Child Care Tip of the Week

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Basic Rules Concerning Discipline at Daycare

Sept. 12, 1997

Parents naturally worry about the type of discipline their child receives at the daycare centre, family dayhome, or in the hands of their nanny. Is their child being treated fairly? Is he or she being singled out? Does the caregiver hit their child, yell excessively at him/her or use force to get their child to do what the caregiver wants?

Even before a child is placed in any child care setting, it is best to talk with the caregiver at length about issues of dicsipline, and to visit the facility to ensure what you are told and what actually transpires correspond. So what does one look for in appropriate discipline practices in child care? Each province or state has their own guidelines as to what is and is not allowed when it comes to disciplining a child. You would be wise to contact your local licensing authority to learn about the rules in your area. It is up to you however to monitor your child care arrangements daily to ensure these rules are not being broken.

There are three factors involved in helping children behave:

1. setting reasonable, clear rules
2. dealing reasonably with broken rules, and
3. being a good model for the children (acting in ways that you want the children to act).

There are three very simple rules that many providers use which are easy for the children to understand. These are:

• You may not hurt yourself.
• You may not hurt others (hurt can be emotional as well as physical).
• You may not hurt things (toys, furniture, etc.).

While rules and regulations vary from area to area, here are some widely-accepted basic rules concerning disipline:

1. No cruel, harsh, or unusual punishment is allowed.
2. Discipline shall not include profanity, negative remarks about a child or his family, or other verbal abuse.
3. Discipline shall not be used to humiliate, shame or frighten a child.
4. Discipline shall not include spanking, hitting, striking, biting or pinching.
5. No child shall be confined in an enclosed area, such as a locked room, box or closet.
6. Discipline shall not include preventing a child from eating, sleeping, or using the toilet.
7. No child shall be allowed to discipline another child.

If your child talks about any form of discipline that makes you uncomfortable or is prohibited, talk with your caregiver at once. Always believe your child first. If you are not satisfied with the caregiver's response, monitor the situation closely and talk to other parents. Remember, always remove your child from any situation that is dangerous to his/her safety and well-being. If you suspect abuse, remove your child from care and call your local licensing authority and the police at once.

From Caring For Children in Your Home, A Handbook for Family Day Care Providers, Office of Child Care Services, Ohio Department of Human Services.

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What is Your Child Learning at Daycare

Sept. 5, 1997

Do you want your child to . . .

• learn to read
• enjoy learning
• get along well with others
• make decisions independently
• enjoy solving problems
• develop good coordination?

That's what a good child care program will do for your child. No matter what type of child care you use, be it center-based, family dayhome or in-home care, you want your child to be involved in daily activities that help them to learn. When you visit the daycare or dayhome, look for signs of activities below. Check the facility's program and daily schedule. Ask your caregiver what activities your child enjoys best. If you have a nanny or in-home caregiver, work with her to plan out activities that will enhance your child's development. Below is a quick list of children's activities and what they learn from them.

• Reading
  • Turning pages of a book from beginning to end prepares a child for reading and writing by exposing them to the left to right concept.
  • Listening to a story and talking about what happened develops a love of books, helps a child to remember details, and gives them a forum to express their ideas which enhances language development.
• Blocks
  • Balancing one block on top of another helps a child develop control and physical coordination.
  • Putting blocks in a truck and dumping them out helps a child to understand size, weight, and number concepts which assists them with their math and science.
• Puzzles and Beads
  • Finishing a puzzle teaches a child to complete a task, enhances self-esteem and produces good study habits.
  • Stringing beads helps a child to coordinate the actions of their eyes and hands and prepares them for reading and writing. Putting beads on a string in a sequence is a math building skill.
• Arts & Crafts
  • Cutting paper, glueing, drawing a picture, just gathering the supplies helps a child with their small muscle skills, prepares them for reading and writing, and teaches them the value of carring out a task (independence and study habit building skills).
  • Making playdough teaches a child to recognize how materials change - a science building exercise.
• Outdoor Activities
  • Throwing and catching a ball and climbing on outdoor equipment develops hand and eye coordination as well as physical development.
  • Taking the time to look at plants, insects, to notice the difference in these things with the changing of the seasons sharpens a child's observation and science skills.

