Mercy Medical Center North Iowa - Pediatric and Adolescent Five Years

Mercy Network

Meet with your child’s teachers.
Prepare your child for school. Talk about new opportunities, friends, and activities at school.
Tour your child’s school with her
Be involved with her school, perhaps as a volunteer.

Spend time playing with your child every day.
Encourage her to interact with other children.
Show affection and pride in each child’s special strengths and use praise liberally.
Encourage interaction with grandparents and other adults.
Read together as a family.
Develop mechanisms for solving family problems such as family meetings.
Limit television viewing and monitor those programs that you allow her to watch.
Your child’s sexual curiosity and exploration is normal.
It is appropriate to discuss sexuality with your child. Use correct terms for all body parts, including genitalia. Obtain picture books on sexuality, such as Where did I Come From?, for family reading.
Encourage her to talk with you about her school or friends. Listen and show respect for your child. Answer her questions.
Encourage her to express her feelings.
Enhance your child’s experiences through trips and visits to parks, libraries, and other places of interest.
Set limits. Use time out and establish consequences for unacceptable behavior.
Expect your child to follow family rules, such as those for bedtime, television viewing, and chores.
Assign age-appropriate chores.
Serve as a positive ethical and behavioral role model.
Show affection in the family.
Share meals as a family whenever possible. Spend time talking to each other.
There will be conflicts between siblings. Whenever possible, attempt to resolve conflicts without taking sides.

Your child should wear appropriate helmets and protective gear while bicycling, skating, and roller-blading. She should learn to swim. To avoid sunburn, limit her exposure and use sunscreen. Adults and children should always use seat belts.
Decide which streets your child may walk alone. Review crossing streets at corners, looking both ways, using traffic lights. Observe her before she walks alone. Remind her not to talk to or get in cars with strangers.
Guns in the home are a danger to the family. If a gun is kept in the home, store the gun and ammunition locked up in separate locations. A trigger lock is an additional important precaution.
Make sure smoke detectors are installed and working. Change batteries yearly. Conduct fire drills at home Lock up matches, poisons, and electrical tools.
Ensure that your child is supervised before and after school in a safe environment. Good adult supervision should be arranged when you are away. Choose caregivers carefully. Discuss with them their attitudes about discipline. Prohibit corporal punishment.

Serve your child three regular meals and two nutritious snacks per day.
Encourage your child to eat breakfast.
Model and encourage good eating habits.
Serve a variety of healthy foods.
Avoid junk foods (high-fat or low-nutrient foods and beverages, such as candy, chips, or soft drinks).
Ensure that she brushes her teeth twice a day, including at bedtime, with a pea-size amount of fluoridated toothpaste. Regularly supervise tooth brushing. Floss daily.
Find out from your dentist how dental emergencies are to be handled.
If your child regularly sucks her fingers or thumb, begin to intervene gently to get her to discontinue.
Schedule a dental appointment for your child at least every six months.
As her permanent molars erupt, ensure that her dentist evaluates them for application of dental sealants