The Candy Necklace

The Candy Necklace:
 
This card reminds me of a candy necklace, so that’s where I always start my conversation. We talk about our favorite colors and flavors. Depending on then child’s answers, I will decide what Smart Choices Image Card to show them. It may be pill bottles,  just the pills or BOTH on the entire card.
 
I would like to share some Helpful Hints:
- Household medications-We chat about medicines, when have taken them, and that it is mom and/or dad and/or their guardians job to give medicines to them . We discuss childhood illnesses if necessary.
-Parent/Guardian-I usually ask if their child is allowed to get their own snacks and juice. I then advise that they should  never allow their child to get their own medicine and that they always need an adult.
-DO NOT SWALLOW- I have worked this conversation in depending on the previous with the message. Plan B is that if they DO put medications in their mouth without their parents consent that they should NEVER swallow.
-Sick, Death, Hospital, etc- this is a natural conversation with all of the previous conversations.

Christa Forrester

***I have 5-10 "go to" cards in the Smart Choices Image Card deck. As of late, most of my students have been between the ages of 4 and 10. I like to think ahead so I  usually pull a secondary set of images to prepare for conversations they may be come in handy to think outside of what my original plans are.
 
The process in which I teach, plus the images, are approved by the parents/grandparents.  I like to ask the parents before our meeting where THEY see a concern and they almost all say "firearms". It’s not until I show them my pre selected stack of cards that ”light bulb” goes off, and the realization that they are not guiding their children through as many opportunities as they thought.