PAGE 1: Overview OVERVIEW ======== Personal hygiene is the way you keep your own body clean and protected. In this sub-strand you will identify practices such as hand washing, using clean water and wearing personal protective equipment, practise those habits, and keep a daily log so that they become part of ordinary life. ## Strand 3.0: Hygiene Practices Sub-strand 3.1: Personal Hygiene Suggested lessons: 10 ## Source • KICD Grade 4 Agriculture Curriculum Design (Revised 2024) — Strand 3.0 Hygiene Practices, Sub-strand 3.1 Personal Hygiene ## Learning outcomes By the end of the sub-strand, the learner should be able to: a) identify healthy practices that promote personal hygiene b) apply healthy practices that promote personal hygiene c) embrace healthy practices to promote personal hygiene in daily life ## Key inquiry questions 1. How does personal hygiene promote good health? PAGE 2: How we will learn ## Learning experiences • brainstorm and enumerate practices that promote personal hygiene such as hand washing, use of personal protective equipment and use of clean water • demonstrate appropriate practices that promote personal hygiene such as hand washing, use of personal protective equipment and use of clean water • keep a day-to-day activity log of various hygiene practices for a specified period of time to embrace personal health promotion ## Core competencies • Self-efficacy: skills in enhancement of self-outlook for self and others through personal hygiene practices. ## Values • Responsibility: taking charge of own body as they practise personal hygiene and use personal protective equipment. ## Pertinent and contemporary issues • Prevention of communicable diseases as learners practise personal hygiene. ## Links to other learning areas • Learners relate personal hygiene practices to prevention of communicable diseases learnt in Science and Technology. LESSON 1: WHAT PERSONAL HYGIENE MEANS ===================================== ## What you will learn • Explain what personal hygiene is. • List healthy practices that promote personal hygiene. Curriculum outcomes: a) identify healthy practices that promote personal hygiene ## Introduction Sweat, dust from the compound, food on your fingers and germs you cannot see all collect on the body during a normal day. Personal hygiene is the set of habits that keep that dirt from making you ill. ## Notes Personal hygiene means keeping your body, your clothes and the things that touch your body clean. It is called personal because each person is responsible for their own body. A clean home helps, but it does not replace washing your own hands or wearing clean clothes. Healthy practices that promote personal hygiene include: PAGE 3: Lesson 1: What personal hygiene means — Notes 2 - Washing hands with soap and clean water at the right times - Bathing regularly - Brushing teeth - Keeping nails short and clean - Washing and combing hair - Wearing clean clothes and not sharing personal items such as toothbrushes and towels - Using clean water for drinking, cooking and washing - Using personal protective equipment when the work needs it, such as gloves, gumboots or an overall These practices matter because germs that cause illness are often passed by dirty hands, dirty water and close contact. You cannot see most germs, so you cannot wait until they look dirty. A hand can look fairly clean and still carry germs from the latrine or from an animal pen. Personal hygiene also helps you feel comfortable and ready for school. Clean clothes and a washed face are part of respect for yourself and for the people you sit beside. The practices are the same for boys and girls. In the lessons that follow, you will learn how to do the practices properly, not only how to name them. Naming a habit without doing it does not protect health. Start by noticing which of the practices you already do every day and which ones you often skip. PAGE 4: Lesson 1: What personal hygiene means — Example 1 ## Key words • personal hygiene — keeping your own body and the things that touch it clean • germs — tiny living things, too small to see, that can cause disease • practice — a habit you do regularly ## Worked examples ### Example 1 A learner bathed in the morning but ate a mango without washing hands after visiting the latrine. Which hygiene practice was skipped? Working: 1. Bathing was done. 2. Hand washing after the latrine and before eating was not done. 3. That is a personal hygiene practice. Answer: Washing hands after using the latrine and before eating. ## Activity: List practices that keep a person clean You will need: Exercise book, Chalkboard 1. Brainstorm in groups all the ways you keep your body clean on a school day. 2. Include hand washing, clean water and any protective clothing you use at home or in the school garden. 3. Make one class list and tick the practices everyone agrees are important. 4. Each learner circles one practice they will do more carefully this week. ## Practice 1. What is personal hygiene? 2. Name four practices that promote personal hygiene. 