Babysitting Basics Club for Big Kids

In this Babysitting Basics Club we will be exploring the concept of babysitting as younger children who are not yet ready to go out and be babysitters but are interested in that as an eventual youth job for themselves. 

Week 1: Monday April 3rd 2023 > Babysitter Values
Topics for Discussion - What Makes A Good Babysitter, What is Confidence

Week 2: Monday April 17th 2023 > Babysitter Responsibilities
Topics for Discussion: What does it mean to be Safe, How can we set up environments for what we want to happen
Broad Topic – Emergencies. 
Ask Children what kinds of emergencies could happen when people are at home. What are some things they already know about How to be safe in an emergency. 
(Example: Fire is something that could happen. Kids most likely have heard of Stop. Drop. and Roll. We would explore this with practicing of stop drop and roll, add on having an escape route and a meeting place. Drawing a map of an escape route would be a group activity. If you have all these things you can consider your environment safe. 
More minor example – when cooking everyone should know the oven is on, you should understand how all of your ingredients react, you shouldn’t let small children use a knife.)
All discussions under Responsibilities topics will be things in the general public domain of knowledge not specific emergency explicit training or medical advice.

Week 3: Monday April 24th 2023 > Babysitter Boss
We will cover: What Businesses Are, What it Takes to Run A Business

Week 4:  Monday May 1st 2023 > Babysitter Values
How to Communicate Effectively and Respectfully, How to Listen to Others, How to Give Good Directions

Week 5: Monday May 8th 2023 > Babysitter Responsibilities
How to Stay Safe, How to Respond Safely
Broad Topic – What are general safety rules for being in an Inside Space? 
Ask Children what kinds of rules are needed for staying safe and responding safely. What are some things they already know about rules and how they keep us safe and let us know what to do in certain situations. 
(Example: If an adult in charge is going to be supervising during nighttime hours they should have access to a telephone – if the power goes out the phone might go out. If they have a telephone they can get in touch with other people and safety services like 911 if they need to. If you have these kinds of rules you will be safe in general on duty. 
More minor example – running in the house is probably not safe, play board games instead. This will help everyone have fun while keeping bodies and house furniture safe. Role playing was to respond when kids are bored or feel like doing physical activity inside would be a group activity.) 
All discussions under Responsibilities topics will be things in the general public domain of knowledge not specific emergency explicit training or medical advice.

Week 6: Monday May 15th 2023 > Babysitter Boss
How to Maintain a Business, How Babysitting Can Be A Business 

This class will be structured around a discussion and activity. The class will open with a shared discussion around our topic of the day. After our discussion we will complete an activity, either as a group or individually, in order to make the discussion topic tangible. It will also help us relate the topic to our main course of Babysitting. Activities may be paper based or ice breaker group style. My role will be as facilitator so that the students can have invested discussions about their role as an eventual babysitter. I will ask questions as needed to keep the conversation going and on track. I will teach through continued conversation in group activities to help reinforce connection to our discussion and to babysitting. During individual activities check in through appropriate discussion, chat box use, and other digital platform tools will help to reinforce that connection. Direct feedback will be provided during the entirety of the class. My teaching style is conversational and hands on. Students will get lots of time to interact with each other even if we have a more individual activity to complete that day. At this young of an age, I think the community is most important, especially as they are eventually going to be in charge of at least one other child and probably more over time if they follow their babysitting interest into the future. This will be a great test of their ability to work well with others and a great way to hone that skill before needing it as a job skill. For former knowledge the students should understand that babysitting is when another responsible party (tends to be a later teenager into older adulthood) that is not necessarily an adult or parent is in charge of children and gets paid to be the supervisor of those children.