Everyday Montessori: Holding and Carrying a Knife

In today’s Everyday Montessori, we are focusing on the practical life skill of holding and carrying a knife. Teaching your child how to handle sharp objects is important for ensuring both safety and fun in the kitchen. For this exercise all you need a child’s knife or a blunt edged butter knife.

Steps:

1. Have your child stand up with you 
2. Hold the knife by the handle keeping the sharp edge facing left
3. Hold the knife about 2 inches away from the 
4. Carry the knife

In these four simple steps, you can teach your child both independence and responsibility for themselves and others. We hope you and your child have a safe and fun time in the kitchen! 

Summer Safety Tips

With summer in full swing, we at Evergreen Montessori House would like to wish all our readers a safe and fun summer vacation. For this post we will provide some safe summer tips to help keep your children safe and having fun.

Along with the warm weather also comes an influx of insects. In order to keep bugs away from your children, look for repellents that have a 10 to 30% concentration of DEET. Alternatives to DEET, which can be toxic, include repellents with picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. A fun tip to keep in mind is light colored clothing can actually reduce the incidence of bug bites and bee stings, contrary to popular belief.

A great way to spend your summer is relaxing at the pool but always supervise your children. Even better, organizations like the CDC recommend keeping children at arms left at all time. If you have a pool at home, experts advise parents and guardians to install a fence at least 4 feet high on all sides of the pool. This will help prevent your children from falling and hurting themselves. Finally, by wearing a “floaties”, we can help reduce the likelihood of drowning; always ensure that they are snug to keep your child’s head out of the war.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), over 200,000 children under the age of 14 are rushed to the emergency room due to accidents on playgrounds. One great preventative measure that parents and guardians can take is to inspect the playground equipment. Ensuring that the equipment is not too hot and that there are no loose ropes will help keep everyone safe and having fun. With a little supervision, we all can reduce the risk of playground injuries.   

A great way to both exercise and spend time with your children is going for a bike ride. In order to keep both yourself and your child safe, always wear a helmet that fits snuggly and is not loose. Always make sure that you are using the right type of helmet as well; for example, when biking wear a bike helmet. Finally, teach your children road safety and that bikers always ride in the same direction as traffic. Enjoying the scenic views and fresh air is both great for your health and building your relationship with your child.  

For more tips and further explanations, we recommend clicking on the following links:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/10-summer-safety-tips-for-kids.htm

http://www.pbs.org/parents/summer/summer-safety-tips-for-kids/

http://www.cdc.gov/features/KidsSafety/

Have a happy and safe summer! 

Toy Safety

Did you know that, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 300 children under the age of 4 years die every month in the United States because of accidents? On top of that thousands of more children are injured. All of these injuries and deaths can be prevented with simple steps.

Believe it or not, toys can be a health risk to children, if they are not handled, stored or used correctly. Common hazards include choking, cuts, and hearing damage.

To prevent these hazards:

1.     Select toys that are safe and developmentally appropriatefor your child.

·        When selecting toys, look for the UL Approvedstamp. Underwriter Laboratories (UL) is an independent company that verifies thesafety of children’s toys

·        Read labels and make sure the toy is ageappropriate for your child

·        Some common toy hazards to avoid: sharp edges,loud noises and strings greater than 7 inches in length

·        Some age appropriate toys

Age	Examples of toys
Infants (0-12 months)	Large plastic blocks, rattles, soft washable toys, busy boards, and squeeze toys
Toddlers (1-2 years)	Cloth or plastic books, sturdy dolls, nesting blocks, push and pull toys, and stacking toys
Preschoolers (2-5 years)	Books, crayons, blackboards, chalk, housekeeping toys, building blocks, and  simple puzzles

2.     Maintain your child’s toy and make any repairsto damaged toys.

·        Children can choke on loose buttons and beads

·        If your wooden toys has a chipped corner, yourchild can get cuts from it

3.     Store your child’s toys away from where yourchild walks and runs in secure bins.

·        Your child can choke on toys that have danglingstrap greater than 7 inches long

·        If you store toys in a cupboard on a shelf, makesure there are no hanging strings or straps. If your child pulls on a danglingstrap, he or she can be injured if the entire cupboard falls on him or her.  

4.     And always supervise your child during play.  

We will continue to post child safety and protection tips throughout November. Visit us soon to stay posted!

References:

American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org 

Hearron, Patricia. Management of Child Development Centers. Pearson Higher Education (2007).

Herr, Judy. Working With Young Children. Goodheart-Wilcox (2008).

www.safety.com. General, updated information (2010).

November is Child Safety and Protection Month

November is Child Safety and Protection month! Take this month to review safety and protection with your family to help keep your child safe.

All month long we will be sharing tips with you on how to keep your children safe.

Child safety tip #1: Make sure your child is secured safely in the car with an age appropriate car seat, booster seat or seat belt. Not only is this the law but it can save your child's life in an accident.

We understand that it can be difficult for parents to know which restraint to use and how to use them correctly. We recommend that you visit www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/CPS to learn about child restraint laws, how to use child restraints, child restraint recalls and other important information you need to keep your child safe while in the car.

All of us at Evergreen Montessori House wish you a fun and safe November.