They stage a “baby napping” – and we’re not talking about rest time
A North Carolina Story.

Kathryn Cox, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, and Nancy Stallings, Special Populations teacher, help students enrolled in child development classes at William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh, N.C. learn to care for a baby in all situations using infant simulators.

With the assistance of Debbie French, Occupational Course of Study (OCS) teacher, a “baby napping” is staged to occur while the students have the Babies in their care during the school day. Within the OCS classroom, the students move around to accomplish different tasks and they carry RealCare® Baby with them. When a student is not caring for his or her Baby and there’s an opportune time, Mrs. French quietly removes the Baby from its carrier and slips away with it.

When the student realizes the Baby is missing, Mrs. French quickly identifies it as a “baby napping.” Students stop their tasks to assist the “student parent” in determining what should be done in this situation. Questions are written on the board. Students are encouraged to make a “quick” decision for the safety of the Baby.  

• What is the Baby’s name?

• What was the Baby wearing?

• What are the Baby’s skin, hair, and eye coloring?

•  How soon do you call the police and report the Baby missing?

•  What is an Amber Alert?

After the students have answered the questions, students go with teachers in different directions in the school to see if they can locate the Baby.  The “student parent” remains in the classroom to await the return of the Baby. The Baby is returned when found to the “student parent,” and the class gathers to summarize what happened.

When the students report the “baby napping” to Kathryn Cox, she uses it as teaching opportunity in the Child Development classes to review the steps in reporting a missing child and to identify what to do in an Amber Alert situation.      

-- Kathryn Cox and Nancy Stallings, William G. Enloe High School, Raleigh, North Carolina

 

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Did you know that your program could inspire others to do the same? Ever think that your best practices, tips and tricks might help other educators find a better way? Have a funny story to share? Our readers have done this and more by telling the Star about themselves. And you can, too!

Brag it up. Give us your “best practices.” Entertain us! Winners will be chosen by random drawing at the end of the year. Stories will be featured here and possibly in other marketing materials throughout the year.

We get lots of messages from customers, friends and even students, like Danielle in Kentucky, who writes:

My family and I moved to a small town called Covington, Kentucky toward the middle of the school year. By the time I was registered at Holmes High School, it was basically too late to choose which classes I actually wanted. So my school counselor signed me up for child development. I loved kids and was excited to learn more about human development.

The teacher warned all of the students that we would have a huge project that will ultimately determine a large percentage of our grade near the end of the year. No one seemed worried . . . until that time came. We were each given infant simulators to take care of like real babies. Even with the simulator in my hands I really didn’t think it was a big deal. But later I had to go to work. A few people I knew at school offered to baby-sit for me. But I didn’t know if I could fully trust them with the Baby. I just decided to take the Baby to work with me. It was a harsh day. But since Covington is such a small town, every one of my customers knew me. And they would all ask questions about the simulator. I felt like a teacher by educating them about how it was like a real baby.

Eventually, a lot more people knew about it. Almost all of my friends decided to take child development the next school year. And I made a definite decision that I would not have any children until I feel secure with my life.

Thanks for writing, Danielle, and for being a great advocate of RealCare® Baby in your community. Infant simulators get attention wherever they go!

Did you ever feel like a runner-up? An also-ran? Maybe you were dumped before the homecoming dance? At any rate, sometimes things don’t work out even though you are a wonderful human being. In this case, many wonderful customers didn’t get their moments in the sun and we’d like do something about that.

Last year, we filmed the “Change the World” DVD in many locations around the world. In order to pull that off, we talked to a lot of wonderful customers who were willing to go on camera to tell others about their successful RealCare® programs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get to everyone so we
have some great stories that have gone untold.

Sue Simon is a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, Wisconsin. She uses the RealCare® Program during the six weeks leading up to Christmas vacation. Her collection of Babies came from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, when a group of students wrote a grant to get infant simulators in each of the area high schools.

“Before that, I did the egg and sacks of flour, and all the crazy things we did,” she says. “The infant simulators are so much closer to the real thing. Close enough that it’s a rare teen who isn’t affected by it.”

Sue makes her students carry the Babies during school and it accomplishes a few objectives.

“I use it as a promo for my classes,” she says. “They also have to walk through the halls and protect it from people who want to bobble their (simulator’s) heads and make them lose points. It gives them a much clearer picture of what the reality is to keep a baby safe. All good things come of it.”

Sue says she has the support of others on staff, too, which really helps her program flourish. When she brings Babies out it becomes a whole school event.

“My only regret is that it’s for such a short time. I have never felt so affirmed as a teacher. It’s a rare parent who doesn’t support it. Parents who I never see otherwise show up at my classroom door at 7 a.m. because their kids are taking Baby then.

“These days it’s hard to find a program that is overwhelmingly supported by parents. I really think it does accomplish the purpose. I wouldn’t consider NOT using them.”

We’re Here For You
Product Support with a Smile

Unlike some companies, you can call the Realityworks product support line and get a real live person to help you with your product concerns. And even though you can’t see them through the phone, they really are smiling. They can talk you through just about any issue that’s keeping you from getting things accomplished (unless your issue is that pile of laundry or the ”check engine” light in your vehicle).

In addition to the one-on-one help, we share their product support tips every month right here by the clover (because we’re lucky to have such great product support technicians, of course).

Product support hours are Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time. Call 800.830.1416 or 715.830.2040.

Product Support Tip o’ the Month

How well do you know your Rechargeable Battery Pack?
How to store your Babies properly while they’re not in use.

It’s a story problem! Remember how fun those were? Sharpen your #2 pencils, folks.

You are in the process of programming your RealCare® Baby II-plus with the handheld control unit. Just as you transfer the data from the control unit to Baby, the control unit display reads "Low Batteries, Replace Batteries" warning you that the infant simulator power is low. In this situation do you . . .

1. Open the battery compartment and remove the batteries from the green wrapping (hint: this is the wrong answer).

2. Open the battery compartment and remove the rechargeable battery pack and circuit board (hint: this is another wrong answer).

3. Call product support at 800.830.1416 for further instructions.

You’re brilliant! You answered c) which is the correct answer. Call Product Support at 800.830.1416 for further instructions. Our helpful Product Support technicians will assist you to determine if the battery pack charge is too low, or if the battery pack needs to be "reset."  Are you asking what it means to “reset” the battery pack? Excellent question!

And that’s why you should call Product Support! Please have Baby, instructor key, handheld control unit, charger and a Phillips head screwdriver ready when you call.

Never used the handheld control unit? For your convenience, the handheld control unit gives you an option in addition to Control Center software. It’s handy for individual Baby programming and data retrieval.

Finally, never disassemble the battery pack by removing the green wrapping, and never remove the rechargeable battery pack and circuit board from your infant simulators without contacting Product Support first.

You can find more product tips, tricks and other helpful hints here by the clover next month. Product Support hours are Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time USA. Call 800.830.1416 or 715.830.2040.

P.S. Your Baby needs changing, and we don't mean the diaper! If you're still using Babies that require batteries or keys, we can get you into the latest and most convenient technology for less than you think! Trade in your older model Babies and get a significant discount on the purchase of the new RealCare® Baby II-plus with rechargeable battery pack and Control Center software for easy programming and data retrieval. This one's for you, program leaders. The smartest Baby you will ever meet! Ask your product consultant for details or download the Trade-In Form here to get started.