3. Why is it not enough that a hand looks clean? ## Answers to practice 1. Keeping your own body, clothes and personal items clean. 2. Any four: hand washing, bathing, brushing teeth, clean nails, clean hair, clean clothes, using clean water, using protective equipment. 3. Germs are too small to see, so a hand can look clean and still carry germs. ## Summary • Personal hygiene is each person's care of their own body. • Hand washing, bathing, clean clothes, clean water and protective equipment are key practices. • The practices stop germs that you cannot see. PAGE 5: Lesson 2: Washing hands properly — Notes 1 LESSON 2: WASHING HANDS PROPERLY ================================ ## What you will learn • State when hands must be washed. • Demonstrate the steps of washing hands with soap and clean water. Curriculum outcomes: a) identify healthy practices that promote personal hygiene; b) apply healthy practices that promote personal hygiene ## Introduction Hands touch the latrine, the hoe, animals, money and then food. Washing them properly is the hygiene practice that protects you most often in a single day. ## Notes Wash your hands at these times: - After using the toilet or latrine - Before preparing food and before eating - After handling animals, dung, rubbish or dirty tools - After coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose - After playing outside - When your hands are visibly dirty A quick rinse in a basin that many people have already used does not do the job well. Use clean running water if you can, or pour clean water from a container so that the dirty water flows away. Use soap. Soap lifts germs and dirt so that the water can carry them off. Follow these steps. Wet your hands with clean water. Apply soap. Rub palm to palm. Rub the back of each hand. Rub between the fingers. Rub the thumbs. Rub the fingertips and nails on the palm of the other hand. Rub the wrists. Rinse with clean water until the soap is gone. Dry with a clean towel or air-dry your hands. The rubbing should take about as long as slowly singing a short chorus, about twenty seconds. Dirty nails need extra rubbing because germs hide under them. PAGE 6: Lesson 2: Washing hands properly — Notes 3 If soap is not in the house, ash can be used as a temporary help for rubbing, then rinsed off well, but soap is better and should be kept near the latrine and the eating place. Do not dry clean hands on a dirty shirt or a shared towel that is already muddy. A clean handkerchief or air drying is better than putting germs straight back on. Hand washing protects you and the next person who eats the food you serve. It is a duty to others, not only a private habit. [DIAGRAM] TYPE: svg ALT: Hand washing: wet, soap, rub, rinse and dry PAYLOAD: CAPTION: Hand washing: wet, soap, rub, rinse and dry [/DIAGRAM] ## Key words • running water — water that flows over the hands and away, instead of sitting in a shared basin • soap — a cleanser that loosens dirt and germs so water can rinse them off ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Two learners rinse their hands in the same bowl of water with no soap after the latrine. What is wrong, and how should they wash? Working: 1. The water is not running, and there is no soap. 2. Germs stay in the bowl and on the hands. 3. They should use soap and pour or run clean water so the dirty water flows away. Answer: They should wet their hands, rub with soap for about twenty seconds, including fingers and nails, then rinse under clean running or poured water and dry on a clean towel. PAGE 7: Lesson 2: Washing hands properly — Answers to practice ## Activity: Demonstrate hand washing You will need: Clean water, Soap, Basin or tippy tap, Clean towel 1. One learner demonstrates every step while the group names the step aloud. 2. Each learner then washes their own hands, including thumbs, nails and wrists. 3. Practise the moments that matter by calling out a situation, such as 'after the latrine', and showing the wash. 4. Refill or reset the water so the next group has clean water. ## Practice 1. Name three times when you must wash your hands. 2. Why is soap needed, not water only? 3. Which parts of the hands are easy to miss? ## Answers to practice 1. Any three: after the latrine, before eating, before cooking, after handling animals or rubbish, after coughing or sneezing, after playing. 