Policies and Procedures
ATTENDANCE/ABSENCES You are required to call by 8:30 A.M. if your child will be absent from the day care please inform the day care if your child is absent of illness or personal reasons. No discount for absences. _______________________________________________________________________ BAD WEATHER DAYS On days when weather conditions are severe I will still be here if you can get here safe. No refund for a bad weather day. __________________________________________________________________________ WITHDRAWAL POLICY If you are planning on withdrawing your child from the day care, you MUST give written notification of the effective date 30 days in advance. If 30 days notice is not given, than you will have to pay up to the 30 day effective date whether the child is in care or not during that time.
_________________________________________________________________________ LEAVING CHILDREN AT THE DAY CARE
All children must be escorted into day care by an adult. Please do not allow an older child to escort a younger child into the day care alone ______________________________________________________________________________ AUTHORIZED RELEASE OF CHILD
Please remember that only persons listed on the authorization sheet for pick-up may take a child from the day care unless I have had direct notification from the child's sponsor. I reserve the right to check the identification of any person picking up a child, regardless of whether or not they are on the pick-up list. ______________________________________________________________________________ VISITATION
I have an open door policy. Parents/guardians/and other family members are always welcome to visit and look over my day care. I invite your questions and comments. I welcome your participation. Please feel free to call or drop in at any time. ______________________________________________________________________________ EMERGENCY PROCEDURES I practice a monthly fire drill to practice emergency escape from the house. I have evacuation plans posted. And my emergency equipment is checked monthly. In case of a disaster, all children will be cared for at day care, or designated place. When conditions are considered safe, you will be contacted. ______________________________________________________________________________ EMERGENCY CONTACTS The parent/child information record must be kept complete and current. Any changes in telephone numbers, address, or place of employment must be reported immediately. In the event that parents/guardian cannot be reached in an emergency, please provide two alternate names for contact. The information must be kept current and complete. Medical emergency information must be current and complete. Any changes in hospital preference, physician, or child's health must be reported immediately. ________________________________________________________________________ SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE It is required that all members of child care to be on the lookout for, and report any and all cases of child abuse. I am also obligated to report any suspected cases of child abuse and/or neglect. ___________________________________________________________________________ HEALTH POLICIES/ ILLNESS Please do not send your child to day care with signs of illness If you notice any symptom of infection or contagious disease while at home. Please keep your child with you until the symptoms subside. Symptoms may include fever, thick runny nose, coughing, red/matted eyes, vomiting, or diarrhea. A child may only have one of these symptoms to be contagious to others. Parents are required to notify me when your child is known to have been exposed to a contagious disease outside the day care. Since we will not bar your child from the day care during the incubation period, we ask your cooperation in checking your child carefully before leaving for the day care each day. We will also check for signs of illness at the day care. If there is any sign of approaching illness discovered in your while at the day care, the child will be sent home. A child becoming ill at the day care will be removed to an isolated area and the parents called. You are expected to remove your child from the day care immediately to prevent the infection from spreading to the other children. If you cannot come for your child, please arrange to have someone else come. This is for the protection of your child as well as the other children. Parents will be notified when there is a contagious illness or disease within the day care. When your child is sent home ill, you will receive an illness report stating your child's symptoms.
What type of illness would prohibit a child from being admitted for care?
1. The illness prevents the child from participating comfortably in child-care activities, including outdoor play;
2. The illness result in a greater need for care than caregivers can provide without compromising the health, safety, and supervision of the other children in care;
3. The child has one of the following, unless medical evaluation by a health-care professional indicates that I can include the child in the child-care activities;
(A) Oral temperature of 37.5 degrees or greater, accompanied by behavior changes or other signs or symptoms of illness;
(B) Rectal temperature of 38 degrees or greater, accompanied by behavior changes or other signs or symptoms of illness;
(C) Armpit temperature of 37.3 degrees or greater, accompanied by behavior changes or other signs or symptoms of illness;
(D) Symptoms and signs of possible severe illness, such as lethargy, abnormal breathing, uncontrolled diarrhea, two are more vomiting episodes in 24 hours, rash with fever, mouth sores with drooling, wheezing, behavior changes, or other signs that the child may be severely ill;
4. A health-care professional has diagnosed the child with a communicable disease, and the child does not have medical documentation to indicate that the child is no longer contagious. ______________________________________________________________________________ INCIDENT REPORT (MEDICAL EMERGENCIES)
If your child is injured while at the day care, an incident report will be prepared giving you the details of what occurred. All incidents, regardless how minor, will be reported in writing. If an incident occurs requiring a decision to be made for medical treatment other than basic first aid, the parent/guardian will be notified immediately. It is the parent/guardian's responsibility to make the decision for minor emergency medical treatment. In the event a serious incident occurs, the parent/guardian will be notified immediately to come to the day care. A life-threatening situation will result in an immediate call for ambulatory assistance. I have training in CPR and first aid, and I keep it up to date. ___________________________________________________________________________ MEDICATION
