My oldest son took a class at the local chapter of Amearican Red Cross this weekend on babysitting. He is legally old enough that we can leave the other children with him but he has never really expressed an interest in caring for them. I wanted him to be "certified" so that if I ever needed him to actually stay with his siblings I would feel comfortable. He is now wanting to get a job babysitting. I've told him that he will need to do some practice sitting for me (as a means of paying of the class) before I will let him take any outside jobs. Some of our friends have been considering sending their children to the class so I asked him to do a review for them. It's not refined but we did spell check it before sending it. I'm going to post it here, just incase anyone else wants to know about it.
FYI, the class ended 30 minutes early and the instructor did not contact parents to pick the children up. I arrived 15 minutes early and my son was waiting in the lobby for me. He wasn't upset and didn't complain of being bored, but you may want to leave a cell phone with your children if you have them attend the class. I guess that if they are old enough to care for other children unsupervised, they are old enough to be left alone in a building for 30 minutes.
American Red Cross Babysitter Training Class by JP
I learned how to babysit today. I also learned leadership, respect, controlling the child and how to enforce proper time outs. I learned a skill called “Check-Call-Care.” That is when you check the area and child, call 911, and care for the child to make sure they are safe. You would use that if the child is unconscious or bleeding. If there is no pulse or breathing you perform CPR. We learned child and infant CPR. I learned how to help someone that is choking both if they are conscious or unconscious. I learned 1st aid for bee stings, burns, cuts, broken bones, muscles that disconnect from bones, and nose bleeds.
I recommend the class because it is very useful if you are thinking about babysitting. They taught us to follow the family rules, to only let the child do what they are normally allowed to do, and how to incorporate all other items into babysitting if the proper scenario should occur.
The class also included instruction to join a sitter organization or to post signs in an area that is used a lot. You are always suppose to interview with the parents about the rules and what the child is and is not allowed to do.
I received a babysitter backpack which includes: 2 first aid kits, a handbook on babysitting, an emergency reference guide, a babysitting cd, a red cross event calendar, a parent interview form, an emergency numbers and family information form and a contact form. I also received 2 certification cards one for babysitting which does not expire and one for 1st aid which is good for 3 years.
Comments
Apr. 6, 2009 - impressed
Posted by Anonymous
Wow! That is a lot to learn in a one-day class. Hopefully he'll retain what he learned. I like that they sent him home with resources. It would be nice if they did a follow-up with the CPR. I remember doing that in college on a dummy. Still, if I had to do it for real....well, I am sure I could use a refresher. I think you should post his review to the homeschool message board. Tell him I said he did nice job on his review.
~Monica