Safety Unit?

[LeighB]

I'd love to hear about safety units anyone has done. I'm thinking stranger danger, fire, 911, or anything else you included. I started thinking about it because dd and a friend were playing "Stop, Drop and Roll" today!
Thanks!

[eilonwy]

I've done a fire safety unit with my kids each year, and we've had several informal lessons in calling 911. I'm not much on stranger danger at all, I actually encourage my kids to talk to strangers. Bean had a requirement for Cub Scouts that involved a long discussion about personal safety, so we did that but it wasn't specifically a homeschooling thing.

[Momma Aimee]

subbing

DH is law enforcement -- we need to get more in place with the boys at home. Theo is pkr K but speech delayed which complicates matters ..

[ocelotmom]

My DS has taken multiple trips to the fire station and police station with his homeschool group, independent study school, and Cub Scouts, so he's gotten some of that there. I think it's generally pretty easy to arrange fire station visits. Stop, Drop, and Roll came up both there and in one of his videos (Barney, I think).

We read the Berenstain Bears book about strangers, and modified it to our own beliefs (basically, that it's perfectly fine to talk to strangers, but that there are certain things that no one, stranger or otherwise, should be asking of him). (Yet another thing I like about homeschooling - he's not getting "safety" talks that I don't feel are appropriate or helpful!)

We've talked about disaster preparedness and what to do in emergencies.

We need to talk about 911, including the cellphone specific portions of it, as we don't have a landline phone. I'm pretty sure he knows about 911, but not necessarily how to work a cellphone.

[chelsmm]

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Time-Call-...1308276&sr=8-4


I can't seem to work the link button this morning, but this book looks like a good place to start with calling 911.

We have also read No Dragons For Tea

http://www.amazon.com/No-Dragons-Tea...1308444&sr=1-1

which is about fire safety. It has some tips in the back of the book. We played "stop drop and roll". We also play pretend that there's a fire in the house. As we are finding our way out of the house on our hands and knees, I ask things like "is it ok if I stop for my pocket book?" or "it's cold out, can I get my shoes?" The kids know we don't stop for anything.

As for "stranger danger"- I have been talking to the kids about this. There's a great book called [U]Protecting the Gift[U] by Gavin de Becker. The author encourages parents to help their children learn how to pick appropriate people in case they need help (if they get lost). You want your child to pick a person as oppose to the person picking out your child. You want your child to be comfortable talking to strangers. It's a great book if you haven't read it.

So that's where I'm starting.

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by chelsmm

As for "stranger danger"- I have been talking to the kids about this. There's a great book called [U]Protecting the Gift[U] by Gavin de Becker. The author encourages parents to help their children learn how to pick appropriate people in case they need help (if they get lost). You want your child to pick a person as oppose to the person picking out your child. You want your child to be comfortable talking to strangers. It's a great book if you haven't read it.

Yeah, that was my starting point too. I think it makes much more sense than the typical "Stranger Danger", and it means I don't have to squash my kids' natural friendliness.