When your child requires medication that must be given at the day care, please remember to fill out and sign a medication authorization form. We cannot administer medication to your child without this signed form. Medications must be in their original container with the original prescription attached. We can only administer medications according to the instructions on the container. All medications must be clearly labeled with you child's name and the date. Prescription medications must have the prescribing physician's name and prescription number. NOTE: Many non-prescription medication state on the label that a physician must be consulted for a specific ages. When this occurs, we cannot administer the medication unless we have a written statement from a physician with regard to dosage. ______________________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL DIETS
The day care must be notified if a child has food allergies. These will be posted so to warn me of the food allergies. ___________________________________________________________________________ SANITATION
I am trained in the proper procedures for food handling, hand washing, diapering, and sterilization of equipment. The children enrolled at the day care are also expected to follow hand washing procedures before and after handling food, after toileting, and after using a tissue. ___________________________________________________________________________ NAP TIME
All children are welcome to nap during the day. Each child is assigned a mat or playpen to use during nap time. Please send a small blanket or other source of comfort to be used during this time. Please avoid bringing or picking up your child during nap time as mush as possible. If you find it necessary to do so, please inform me ahead to avoid disturbance to the other children. ______________________________________________________________________________ OUTSIDE
It is an important part of my program for the children to go outside for an extended period of time every day. In addition to the learning opportunities provided out-of-doors, it is beneficial to the children's health to breathe the fresh air. Unless it is pouring rain, or otherwise severe weather conditions, we will go outside for a period of time each day. Please make sure your child has the proper attire (hat, jacket, etc.) If your child is unable to go outside for medical reasons, we will need a statement in writing from a physician.
PERSONAL ITEMS
All items brought to the day care must be labeled with your child's first and last name. The day care cannot be responsible for unmarked items. Items that need to be provided by parents/guardians are as follows:
(1) Diapers or pullups
(2) formula and baby food
(3) clean change of clothes
(4) blanket or comfort object for nap time
(5) bottle or sippy cup
(6) anything else that might help with the child being comfortable being away from home ________________________________________________________________________ DRESS CODE
Children should be dressed in comfortable clothing that is washable. Weather conditions and temperature should be considered daily since the children will likely go outside. Shoes should be such as to allow for sure footing when climbing, jumping, and running. Please no cowboy boots or open toe, sling- styled sandals. ________________________________________________________________________ TRINKETS FROM HOME
We welcome and encourage books, pictures, records, and articles relating to different cultures which can be shared with the other children. If these articles are to be returned, please label with your child's name. The day care cannot be responsible for breakage or lost items. ________________________________________________________________________ CHILDREN'S PERSONAL BELONGINGS
I do not mind if your child brings toys to the day care. But I ask you to talk to your child prior to them bringing in toys to the day care and let them know that the following rules will apply.
1. All toys brought into the day care will be shared with all the children in the day care. If the child refuses to share, the toy will be placed in their cubby until they go home.
2. At no time will I be required to keep tabs on the toys. It will be the child's responsibility to keep trace of their toys.
3. I will not be held responsible for broken or lost toys.
4. No toy weapons of any type will be allowed at the day care. _____________________________________________________________________________ LOST AND FOUND
Items found at the day care without an identifying label, will be kept for 60 days. If not claimed after 60 days, it will become property of the day care. ___________________________________________________________________________ MEALS AND NUTRITION
Well-balanced and nutritious meals and snacks will be served at the day care each day. Menus and food preparation are monitored closely. Menus are given to the parents/guardians at the first of every month. Snacks and meals will include at least one serving selected from the grain, milk, meat/meat alternative, or fruit and vegetable food groups, and second servings of some foods will be available We try to offer a variety of foods from many different cultures. If you have a recipe you would like to make and share with us we would be happy to try.
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FAMILY STYLE
Meals and snacks served at the day care are served family style. By this we mean the children will sit together in a group. They may choose what it is they would like to eat from the foods offered. The children are encouraged to try everything offered, but they are not forced to eat. I try to model good eating habits by eating with the children and trying all the foods offered. We talk about the foods we are eating in a positive manner. We have found through this system that the children are more likely to try new foods. They learn good eating habits, develop social skills, and gain a positive self-image from making their own choices. __________________________________________________________________________ PARENT INVOLVEMENT
COMMUNICATION
Whenever you need to talk to me, please call me anytime or send me written messages. Messages relayed through a child or third party is often misinterpreted or forgotten. ___________________________________________________________________________ CONFERENCES
You may request a conference with me at any time during the year. If you have a problem or complaint relating to your child, please feel free to request a conference with me. This conference will be scheduled at a time when I can give your problem complete attention, away from the children in care. Additional conferences may be requested as needed for reviewing guidance and /or developmental challenges. ___________________________________________________________________________ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
DISCIPLINE POLICY
The will be no harsh, cruel, or unusual treatment of children in my care. No corporal punishment or threats of corporal punishment. Children will never be shaken, bitten, hit with hand or instrument, or pinched, or have anything put in mouth as punishment. Children are never humiliated, shamed, ridiculed, rejected, or spoken to harshly, abusively, or with profanity.