2. Soap loosens dirt and germs so that rinsing can remove them. 3. Between the fingers, the thumbs, the nails and the wrists. ## Summary • Wash after the latrine, before food, and after dirty work. • Use soap and rub every surface for about twenty seconds. • Rinse with clean water and dry on a clean towel. LESSON 3: BODY, TEETH, HAIR, NAILS AND CLOTHES ============================================== ## What you will learn • Describe how to keep the body, mouth, hair and nails clean. • Explain why personal items should not be shared. Curriculum outcomes: b) apply healthy practices that promote personal hygiene ## Introduction Hand washing is only one part of a clean body. Skin, teeth, hair, nails and clothes each collect dirt in their own way and need their own habit. PAGE 8: Lesson 3: Body, teeth, hair, nails and clothes — Notes 4 ## Notes Bathe at least once a day, and again after heavy games or farm work. Use clean water and soap. Wash the face, underarms, feet and private parts carefully. Rinse off the soap. Dry with your own clean towel. A damp body left in dirty clothes starts to smell and can develop rashes. Do not bathe in stagnant ponds. That water is not clean and may contain things that harm the skin. Brush your teeth every morning and every evening with a toothbrush and toothpaste, or with a clean chewing stick used the way you have been taught. Brush the outside, inside and chewing surfaces. Rinse your mouth. Do not share a toothbrush. Food left on teeth feeds germs that cause holes and bad breath. Hair should be combed every day. Wash it with shampoo or soap and clean water often enough to keep the scalp clean. Keep the style neat so that dust and lice have less chance to settle. Do not share combs, razors or headscarves that have not been washed. Cut fingernails and toenails short and scrub under them. Long nails hold soil, dung and germs, and they get in the way when you wash hands or prepare food. Use a nail cutter or scissors carefully, not a dirty blade. Wear clean underclothes and a clean uniform or home clothes. Change clothes that are wet with sweat. Wash dirty clothes with soap, rinse them, and dry them in the sun when you can. Sun and drying help to freshen them. Do not share socks, underwear or towels. These habits are easier if you keep your things in one place: soap, towel, toothbrush, comb and a set of clean clothes. A learner who owns few clothes can still keep the clothes they have washed and dry. ## Key words • personal item — something used by one person, such as a toothbrush, towel or comb • bathing — washing the whole body with soap and clean water ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Why is it unwise to share a toothbrush or a towel? Working: 1. These items touch saliva, skin and germs. 2. Sharing passes germs from one person to another. Answer: They carry germs from the mouth or skin of another person. PAGE 9: Lesson 4: Using clean water — Notes 1 ## Activity: Show one body-care practice You will need: Water, Soap, Towel, Toothbrush and toothpaste or a clean chewing stick, Comb, Nail cutter if the teacher provides one 1. In stations, demonstrate one practice: washing the face, brushing teeth, combing hair or cleaning nails. 2. Explain when you do that practice at home. 3. Name the personal item you should not share at that station. 4. Write a morning routine in the order you will follow it. ## Practice 1. How often should you brush your teeth? 2. Why should fingernails be kept short? 3. Name three personal items that should not be shared. ## Answers to practice 1. Every morning and every evening. 2. Long nails trap dirt and germs. 3. Any three: toothbrush, towel, comb, socks, underwear, razor. ## Summary • Bathe daily with soap and clean water, and dry with your own towel. • Brush teeth morning and evening, and keep nails short. • Wear clean clothes and do not share personal items. LESSON 4: USING CLEAN WATER =========================== ## What you will learn • Identify uses of clean water in personal hygiene. • Describe how to keep drinking water clean at home. Curriculum outcomes: a) identify healthy practices that promote personal hygiene; b) apply healthy practices that promote personal hygiene ## Introduction The same water you drink, wash with and cook with can protect you or make you ill. Personal hygiene depends on water that is clean enough for the job you give it. ## Notes Clean water is water that is safe for the way you use it. You need it to drink, to wash hands and the body, to clean teeth, to wash fruits and vegetables, and to cook. Dirty water can carry germs that cause diarrhoea and other illnesses. Clear water is not always safe, but water that is muddy, smells bad or has insects in it is not water to drink. Safer sources include a treated tap, a protected borehole or well, a protected spring, and rainwater collected in a clean covered tank. Water from an open pond, a river where animals drink, or a puddle should not be used for drinking or washing food. PAGE 10: Lesson 4: Using clean water — Notes 3 If you are not sure that drinking water is safe, boil it. Bring it to a rolling boil, let it cool, and store it in a clean container with a lid. Use a clean cup or a tap on the container to take the water out. Do not dip a dirty hand or a used cup into the storage container. Wash the container regularly. Washing water should also be clean. Bathing in very dirty water spreads skin problems. Wash fruits and vegetables in clean water, not in the water you have already used to wash muddy hands. When water is scarce, use it carefully but do not skip hand washing. A small amount poured from a jerrycan, with soap, is better than a large shared basin of grey water. At school, drink from your own clean bottle. Do not share a bottle with the whole class. Fill it from a safe source. Empty and rinse it every day so that old water does not sit in the sun. Using clean water is a hygiene practice you can apply every time you drink, cook or wash. It links personal care to the way the household stores water. ## Key words • clean water — water that is safe for drinking, cooking or washing • protected source — a water source kept covered or fenced so that dirt and animals stay out ## Worked examples ### Example 1 A jerrycan of drinking water has no lid, and people dip a cup into it with unwashed hands. What should change? Working: 1. The water is open to dust and germs from hands. 