Scaring up some safety tips...

Halloween is probably the most controversial of all the holidays; especially amongst homeschoolers.

Do we? Don’t we? If we do, HOW?

For those of you celebrating the Halloween Holiday with a home school association or local church, you are probably making the safest choice, but traditions die hard and despite the growing number of indoor theme parties and events, there will still be thousands of little ones running around this weekend amidst the leaves, cold weather and dangers that a holiday can bring.

Here's some tips that we have just for you kids, to help keep you safe on Halloween night!

Never, ever go into a strangers house or even ring their door for treats unless your parents are with you and say that it's okay. There are some people in life that aren't very nice to kids and you have to be careful. Always make sure that your mom or dad is within sight when you go out trick-or-treating.

Be careful when you cross a street. Make sure to look in both directions and make sure that there are no cars coming. If you have a little brother or sister with you, take their hand and help them get across the street, too. If the street has a stop light, wait until the cross walk light tells you that it's okay to cross now, but still check before you cross, look both ways.

While we are mentioning traffic-related safety, make sure that your costume does not inhibit your eyesight or peripheral vision. Strangers approaching you can be seen a lot easier if you can see all around you. While the “robot” cost from a large cardboard box is still pretty cool, you cannot see very well!

If you are an older kid or young teen, and going out with friends, make sure that your parents know where you are going and who you are going with. This may seem like a pain but they are your parents and they love you. They just want you to be safe.

If you can drive and are taking a bunch of friends to a party, make sure that you have enough gas to get there. You don't want to run out on a dark street, all alone, like a bad horror movie!

If you parents give you a curfew, be home when they say. It builds trust between you and them and they are doing it for your own safety. If you are going to be late, call them and let them know.


Vandalism is never cool! Throwing eggs at cars and houses is not cool. Someone has to clean it up and it could be you, if you get caught. You can also be arrested and punished as a juvenile. So, don't think that it's fun only if you can get away with it. It's never the right thing to do! Think about how you would feel if someone did that to your house and how bad it would make you feel.

Hurting animals is never acceptable behavior! Some people use Halloween as an excuse to hurt cats and that is just wrong! Not only is it illegal in most places to hurt or torture animals and punishable by law, you should never hurt a helpless living thing.

One source we used for this blog post was http://www.halloween-safety.com/
Please visit the site for a lot more on Halloween safety tips and ideas!

Cyber-Security Month!

October is Cyber-Security Month, and while we are covering a lot on this on our other blogs, I thought it might be appropriate for our homeschool families to share this Google Video on Child Internet Safety.

Fire Prevention Month

(Image to the left is from "Learning at Home". You can visit this website for Fire Prevention Month ideas HERE)

It really is not that cold yet, but some of the recent nights have been a great excuse to throw a small log in that wood burner and sit in front of the television enjoying that wonderful smell of a fire. Chimneys will soon all be in use throughout the homes across our country shortly, fire wood piles we have worked on all summer will soon be utilized, and fire in general will become a part of everyday life for the next few months. Personally I cannot wait.

I love the sound of crackling logs and the smell of a wood fire, but with all of this comes risk and danger.

October is Fire Prevention Month, and now is the time to begin thinking through evacuation plans, fire safety, smoke alarm maintenance and maybe the process of having a fire drill in your home.

Don't let your family become a statistic this year. A fire drill in your home with your children can save lives. Take a few minutes this month to fire-proof your home and get your family prepared.

I found a website with some pretty easy activities and coloring pages for all our homeschoolers to use while making fire prevention part of their curriculum. You can visit the site HERE.

Here's some facts from the NFPA:

Smoke alarms

• Smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a reported fire in half.
• Most homes (96%) have at least one smoke alarm (according to a 2008 telephone survey.)
• Overall, three-quarters of all U.S. homes have at least one working smoke alarm.
• Each year, nearly 3,000 people die in U.S. home fires.
• In 2003-2006, roughly two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from home fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
  - No smoke alarms were present in 40% of the home fire deaths.
  - In 23% of the home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present but did not sound.
• In more than half of the reported home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate even though the fire was large enough, batteries were missing or disconnected. Nuisance alarms were the leading reason for disconnected alarms.
• More than half of the smoke alarms found in reported fires and two-thirds of the alarms found in homes with fire deaths were powered by battery only.
• Most homes still have smoke alarms powered by battery only. In a 2007 American Housing Survey (AHS), 67% of the respondents who reported having smoke alarms said they were powered by battery only.
• In a 2008 telephone survey, only 12% knew that smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years.
• In fires considered large enough to activate a smoke alarm, hard-wired alarms operated 91% of the time; battery-powered smoke alarms operated 75% of the time.
• Interconnected smoke alarms on all floors increase safety.
  - In a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) survey of households with any fires, interconnected smoke alarms were more likely to operate and alert occupants to a fire. (This includes fires in which the fire department was not called.)

Fire

• Cooking is the #1 cause of home fires and injuries.
• Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths.
• Heating is the second leading cause of home fires, fire deaths and fire injuries.
• Electrical failures or malfunctions are factors in roughly 50,000 reported fires each year.
• Roughly 30, 000 intentionally set home structure fires are reported each year.

In 2008

• U.S. fire departments responded to 386,500 home fires.
• Home fires killed 2,755 people and injured 13,160.
• Someone was injured in a reported home fire every 40 minutes.
• Roughly eight people died in home fires every day.
• A fire department responded to a home fire every 82 seconds.
• 83% of all fire deaths and 79% of fire injuries resulted from home fires.