Story and photos by Saman Ansari ’30
During Winter Term, a few students chose to participate in the class “How To Be The Best Babysitter” taught by Middle School teacher Mrs. Halverson. There was energy in the room, fun all around, and tons of activities but still it is hard to be a good babysitter. The students goal for the class is to try to become the best babysitter. Throughout the challenges of taking care of children, the students try to keep the children happy and engaged.
The Lesson Learned
The students enjoy learning all about what you should do and not do with the children. Mrs. Halverson used to be a babysitter and she told a story to the kids. Mrs. Halverson said, “We were talking about different types of baby proof locks that families have in their homes. It reminded me of when I had a nannying job with a family. I went to make the two children (an infant and toddler) lunch and all the kitchen cabinets were locked. I couldn’t figure out how to unlock them and the children were too young to tell me. I was feeling kind of embarrassed, so I finally asked the mom how to do it. She said,‘Oh! of course! You just use this little white circle and hold it up to the specific spot on each cabinet to unlock the magnetic lock.’ The white locking mechanism was kept on top of a high shelf out of reach of the children. Once I knew that, everything else was easy and I was able to make lunch!” After Mrs. Halverson told the story, by the faces of the students everyone could tell that they were really surprised that locks can cause problems but all you have to do is ask.
What do the students do during class?
The students don’t just listen to the teacher about her experience of babysitting. The students will experience a real life situation that might happen. They learn important things like what to do if a child is choking. The students learned the proper technique and they accomplished how to do CPR on a child. Not only did they learn CPR, they also got CPR certified.
The students are quickly learning. Mrs. Halverson told them a trick that is to use a toilet paper roll and see if the object / food will fit through. If it does fit through then it is a choking hazard. The students learned even though it is really fun to play there are still choking hazards like small toys that they can swallow or Play-Doh that they can accidently ingest thinking it is food. After learning about choking hazard they made homemade Play-Doh.
The students learned about how to have fun with the child and while still following the rules. They made homemade Play- Doh to play with the kids. There are quick ingredients you have to put in and it is so easy. Carly Essman ‘30 was so excited. She said, “It was really fun making playdough and it is a great skill. It is easy and fun for kids.” Sophie St. Eve’30 even said, “We are making homemade playdough and it feels really soft but smells like baby oil.” From Carly and Sophie’s perspective it was really fun. There is just one problem, it makes a mess.
Mrs. Halverson mentions another rule the children need to know that if they are old enough, they have to clean up their mess because it is their responsibility. The babysitter has to let them build things on their own so they can do things independently. The students quickly understood why it is important to take care of the child but still let them help you out and take care of themselves.
Do the students enjoy the class?
Even though it seems like a lot of rules, it really is not. Babysitting is really fun but it still comes with safety concerns. All the students enjoyed the activities that Mrs. Halverson chose. Ryen Day ‘30 said, “We learned how to be the best babysitter we can and how to take care of the children and how to qualify to take care of children.” Prashanti Mamileti ‘30 said, “I choose this class because I want to be able to have basic skills in case I am caring for someone younger than me. I also really enjoy this class because this class has many different experiences.” All the students are happy with this elective and the experiences that happen through out the journey.
The Senior Kindergarten (SK) experience
On the last day of Winter Term the students got to experience all that they learned with the SK kids. Sana Raza ‘30 was so excited and she said, “We’re going to play memory games with the SK kids and read books to them.” Why Mrs. Halverson took them down to SK is because she wants to show the students that we are the ones that are teaching the little kids. She also wanted to show that the memory games make them a little more mindful of where things are. Parker Durr ‘30 said, “I was excited to see the kids and do everything we learned about babysitting and gain the opportunity to babysit kids before being alone with the kids.” By the facial expressions of all the students this will be a wonderful and cute experience to go back eight or nine years from this current moment.
Babysitting is a lot of work. It is really tiring but it is still so much fun. All the students were quickly learning and Mrs. Halverson did a great job trying to manage everything even though there was a delay due to snow days. After this class babysitting is a piece of cake.
