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Safe Sitter - Center for Social and Character Development

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Per<strong>for</strong>ming Arts; Comprehensive Health & Physical Education; Language Arts;<br />

Mathematics; <strong>Social</strong> Studies; Consumer, Family, & Life Skills<br />

<strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong><br />

By: Robert Dutches, Karen<br />

Semet<br />

Teaching Team:<br />

Karen Semet<br />

Joel Chisholm<br />

Cynthia James<br />

Sharon Reustle<br />

School: Egg Harbor Township<br />

High School<br />

Egg Harbor Township, NJ<br />

Grade Levels: 10<br />

Academic Focus/<br />

Core Curriculum St<strong>and</strong>ards:<br />

The Arts(Visual <strong>and</strong><br />

Per<strong>for</strong>ming): 1.2<br />

Comprehensive Health <strong>and</strong><br />

Physical Education: 2.1, 2.2, 2.5,<br />

2.6<br />

Language Arts Literacy: 3.3,<br />

3.4<br />

Mathematics: 4.1<br />

<strong>Social</strong> Studies: 6.5<br />

Consumer, Family & Life Skills:<br />

9.1 A, B; 9.2 A, B, C, D<br />

Core Ethical Values: Caring,<br />

respect, responsibility,<br />

trustworthiness<br />

Project Description:<br />

10 th grade students in Health Education classes will go through <strong>Safe</strong><br />

<strong>Sitter</strong> training. <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong> is a six-hour training course in which<br />

adolescents learn essential skills <strong>for</strong> babysitting. AtlantiCare<br />

Hospital, located in neighboring Atlantic City, will provide the<br />

training. The 10 th grade class will be taught safety <strong>and</strong> crisis<br />

management, behavior management, communication skills, <strong>and</strong><br />

business skills.<br />

After completing the course, students will receive a certificate<br />

recognizing their training. Teachers within the school that are also<br />

parents will be in<strong>for</strong>med of the students’ training. The teachers can<br />

then hire the students or refer them to other parents within the Egg<br />

Harbor Township community so that students can apply their skills to<br />

a real-life situation. The students will become involved in their<br />

community while developing employability skills <strong>and</strong> earning tangible<br />

compensation <strong>for</strong> their services.<br />

Target Audience:<br />

10 th grade Health Education students, parents within the community<br />

Timeline:<br />

One day to complete training course<br />

Project Scheduling:<br />

In-school activity. Students will have to secure permission from<br />

other teachers. Students will also have to have a parent permission<br />

slip.<br />

Equipment Needed:<br />

CPR mannequins, mats, desk, paper<br />

Academic Focus:<br />

The Arts (Visual <strong>and</strong> Per<strong>for</strong>ming): Students learn how to entertain<br />

the child they are caring <strong>for</strong> by being taught what activities are<br />

appropriate <strong>for</strong> the child, depending upon their age. Some examples<br />

of these art-based activities include painting, puppet shows, <strong>and</strong><br />

storytelling.


Comprehensive Health <strong>and</strong> Physical Education: The class will learn<br />

how to per<strong>for</strong>m CPR, AED, <strong>and</strong> the Heimlich maneuver. Students will<br />

also learn emergency preparedness such as knowing emergency<br />

numbers, keeping the house secure, <strong>and</strong> keeping their personal safety<br />

in mind. Issues regarding pets, water safety, <strong>and</strong> sanitation will also<br />

be covered.<br />

Language Arts Literacy: Students will learn how to confidently<br />

communicate with the parents of the child they are caring <strong>for</strong>. They<br />

will be taught to listen to the specific instructions of the parents <strong>and</strong><br />

to abide by them. The class will also learn how to gain the respect of<br />

the children they are caring <strong>for</strong> by communicating with them in an<br />

assertive manner.<br />

Mathematics: The class will learn how to create a rate plan in regard<br />

to the charges of their services. Students will take into account the<br />

rates of other babysitters, previous rates of the parents they are<br />

working <strong>for</strong>, the number of children they are babysitting, <strong>and</strong><br />

personal experience <strong>and</strong> training.<br />

<strong>Social</strong> Studies: Students apply economics when deciding how much to<br />

charge <strong>for</strong> their services.<br />

Consumer, Family, <strong>and</strong> Life Skills: Students that plan on having a<br />

