Book 3 in the Life Skills for the Young Dakota series designed for third graders. This continues the systematic approach of health and healing to education, aiming to nurture the whole child through a culturally relevant lens.
It is designed to address the unique needs of young Dakota children, incorporating traditional wisdom with modern educational practices. This curriculum aims to build resilience and self-esteem while also teaching practical life skills for our children to thrive.
– Preserving and promoting cultural heritage
– Fostering a strong sense of identity
– Building connections between generations
– Prevention tools to break the cycle of addiction, disease, and trauma
– Strengthen Dakota identity
– Providing the tools needed for making healthy life choices and habits.
– Whole-body medicine wheel approach, viewing each of us in four parts; the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of ourselves that we refer to as “bodies.”
– Helping the child to understand that each “body” is equality important to educate, nurture and develop in order to be able to walk a balanced life.
– In 2nd and 3rd grades we develop the language of the emotional and spiritual “bodies” which will help children to understand the importance of identifying and expressing their feelings in appropriate ways.
– We help them understand the importance of going through life’s challenges.
– We help them understand the importance of developing the virtues (gems) that are inside of us and ways to practice them.
– Help children see themselves as sacred and to be true to their heart.
– Focusing on consequences of our choices in everything we do – positive and negative.
– Encourage healthy decision-making from an early age.
– Promoting the importance of the Dakota language and culture, especially through our ancestor stories
Physical body: exercise, nutrition, hygiene, self-care, getting enough sleep, drinking water, taking care of Mother Earth.
Emotional body: understanding/identifying our feelings, coping strategies, boundaries.
Spiritual body: virtues – unity, respect, generosity, honesty, patience, courage to be kind, and loyalty; ways to feed our spirit.
Mental body: brain health, imagination, good listening skills, protecting ourselves, resolving conflict, belonging, and self-control, problem solving and self-esteem.
The students will go around the medicine wheel 14 times (7 times for the first semester and seven times for the second semester.)
o The first five to seven minutes starts with a Health & Wellness Practice (tapping, meditation, dancing/song- I am Dakota) The purpose of this is to help our children get out of stress and survival and to engage their learning brain.
o Read aloud by teacher and then do the interactive activities at the end.
o All workbooks have a pre and post inventory survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HVYX8FT) to track the learnings of our children and to see how this curriculum is impacting their thoughts, behaviors and beliefs. Teachers are encouraged to take pre surveys the first week of school and post surveys the last week of school. If at home take the “inventory” at the start and at the end.
*Teacher’s Manual includes Health & Wellness Practices and matching ancestor stories with each lesson with questions
