Week of The Young Child 2007

The Week of The Young Child is being celebrated April 22nd-28th. It is a celebration of early childhood education. This years theme is "Building Better Futures for All Children". At my center we are doing many exciting activities including hat day, pajama day, backwards day, breakfast with your child, field day and an ice cream social. We are also encouraging the parents to volunteer time come in and read to their child's class. Today we had a professional storyteller come into the center to entertain the children. They absolutely loved him and he really kept there attention for the entire hour. If your child is in a center ask the director what activities they are doing to celebrate the week.
http://wwww.naeyc.org/about/woyc/

policies on vacations

Every center has a different policy on vacations. At my center it is 1/2 of your weekly tuition. There is no limit on how many vacation weeks you may take. You may also apply this policy to weeks your child is out sick. They have to be out Monday through Friday to qualify to receive half tuition for that week. Sometimes it is worth it to keep your child out for the entire week if they have already been out sick for several days that week. It may cost you less to have them out the week rather than pay the full tuition to have your child attend 2 days. You should ask what the vacation policy is at your center at the time of enrollment.

visiting and volunteering

Your child care center should have an open door policy. Several of my parents at my center come in on their lunch breaks to visit during the day. All of the children enjoy when they have visitors in their classrooms. It is also nice to volunteer at your child's center. I just recently had parents volunteer to come in during black history month. They did an awesome presentation and the children had so much fun and learned many new things. The parents seemed to enjoy the time they spent at the center and the children could not stop talking about it. I really think this is a nice that parents take time out of their busy day to come in and spend time with the kids. It means so much to the children. It is also when parents come in and read stories. So if you are thinking of spending time at the center talk to your child's teacher and see what you could come in to do.

Keeping open lines of communication

It is so important to have open communication with your child's teacher. You should always let the teacher know if anything different is going on in your child's personal life. Your child spends a majority of their time with the teacher. Children usually act out when they are dealing with emotional situations. Their behavior may change with no explanation. The teacher needs to be informed so they can deal with the situation appropriately. Your child may be in need of special attention during this time period. Children usually do not deal well with change. As a director I am so happy when parents let me know of any changes that might be happening at home. I do not need to know all of my families personal business but it is good to know anything that will be affecting their child. I make it a priority to pay closer to that child during this time period and give extra attention to them whenever it is needed.

CPR & FIRST AID TRAINING

I just hosted a CPR and first aid training at my center last night. This is a very important training and a topic that all day care professionals should be trained in. This is a question you need to ask the director when you are visiting the center. Many centers will have a list posted in the classrooms of all the staff who are certified in this area. It is mandatory by state regulations that at least one staff member who is trained in CPR and first aid be present at the center at all times. The regulations are currently being updated and the requirement may be changed. All my staff members attended the training. It is not required that child care workers be trained in this area but it is something that they should want to be trained in. It is so important to know what to do in an emergency situation. There are so many things that can happen when caring for a child. In my 9 years working in the day care industry I have not had to perform CPR but I am prepared if I ever do need to perform it. If you are currently looking at child care facilities please make sure you ask who is trained in CPR and first aid.

What to do when I make a decision......

After you make a decision on which child care center is right for you there is things that need to be done before you start. You will have to check with the center to see what the registration fees are. Some also require a deposit of a week's tuition. Next you will need to see what paperwork needs to be completed prior to your child's first day. All children are required to have a complete health assessment within 60 days of enrollment in any child care center by the Department of Public Welfare. The child care center you are enrolling in may require something sooner. You will also be required to fill out an emergency contact form which is also a DPW form. This form will ask you to list people your child may be released to besides the legal guardians. It is important to list people in case there is an emergency. This could be a relative, friend, neighbor, co-worker or anyone you can count on if a problem arose and you were unable to pick your child up from the center. If you need to have your child picked by someone other than the people who normally pick up you will have to notify the center ahead of time. That person will be required to show a photo id before your child is released to them. This is for security purposes. The center should not release your child to anyone other than the people who are authorized. The center will probably have other paperwork and things that need to be done upon enrollment.

child care center licensing

One important thing to ask the child care centers you choose to visit is about their certificate of compliance from the Department of Public Welfare. This is the center's license to operate. The center is usually inspected on a yearly basis. The inspection consists of many areas including the program and curriculum, equipment, physical site, child records, staff records, nutrition, health and safety and other general requirements. The certificate of compliance is issued for a 12 month period. The center is subject to announced and unannounced inspections in accordance with the regulations. The Department of day care licensing has the right to deny, revoke or issue a provisional certificate of compliance to a center that is not meeting the standards. It is important to ask the center the standing of their current certificate of compliance and also ask what their past inspections have been. The center should have a copy of the regulations, the current certificate of compliance and the the most recent inspection summary in an accessible location to all parents. You can find out more information at http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/