Does your center have a written policy for staff and parents related to releasing children to an intoxicated parent?

Parents

Every early childhood center should have a written policy with procedures that outline and explain the actions that will be taken when and if a parent arrives at the center to pick up their child, and they appear to be intoxicated or under the influence. Before writing the policy and procedures they should be discussed with law enforcement and a lawyer to determine the centers legal rights and obligations.

I had an incident once where a parent arrived at the center intoxicated. I explained to the parent that it was not in her child’s best interest for me to allow her to drive home. I offered to drive her and her son home; a staff person followed. The parent was very compliant and once we arrived at her home; I explained that this situation was not to occur again and if it did the police would be called. The parent agreed and she did not arrive at the center intoxicated again.

Providing parents and staff with the center’s written policy for releasing children allows everyone to be on the same page with their expectations. It is imperative that everyone has a clear understanding of the guidelines that will be instituted in the event that a parent arrives at the center intoxicated or under the influence. The written policy will also provide the staff with the center’s expectations. The staff should have a clear understanding and knowledge of the centers policy so that everyone is prepared if the situation occurs.  With everyone having full knowledge of the center’s policies and procedures the risk of a mistake will be significantly reduced.

Are You Hiring The Right Person For The Job? Ways to recruit, hire, train, and retain the right person.

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When you hire the right person for the job and provide the needed training, the chances of the person staying at the center are higher. The goal is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for the children by hiring, training, and retaining the right person for the job. A well trained staff will ultimately provide a safe and nurturing environment for all children and reduce mistakes that are made within the center.

 

Recruiting Techniques

  • Advertising-Television, flyers, radio, newspaper
  • Social media-LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+
  • Internet job sites-CareerBuilder, Monster, and Indeed
  • Develop internships with local community colleges and universities
  • College students-Credit hours and internships
  • Early childhood websites-NAEYC, local AEYC and ECE websites
  • High school students for volunteer hours
  • Recruiting firms
  • Promoting from within the company

When you place a posting for a potential employee, list the specific qualifications that you are requiring for the position. Promote the center as a great place to work and why. Provide reasons why working for your center would be more beneficial for their career. It is also your responsibility to make sure that the applicant is aware of the center’s philosophy before they are hired. Whichever form of recruiting methods you decide to utilize to find the most qualified individual for the position you will still need to have a hiring process.

Hiring Process

  • Interview Process
  • What should they know coming into the position?
  • Why are they applying for the position?
  • What are you willing to train them on?
  • What makes them the best candidate for the position?

You have completed the interview process. Now you want to make an offer of employment to the person that is the best fit for your center and meet the needs of the families and children. Whichever form of recruiting methods you decide to utilize to find the most qualified individual for the position you will still need to have a hiring process.

Background Check

  • Check references-Preferably previous supervisors or co-workers.
  • Background checks-Criminal history and child abuse and neglect.
  • Classroom observation with the children to determine if their interactions are appropriate.

Training

  • Train all staff on the expectations and the requirements of the position.
  • The centers philosophy
  • Licensing rules
  • Policy and procedures
  • Accountability
  • Communication-The chain of command, social media, parent communication
  • Confidentiality
  • Curriculum
  • Require a pre and post assessment to assure a clear understanding of the rules and the center expectations.
  • Identify the individual or individuals responsible for training the staff.
  • How often will staff be trained? Upon hire and with what form of frequently thereafter?
  • How many hours of training will be required?
  • Will the training hours be compensated?

Retaining the best person for the position

  • Raises
  • Non-monetary incentives
  • Leadership responsibility
  • Employee of the month
  • Recognition for going above and beyond what is expected
  • Promotion within the company

The Importance of Play

The role of a young child is to learn how to manipulate their environment through play. Classroom interactions allow young children the opportunity to interact with their peers and teachers in an age appropriate fashion. Play is important because it provides a substantial influence in every young child’s growth and development. Research shows the links between play and foundational capacities such as memory, self-regulation, oral language abilities, social skills, and success in school.”(Copple & Bredekamp, 2009, p. 14).  Therefore, when you look at play you have to examine the way in which it is introduced into the classroom by the teaching staff. Play should be hands-on activities that provide opportunities for children to learn and mature while engaging in developmentally appropriate activities. Children will gain socialization and communication skills through their interactions. Furthermore, play provides children with the opportunity to grow and develop within the early childhood environment.

The desire to leaImportance of playrn and grow is very important for children. Play is something that comes natural to children. They will seek out new things that interest them. Educators have to create a safe learning environment that provides opportunities for children to explore and learn at their own pace. This is the reasons why play is crucial in the overall growth and development of young children.

