There are many reasons for preschoolers to have some type of physical fitness in their daily lives. Below are five reasons children need physical activities daily :
They should have at least 60 minutes of structured physical activities daily because it will help improve a child’s fitness.
Preschoolers should also have 60 minutes or more of unstructured physical activities and should not be still for more than 60 minutes unless it is naptime to encourage expressive and imitative thought and problem solving.
They should develop competence movement skills that help build them up for more complex movements tasks to instill a love for movement.
Preschoolers should also have indoors and outdoor area for large motor muscle activities that is safe and recommended for standards to increase awareness of the body in space.
Individuals (teachers, parents, and staff) are responsible for the well-being of preschoolers and be aware of the importance of physical activity and facilitate the child’s movement skills to reinforce a good self-concept through participating in success oriented tasks.
Three developmental skills that children learn at preschool age are locomotor and manipulative skills. Locomotor skills involves moving the body. This is learned through running, jumping, hopping, sliding, leaping, skipping, and galloping (www.naeyc.org). Manipulative skills are used to throw, roll, kick, dribble, strike, and bat (www.naeyc.org). People think that the locomotor skills comes natural, but children are taught to do them most of the time. And manipulative skills are needed to play sports and games. If these skills are not learned, children could have problem later in life learning them and not being able to do something as simple as throw a baseball.
Then there is the “body smart” skill children that do not need much help from an adult to learn many of the fundamental motor skills. They are just talented and most of the time they are from low-income families with limited resources (www.naeyc,org). They children usually do not have many places to play so they must become creative.
When a child do not engage in healthy fitness activities they may become overweight or obese. If they are not taught the importance of exercise and healthy nutrition, they will think it is okay to eat what ever they want, when ever they want, and how much they want. They need to understand that not getting enough physical fitness early could lead to health problems later, especially for the heart.
Adults can help children develop good fitness habits by encouraging them to be physical activity at school. They may use a locomotor skill such as jumping the shot. They would do this by having an adult squat in the center of a circle of children and slowly swing a rope with a bean bag tied on the end. The children must jump over the bag as it comes around to them and for a small child, stop the rope for them to jump.
Now. for a manipulative skill, a child could play catch or throw and change up the distant and the sizes of balls the child can throw. Then the child could throw a ball of a different sizes to different distant for another child to catch it. This would be a challenge for the child, but it would be fine.
One quote that I liked was the one that said, “Childhood obesity and physical inactivity are clearly major concerns these days, and everyone in the educational community needs to be a part of the solution” (www.naeyc.org), and it says a lot to anyone that love children. It emphasized how important health and exercise is in the life of a child. It also remind adults about the need for them to promote and encourage fitness for their children in the classroom. Basically everyone should be educated and or educating when needed, on the importance of health. Let’s encourage physical education and get out there and run with the children, if they see the adults do it and like it then they will do the same.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY is a 60 minute must in the daily schedule for children and need to be for adults. It help promotes fitness and healthy eating. It teaches them how to use their locomotors skills and teaches them or develop their manipulative skills to help them with sports and games. It will help keep obesity and diseases under control because weight gain do causes these problems in children. Make sure your child exercise and eat healthy,
Reference
Goodway, J. D., & Robinson, L. E. (2006, March). SKIPing toward an active start: Promoting physical activity in preschoolers. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/GoodwayBTJ.pdf
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2006, May). Resources for encouraging good nutrition and physical fitness. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/ResourcesBTJ.pdf
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Nutrition for Children
Good nutrition and good eating habits are important for all groups of children because it is important for appropriate growth and development of the child. There are two major categories of nutrition and they are macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrient is the energy nutrients that are produced by carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. This energy is used for growth, to regulate the body, and to perform voluntary activities (Robertson, p.236). Energy is needed to maintain life. Then micronutrient is needed to help macronutrient because it helps regulates the body metabolism and perform their functions (Robertson, p. 240). Micronutrients would be the vitamins, minerals, and water, and they must be right in order for macronutrients to do their job properly. Calories are not found in micronutrients. Teachers need to know this information when preparing the menu for the children at their centers, then the children will get the right amount of nutrients they need in their daily meals.
For the infants, 46 percent of them get their food from an early childhood program (Robertson, p.214). Meals should meet the nutritional need of the infants. The infants should be feed the way they need to be, because they may be on different schedules. Solid foods should not be introduced to an infant until about 4 to 6 months. This is about how long it takes for them to develop their fine, gross, and oral skills needed to eat solid food (Robertson, p.300). So because they are growing and developing they must be feed right. If the solids are introduced to early, it can make the baby vulnerable to food intolerance or food allergies (Robertson, p.300).
