Child Care Tip of the Week

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Pesticides and Poisonous Plants

June 2, 1998

Pesticides and chemicals used to control fungi, insects, and weeds pose a serious threat to a child's life. Safe handling of pesticides and chemicals is required and there are a number of precautions parents and caregivers should consider:

• pesticides and chemicals should be stored up and out of harm's way.
• DO NOT mix or hande pesticides around children.
• DO NOT make pesticide solutions a little stronger for good measure as toomuch can cause injury to humans if absorbed into the skin
• do not use kitchen measuring, stirring or storing utensils
• make sure that no food products are eaten from plants treated with pesticides until after the appropriate days have passed
• keep children and pets away from treated aras for at least twenty four (24) hours to prevent them from coming in contact with the pesticides
• protect children from absorbing any chemicals into their skin by keeping them fully clothed when playing on treated areas
• wash your skin and clothing thoroughly after using pesticides and chemicals
• use alternatives to pesticides whenever possible

Many annual and perennial plants commonly found in the garden are harmful to humans if ingested. Youngsters should be taught not to eat unfamiliar plants. Even a small amount of toxic plant substance can cause serious injury to a small child.

• Aconitum (monkshood) - all parts
• Bleeding heart - leaves and roots
• Castor bean - seeds
• Delphinium (larkspur) - young plants and seeds
• Digitalis (fox glove) - all parts
• Iris
• Lathyrus (sweet pea) - seeds
• Lily of the Valley - all parts
• Nicotiana (tobacco) - all parts
• Rhubarb - leaf blades

Bulbs

• Colchicum - bulb
• Hyacinth - bulb
• Narcissus (daffodil) - all parts
• Scilla - all parts
• Snow Drop - all parts
• Tulip

Should a child ingest a pesticide/chemical or eat part of a poisonous plant contact your local Poison Control Centre for help and information. In any home/facility where there are children the number for the Poison Control Centre should always be posted by the telephone.

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Street Safe Kids

May 26, 1998

The most important think we can do for our kids as they head out to play this spring/summer season is to teach them so very basic streetproofing tips.

At an early age children should be taught:

• their full name
• their age
• their telephone number
• their address
• how and when to dial 911 or operator
• how and when to dial a parent or relative.

Define clearly what a stranger is . . . anyone your child does not know. There are "good strangers" and "bad strangers". Since children cannot recognize the difference they must learn to treat all strangers the same and follow the rules:

• do not talk to strangers (despite tricks like asking directions, offering candy, lost pet, etc.)
• do not take anything from a stranger (candy, food, money, toys
• do not go anywhere with a stranger (riding in a car, walking, entering a house, etc.)

Teach children that if a stranger bothers them:

• to make a loud noise by yelling (help! stop! go away!) "no" is not enough
• to run to a safe place and tell someone what happened (school, store, office, Block Parent, library, bus driver, etc.)
• not to hide (in "hide and seek").

Play, walk and ride safely. . .

• stay with a group, never walk alone
• avoid unsupervised areas like vacant lots and buildings, construction sites, wooded or busy areas, creeks and riverbeds.

If someone follows a child they should:

• get a description if the person
• get a description of the vehicle
• get a licence number
• run to the closest safe place (listed above)
• turn around and run in the opposite directions (it takes time for a vehicle to get turned around)
• tell you about anything they feel uncomfortable about.

Parents and caregivers should:

• keep important telephone numbers by the phones
• familiarize children with safe places in their community
• provide adequate supervision and do not leave a child unattended even for a moment
• do not display a child's name on clothing or backpacks, etc.
• if a child gets lost in a store, go to the nearest cashier
• become a Block Parent and encourage others to do the same.

From Simple Steps to Streetproofing - Calgary Police Service and Calgary Block Parent Association.

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Learning Styles

May 18, 1998

From the bathtub to the backyard pool and from the beach to the dockside, children need to be properly supervised around water. Many children have drowned in as little as two inches of water. Here are some guidelines to help you keep your children safe this summer.

• Make pool rules simple but clear, i.e.: no dunking, running around the pool, pushing, diving, or going down head first on the water slide.
• Keep a cordless telephone outside.
• Keep toys away from the pool area to prevent children from playing too closely to the water.
• Ensure family pools are secured by a fence of at least 4 feet, and that latches are too high for a child to reach.
• Keep furniture away from the pool to prevent the child from climbing in.
• Have a life preserver, rope, and rescue pole at pool side.
• Take a first aid and CPR course. Make sure your provider's is up-to-date.
• Ensure pool chemicals are up and out of harm's way.
• Do a safety check of your provider's back yard and pool area using the above.
• 
  

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Learning Styles

May 4, 1998

Each of us has a unique way of learning, of processing information. Where you might learn by visually watching someone or how something is done, I learn best by hearing or being taught orally. Still your best friend learns by getting in there and doing things. No one way is proven superior, it is simply a matter or our learning styles. The same holds true for how children learn.

