What age did you / should you teach a child to use a phone? Such as when / how to call 911, and how to call Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, etc?
My daughter is 4 1/2, and I just thought about this today. Another question is, are we going to have to get a landline phone? My husband and I each have our own cell phones. Until she is old enough to be left at home alone, should I just teach her how to use my cell phone to make emergency calls (at whatever age is appropriate to teach it) ?
Thanks for your input! My daughter & I are often home alone just the 2 of us, and this will especially be the case when Daddy deploys in a couple months.
I like Lee P.'s idea. I too have a touch screen phone, and can have pictures for contacts. Problem is, my contacts list = my Facebook friends list + more! haha I'll have to save a few family members in the "Favorites" tab and teach her to go to that list I suppose. I'm just afraid she will try to call up some random person on my list! haha
I think it's an appropriate time. I had not even thought about it and then when I took my daughter to her 5-year-old well-child check up, the pediatrician asked her for her full name, address, mom's phone number and what to do in case of an emergency. Needless to say, we went home and practiced those questions and answers! :)
All of my kids were taught REALLY early, by 2, how to dial 911. Definitely teach her that. We got rid of our land line in July. My 7 year old has her own cell phone, because she needs it for dance when I can't be in the establishment with her due to capacity limits. But all of her speed dials are the same as mine and my husbands, as well as everyone in my family that lives locally. So she can pick up any phone, push 6 send and get my dad. Works like a charm. My 5 year old is asking for a phone and may get one depending on what hours my husband works in the fall. None of my kids are left alone, but all 3 of them know how to use the phone. I would definitely suggest teaching her now :).
My son is also 4 1/2, and being a single mom, we are often alone as well. We do not have a landline. I have a touch screen cell phone, which makes calling easy for my son. It basically has a picture speed dial. My son learned quite quickly how to get to the speed dial menu, touch the person he's trying to call's photo, and touch the dial button. Without this, I don't think he'd be able to dial out just yet. We've started teaching him how to dial 911, but honestly, it's still a little beyond him. He will repeat it back to you, and show you the numbers when you are going over it with him, but if I go back later, he doesn't remember. So, we have everything programmed into the photo speed dial on my phone. We have a picture of an ambulance for 911 and he knows for now, that he is only allowed to press that one in an emergency, which we have explained what an emergency would be.
Wow, I can't believe I'm the only one to mention this, but we don't allow our kids to talk on cellphones. The reason is that they ALL emit radiation and there are studies coming out that suggest that prolonged cell phone use can cause brain tumors, ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN! They are just getting preliminary results, so nothing has been proven yet, but experts all over are recommending that children not use cell phones because their skulls are not as thick as adult skulls and so radiation can penetrate their brains deeper than an adult's. It's kind of scary, really. It's going to take many years before they can know for sure, since it's the prolonged use that they think causes the cancers. I don't want to find out later that I should have been more cautious today. I'd rather be safe than sorry. That being said, in an emergency who cares what phone they are using? My son is 4 1/2 too and he knows how to call 911 on our land line. We will always keep a land line so he can talk to his grandparents and his father (who is now deployed for a year). I need to teach him his own phone number and address too. That's important for them to know in an emergency. Hope this helps!
My son has been using my cell since he was a toddler. I got him his own phone (for many reasons... ranging from the gps locator, to instilling good phone & behavioral habits young, to emergencies, to x, y, z) when he was 5.
I taught my now 6 year old to use my cellphone when she was 3. I made her memorize my number and her daddy's. She has now memorized my husband's number too. She learned her address at that time also. I taught her how to call and how to answer on several different family members' cellphones just in case it wasn't mine that was around during an emergency. She has been making calls on anybody's that will let her, and is learning to text also. We started by letting her use my phone to call whomever was in the room with their own.
