Children learn by example .. Your child will do what you do. It should already be part of your family's daily routine. You might have to explain about personal hygiene a little more in detail in a school setting .. If you want to improve hygiene .. Then encourage daily showers, washing hands often (especially after going to the bathroom and before eating) , brushing teeth at least twice a day .. That sort of thing. Also explain why it is important to not put things in her mouth (like shared toys, pens/pencils etc), and again about how important it is to wash her hands after touching anything in a public place, like school.
As much as we want to teach and train our children to respect hygiene and cleanliness, it's also important to understand that too much of a 'good thing' is not a good thing. I know parents that are so phobic about washing hands and cleanliness and fighting bacteria with antibacterial this and that .. and their children ALWAYS seem to catch everything viral. Their children inherit their phobic perspective about things and refuse to touch things that they've been routinely told are 'dirty'. So they sit on the sidelines watch other kids play with blocks, or swing on the swings .. etc .. and it's really quite sad to see. I believe that is because they have introduced such a clean and sterile environment that thier childrens own natural ammune system is compromised. It's a ying and yang kind of thing .. You have to find a balance between cleanliness and reality. Taking life out of living because you feel everything is out to make you sick .. is sad .. it's just sad.
Personally, I think I have good general day to day personal hygiene habits .. and precautions have to be taken .. especially when in public places .. we all know what is crawling all over handrails, doorknobs and anything would come in contact with ... and I've taught those things to my own kids .. but, again .. it needs to be kept in perspective. Geesh .. you should see what we eat when we're camping!