As a caregiver and a parent, recognizing these three learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) and using all three when working with your children will ensure everyone learns the same thing at the same time. Here are some suggestions to help you.

• Making a game out of a learning experience usually helps people to remember.
• Plan activities that show the lesson and include a corresponding hands-on activity.
• If you aren't sure of a child's learning style, ask his/her parents. By understanding each child's learning style you can focus your attention on those children who learn best at one part of the lesson (as you're reading a story), then focus on the children who learn best during another part of the lesson (like when you're painting pictures related to the activity).
• If parents aren't sure of their child's unique learning style, pay attention to which types of activities a child naturally select. For example, kinesthetic learners prefer to build and mold things, while visual learners prefer to draw or create. Auditory learners are drawn to music and read-along stories.
• By applying all three learning experiences to a lesson, you allow each child to learn by their dominant style while enhancing their less dominant senses. Sometimes it is a simple matter of three simple steps, telling it, showing it and touching it.

From Child Development Training, 101 Tips for Directorsby Silvana Clark, published byWarren Publishing House, Everett, Washington.

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Preventing Strangulation

April 27, 1998

Though you wouldn't think so, strangulation poses a very real threat to children.

But like all accidents, strangulation can be prevented by applying a few simple safety measures as follows:

• Never tie a pacifier or, for that matter, any object around a baby's neck.
• Tie or fasten Venetian blind or drapery cords out of a child's reach.
• Remove the chains between verticle blinds.
• Never place a crib, bed or chair near a blind or drapery cord.
• Avoid children's clothing with drawstrings, or remove all drawstrings from exisiting clothing. Many a child has been strangulated on play equipment by drawstrings.
• Pay close attention to the clothing children wear to the playground: scarves, ties, hoods, and loose clothing can get caught on playground equipment.
• Avoid accordion style safety gates which, if spread too far, could entrap a child's head.
• Remove mobiles with dangling cords once a child is able to grab at the objects.
• Remove toy box lids that can slam down on a child's neck.
• Keep extension and applicance cords wrapped up and out of reach.
• Do not remove the centre strap from high chairs, car seats, swings, etc., as a child could easily slide down and catch his/her neck on the waist strap.

Provided by SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH, published by About Child Care Consumer Services.

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Almost Free Resources

April 20, 1998

Craft supplies, books, and staff all cost you and your child care facility a great portion of your income. Luckily there are ways to obtain these and other resources free or next-to-free. Here's how:

• Conduct a scavenger hunt with your parents. Send home a list of items needed for your art and craft works and see how many each family can scavange together from their home.
• Ask home decorating stores if they would donate outdated wallpaper sample books.
• Print shops may be more than happy to donate left over paper scraps.
• Check with local businesses to see if you might be able to receive their empty shoe boxes, ice cream buckets (great for storage), or empty cardboard boxes.
• Fabric stores may have fabric ends or cardboard bolts they would be happy to donate.
• Thrift stores are a great way to build or revamp your "dress up" items for mere pennies.
• Local libraries often sell used books for as little as fifty cents. Most hold free story times or will offer to have a librarian bring the wonderful world of books to your kids.
• Some utility companies, airlines, children's societies have free learn and colour books for children. Call and order as many as you need. Video stores offer free rentals on community based videos like streetproofing, etc. Ask the staff to show you their free rental section.
• Contact your local early childhood teaching facility for volunteers for your centre.
• Often parents know of a retired person who would be more than happy to read to the children, teach a craft, music lesson, dance, etc. Put the recruitment word out to your parents.
• Post notices for volunteers with your local volunteer advisory/contact board.
• Place a free ad in the local bargain newspaper for used computers for your kids. Companies are forever upgrading their computer systems and are looking for great ways to disgard old models.
• Contact as many child care organizations as possible to see what free information they have on issues of concern to you. Become a member if finances allow as networking is one of the most powerful tool we have for finding those almost free resources.

From: 101 Tips: Resources for You and Your Centre By Silvana Clark and Priscilla Burris, Warren Publishing House, Everett, Washington.

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I'm Bored

April 12, 1998

Kids love to be busy. It's how they learn. You can provide that learning experience inexpensively and simply. Here's how:

Encourage your children to explore the great outdoors. Research shows that children who are connected to and courious about mother nature grow up with more confidence and quick thinking ability. Go for a walk and marvel at how the grass peeps through the side walk cracks, or count the number of bird feeders along your way. While your at it, count the number of different birds you see, the colours of them, their size etc.

If you're more adventuresome, fill the tub or a basin full of suds and let the children (while closely supervised of course) play to their hearts content finding shapes in the bubbles, watching how suds turn to water, trying to fill a container with suds, you can even make a simple bubble mix of dish detergent and water to blow bubbles with. When the suds are gone, the children will spend hours playing with different aparatus in the water.