A child who is given ample opportunities to acquire the skills, attitudes and habits of learning will do well in school and in life. Is your child care arrangement giving your child that opportunity?

Extracted from the book, A Parent's Guide To Early Childhood Education by Diane Trister Dodge and Joanna Phinney. Teaching Strategies, Inc. P.O. Box 42243, Washington, D.C. 20015.

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Parent Participation Packs a Punch

Aug 29, 1997

Looking for a few good reasons why you should bother becoming more involved in your child's care? Consider this.

• Parent involvement is one of the key components of high-quality child care.
• Participating in the centre's or home's programming makes the facility and the caregivers more accountable to parents.
• Increased participation creats a forum for openness and communication between the caregivers and the parents.
• Children who see their parents trust and enjoy the facility and the caregivers are themselves more trusting and willing to participate in activities.
• Knowing more about the centre or home and caregivers helps you feel more confident in your choice of child care arrangements.
• Children learn by example. Your participation teaches your child(ren) the value of community involvement.

"That's all well and good," you say, "but I don't have a lot of time, I can't just pick up and leave work whenever there is a field trip or theme party." The truth is, no one expects you to. It is the little things you can do to help out that packs the biggest punch.

Your strong back, new ideas, even your willing hands enhance a facility's capabilities in many areas. What's more, you don't have to wait to be asked to help out. Most caregivers and directors welcome your offers to join the board of directors, leave little notes like these child care tips on the bulletin board, bring in scraps of wool or other craft materials.

They cherish your offer to be the official "cake baker" for holidays and birthdays. They'd love for you to show up for that Saturday morning outdoor play-yard face-lifting session, or you might even help to organize "parents night".

And if you enjoy puttering with your computer, you might consider putting together a newsletter for parents and caregivers. Certainly no one would object.

Or you could simply spend an extra ten minutes before or after hours to tell your caregiver how much you appreciate her work, or that silly joke you heard at the office water cooler, or that bit of information that would enable her to take better care of your child.

Caregivers, whether they work in a large centre or at home, want you to help in whatever way you can. Participation shows you care. It builds trust and respect. Best of all, it really does make a difference.

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Lingo Jingle

Aug 22, 1997

Like every profession, child care has its own special terminology, you know, those buzzwords that often leave the ordinary parent a little confused. Let's take a moment to look at what the different child care educator titles actually mean.

• Assistant Teacher, for example, refers to someone who is in the process (hopefully) of completing the basic one year Early Childhood Education (ECE) course. We say hopefully because ECE or child development training is not always a prerequisite for the job and many assistant teachers have no formal related training. Most are under the supervision of a teacher or supervisor.
• A Teacher or Supervisor, also known as an Early Childhood Educator, is the person directly responsible for a group of children. Most often she (98% of all child care staff are female) has completed the basic Early Childhood Education training and has related work experience. Her duties also include staff supervision.
• A Teacher/Director or Head Supervisor refers to an Early Childhood Educator who works with children daily, but also has administrative duties. Her job is often split between teaching and running the facility.
• The Administrative Director, on the other hand, is responsible for the overall management of the centre or home and the staff. Though she may have some Early Childhood Education training, it is not manditory as she rarely spends time with the children. Most of her energy is spent running the facility, fund raising, and general administrative duties.
• There are other more specialized educators, such is the case with a Special Needs Educator, who is trained in Early Childhood Education and has completed post-basic training in care for children with special needs from birth to school-age, or an Infant and Toddler Educator who also the basic ECE training as well as post-basic education in the care children from birth to 36 months.

To learn more about the requirments of the Early Childhood Educators in your area, contact your local child care agency, licensing board, or family dayhome agency.

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Community Resources

Aug 15, 1997

There are many kinds of programs and services that may be available to child care providers and daycare centres to help enhance their program, answer questions, or simply provide information on a variety of topics.

Children and caregiver's alike need to get out and socialize, meet new friend, experience new activities. The following offer some variety to regular routines.

