Guest Author - Susan Kramer
A story in the news about an 8 year old boy with ADD wandering away from a campsite had a happy ending. He was found by rescuers more than 4 miles away from camp, after 80 hours on his own. But this was a very lucky event, and could have been much worse if a stranger had snatched him away from his parents and family.
We ask ourselves, "How can I prevent this from happening to my kids, with or without learning disabilities?"
A solution would be to have every child wear a camp whistle on a chain around their neck, tucked into their shirt, when at an unfamiliar place, whether across town or across the state. And to give 2 long toots on their whistle to call for help. Then after a minute repeat the 2 loud toots, repeating the sequence until they are found.
Two long toots let others know it is a whistle call for something, and not random playing with a whistle.
A story from the past about 2 toots of the whistle: When I was growing up and a train would be approaching our village, it would blow its whistle twice to let us know to clear the track.
Train your child to run away from strangers that are approaching, to go in the opposite direction from a stranger, and not to answer a stranger's question. And though it might be tempting to take candy when offered by a stranger it is just their way of trying to get hold of you. Remind your kids that no one has the right to touch or grab them when they don't want it. It is helpful to remind your kids to run in the opposite direction if a stranger approaches and to scream as loud as they can to scare the stranger away.
For offline reading
Free to Move, Learning Kinesthetically - Comprehensive guide to teaching kinesthetically in a 90 page fully illustrated text, outlining body placement, rhythms, large motor skills, dynamics, creative movement, mini-lessons, and detailed master lesson plan for elementary school kids. Available as an Ebook
Article by Susan Kramer