GUIDANCE POLICY
My goal is to help children develop a positive self-image. I hope to encourage children to be self-directed and use self-control. In order you do this, children need the opportunity to build self-esteem. Therefore, such practices that will humiliate or shame a child will not be used. Young children are not capable of understanding the consequences of many of their behaviors. They need to be encouraged to make good choices and to be prevented from banning themselves and/or others. Close supervision, gentle guidance, and most importantly, redirection best accomplish this. Children need to learn to identify and express their feeling. Often this requires me to verbalize these feelings for them. In this way I hope to prevent one child from hurting another, and at the same time help that child learn to identify his feeling, and verbalize his/her desires, another important disciplinary approach is to remember that small children are very egocentric and are not yet capable of understanding the concept of sharing and taking turns. It is our responsibility to lend guidance through redirection to other activities when conflict situations occur. Caring for young children requires a lot of patience, as they often need to be reminded about safety rules over and over again. Each ground rule will be stated clearly and precisely and then the children will be helped to follow the rule by showing them other acceptable, safe activities. Last, we will try to always state directions in a positive manner as young children have a hard time comprehending the word "don't". Through these disciplinary procedures it is hoped that we can help to encourage independence and self-control while promoting the development of a child positive self-image. On occasion a child may rebel against the supervision and authority of me. If this does occur, and the child can not be controlled, the parent/guardian will be contacted to pick the child up from the day care for the remainder of that day. If this continues to occur, the parent will be required to withdraw the child from enrollment at the day care after the third incident. ___________________________________________________________________________ BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
The day care celebrates all birthdays with the children if the child who’s having the birthday, is at daycare that day. Please feel free to bring cakes, cookies, candy and or etc. to help celebrate the occasion. ___________________________________________________________________________ DISCRIMINATION
No one will be discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, or political belief. If you think you have been discriminated against, you must write immediately to the proper authority. ___________________________________________________________________________ MY ANIMALS
All of my pets have had all their shots. I have two cats (both of which are declawed). Their names are “Abby” and “Josie” They both absolutely LOVE kids. They let the kids pull on them and grab them and they just lay there and take it. We also have 9 chameleons named "Gustavo, Mystique, Tia, Majik, Mirage, Thor, Titan, Jewel, and Hulk". Finally, we have a gerbil named "Oreo". Oh and we have a small fishtank :) ______________________________________________________________________________ THIS DAYCARE IS A SMOKE-FREE ENVIRONMENT
Smoking, use of alcohol, and use or possession of any illegal substance of unauthorized, potentially toxic substances are prohibited in the daycare. ______________________________________________________________________________ THINGS I AS YOUR PROVIDER SHOULD EXCEPT FROM YOU, THE PARENT/GUARDIAN
1. Open communication: Explain clearly and carefully your wishes and expectations about how your child will be cared for. Also provide updates on problems and progress that your child is making. Give me the provider information about your child's routine, activities and preferences. Good communication helps the provider and parents work together in the best interest of your child.
2. Agreement on terms or arrangements: You should fully understand the terms of the contract and the policies and procedures that you as the parent are agreeing to.
3. Honesty and Trust: This includes being honest about how you believe the arrangement is working, whether your child is happy with the care that I as your provider am giving and whether you are happy. Although you need to be vigilant in order to safeguard your child, you should still trust me as your child care provider to do the best for your child. Show your trust by asking questions rather than jumping to conclusions when apparent problems develop.
4. Pick up on time and follow through on all agreements: I as your provider do have a personal life too, and should be able to expect that you will pick up your child at the agreed upon time. If it takes you longer to get home than you expected, or if you find it more convenient to stop at the grocery store before picking up your child, which makes you 30 minutes late three times a week. We will need to work out a new agreement or you must find a way to abide by the original agreement. If your child needs wipes, diapers, food, or other supplies you should bring them before they are needed.
5. Please do not bring send a sick, hungry, wet or dirty diaper, or overly tired child to care. Never bring a child whom you know is not feeling well enough to be away from home and family. Likewise you should not expect your child care provider to cope with a child who is starving or who went to bed four hours late last night.
6. Payment on time and no "rubber checks: I as your child care provider do have to pay bills and buy food too, so please see that I am paid on time.
7. Respect: Realize that taking care of children is a job and I as your child care provider is a worker, just as you are. Recognize also that this is not an easy job. I as your child care provider am not "just a baby-sitter". I am one of the most important people in your child's life and in yours, too. If you have a day off than give your Provider the day off.
Thank You For Your Cooperation!