• Play groups. These range from those run by the local church or community centre, to those as casual as Mom & Tots groups put on by neighbourhood Moms. Your local family paper, community newsletter, or city paper may have information on groups running in your area. Call for dates, times, what is offered and what is expected of you with regards to volunteering
• Drop-In Programs. These are generally less structured than play groups, and are generally run by volunteers. In some instance you are expected to remain with the children. This is a great way for children to learn to socilalize with other children while playing with different toys and experiencing different activities. Check you local community centre, child care agency, or family resource centre for what's offered in your neighbourhood.
• The public library. Most libraries offer story hours, crafts, music, and other services for children. Give them a call to learn what fun is available for your group.
• Toy lending libraries. Looking for an inexpensive way to suppliment your toy supply. A local toy library is the perfect solution. There may be an annual membership fee, which in some instance may be waived if it presents a hardship. Toy libraries often run as a support program to child care agencies, community centres, family resource centre. Others are run as independent businesses.
• Recreation programs. There are may penniwise activities run through most cities. A call to your city hall information centre would give you information on city-sponsored (parks & rec. ) family events in your area. Check out your local paper or family/parenting paper for what's happening about town. In Calgary, parents can check out our Family Activity page to see what family events, sports, dance lessons, etc. are happening in our city.
• Get out and visit such places as a farmer's market, museum, the fire hall, a bakery, chocolate factory, chaim restaurant, petting zoo, police station, city hall, senior citizens home, etc.
• Host an open house. Invite local dance instructors, artists, band groups, police, librarian, etc., to come and visit the children in your home or centre. You could have a show-n-tell day each month where the children can take turns bringing in the grandpa that makes really neet wooden toys, the uncle who is a scientist, the mother who is a nurse, the cousin who plays the guitar, etc. The possibilities are endless.
• Community events are a great way to take in the sights and explore new things. Strawberry festivals, carnivals, winter skating activities, all offer something usually for free. Watch your local papers for what's happening in your neck of the woods. Then gather up a picnic, pack up the kids, and enjoy.

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Summer Safety With Young Children

Aug 8, 1997

Summer is a great time for family fun and playing in the great outdoors. But certain types of illness and injury are more likely to occur during the summer. With children spending more time outdoors, parents and caregivers can take extreme precautions to keep kids healthy.

Protecting children from sunburn, avoiding insect bites and preventing food-related illness are good first steps towards a safe and healthy summer.

Some tips for a safe summer include:

Barbaque Safety Check

• prevent burns by keeping children safely away from hot barbaques and campfires
• prevent poisoning by locking barbaque fuels, fire starter and other poisons out of a child's reach
• cook all ground meat until there is NO PINK remaining. Don't serve cooked meat on the same plate used for raw meat.

Tricycle Safety

• use a tricycle that's the right size for the individual child
• a child should be able to place feet flat on the ground when seated
• when choosing a tricycle look for widely spaced rear wheels, rubber (not plastic) tires, hub-cap type wheel covers (not open spokes, which can catch feet, scarves, or fingers), padded handlebar grips
• ensure children wear a properly fitted bicycle helmet.

Playground Safety

• the surface under playground equipment should be soft enough to absorb impact in a fall
• climbing equipment should be low, without openings big enough to trap a child's head
• swings should have flexible seats, not wood or metal
• avoid clothing with ties or draw-strings, which could cause strangling
• report unsafe conditions to the agency or department responsible for the playground.

Adapted from Child Safety Updates produced by Safe Start and the British Columbia Ministry of Health and Ministry Responsible for Seniors. For more information contact Safe Start, B.C.'s Children's Hospital, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6H 3V4. Telephone: (604) 875-3273. Fax: (604) 875-2921.

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Field Trip Smarts

Aug 1, 1997

Out and about in all kinds of weather . . . ah the joys of going on field trips. Here is a checklist which might help make your neighbourhood excursions a little safer.

• State the ground rules. "Walk, don't run". "Hold hands." "Stop at every street crossing." Practice the rules with the children, "Look to the left and then to the right." Play "red light/ green light/ yellow light" games.
• If you are taking a stroller, the younger or easily diverted children can be asked to hold on to the other children's hands.
• Let the children know before you go on a field trip that you return immediately if children act in an unsafe manner. Stay calm if it happens, but don't back down. You can always try another day and the children will learn that you are serious about safe behavior.
• Notify parents of your usual neighbourhood routes and any special field trips.
• Plan trips based on the ages of the children.
• Plan for rests along the way. Know where the public washrooms are.
• Take a compact first aid kit and your "Emergency/Consent cards".
• Carry a survival bag with spare clothes, finger food snacks, beverages, kleenes, etc.