family of their own <strong>and</strong>/or plan on a career in child care will develop<br />

the necessary skills of child care <strong>and</strong> development. The class will<br />

learn the communication skills that are required to establish the<br />

parental role <strong>and</strong> the actions needed to maintain it.<br />

The <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong> training will give students employability skills<br />

because parents will know that their children are in the care of an<br />

individual who is trained to prevent <strong>and</strong> respond to emergency<br />

situations.<br />

The <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong>s will develop critical thinking skills by observing<br />

their environment <strong>and</strong> making it as safe as possible. The students<br />

will know how to prevent emergencies from occurring as well as<br />

knowing the best response to an emergency situation that does<br />

happen.<br />

Students will develop character by recognizing that parents have<br />

entrusted them with their most prized possession in the world.<br />

Accordingly, they will be inclined to act ethically in order to keep<br />

that trust intact. Students will also build character by balancing<br />

their studies, extracurricular activities, <strong>and</strong> job as a babysitter. The<br />

class will know how to create a schedule of commitments <strong>and</strong> follow<br />

through with them. When a schedule conflict does occur, students<br />

will have to make difficult, but ethical decisions.


Hurdles Encountered:<br />

Hurdles: Dealing with large<br />

group of 35 students; ability to<br />

stay on task<br />

Solution: Time management;<br />

several instructors <strong>for</strong> better<br />

student to teacher ratio<br />

Educational Strategies:<br />

Per<strong>for</strong>mance-based Education: Students receive h<strong>and</strong>s-on training in<br />

CPR, AED, <strong>and</strong> the Heimlich Maneuver. Students take practical <strong>and</strong><br />

written exams to prove their competence in <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong> training.<br />

Cooperative Learning: Students participate in group activities that<br />

involve role-playing.<br />

Interdisciplinary Approach: Students combine skills in per<strong>for</strong>mance<br />

art, physical <strong>and</strong> health education, language arts, mathematics, <strong>and</strong><br />

family <strong>and</strong> life skills in order to become effective babysitters.<br />

Personal Growth Outcomes:<br />

Students learn the importance of caring <strong>for</strong> a child <strong>and</strong> how to do it<br />

in an effective way. The class learns to respect the rules that the<br />

parents of the child set. The students become aware of how heavy a<br />

responsibility child care is, <strong>and</strong> they are taught how to undertake<br />

such an enormous task. The students also come to underst<strong>and</strong> that<br />

the parents are entrusting the life of their child with them, <strong>and</strong> that<br />

they must act as ethically <strong>and</strong> responsibly as possible in order to<br />

maintain that trust.<br />

Celebration: students will have<br />

an awards ceremony with baked<br />

goods where they will receive<br />

their certificates <strong>and</strong><br />

Babysitter Bag.<br />

Recognition: Students receive<br />

a certificate that recognizes<br />

the completion of their<br />

training.<br />

Key Findings: not only is this<br />

class beneficial <strong>for</strong> future<br />

babysitters, it is an essential<br />

parenting workshop. The<br />

majority of students state they<br />

want to be parents one day.<br />

Taking this class is one aspect<br />

of being a responsible parent.<br />

Community Involvement:<br />

The parents of the community will recognize the training that the<br />

10 th graders received <strong>and</strong> hire them based on their <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong><br />

experience. As the <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong>s per<strong>for</strong>m their duties as they were<br />

taught, the students <strong>and</strong> parents will develop a lasting relationship of<br />

caring, trust, <strong>and</strong> respect.<br />

The AtlantiCare Hospital will provide the <strong>Safe</strong> <strong>Sitter</strong> training <strong>for</strong> the<br />

students.<br />

Parents <strong>and</strong> Volunteer Involvement:<br />

The students can turn to their parents if they have any safety<br />

concerns prior to accepting a babysitting position. Also, if the <strong>Safe</strong><br />

<strong>Sitter</strong> is having difficulty while caring <strong>for</strong> a child, the babysitter can<br />

call a parent <strong>for</strong> advice or ask the parent to come to the house <strong>and</strong><br />

assist them.<br />

Reflection Activities:<br />

Students will observe Pre-school students in action <strong>and</strong> do a journal<br />

entry.<br />

Means of Assessment:<br />

Students will take an exam <strong>and</strong> instructors will assess skills at<br />

certain checkpoints/benchmarks.

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