Fire Safety Week is next week - but it's always a good week to learn about fire safety.
First I am going to tell you a little story.
A long time ago (like the 70s) I was visiting my grandparents' unheated home in England (they don't seem to believe in central heating in England - at least in the 70s). My bedroom had an old electric fire in it. One morning, I was chilly, and stood in front of the electric fire to warm up. The frill on my jammies got inside the protective cage and caught on fire. I had no clue what to do, so I ran around the room screaming my head off. Luckily my mother was in the next room and stop, drop and rolled me. The end of the story is that I had a deep second, partial third degree burn on the back of my leg and got to check out a number of hospitals around England.
The post script to the story is that I believe that it is really important to teach kids what to do if they, or someone else catch on fire.
One of the easiest ways to learn something is through music. We learn a stop, drop and roll song. With actions (with our hands, if we are sitting on the carpet.) The tune is Frere Jacques. And you can click on the image for a free download.
And we practice. Full body practice. Kinesthetic learning.
What do you do if you catch on fire.
You STOP.
DROP on the ground. Cover your face.
And ROLL. Back and forth. Back and forth. Until you squish the fire out.
We always find that it's way more fun to practice in the hallway than in our classroom.
After we have shared our learning with anyone who might be going down the hallway, it could be a good time to settle down with a story.
And some good "when I grow up I am going to be a firefighter" play.
First I am going to tell you a little story.
A long time ago (like the 70s) I was visiting my grandparents' unheated home in England (they don't seem to believe in central heating in England - at least in the 70s). My bedroom had an old electric fire in it. One morning, I was chilly, and stood in front of the electric fire to warm up. The frill on my jammies got inside the protective cage and caught on fire. I had no clue what to do, so I ran around the room screaming my head off. Luckily my mother was in the next room and stop, drop and rolled me. The end of the story is that I had a deep second, partial third degree burn on the back of my leg and got to check out a number of hospitals around England.
The post script to the story is that I believe that it is really important to teach kids what to do if they, or someone else catch on fire.
One of the easiest ways to learn something is through music. We learn a stop, drop and roll song. With actions (with our hands, if we are sitting on the carpet.) The tune is Frere Jacques. And you can click on the image for a free download.
And we practice. Full body practice. Kinesthetic learning.
What do you do if you catch on fire.
You STOP.
DROP on the ground. Cover your face.
And ROLL. Back and forth. Back and forth. Until you squish the fire out.
We always find that it's way more fun to practice in the hallway than in our classroom.
After we have shared our learning with anyone who might be going down the hallway, it could be a good time to settle down with a story.
And some good "when I grow up I am going to be a firefighter" play.
So important to teach this. Your story justifies why I insisted my firebug son, when he was younger, stayed a safe distance from camp fires. I will be sure to tell him and he will be sure to ignore me...in a loving older teenage way! I have a funny story about fire I might share on my blog later today in support of fire awareness week. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteJulie :-)
Mrs Stowe's Kinder Cottage