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Teaching health and safety as subjects
- This topic has 12 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by
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Hi, new to group. 🙂 But not new to SCM, I’ve downloaded some freebies and bought an item or two, and a friend just lent me the DVD about teaching all subjects CM style–great reminders and inspiration! I’m mostly Year 0 (early years) right now, but plan to move my oldest into Grade/Year 1 this coming year. I’m afraid I’m not using SCM’s curricumlum (hope that doesn’t disqualify me!) or even AO, but my own approach. However I’m using both SCM and AO as guidelines/jumping off points, and your SCM 12-year scope was a big help in determining my own personal goals.
HOWEVER! It wasn’t until I was ready to print out my weekly plan for next year that I noticed something missing: health and safety. In CM’s day, those weren’t things taught in schools, I’m assuming, and I’ve never seen it addressed or approached. I noticed Personal Development on SCM, but saw that mostly deals with character and habit. I tried googling, searching on AO and SCM and other blogs/websites, and nothing comes up. I’ve looked at blogs where people have posted their schedules for various years, and have never seen it addressed.
I think general information–knowing ones emergency info, how to survive if you get lost, strangers, nutrition,etc–are VERY important and need to be formally taught, at least in the early years (preschool through, say, 4th grade). But I’m unsure how to approach it or how others might be approaching it, if at all. I’m also curious to know WHY I don’t see it addressed. Is it THAT anti-CM to consider formally teaching it (asking honestly, not sarcastically, I promise)? Or have most, like me, got so caught up in all other things CM that we accidentally miss it? (That’s what happened, I had every intention to include it, and have been doing some things with my little ones this year, but when I was making my curriculum scope I completely left it out; so again, that’s not a criticism) In the interim I looked at my weekly plan and noticed a free-time space on Fridays I can easily fill with one or the other, maybe alternating weeks between the topics. But I’m still looking for guidance/help/suggestions.
Thank you! 😀
Tanya Stone
Misawa, Japan
I’m not sure how much help this will be, but next year for my 2nd grader I will be tweaking this:
http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/little_otters_science/little_otters_science.html
It’s not exactly CM, but I think as long as the books can be narrated in some way, it’s doable.
One of the ways I’m tweaking it is to add some safety books at the end.
HTH,
Karen
BTW, not everybody here uses SCM. Some use AO, some use Truthquest, some use Queen’s, some come up with their own stuff (I fall into that group).
ETA: You didn’t say how old your dc were. If they’re too old for the original link, here’s an older version:
http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/science/otters_science/science_human_body.html
I think perhaps the reason that these topics aren’t included as “formal subjects” might be because a lot of those sort of things are just taught naturally as a part of life – at least that’s the way that I generally view them. We’ve sort of adressed those things with our kids as they come up naturally, so I’ve never felt the need to include them formally in our curriculum. There’s certainly nothing wrong with including them more formally if you’d like, although I’m not aware of any CM friendly resources for that.
BTW, welcome to the forum. This is a lovely and helpful group of homeschoolers and I hope you’ll find this place as encouraging as I have.
Jen
Karen–my kids are 6, 4 1/2, 3, and 1. I’ve been using Living Your Life for safety, though not regularly, more experimental, but I like the format. I’ll look at your links, really appreciate it.
Jen–yeah, I kind of thought that, maybe it’s because most just teach as they go. But I find it more useful for me to teach it formally because 1) it reminds me not to leave something out; with 4 small ones things are going to be taken for granted that they just “know” if I’m not careful (as the oldest of 5 myself, I experienced that with my mom), and 2) it forces repetition and rememberance of certain vital topics like personal information (in case one is lost), talking to strangers . . .things a lot of people have “taught” their kids, but then their kids are in a situation and they totally miss it. So for me I feel like it’s more ingrained if they are taught it regularly, formally throughout the year. That’s why I want to include it. I just feel more comfortable.
Thanks for the welcome. 🙂 I’m part of so many forums now, I think I have to start narrowing down! LOL
Tanya
Tanya,
I have 4 kids – dd10, ds7, dd3, ds1 and I’ve never taught any of the above formally.
EMERGENCY INFO – The oldest 3 all learned their address, phone number with no issue. I sing our phone number with them and I made ds7 a cd one time of our address, phone, etc, but I don’t remember him listening much. When we started copywork at age 6, they copied their emergency info. I let them practice using different phones (corded, cordless, cell, iphone) to make sure they know how to use it. They learned in short order with minimal effort naturally.
IF LOST – When they are young, I buy these stickers and put them in their shoes. Even a child who knows their emergency info. can blank if their frightened and lost. I teach my kids that when lost, they are to find another lady, preferably one with children along with her, and remove their shoe and ask that she call Mommy. Never tell them to look for a police officer, as there may not be one around and the mall security guard looks like a policeman to a child. The safest thing is for them to approach another woman. (Just a side note, never tell your kids whom they should trust.)
The best books I’ve seen for helping you to navigate teaching your children to be safe are The Gift of Fear and Protecting the Gift:Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe and Parents Sane both by Gavin de Becker and The Safe Child Book by Sherryl Kraizer. Another tidbit, children don’t view strangers like you or I. Once a person introduces himself to a child, the child often puts him in a different category. Statistically, your child is in more danger of being harmed by someone you know.