For the toddlers and preschoolers, they are able to eat whole foods that are appropriate for them. They can eat fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy. By this time, they should be ready to feed themselves also. Only 50 percent of toddlers/preschoolers will get the correct amount of nutrition and only 30 percent do not get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetable. The recommended diet primarily consists of whole grains, low-fat and nonfat dairy products, fruits and vegetables, beans, fish, and lean meat along with a physical activity component (Robertson, p. 227).
Adults should help children develop healthy eating habits because it can affect growth and development if they are not feed adequate amounts of healthy food from each food group. If the adults show children how to eat then they do not have to worry about them overeating, playing in the food, or not eating at all. Children’s nutritional needs change as they grow. If they are not getting the proper nutrition it could affect their learning ability too. An adult can help regulate meal time, keep a child on task, and make sure they are well behaved at meal time. It is also up to the adult as to how the child learns about food and when they get to learn about it. This can be done by training the child to be on task in eating satisfying foods and giving the child selection of well-prepared foods. The food should be nutrition and given in varieties. If they do not eat, the adult should be flexible, stay calm and relax. They will learn to eat properly over time as they grow. Another accomplishment is for adults to maintain clear limits and be consistent and also provide opportunities for a child to exercise some control (Robertson, p. 307). When they are allow control over their feeding practices, fewer issues of contention arise (Robertson, p.307). When they learn to self regulate and recognize when he is hungry, thirsty, or not eat if he is not hungry, then he will learn to control food intake over his lifetime.
Three nutritional recipes that family members can prepare with preschoolers are Green eggs and ham and this is the recipe for it: 2 eggs, 1/4 cup shredded cheese or sprinkle as much as you'd like. Add salt and pepper, a shake of each, chopped ham, and green food coloring. Now take the chopped frozen spinach, thawed- replace the green food coloring and add a little frozen spinach for the green color if you like (*shredded zucchini, if desired). Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl, beat eggs, cheese, salt and pepper and ham. Stir in spinach and zucchini if desired. Add 2-3 drops of green food coloring. Beat together. Cook in warm skillet stirring continuously and break up eggs. The nutritional value of this recipe is the spinach, and zucchini, that is two servings of vegetables, then there is the egg and ham for the meat and the cheese is the dairy. This would be a good snack for a child.
Another recipe would be Apple Smiles. This is an apple recipe your kids are sure to love. Cut a red apple into slices, these are the lips. Have child spread peanut butter or cream cheese on apple slice. Then place mini marshmallows, which are the teeth, on top of peanut butter and top with other apple slice. This would be a healthy snack due to the fact that it has apples and peanut butter in it. It is a very light snack for the kids to enjoy. There is no fat in this snack.
Finally, another healthy snack is the ants on a log. The teacher must first cut the celery into 3-4 inch pieces. Then fill middle with cheese spread or peanut butter. Last have the kids add raisins to top to get the ants crawling on the log. Again celery, peanut butter and raisin are healthy because there is a fruit, vegetable and meat in this snack serving.
Cooking with kids should be a fun experience. They get to learn about different foods and also how to prepare them properly. They also learn how to eat healthy. They get to taste the food when they are finish preparing it and it is done by them. Let them do everything from start to finish and they will have achieved cooking. Cooking would be a time to talk with the children and get them to tell you what they like about cooking or preparing food.
Reference
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Preschool Snack Recipes. Retrieved April 4, 2010, from:
www.kids-cooking-activities.com/preschool-snack-recipes.html
19 Nutrition and Weight. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from:
http://www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTML/Volume2/19Nutrition.htm
For the infants, 46 percent of them get their food from an early childhood program (Robertson, p.214). Meals should meet the nutritional need of the infants. The infants should be feed the way they need to be, because they may be on different schedules. Solid foods should not be introduced to an infant until about 4 to 6 months. This is about how long it takes for them to develop their fine, gross, and oral skills needed to eat solid food (Robertson, p.300). So because they are growing and developing they must be feed right. If the solids are introduced to early, it can make the baby vulnerable to food intolerance or food allergies (Robertson, p.300).
For the toddlers and preschoolers, they are able to eat whole foods that are appropriate for them. They can eat fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy. By this time, they should be ready to feed themselves also. Only 50 percent of toddlers/preschoolers will get the correct amount of nutrition and only 30 percent do not get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetable. The recommended diet primarily consists of whole grains, low-fat and nonfat dairy products, fruits and vegetables, beans, fish, and lean meat along with a physical activity component (Robertson, p. 227).