References

Copple, C., & Bredekamp, S. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 3. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

 

School-Age Programs are Important

I will be speaking at a school-age child care conference and I wanted to add a blog about school-age programs.

school age

School-age programs are important for working parents that are not able to pick-up their children from school or drop them off at school in the morning due to work or other obligations. Not all parents have family or friends that are able to help with their children. This is where before school and after school programs come into play. School-age programs are also important for children. Therefore the school-age program should be more than an extension of the school day where the children complete home work and sit at the tables in the cafeteria with nothing to do. There should be activities for the children to participate in both inside and outside. There should activities that are designed for school-age children to grow and mature.

The teachers should have games, a book area, arts and crafts, if possible gardening activities, themes, cooking activities, science, imaginative play, and outdoor activities. Teachers should incorporate these activities into their lesson plan and because school-age children have ideas; teachers should talk with the children and find out what they like and incorporate the children’s ideas into the activities. You can also have the older children interact with the younger children by reading stories and engaging them during activities in a leadership role. This type of school-age program will also reduce the discipline issues that could arise when the children do not have a structured environment.

Some may say, why do school-age children need a lesson plan and a developed program; because, they are in school all day and they just need down time right? The reason school-age children need a developmentally appropriate program is that if the children are left to their own devices; they would play video game and utilize their social media during the time that they are in the program. Where it is true that there are positive components to video games and social media, children are in school-age program at best for a few hours before and after school. Therefore, we as early childhood educators should make sure that the children are provided with developmentally appropriate activities that will help them to grow and mature outside of the computer world. Social media and computer time can wait until they get home. The children should actually socialize with each other and the adults that are with them in the moment.

Children jumping

So school-age teachers make your classrooms engaging, fun, and supportive for your children.

 

Are you ready for the first day of school?

Back to school

The children will be arriving soon and it does not matter if your program was closed for the summer or if it is a year round program. Before you start the new school year take a little time and asses what did and did not work within the last school year and determine why in both situations. Change the things that did not work and incorporate the things that were working.

Organize your classroom and eliminate any potential blind spots. Making certain that there are not any blind spots within the classroom will ensure that you can see the children at all times from all angles of the classroom. Reducing and eliminating blind spots is one way to guarantee that you are always aware of what the children are doing.

Make sure that you are prepared!! Prep your materials for projects before the children sit down to complete the project. Having children waiting for any length of time is not productive and creates a level of frustration for everyone. Plan your lessons but be flexible enough to allow for the children to move beyond the lessons that you have planned.

Assess the children; learn their likes, dislikes, and behaviors. Evaluate the children’s skill level and determine the next developmental level. Once the next developmental level has been determined that will be the goal to achieve. The children should be re-evaluated in the middle of the year to ensure that you are on the right path for each child and the group.

  • Asses all of your equipment

Review your classroom arrangement to make sure that there is an adequate amount of materials in each developmental area. Check your equipment to make sure that it is in good working order and that there is a sufficient amount for the children within your classroom. If you do not have a detailed equipment list, create one that outlines the equipment that is designated to the classroom. The list should include all equipment including materials that maybe stored as extras for the classroom. Having an accurate equipment list serves two purposes; first to ensure that there is a proper amount of equipment within the classroom and second to justify when additional equipment should be ordered.

  • Develop classroom rules

Allow the first couple of days for the children to adjust to the classroom and routine. During the first couple of days you are getting to know the children and the children are acclimating to the classroom. If you have older children allow them to develop classroom rules along with the consequences. This will set the expectations for the children and the classroom. This also holds the children accountable for their action with the knowledge of the consequences. This will take the discipline out of your hands and place it back onto the children. Example: when someone throws a toy the children might have the consequence be removing the children from the area. That would be the consequence for their actions. They would not be able to say that you were not being fair because the consequences were determined before the behavior was observed. You are just enforcing the rules that were developed by the class. This teaches the children natural consequences and accountability.

  • Provide parents with a welcome newsletter outlining the goals for the classroom. Inform the parents about your desires for the children.

Maintain open communication with the parents. Let them know what is going on in the classroom and whenever possible have them volunteer in the classroom. Communicating with the parents will build a trust level and allows for you to better help the children within the classroom. Remember that the parents are the child’s first teacher and will always know their child the best.

Communication between home and the classroom is very important. Make sure that the parents know that they should inform you of changes in the child’s usual behavior, if the child has experienced anything that may affect the child’s behavior at school, and assure the parents that you will do the same. Parents also want to know if something happened at school that might affect the child’s behavior as well as the activities that the child enjoyed during the day. This will create an open communication.