NUTRITION – You can easily do this by taking the kids to the store and talking about what you’re buying and putting in your bodies. You should be able to buy or borrow some resources that help with minerals/vitamins/proteins/carbs etc.
I know http://www.pearables.com has a home economics series that might be useful to you for some of the topics you mentioned. You might look there.
Forced repetition could be useful to a point, but acting out different scenarios may work better and be more meaningful in the end. There is some good info about this in The Safe Child Book.
HTH,
Christie
PS – Welcome to SCM’s forum. It’s a wonderful group and the only one I participate in. Too many would hinder me more than help.
Christie,
Thanks for the help.
The Living your Life Series I mentioned is all about acting out scenarios, so I’m already aware of that as the most useful teaching tool. By repetition, I meant going over the scenarios AND information regularly. As far as the personal info, that again is something that I schedule into the day/week right now (as part of Kindergarten) so, again, I don’t forget to cover it, or don’t forget to check their memory.
We’re doing the drills on how to use different kinds of phones. It helps that we have a couple no longer functional cell phones so they get extra practice. One problem though, and that is my cell phone number is the only one I can effectively teach them–we live in Japan and chose not to get a local telephone number, choosing Vonage instead so we can easily talk to family in the states. We don’t have a “normal” address either, so I had to drill them instead on various other info (live off base, daddy in the Navy, AT1 Stone, H-71-G house number, etc).
I like the idea of putting the info in the shoes, though that means I have at least 10 pairs to put the info into! Do you use a permanent marker, sticker, sew it in–how do you do it, and how would you do it so the kid doesn’t remove it on purpose (my daughter would without me noticing)?
I really am equipped with curriculum, especially how to teach stranger safety (we found a fantastic video that goes into detail–kid friendly way–about what a stranger is and all that). So I know how to teach it. Same with nutrition. I have tons of resources. I see I misrepresented myself, when I said I was unsure how to approach it. I meant scheduling, really, how to do it without sacrificing the other subjects. I was just curious as to why it’s not often included in CM curriculum (like, is it something that no one ever thought of, or did she actively prescribe NOT teaching it as a subject), and how anyone does include it, if they do.
Thanks. 🙂
Tanya,
For us, it’s just not necessary to formally schedule this out. It’s just a part of life and we just wing it as needed. Sort of like learning to do chores, we work on things as they come up.
The Safe Shoes ID stickers are written on with pen, then clear plastic sticks over and then they stick in the bottom of the shoes. It works well in sneakers and some sandals, but not crocs. My kids never pulled them off, though.
Christie
Thanks for addressing this issue, Tanya. Welcome. I need to discuss this more with my children.
Thanks for the ideas, Christie.
Christie,
Well, my daughter is the “challenging” one. 🙂
So these are actual things, not just tape or something you put on? And they are sticky enough that they don’t come off even with running around and such? How interesting! I’ll have to google it.
I’m afraid I’m a little more prone to mommy brain and not as together as others, so I HAVE to schedule it in. Thanks for the ideas though! 🙂
Interestingly enough, our state’s homeschool law requires us to assure the local school superintendent (within our notice of intent to homeschool) that included among the subjects we teach are health, first aid, safety, and fire prevention. This is for all grades through 12th. (It doesn’t say what we must teach, just that we must include these subjects.)
I know I formally included units on fire and other safety issues when the kids were in the early grades, and we used whatever we liked from the local library and trips to the fire station. I would suggest, for those utilizing SCM’s curriculum guide, that you schedule health and safety as part of “Personal Development.” The subject title seems to make sense for this, and even though the recommended books mostly cover character-building, as you get into the middle school and high school years, the books are geared toward boys only or girls only so as to address personal health issues pertaining to the specific gender. Why not include safety as part of your Personal Development schedule, and include health in the more general sense for the younger children as well? Just a thought.
Sue_mom23
I think that’s why it was bugging me not to be included anywhere, because it IS required in so many states. I know the schools teach it, so it just makes sense.
It’s funny because that’s what I was calling it this year (Pre-k/K), Personal Development, and I included safety, health, and manners, one day a week for each. I didn’t want to devote as much time for Grade/Year 1.
@Tanya – I understand your concern, because you (like most of us homeschooling parents) take what we are imparting to our children very seriously. To put things in perspective regarding what the public schools say vs. what they actually do inside the brick and mortar, a local elementary principal once told me, “Yes, we’re required to “teach” fire safety in all grades, but what we actually do is teach a unit on it in grades K-3, then all we do for the upper grades is have monthly fire drills…..so, in high school, I’ll bet all we’re teaching them is how to hang around outside with their friends for 5 minutes.” Hmmm…..
LOL Yes, that’s why I’m not too concerned with “delivering” as far as what my kids know at any given time–if they (given school district) wants to challenge my ability to teach I’ll demand to see their own test scores. 😀 I think I’ll stick with my one day a week, alternating week subjects, plan and see how that goes. We’re getting a crash course in earthquake safety and conservaton right now, since we’re in Japan, so there’s nothing like life to teach a thing well! 🙂
Tanya
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