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Check With Me First

The rule for anything somebody gives you

Play this lessonNarrated out loud. No account, works offline.

Also available in Spanish. The app stops after two lessons a day and suggests something to do away from the screen.

What it teaches

These are the lines the lesson comes back to, and the ones a child actually remembers afterwards.

Show a grown-up before you keep it.

“Don’t tell your mum.”

Do not tell your mum means tell your mum.

Everybody. Even people you know.

You are never in trouble for telling.

How it starts

This one is about presents, and sweets, and money, and anything at all that somebody hands you. There is one rule, it is short, and it keeps you safe without you having to work out who is safe and who is not, because that is not your job.

How the lesson goes

A surprise and a secret are different

  1. A surprise ends — everyone finds out
  2. A secret is meant to last forever
  3. Presents are never secrets

What to say

  1. "I have to check first."
  2. Do not take it — leave it with them
  3. Walk to your grown-up

If you are not sure

  1. Tell anyway
  2. A boring day is a good day
  3. Your grown-up would rather hear it

The question at the end

Somebody gives you a present and asks you to keep it secret. What is the rule?

For the grown-up

Every lesson ends by handing the child something to do off the screen, and telling you what was taught so you can use the same words.

Try this today: Say the sentence out loud to your grown-up: "I have to check first." Practise it twice so it is ready when you need it.

Then: Agree together who you would tell if your grown-up is not there — pick one other person and say their name out loud.

More in At Home

The whole library is free

Twenty-four narrated lessons for ages 4 to 9, in English and Spanish. No account, no sign-up, no ads, and nothing your child does in the app ever leaves the device — you can check that yourself with the network tab open. Open the lessons.