, not sure the exact percentage, that leave high school right now without figuring their potential college major, so it's not like the status quo is helping them figure that out. Undoubtedly, those students would be better off leaving high school knowing how to give a presentation or speech and typing and using professional computer applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Typing should be done in elementary school. And same with those other programs but kids can figure them out as they use google docs, slides, etc. for everything. Waiting till high school to do keyboarding is lame. As a parent, we spent a summer doing it to make sure our kids could.