Features this Month:

• YMCAs to Teach Kids Personal Finance - Day Camp Style
• Keep Moving to Ward off Arthritis
• Mission in Action- Teaching Preschoolers About Healthy Eating
• Maintaining Your Health with Carls YMCA

YMCAs to Teach Kids Personal Finance - Day Camp Style

A lemonade stand is the closest thing to personal finance most kids will attempt this summer.

It’s a great teachable moment, financial experts say, from product planning and packaging to promotion and sales. But like summer break, such moments are fleeting, and parents often miss the opportunity to leverage lemons into life skill lessons.

In general, money management appears to be a difficult topic for parents to broach. A 2006 Capital One survey indicated that only 43 percent of parents had discussed importance of prioritizing needs and wants with their children. And, 42 percent had not discussed financial basics with their children. This lack of knowledge can lead to bad consumer habits and poor credit.

This summer, the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit will mix the entrepreneurial spirit of the lemonade stand with key financial education principles at its popular Day Camp program to help kids become more financially savvy.

That’s right. The Y is teaching personal finance day camp-style.

Backed by a grant from the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, the YMCA will package money skills and activities into one week of Day Camp. While some Day Camps will dedicate 30-60 minutes each day on financial education, others are creating week-long themes to work the program to its fullest potential.

The Plymouth Family YMCA features a day camp week called “Show Me the Money.” “It’s all about the green stuff during Money Week,” said Jenny Paffi, Day Camp Director.

“We’re adapting the curriculum to Day Camp so that kids have fun while learning about the value of money,” Paffi said. “Our campers will earn character cash throughout the week by participating in money skills activities. At the end of the week campers will use their accumulated wealth to buy stuff at a Dutch auction.”

The financial education curriculum is being developed with Oakland University’s School of Business Administration and will be piloted next month at a Rochester after-school program. The program will later be launched at YMCA after-school programs in Farmington and Detroit. Pre- and post-tests will gauge effectiveness and provide input for continuous curriculum improvement.

YMCA Day Camp registration is already underway. Families interested in taking part of the financial education week should contact their branch and ask for the Day Camp director to learn more.

“The financial literacy program has great potential,” said Josh Landefeld, regional director for YMCA Youth Sports & Day Camp. “Kids will be learning essential life skills, helping to create a generation of financially savvy consumers."

And studies say those students will have a positive impact on society. For example, the United States' Financial Literacy and Education Commission states that financially literate people are more likely to be self-supporting, prepare for setbacks and emergencies; increase their standard of living through wise spending, saving, planning and investing; and are less susceptible to scams and identity theft.

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Mission in Action- Teaching Preschoolers About Healthy Eating

The Broadway Branch of the Long Island (NY) YMCA teaches preschoolers about making healthful food choices and being active as part of the YMCA’s national Healthy Family Home pilot program. One favorite activity within the curriculum involves a mock grocery store, set up by teachers and stocked with real produce selected by parents, where kids shop (along with turns as banker, cashier and bagger) for fruits and vegetables, some of which would go into their own homemade chicken soup.

Between shopping and cooking, kids become more familiar with different foods and their nutritional value. As part of the program, a Healthy Family Starter Kit is sent home with each child. Healthy Family Home offers practical advice and activity ideas in three areas—Eat Healthy, Play Every Day, Family Time—where families can make simple, healthier choices together. The kit can be downloaded from www.healthyfamilyhome.org. Says the YMCA’s Executive Director Anita Harvey, "We want families to embrace healthy habits at home like the healthy habits we teach here through all our programming. Teaching your children healthy eating habits when they are young will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle when they are adults."

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Maintaining Your Health with Carls YMCA

Staying healthy is not just about eating right and getting exercise. Good hygiene is also essential for maintaining well-being. In order to keep you and your family safe the YMCA practices diligent cleaning habits. However, there are routines that you can implement for yourself and those around you that will make Carls an even more enjoyable and healthy place to spend your time. Please help us maintain the cleanliness of our facility by observing the following basic hygiene practices.

When visiting the pool there are a few things you can do to contribute to keeping the area clean. Before entering the water, we ask all members to take a soap shower. This habit is one that not only keeps dirt and other foreign materials out of the pool; it also helps protect your skin. Upon taking a soap shower, clean water saturates the pores of your skin, thereby preventing chlorinated water from entering and causing irritation. This is especially true for our younger members who may be more sensitive to the chemicals used to disinfect the pool water. Showering after a swim also aids in preventing skin issues.

Proper use of swim diapers is also essential to preventing contamination. Children who are not toilet trained are required to wear a swim diaper at all times in the pool. Normal diapers are ineffective in preventing leakage in the water. Taking your children for regular bathroom breaks also reduces the possibility of accidents which deplete chlorine amounts. Swallowing of water should also be avoided.

The pool is not the only area where you can make a difference. General cleaning habits while using exercise equipment is important. While our machines are continually cleaned by our Wellness Staff, by using the provided paper towels and disinfecting spray located around the room, you can maintain that cleanliness for the individual who comes directly after you. Please clean off all equipment and mats that you use.

Proper footwear is also essential to keeping the floors clean in the facility. It is good practice to bring separate shoes to work out in, to prevent dirt, grime and other contaminants from being transferred to gym and fitness floors, as well as equipment. All outdoor shoes are prohibited on the pool deck.

Your health is of the utmost importance. Please help us keep our facility spick-and-span!

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