2. Cover the container. 3. Take water with a clean cup or a tap, without dipping dirty hands. Answer: Cover the container and draw water without dipping unwashed hands or a dirty cup into it. Boil the water if its source is not safe. PAGE 11: Lesson 4: Using clean water — Trace the water you use ## Activity: Trace the water you use You will need: Exercise book, School water container or tap 1. List every way you used water since yesterday: drinking, bathing, hand washing, cooking. 2. Say where that water came from and whether it was covered. 3. Demonstrate how to pour water for hand washing without wasting it. 4. Agree on one rule for storing drinking water at home. ## Practice 1. Name three uses of clean water in personal hygiene. 2. What should you do to drinking water if you are not sure it is safe? 3. Why should you not dip a dirty cup into the drinking-water container? ## Answers to practice 1. Any three: drinking, bathing, washing hands, brushing teeth, washing fruits and vegetables, cooking. 2. Boil it, cool it, and store it in a clean covered container. 3. The cup puts germs into the water that everyone will drink. ## Summary • Use safe water for drinking, washing and cooking. • Boil water when you are not sure it is safe, and store it covered. • Do not dip dirty hands or cups into stored drinking water. LESSON 5: PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND PERSONAL HYGIENE =================================================== ## What you will learn • Name personal protective equipment used in daily work. • Explain how each item supports personal hygiene. Curriculum outcomes: a) identify healthy practices that promote personal hygiene; b) apply healthy practices that promote personal hygiene ## Introduction An overall keeps dung off your shirt. Gumboots keep mud and sharp rubbish off your feet. Protective equipment is part of personal hygiene because it stops dirt from reaching your body in the first place. ## Notes Personal protective equipment, often called PPE, is clothing or gear that protects the body while you work. In daily life at home, school and the farm, the common items are gloves, dust masks, gumboots, headgear, overalls and canvas shoes. PAGE 12: Lesson 5: Protective equipment and personal hygiene — Notes 2 Gloves keep mud, thorns, rubbish and animal waste off the skin of the hands. They do not replace hand washing. You wash your hands after you take gloves off. A dust mask covers the nose and mouth so that you breathe in less dust when sweeping a dry store or handling dry fodder. Gumboots protect the feet in mud, water, animal houses and places where there may be sharp objects. Headgear, such as a cap, hat or clean headscarf, keeps sun, dust and plant bits out of the hair. An overall or apron covers your clothes so that dirt stays on a garment you can wash. Canvas shoes are lighter than gumboots and suit dry work such as sweeping the classroom or working in a dry garden. They should be worn with socks and kept clean. Choose the item that matches the work. Sorting dry maize may need a dust mask. Cleaning a cowshed needs gumboots and gloves. A hat is useful in a hot open garden. Wearing gumboots in class is not the point. Wearing them in mud is. PPE promotes hygiene only when it is worn correctly and kept clean. A wet mask, torn gloves or gumboots caked with dung can spread dirt instead of stopping it. Later lessons on cleaning protective equipment show how to care for these items. For now, know their names, when to wear them, and that they belong to personal hygiene as well as to safety. PAGE 13: Lesson 5: Protective equipment and personal hygiene — Answers to practice Do not share a dust mask. Wash your hands after removing any protective item. ## Key words • personal protective equipment — clothing or gear worn to protect the body during work • dust mask — a cover for the nose and mouth that reduces the dust you breathe • overall — a garment worn over clothes to keep them clean during dirty work ## Worked examples ### Example 1 You are going to sweep a dusty grain store and then wash the cowshed floor. Which protective items fit each job? Working: 1. The store has dust, so a dust mask and maybe an overall help. 2. The cowshed is wet and dirty, so gumboots and gloves help. 3. Hands are washed after both jobs. Answer: Dust mask for the store. Gumboots and gloves for the cowshed. An overall helps in both. Wash hands afterwards. ## Activity: Match protective equipment to jobs You will need: Pictures or real gloves, mask, gumboots, cap, overall and canvas shoes, Job cards 1. Name each item and the part of the body it protects. 