Practical Living includes health, education, physical education, and family and consumer sciences. Instructional/assessment activities that help students achieve optimal physical, mental, social, and emotional development necessary for lifelong health and learning should be integrated across the disciplines, beginning in primary school. The physical condition of individuals affects their mental and emotional health and vice versa; therefore, these facets of health cannot be treated separately, and emphasis should not be placed on one at the exclusion of the other.
Practical Living includes the study of personal health, nutrition, disease prevention and control; consumerism, HIV/AIDS/STDs, substance abuse, stress management, self-esteem, community health systems and resources; and accident prevention and safety. Also included are psychomotor skills and physical fitness patterns of behavior that can be sustained throughout life. Students gain an understanding of how their body systems function and an appreciation for the human body that reacts positively or negatively to choices of consumption, behavior, and activity. They learn to accept personal responsibility for their own health by making responsible choices that protect the well-being of the individual, family, and community.
The content in Vocational Studies relates to career education skills needed in selecting, obtaining, and keeping a job. This is the content students should know and be able to apply if they are to make successful transitions from school to career choices. The focus of vocational education is occupation-specific skills. The content in Vocational Studies addresses the following academic expectations:
2.36 Students use strategies for choosing and preparing for a career,
2.37 Students demonstrate skills and work habits that lead to success in future schooling and work.
2.38 Students demonstrate skills such as interviewing, writing resumes, and completing applications that are needed to be accepted into college or other post-secondary training or to get a job.