5 Easy Ways To Teach Your Children Vital Contact Information
At First Class Coders HQ, our children, Teeny Techy (TT1) age 10 and TT2 age 6, didn't know our contact mobile numbers off by heart. It’s essential information for kids to know.
They never needed to...... they just had to find the name of the person they wanted to call on our mobiles (or house phone) and press call.
But as our older one was going to secondary and would be walking to school independently, we needed to upskill them both.
I figured it would be a good idea to refresh them with some basic emergency skills
like knowing our phone numbers to call us or
to give a trusted adult if they ever needed it and
what to do if they separated from us.
But learning an 11-digit phone number can be little tricky–understandably. I mean, I sometimes forget my pin number and that's only 4 digits!
So, we set about different approaches to lean into their ages and different learning styles to help them get this vital information down pat.
Now, they can rattle them off like their life depends on it! Job done! Here's our top tips.
For Younger Children
1.SING IT SONG
It’s so much easier to memorise something to a catchy tune or song! If you do a quick search online you will come up with a variety of beats or songs, but you can also easily make one up on your own. One of the most popular is to sing your phone number and address to the tune of Frere Jacques or Brother John. Super easy!
Here’s how it goes when you adapt it for the phone number (and of course, this is a First Class Coders phone number for the purposes of this post). At first, you will be singing this like a call and response style.
You - Zero Seven Nine
Child -Zero Seven Nine
Four Four Six
Four Four Six
Seven Six Tw-oo
Seven Six Tw-oo
Three-eee Nine
Three-eee Nine
Green Means Go
Green Means Go
Eventually your child will take over the lead and you will be the one repeating, and then they’ll be able to do it all on their own! Phone number memorised!
2. CLAP IT OUT
We love a good beat at First Class Coders HQ, So we said each number in order while clapping along with a rhythm.
Basically, I just said it the way I would say my phone number to anyone else, pausing at the dashes. I think it helped them internalise how many digits there are in our mobile numbers.
3. STOMP IT OUT
TT2 learns better when we keep it moving, so we found these excellent tips from Lasting Thumb Prints and The Many Little Joys.
Write or print the numbers from 0-9, you can choose to laminate your numbers if you would like. You can tape the numbers onto a large open area on your floor in the order you would find them on a phone.
Now for the fun part! Lots of fun and giggles with this one. You and your child jump the correct sequence as they are learning the emergency contact numbers. Hopscotch style.
Alternatively, stick the numbers or a wall and get them to tap it out.
Or place them going up the stairs (if you have them) in your home, and when your child is going up, they read out the telephone number.
When they are going down the stairs they recite the number out loud from memory.
Incentivise their learning
On a smaller scale of the tip above, take a picture of the telephone keypad on your phone; when your child would like a sweet treat or something they really want, hand them the key pad and get them to show you the special telephone sequence, to get what they would like. Remember to give them the treat when they get it right.
4. REAL LIFE PRACTICE
There's no substitute for real life practice!
Let your child practice dialing your (and any other emergency contact) phone number on a real phone and speak to them.
This is also a great time to give instruction on how to make a call on a mobile phone since depending on the type of home phone you have; it’s a bit different than a landline.
For Older Children
5. THE GAME CHANGER
We tried for weeks but TT1 kept mixing up the digits and getting our numbers all wrong. But then a brain wave, via a friend and it was a game changer...........
I changed the passcode (PIN) number on our family iPad to my mobile number. That was all it took!
I'm telling you after 2 days, both TT1 and TT2 had learnt my number off by heart and they had my husband's number down pat after 1 week.
Every now and again, we change the passcode to either of our numbers to make sure it's in their long term memory and they can recite it easily.
And it's worked! Repetition is the key, don't do it once, keep doing it. So that it's locked in.
For All Children
5. BELT AND BRACES - Low Tech Solution
Do all of the above, but also write an emergency contact card, laminate them and put one in your child's school bag, wallet, travel card, coat pocket etc. Put it in a place that's easy to locate and tell them where it is.
It's not sleek, but it is effective, it also acts as a lost property return card.
We did this and it's been a life saver in more ways than one.
It literally just says - My child's name and
my mum's number is xxxxxxxxxxxx
my dad's number is xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When TT1 lost his travel card, another parent found it, called us and it was returned the next day. Saving us the hassle of having to re order another one.
When TT2 left her backpack at the bus stop on a day out with friends, a kind person called my husband and he was able to go and pick it up. We were able to let our friends know not to worry, we had found it and they were able to enjoy their day.
Result!
Share these top tips with all parents you know!
IMPORTANT NOTE:
When teaching your child to dial a phone number, make sure that they learn not only the digits, but also how to get INTO your phone app and how to push the call button.
How many of us have locks on our phones to prevent kids or strangers from getting access?
But, consider, if you were ever unconscious for some reason, and your child needed to dial 9-9-9, would they know how to access the emergency function on your phone? Do you know? No, try it out now.
To download and print your own giant numbers shown above click here