About
Community Blog
Safe, Smart, Prepared: How Safe Sitter® Helps Empower Young Teens
Last year, when a parent asked about a recommended babysitting course, I decided to do some research and discovered a program called Safe Sitter®. Dr. Patricia Keener developed the Safe Sitter® curriculum to teach essential life skills, safety skills, and first-aid rescue techniques to middle-school-aged children. The curriculum has since expanded to include Safe@Home instruction for children aged 9 to 11, as well as a course titled "Grandparents: Getting Started; a course focusing on contemporary childcare recommendations, including behavior management and life-saving skills such as choking rescue, first aid, and injury management.
After a thorough review, I knew Safe Sitter® would be beneficial to our students here at Lakeview. I completed my certification and taught the first two Safe Sitter® Expanded camps here at Lakeview last summer. It was both educational and FUN! Of all the teaching I’ve done in my career, this is by far the most fun and engaging. The course is presented as an instructor-led class, incorporating various teaching methods such as guided discussion, digital presentations, games, and skills practice.
The Safe Sitter® Expanded course is designed to prepare students in grades 6-8 to be safe when home alone or watching younger children. Students learn how to prevent unsafe situations as well as how to respond to injuries and illness. They learn the ages and stages of child development and how to manage behavior that will help them stay in control of themselves and the children in their care. We cover online safety, and life and business skills which they practice through various role plays. Also included in the course, are infant and child CPR, choking rescue, diapering, and first aid. The students love working on the manikins! The highlight of the class is when our “guests” come. Guests are parents and their young children. Half the class entertains the children, and the other half practices interviewing the parents, asking pertinent questions and facilitating conversation that will help them successfully care for the child while the parents are away. While in a controlled and supported environment, the students can get hands-on observation of and interaction with children at various stages of development. Many students remarked on the differences in the ages and stages of the children and recognized the adjustments necessary to safely and effectively interact with them.
They also conducted an in-person interview with the parents. This allowed them to gather pertinent information that would help them care for the child as well as how to work through the process of accepting a babysitting job and the discussion of payment. These are often difficult and awkward conversations for young people and providing them with the opportunity for practice gives them courage and confidence.
I love working with this age group. Students aged 11-14 are eager to learn new things and are really beginning to sharpen skills like time management, organization, planning, task initiation, and flexible thinking. The comprehensive information provided in this course engages the learner in all these areas. By the end of the course, the students are more confident in their ability to manage themselves and others in their care. These are skills that will help throughout their lifetime. It’s so much more than just babysitting!
 | Scarlet Pendarvis, BSN, RN Author/School Nurse |
Lakeview Academy is a private, coeducational day school for students in preschool through 12th grade, located in Gainesville, GA minutes off I-985/Hwy 365.
© 2024 Lakeview Academy. All right reserved.