2. Match each item to a job at home, school or on the farm. 3. Demonstrate putting on gloves or an apron for a clean task such as sorting rubbish, then removing them and washing hands. 4. Explain why a dirty item does not protect hygiene. ## Practice 1. What does PPE stand for in this lesson? 2. Which item protects the feet in a muddy cowshed? 3. Why must you still wash your hands after removing gloves? 4. Name the protective item that reduces dust entering the nose and mouth. ## Answers to practice 1. Personal protective equipment. 2. Gumboots. 3. The outside of the gloves is dirty, and germs can reach your hands as you take them off. 4. A dust mask. ## Summary • Gloves, masks, gumboots, headgear, overalls and canvas shoes protect the body during work. • Choose the item that matches the job. • Dirty or torn equipment does not support hygiene. PAGE 14: Lesson 6: Hygiene while you work and eat — Notes 2 LESSON 6: HYGIENE WHILE YOU WORK AND EAT ======================================== ## What you will learn • Apply hygiene practices during farm work, cleaning and meals. • Order the steps of a clean routine. Curriculum outcomes: b) apply healthy practices that promote personal hygiene ## Introduction Hygiene fails in the gap between jobs. You can wash in the morning and still carry dung from the goat pen onto a chapati if you do not wash again before you eat. ## Notes Apply personal hygiene at the moment it is needed. A useful routine for farm or garden work is: wear the right protective equipment, do the work, remove the dirty equipment, wash your hands with soap, and only then touch food, your face or your books. In the school garden, canvas shoes or gumboots keep soil off your feet. Gloves help when you handle compost or thorny weeds. Do not touch your eyes with soil-covered hands. When the lesson ends, shake soil off outside, not onto the classroom floor. Wash hands before you line up for break. At a meal, hygiene is a short sequence. Use the latrine if you need to, then wash hands, then sit and eat from your own plate or the shared dish using clean serving utensils. Do not dip bitten food back into a shared pot. Do not cough over the food. If you must cough, turn away and cover your mouth with your elbow, then wash your hands if you used them. After games, wash your face and hands and change a very wet shirt if you can. Sitting in a sweaty uniform until evening is a common reason for body odour and skin rash. Drink clean water rather than sharing one bottle around the team. If you help to cook, tie hair back or cover it, wash hands, and keep nails short. Use clean water for the food. These are the same practices you already know, applied in the kitchen. Practising means doing the steps even when you are in a hurry. The risky times are exactly the rushed times: coming from the latrine, running in from the garden, and starting a meal late. PAGE 15: Lesson 6: Hygiene while you work and eat — Example 1 ## Key words • routine — steps followed in the same order each time • shared dish — a bowl of food that more than one person serves from ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Put these steps in a safe order: eat a fruit, work in the compost heap, wash hands, remove gloves. Working: 1. Protective equipment is worn for the dirty work. 2. Gloves come off before washing. 3. Hands are washed before the fruit is eaten. Answer: Work in the compost heap with gloves on, remove the gloves, wash hands, then eat the fruit. ## Activity: Act out a hygiene routine You will need: Gloves or an apron, Water, Soap, A fruit or a picture of food 1. In groups, act a short scene: garden work, then break time. 2. Include protective equipment, removing it, hand washing and eating. 3. The class points out any step that was skipped. 4. Repeat the scene in the correct order. ## Practice 1. What should you do between weeding the garden and eating a snack? 2. How should you cough near food? 3. Why should bitten food not go back into a shared pot? ## Answers to practice 1. Remove dirty gloves or shoes from the eating place if needed, and wash your hands with soap and clean water. 