Home remedy for burns and teaching a 4 year old

Good Morning! It looks like it is going to be another beautiful day in Ohio. I hope ya'll have some great weather where ever you're at too. Here are a few helpful tips if you get a mild burn.

Burns

Colgate® Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns

Lavendar Essential Oil relieves the pain and prevents scarring.

Milk is an excellent compress for minor burns. Simply soak the burned area in milk for 15 minutes or so, or apply a milk-soaked washcloth to the area. Whole milk is effective: Its fat content soothes burns and promotes healing. But make sure to rinse your skin and the washcloth in cool water afterward, because the milk will smell.

A clean burn is a faster-healing burn. After 24 hours, wash the area gently with soap and water or a mild Betadine solution daily. Keep the burn dry and clean and covered with a bandage such as a thick gauze pad between washings.

No ifs, ands or buts, Prepartion H can slice up to 3 days off the usual 7 to 15 days it takes for most burns to heal, says Jerold Z. Kaplan, M.D., medical director of Alta Bates Burn Center in Berkeley, California. Preparation H works because it contains a yeast derivative that helps speed healing. Simply dab a little on the burn and cover with a fresh sterile bandage every day.

You probably will instinctively reach for cold water to soothe a new burn. But don't make it too cold. Using ice water can risk making the burn even worse, because extreme cold can kill just as many skin cells as extreme heat. (That's why frostbite damage is very similar to the skin damage caused by a bad burn.) Cool, not cold, water will stop the burning from spreading through your tissues and will act as a temporary painkiller. So instead of running to the freezer, head to the kitchen faucet.

Vitamins A and E, which are antioxidants, can also speed healing, according to Dr. Rask. Good sources of vitamin A include green fruits and vegetables. Cereals and nuts are high in vitamin E-and you can also apply vitamin E directly to the bum. In fact, many people experience faster healing by rubbing the liquid from a vitamin E capsule on the bum once it begins to heal. It will feel good and may prevent scarring.

When to See the Doctor
How bad is your burn? Do you need medical assistance? To avoid getting burned because of a lack of knowledge about burns, here's how you can gauge.

First-degree burns are painful and red. They occur from sunburn, scalding and other minor accidents. You can usually treat them at home.

Second-degree burns ooze, blister and are painful. They result from severe sunburn or from brief contact with hot oven coils or other household accidents. These may be treated at home if the bum is confined to a small area of surface skin.

Third-degree bums are extremely dangerous--even if they don't hurt (the result of destroyed nerve endings). They leave skin charred and turn it white or cream-colored. Third-degree burns can be caused by fire, chemicals, electricity or any prolonged contact with hot surfaces. For these, you'll need immediate medical help.

Forget the old spouses' tale of putting butter on burns. Although milk is soothing, butter and margarine retain heat in tissues and can make the burn worse; plus, that greasy stuff is perfect for breeding infectious bacteria.

Burned your tongue? Try putting sugar on it!

Well, we've been working a little bit on Rylie learning how to write the alphabet. Last night I decided I should do some looking around on the internet to find some suggestions on how to go about this. I'm just a mom after all, I don't know anything about education. The other 3 kids went to daycare and learned a lot there.

So I found this place called Starfall that has some good things to print out on the computer. If you click the ABC's link it will take you to another page where you can get their free ABC's print out. It is 64 pages of work you can do with your child. Each page has the printed work for your child to do and some suggestions in small print at the bottom of a game to play that relates to the work you're doing.

I also made my own big ABC's to print out. I typed Aa and Bb on the center of a page, made them really big and then cut the page in half so I had one page for the A's and one for the B's. I have it set so I just get the outline of the letters and then Rylie can color them in. We're going to start with this, something a little more fun and then put it up on the wall in "our" office. Maybe I'll even have her color a picture of something that begins with that letter on the page.

I also found a page called Alphabet Games by Jean Warren that has a lot of helpful ideas to help reinforce what you're teaching. I got several suggestions from there that we are going to try.

I haven't gone through a lot at Kaboose yet, but it looks like they have some things we may be able to use there for some activities. It looks like they have both print outs and some online interactive activities. Which may be good because Rylie is showing a lot of interest in the computer and wanting to learn how to use it. (I'm already trying to get her to identify the letters on the keyboard.)

Another site that I found is something called ABC Education Resources. I haven't had a lot of time to investigate this one, but they seem to have a link for help teaching numbers and some other things that I want to look into.

So I'm trying to do this with as much fun and yet limit the distractions at the same time. So I moved another desk into my office, from the living room, and that is where Rylie will "come to school". She was actually real excited about this last night and wanted to get started then, but I was still looking for information and printing stuff out on the computer.

I hope I don't confuse her or mess this kid up. Some places that I read like Zoo Phonics, (which looks great by the way, cept I don't have $150 for a kit.) suggests just teaching the lower case alphabet at first since that is what they will use 95% of the time. Well, too late...I already started teaching her the upper case alphabet. I'd like to be able to find at least the Zoo Phonics flash cards, they look like they would be really good to use to teach the alphabet.

I found a link to where a woman had uploaded pictures of the cards online and Rylie was really interested in them. The cards are HERE if you want to get a look see, there are 2 sets. One set is just the animal shapes and the other is the letter along with the animal shape. I've been reading a lot of responses from parents and teachers who really like this form of learning.

Well, if you have any idea's or suggestions I'd be really grateful to hear them. Oh and just so no one gets the wrong idea...no, I am not planning on home schooling Rylie. She is definately one child that need to be in a surrounding with other children. I just want her to learn as much as possible before she starts school next year. We are looking into some charter schools that are near us.

Happy Thursday!
Jill Marie