Archive for the ‘safety’ tag
Bicycle Safety Equipment
Child Safety for Home School: Bicycle Safety for Home Schooling Families
Outdoor activities are great fun and an important addition to any homeschool curriculum. Kids should be encouraged to spend time outside whenever possible to promote physical, emotional, and social health. One of the most popular outdoor activities is bike riding which is fun, exciting, and a pleasurable form of exercise. It is important, however, to properly instruct your homeschooling child on bicycle safety.
First and foremost, the proper equipment should be used. If your child is not an experienced biker, then training wheels are a wonderful resource for teaching balance and promoting confidence on the bike. Helmets, knee and elbow pads, and other protective layers are essential to any safe bike ride. In some places, wearing a helmet is actually the law, so do some research about the laws in the state that you live in.
It is also very important for your homeschooling child to understand that when biking, he or she must be aware that there are other vehicles that use the road. This may seem like on obvious fact, but understanding how to share the road properly will ensure a fun safe bike ride. There are many tips that can help with this practice. Always bike with the traffic, meaning the direction the cars are going. This rule applies whether biking on the road, shoulder, or sidewalk. Try and avoid the busy streets or times of day when the roads are most congested, such as rush hour. When the streets are packed with cars, it limits the vision of the drivers and bikers can be easily overlooked. Drivers expect bikers to obey all traffic signals, signs, and stoplights, just as they are expected to do in their cars. For example, bikers are expected to stop at stop signs and red lights and use appropriate hand gestures as turn signals.
There are also many general rules to follow in order to promote safe bicycle habits. Riding at night is not a good idea because even with headlights, the vision of drivers at this time in limited. Bright clothing and light reflectors should be worn anytime of day while biking as an added measure of safety. While biking, both hands should be kept on the handlebars of the bike. Although it is fun to test your balance or try fun tricks, control can be lost and accidents may happen.
One final word of advice: make bicycling a family affair! The best way to teach your kids about bike safety is by example, helping kids see the importance and reason for the rules that you teach them. They are more than just words from a concerned parent. Biking can be a lot of fun and great exercise, so teach your kids how to best enjoy the experience.
About the Author
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children’s rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.
Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation’s public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.
An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Homeschooling News Café Blog consists of the most current and relevant education news.
Bicycle Safety Equipment
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Drive Medical 790 Steerable Knee Walker $269.00 The Drive Medical Trekker Gait Handgrips can be mounted anywhere eon the handlebar and they are height adjustable and rotate…. |
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Camelbak Elixir 12 Tablet Tube $10.00 CamelBak is uniquely designed for Camelbak hydration systems. Enhanced Hydration Highly Portable Easy to Use Easy to clean… |
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Mongoose BMX Bike Gel Knee and Elbow Pads $11.30 BRAND NEW Mongoose Gel Knee & Elbow Pads Superior Gel for Extreme Protection These awesome elbow and knee pads offer comfortable protection while riding your bike, skateboard, in-line skates or scooter. Features Made of hard plastic and gel pads Form fitting breathable mesh Come with a mesh bag for storage… |
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Flutter Blade Bicycle Novelty Noise Maker 2 Pack (Eagle and Flag) $11.99 Take a nostalgia trip back to your childhood. Remember how a baseball card made your bike sound like a chopper with straight pipes at least for a few fun minutes until the card shredded? Now step forward into the FlutterBladeTM era. Thanks to our ultra-durable material and patented design, kids’ bikes can rev and roar, hour after hour, mile after mile…. |
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Bell Night Trail Bicycle Light Set $13.89 BELL SPORTS NITE TRAIL LIGHT SET *200 plus hours of run time *Powered by 4 “AA” batteries for main light and 2″AA” for tail light *Headlight only light set with “take Me Home” battery saver *High powered Xenon bulb with super bright twin LEDs *Safer with larger side portals which provide 180 of visibility… |
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Para-Cord Survival Bracelet Black 9 Inch $1.49 Our survival bracelets enable you to carry several feet of Para-Cord that can be used in an emergency for countless survival applications. Basically, every inch of your wrist diameter equals approximately one foot of Para-Cord. We use 5/8″ curved side release buckles for maximum comfort, convenience and strength…. |