2. Turn away and cough into your elbow, then wash your hands if you used them. 3. It passes germs from your mouth into food other people will eat. ## Summary • Wash at the moment between dirty work and food. • Use protective equipment for the job, then remove it and wash. • Do not share bottles or return bitten food to a shared dish. PAGE 16: Lesson 7: Personal hygiene and communicable diseases — Notes 1 LESSON 7: PERSONAL HYGIENE AND COMMUNICABLE DISEASES ==================================================== ## What you will learn • Explain how personal hygiene helps prevent communicable diseases. • Connect hygiene practices to staying healthy at home and school. Curriculum outcomes: a) identify healthy practices that promote personal hygiene; c) embrace healthy practices to promote personal hygiene in daily life ## Introduction A cold, a stomach upset or a skin infection can pass from one person to another. These are communicable diseases. Personal hygiene is one of the ordinary ways we slow that passing. ## Notes A communicable disease is an illness that can spread from person to person. Germs leave one body in faeces, saliva, mucus or discharge from the skin, and they enter another body through the mouth, the nose or broken skin. Dirty hands are a common bridge. So is dirty water. So is a cough aimed at a neighbour's face. Diarrhoea often follows germs that travel from faeces to food or water by unwashed hands. Washing hands after the latrine and before eating breaks that path. Boiling unsafe drinking water and washing fruit do the same. Covering food keeps flies, which walk on both waste and plates, from carrying dirt across. PAGE 17: Lesson 7: Personal hygiene and communicable diseases — Notes 3 Colds and coughs spread in droplets when people cough or sneeze close together. Covering the cough, staying a little apart when you are sneezing, and washing hands reduce the spread. You still come to school when you are well enough, but you do not wipe your nose on a shared towel. Some skin problems spread by sharing clothes, combs or towels, or by leaving the skin dirty and damp. Bathing, drying the body and keeping your own towel and uniform clean lower that risk. Hygiene does not promise that you will never fall ill. It cuts down the chances. That is why these practices are taught with Science and Technology, where you also learn that preventing communicable disease is part of health. Embracing the practices means you keep doing them when nobody is watching, because the germs are still there. You can help others without preaching at them. Set water and soap where the family washes. Remind a younger child to wash before a meal. Keep your own bottle and handkerchief ready. ## Key words • communicable disease — an illness that can spread from one person to another • prevent — to stop something from happening ## Worked examples ### Example 1 How can hand washing stop diarrhoea from spreading in a family? Working: 1. Germs from faeces can stick to hands. 2. Hands then touch food. 3. Soap and clean water remove those germs before food is eaten. Answer: Washing hands after the latrine and before eating removes germs so they are not swallowed with food. ## Activity: Trace how a disease can pass, and where hygiene stops it You will need: Chalkboard, Exercise book 1. Discuss one path: latrine, hands, food, mouth. 2. Mark the places where hand washing, clean water or covering food breaks the path. 3. Discuss a second path: cough, hands or droplets, another person. 4. Each learner says which practice they will embrace this week and why it protects other people too. PAGE 18: Lesson 8: A daily hygiene activity log ## Practice 1. What is a communicable disease? 2. Give two hygiene practices that help prevent diarrhoea. 3. How should a cough be handled so that germs spread less? ## Answers to practice 1. An illness that can spread from one person to another. 2. Any two: wash hands after the latrine, wash hands before eating, use clean or boiled drinking water, wash fruit, cover food. 3. Cough into your elbow or a handkerchief, away from other people and away from food, then wash your hands if you used them. ## Summary • Communicable diseases spread by germs through hands, water, food and droplets. • Hand washing, clean water, clean personal items and covering coughs break those paths. • Keep the practices even when nobody reminds you. LESSON 8: A DAILY HYGIENE ACTIVITY LOG ====================================== ## What you will learn • Keep a day-to-day log of hygiene practices. • Use the log to make personal hygiene a habit. Curriculum outcomes: c) embrace healthy practices to promote personal hygiene in daily life ## Introduction A habit grows when you notice it. A hygiene log is a short daily record that shows whether hand washing, clean water and the other practices really happened, or only sounded good in class. PAGE 19: Lesson 8: A daily hygiene activity log — Notes 2 ## Notes An activity log is a list of what you did, written at the time or at the end of the day. For personal hygiene, keep a log for one week, or for the number of days your teacher sets. The log helps you embrace the practices by making them visible. Draw columns for the day and for each practice: washed hands after the latrine, washed hands before meals, bathed, brushed teeth morning and evening, wore clean clothes, used clean drinking water, used protective equipment when the work needed it. Tick only what you truly did. A false tick teaches you nothing. At the bottom of each day, write one sentence. It might be 'I forgot to wash before the afternoon snack' or 'I used gumboots in the pen and washed my hands afterwards.' At the end of the week, look for the blank column. That is the practice to work on