It’s always a good idea for your child to learn a family contact phone number. Knowing they can repeat that number to another adult will make everyone feel a LOT more confident if they are ever separated from you. This is also an important skill to learn before your child enters a school setting. So the founders of Ringaly, who are also parents, want to share some fun and easy ways that worked with our kids on how to teach your child to remember a phone number.
Watch Erin in our video to learn more, or if you prefer, read on below...
Singing and rhyme
All kids learn through song and rhyme and the alphabet song is the most well known example. Music activates parts of our brain associated with memory and rhyming boosts memory. Put the two together and your child will have fun AND remember their phone number. Win win!
Our favorite rhyming song for learning a phone number is “This Old Man.”
This Old Man -- He Played One -- He Played Knick Knack -- On My Drum.
Use this melody to teach your child a phone number. First make sure to familiarize your child with the tune and then sing the first verse of the song but replace each word with the numbers from your phone number. Here is an example...
Four One Five -- Three Two Two -- One Eight Six Three -- Let's High Five
You’ll need to add an ending to the verse that rhymes with the sixth digit of the phone number. In the example above we rhyme “Let’s High Five” with “five”. Check the end of the article for some rhyming suggestions.
Learning to use a phone
The next tip for helping your child to remember a phone number is to familiarize them with the phone keypad and how a phone works. It is important that a child knows how to responsibly use a cell phone in case of an emergency and what a dial pad looks like. The best way to do this is to supervise your child as they dial the phone and make a few calls. This gives them practical experience on a phone. It’s also important to point out that on cell phones green means go (to make the call) and red means stop (to end it). Like traffic lights.
You can extend this idea to their wall at home so they can practice on a larger dial pad. Print out our downloadable dial pad numbers and tape them to a wall or poster board. Repetition of touching the numbers in order, combined with singing aloud their phone number song, will ensure they learn a phone number in no time!
Bracelets
Lastly, because everyone loves art projects, we suggest getting crafty with your child and making a bracelet with a phone number on it. Some parents might write their contact numbers on a piece of paper to put in a pocket or even write on their child's arm but a much more fun way is to create a bracelet. Including your child in the process of choosing the beads and putting the bracelet together helps them further learn a phone number. When you get started, first make sure to measure your child’s wrist and cut a piece of cord big enough that can be taken on and off. We also suggest, if possible, keeping the numbered beads the same color so they stand out as well as adding the child's name to it. You can get beads at your local craft store or Amazon and you can easily fill an afternoon creating one. Now if you’re ever separated from your child, you can feel more confident knowing it’s as simple as them showing their bracelet to a responsible adult who can then call you.
Whose number do they learn?
This leaves the all-important question. If your child can only learn ONE number, whose phone number should they learn? Landlines are no good if you are out and parents and caregivers have their own cell phones. This leaves a lot of numbers to choose from. So wouldn’t it be amazing if they learnt just one number that would magically call all their caregivers at the same time?
This is the idea behind Ringaly. A simple, inexpensive family phone service where you buy a new phone number and add the cell phones of Mom, Dad, step parent or any other caregivers as contacts. When your Ringaly number is dialed, it simultaneously rings all the contacts and the first person to answer is connected to the call. Everyone else gets a reassuring text notification telling them who called and who answered. It’s invaluable when you and your child know that calling one number will reliably reach the family. You can also share your Ringaly number with your child's daycare, school, camp counselors, the doctor's office or anyone who needs to reach you about your children. Having a Ringaly number will give your family confidence knowing that someone will be able to answer important calls.
Get started now and teach your child their own Ringaly number. Also check out our suggestions for ways to end the number song.
Comments