See our Safety Announcements page for a valuable new child Safe-T-line that'll help make your field trip much safer for all the children in your centre or home.

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HIV/AIDS & Child Care

July 25, 1997

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), the virus that leads to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is transmitted from one person to another by blood, body fluids containing blood, vaginal secretions, sperm, breask milk, and through unprotected intercourse or sharing contaminated needles. It is also transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or by breastfeeding.

In order to transmit HIV three conditions must be present:

• the blood must be fresh
• it must be in a sufficient quantity
• it must have a route of entry into the bloodstream of the infected person.

It is important for child care centres and family dayhome providers to adopt universal precautions to control the spread of any infection, including HIV. Where blood is involved, it is also important to use universal precautions, the measures developed to deal with blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis B. These universal precautions include:

• wash hands immediately after exposure to blood
• cover cuts
• use absorbant material to stop bleeding
• wear disposable latex gloves when there is a lot of blood or if you have open cuts. Wash hands immediately after removing gloves
• immediately clean blood-soiled surfaces with a bleach solution (household bleach kills HIV)
• machine-wash blood-stained laundry separately in hot soapy water
• place blood-stained materials in sealed plastic bags and discard in a lined, covered garbage container.

HIV is a fragile virus, and no cases of transmission through casual contact have been reported in child care anywhere in the world. HIV is not transmitted by:

• touching, hugging, or kissing
• sharing food, dishes, drinking glasses, or cutlery
• being coughed, sneezed or cried on
• sharing toys, even those that have been mouthed
• diapers or toilet seats
• urine, stool, vomit, saliva, mucus, or sweat (as long as it is untainted by blood).

Adapted from the Canadian Child Care Federation's Resource Sheet #33, HIV/AIDS AND CHILD CARE. You can contact the Canadian Child Care Federation at: 120 Holland Avenue, Suite 306, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 0X6. Telephone: (613) 729-5289. Fax: (613) 729-3159.

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Beautiful Junk - Recycling

July 18, 1997

There's an old saying that "one man's junk is another man's treasure." Such is the beauty in creating new toys and playthings from materials that might be considered junk. For children, creating toys and art from re-useable items has many advantages. They are excersizing their creativity, developing problem solving skills, and building on their imaginations all they while they are learning the value of recycling and saving the environment. So much for so little.

All you have to do is supply children with some of recyclable materials and ask them, "What could you do with . . .?"

• torn off ends of computer paper (great for paper flowers, collages)
• used envelopes
• large and small cardboard boxes (treasure boxes, houses, cars, tunnels)
• paper towel or toilet paper rolls (binoculars, musical shakers)
• buttons cut from old clothing (collages, art projects, counting, stringing)
• unused checkbooks, deposit slips, ledgers (creative play)
• meat trays and aluminum pie plates (paintings, musical instruments, sewing with dull needle and yarn)
• used wrapping paper, bows (collages, artwork)
• old clothes, hats, scarves, purses, briefcases, jewelry (dress-up play)
• cereal boxes, food boxes (playing store, three dimensional collages)
• egg cartons ( seed planting, crafts, sorting objects by size)
• carrot tops (growing in a tray of water).

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Cooking & Learning Together

July 11, 1997

Despite the mess, aggrivation and mayhem, cooking with children can actually be a pleasurable and a learning experience. All it takes is a little pre-planning and some simple recipes (you can find lots at your local library). The fact is, cooking helps children develop language, social, sensori-motor, and math skills. They also learn a great deal about science and nutrition. Here's a quick breakdown of the skills children develop while cooking in the kitchen.

Nutrition

• learning about the Canada Food Guide
• the value of a healthy meal or snack
• the fun in trying new and unusual foods

Language Skills

• reading recipes
• building vocabulary skills
• following written and verbal instructions

Science

• how food changes from one state to another
• the different physical properties of food
• food and temperature changes

Social Skills

• getting along and working cooperatively with others taking turns, sharing
• respect for other's work
• trying new experiences
• a feeling of accomplishment

Sensori-Motor Development

• touch and food texture and size
• taste and smell
• sight and food appearance
• muscle coordination, chopping, stirring, kneading, mixing

Mathematics

• measuring
• numbers and fractions
• ordering

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