Dancing is another freeby that provides a workout at the same time. Play some children's music and let the children sing, dance their silliest dance, be goofy and jive to the rhythm. There is so much to be learned from listening to music, remembering words and singing them at the appropriate time. Heck you can even start a congo line that goes out the front door, around the yard, and back in again.

Let your imagination provide you and your children with inexpensive fun. Look back to your childhood years and rekindle the magic and the awe of being a kid again.

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Automatic Garage Door Opener

April 3, 1998

Automatic garage door openers are extremely powerful, so powerful in fact as to be deadly to anyone struck or trapped by a closing door.

Garage door openers are particularly dangerous to young children. You can safeguard your children with a few simple precautions:

• Read and follow all manufacturers' instructions.
• Operate the remote control only when you can see the garage door and there are no children around.
• Test the auto-reverse safety mechanism at least once a month. Repair faulty mechanisms at once.
• Keep the remote control up and out of your child's reach.
• Wall controls must be installed at least 1.53 metres or 5 feet off the ground to keep them safe from little hands.
• Teach your children the dangers of automatic garage doors - especially playing "chicken" or trying to slide under the door before it closes.
• Keep the emergency release mechanism where you can find it fast. Know how to use it.
• Examine the equipment regularly for signs of wear. Have all repair work done by a professional.

Provided by SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH, sponsored by About Child Care Consumer Services.

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Child Pedestrian Injury

March 26, 1998

As spring arrives so does the urge to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. That means taking the kids for walks around the block or to the local park to burn off some steam. But as you take the kids out, remember that traffic injuries are the leading cause of death and a major factor in the hospitalization of children under the age of 14. Many of these injuries result from children getting hit by vehicles.

Here are some interesting facts:

• Boys are injured as pedestrians nearly twice as often as girls.
• Lower income children are at greater risk.
• Children under the age of 9 show little awareness of the dangers of crossing the road. Young children are unable to determine when it is safe to cross the street because they have not yet developed the abilities to do so.

Did you know that?

• Injuries are most likely to occur during the evening rush hour from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.
• Areas with high traffic volumes, higher than average speeds, and fewer crossing signals put children at increased risk.
• Studies have found that more than half of the pedestrian injuries to children under 9 years of age result from children darting out into the street without warning.
• Fatigue and lack of attention increase the risk of children suffering a pedestrian injury on the way home from school.

Preventing Pedestrian Injuries
Here are some simple tips that'll keep your children and the children in your care safe from harm.

• Children under 9 should always be accompanied by alert adults when crossing the street.
• Teach children to look left, right, then left again before stepping out into the street. Children should only proceed when there are no oncoming cars in either direction.
• Children should always walk on the sidewalk. If there are no sidewalks, pedestrians should walk facing traffic.
• Teach children to recognize pedestrian crossing signals. Remind them to continue across if the light changes to "Don't Walk" while they are in the crosswalk.
• Drivers need to always be alert for children and adhere to speed limits.

Provided by SAFE KIDS, sponsored by the Children's Health Foundation of Northern Alberta and the Alberta Children's Hospital.

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Teddy Bears and Extra Blankets in Crib Could Hurt Baby

March 19, 1998

Did you ever imagine that the cute teddy bear or comforting security blanket in your baby's crib could be dangerous? "The truth is, soft bedding products could be hazardous if used improperly," warns the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA).

"The safest sleeping environment for infants is on a firm matress in a crib which meets current manditory and voluntary standards. Use only a fitted crib sheet, matress pad, and/or waterproof pad between the sleeping baby and the crib matress," advises Willian L. MacMillan, JPMA President. "Extra pillows, blankets, and plush toys may look comforting in the crib but should always be removed during the baby's sleep time."

JPMA reminds parents and child care providers to place full-term, healthy babies to sleep on their backs or sides and not to place infants to sleep on top of soft surfaces not specifically designed for infant sleep. JPMA made this recommendation in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Public Health Service (PHS) and other agencies.

"There is absolutely no suffocation risk to infants when nursery products such as cribs matress, matress pads, quilts, comforters and bumber pads are used according to manufacturers' recommendations," says MacMillan.

If you have any questions about safe sleeping practices for infants, call the U.S. Public Health Service at 1-800-505 CRIB or the SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) Alliance at 1-800-221-7437.

For a free brochure on safe selection and use of juvenile products, send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to: JPMA Safety Brochure, 236 Royte 38-West, Suite 100, Moorestown, NJ 08057.

JPMA sponsors Baby Safety Month each September to help educate parents and child care providers on the safe selection and use of all baby products.

JPMA is a national trade organization of more than 250 companies in Canada and the United States. These companies manufacture and/or import infant products such as cribs, car seats, strollers, bedding and a wide range od accessories and decorative items.

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