next. Choose one change, not ten. Put soap where you forget it, or place your toothbrush beside the cup you already use. The log is also about other people. Note one way your habit protected someone else, such as washing before you served a younger child. Personal hygiene improves your own outlook and the health of people who share your food, your bench and your home. Do not use the log to laugh at another learner's home. Water and soap are easier for some families than for others. If soap is hard to find, say so to your teacher privately and keep using the cleanest method you have while the class looks for a solution, such as a school hand-washing station. Bring the completed log for a short class talk. Speak about your own ticks. The aim is a habit you will keep after the book is closed. PAGE 20: Lesson 8: A daily hygiene activity log — Example 1 ## Key words • activity log — a day-to-day written record of what you did • habit — a practice you keep doing until it becomes normal ## Worked examples ### Example 1 A learner's log shows hand washing before meals on two days out of seven. What should the learner do with that information? Working: 1. The gap is clear: hands are often unwashed before food. 2. Choose one change that makes the practice easier to remember. Answer: Make that the next goal, for example by washing every time they sit down to eat and by keeping soap near the eating place. ## Activity: Start a hygiene activity log You will need: Exercise book, Ruler, Pencil 1. Draw a table for each day your teacher sets, with a column for each hygiene practice. 2. Fill in today honestly, including hand washing, bathing, teeth, clean water and any protective equipment. 3. Write one sentence about a practice you want to embrace tomorrow. 4. Keep the log each evening, then share one improvement at the end of the period. ## Practice 1. What is a hygiene activity log? 2. Why should you tick only what you truly did? 3. What should you do when one column is often blank? ## Answers to practice 1. A daily record of the hygiene practices you actually did. 2. A false tick hides the habit you still need to build. 3. Choose that practice as the next habit to improve and make it easier to remember. ## Summary • Record hygiene practices each day for the set period. • Be honest, then pick one practice to strengthen. • The log helps you keep personal hygiene in ordinary life. PAGE 21: Revision quiz REVISION QUIZ ============= Answer all the questions, then mark yourself on the Answers tab. 1. Which set promotes personal hygiene? A. Sharing a toothbrush and a towel B. Hand washing, bathing and clean clothes C. Drinking pond water D. Keeping long dirty nails 2. When should hands be washed? A. Only on Sunday B. After the latrine and before eating C. Only when they look muddy D. After the meal is finished and never before 3. Why is soap used in hand washing? 4. Which item should not be shared? A. A class textbook B. A toothbrush C. A ball D. A bench 5. What should be done with drinking water if the source may be unsafe? A. Add sugar B. Boil it, cool it and store it covered C. Leave it open in the sun D. Mix it with river water 6. Which protective item is most suitable in a muddy animal pen? A. Canvas shoes only, with no other care B. Gumboots C. A dust mask instead of any footwear D. Open sandals 7. How does hand washing help prevent diarrhoea? 8. What is a communicable disease? A. A disease that cannot spread B. An illness that can pass from one person to another C. A broken bone D. A disease caused only by lack of sleep 9. Why keep a daily hygiene log? 10. After removing dirty gloves, what should you do before eating? A. Eat at once so the food does not cool B. Wash your hands with soap and clean water C. Wipe your hands on your shirt D. Put the gloves in your pocket and start eating PAGE 22: Quiz answers ANSWERS ======= 1. B. Hand washing, bathing and clean clothes Washing hands, bathing and wearing clean clothes are healthy personal hygiene practices. 2. B. After the latrine and before eating Germs from the latrine and from dirty work must be removed before they reach food. 3. Soap loosens dirt and germs so that clean water can rinse them away. Water alone does not lift germs as well as soap and thorough rubbing. 4. B. A toothbrush A toothbrush carries germs from another person's mouth. 5. B. Boil it, cool it and store it covered Boiling kills many germs. A clean lid keeps new dirt out. 6. B. Gumboots Gumboots keep mud, waste and sharp objects away from the feet. 7. It removes germs from the hands so they are not swallowed with food. Diarrhoea germs often travel from faeces to food on unwashed hands. 8. B. An illness that can pass from one person to another Communicable diseases spread by germs through contact, food, water or droplets. 9. To see which practices you really do and to build the ones you skip. A written record makes habits visible so you can improve them. 10. B. Wash your hands with soap and clean water Gloves do not replace hand washing. Hands can pick up germs as gloves come off.