Adults should help children develop healthy eating habits because it can affect growth and development if they are not feed adequate amounts of healthy food from each food group. If the adults show children how to eat then they do not have to worry about them overeating, playing in the food, or not eating at all. Children’s nutritional needs change as they grow. If they are not getting the proper nutrition it could affect their learning ability too. An adult can help regulate meal time, keep a child on task, and make sure they are well behaved at meal time. It is also up to the adult as to how the child learns about food and when they get to learn about it. This can be done by training the child to be on task in eating satisfying foods and giving the child selection of well-prepared foods. The food should be nutrition and given in varieties. If they do not eat, the adult should be flexible, stay calm and relax. They will learn to eat properly over time as they grow. Another accomplishment is for adults to maintain clear limits and be consistent and also provide opportunities for a child to exercise some control (Robertson, p. 307). When they are allow control over their feeding practices, fewer issues of contention arise (Robertson, p.307). When they learn to self regulate and recognize when he is hungry, thirsty, or not eat if he is not hungry, then he will learn to control food intake over his lifetime.
Three nutritional recipes that family members can prepare with preschoolers are Green eggs and ham and this is the recipe for it: 2 eggs, 1/4 cup shredded cheese or sprinkle as much as you'd like. Add salt and pepper, a shake of each, chopped ham, and green food coloring. Now take the chopped frozen spinach, thawed- replace the green food coloring and add a little frozen spinach for the green color if you like (*shredded zucchini, if desired). Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl, beat eggs, cheese, salt and pepper and ham. Stir in spinach and zucchini if desired. Add 2-3 drops of green food coloring. Beat together. Cook in warm skillet stirring continuously and break up eggs. The nutritional value of this recipe is the spinach, and zucchini, that is two servings of vegetables, then there is the egg and ham for the meat and the cheese is the dairy. This would be a good snack for a child.
Another recipe would be Apple Smiles. This is an apple recipe your kids are sure to love. Cut a red apple into slices, these are the lips. Have child spread peanut butter or cream cheese on apple slice. Then place mini marshmallows, which are the teeth, on top of peanut butter and top with other apple slice. This would be a healthy snack due to the fact that it has apples and peanut butter in it. It is a very light snack for the kids to enjoy. There is no fat in this snack.
Finally, another healthy snack is the ants on a log. The teacher must first cut the celery into 3-4 inch pieces. Then fill middle with cheese spread or peanut butter. Last have the kids add raisins to top to get the ants crawling on the log. Again celery, peanut butter and raisin are healthy because there is a fruit, vegetable and meat in this snack serving.
Cooking with kids should be a fun experience. They get to learn about different foods and also how to prepare them properly. They also learn how to eat healthy. They get to taste the food when they are finish preparing it and it is done by them. Let them do everything from start to finish and they will have achieved cooking. Cooking would be a time to talk with the children and get them to tell you what they like about cooking or preparing food.
Reference
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Preschool Snack Recipes. Retrieved April 4, 2010, from:
www.kids-cooking-activities.com/preschool-snack-recipes.html
19 Nutrition and Weight. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from:
http://www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTML/Volume2/19Nutrition.htm
Illness prevention and emergencies
Scenario one, Darius was playing with the blocks like he normally does at school, during playtime. All the children were doing different things. But Darius always like to play with the blocks. He had a bad habit of putting the blocks in his mouth and because of that, he was not allowed to play with them this week. The teacher moved Darius to another center, across from the block center, hoping that this would help Darius become interested in something else and he did. He was now playing in the art center and discovered he loved to build things with clay. His teacher was satisfied because Darius was happy. But it was not long before Darius begin putting clay in his mouth too. On this day, the teacher and her assistant was watching to make sure everyone was okay when she noticed Darius lips were blue and he was looking funny. She immediately reacted calmly and walked over to Darius. She had the assistant watch the other children while she begin trying to see what was wrong with Darius. She checked him from head to toe and saw that he was choking on clay because she saw the teeth marks in the clay roll on the table. She told her assistant to call 911, while she began trying to get the clay out of Darius’s throat. After that, she had her call his parents too. His teacher continued the Heimlich maneuver until the ambulance arrived. They help the teacher get the clay out of Darius’s mouth. Then he threw up and began to cry because he was scared from not being able to breathe. His teacher assured him he would be okay and comforted him until his mother got there. The paramedics treated Darius and release him to his mother, who had arrived at the school by the time Darius was okay. Once this emergency was over, Darius’s teacher filled out a incident report as to what happened.
Because Darius’s teacher had training and knowledge about choking, she knew the signs and knew what to do fast. She had meetings with her paraprofessional all the time just in case they needed to respond to any situation with the children. Advance playing will help a person to be better prepared for a bad situation. They will know what to do in order and how to do it to save someone’s life. Everyone needs proper training when working with children in case of an emergency situation.
For adults to be prepared they should have files with parents contact information updated, first aid kits available, phones or radios to call for help, and most of all proper training. No one is ever prepared for emergency, but they can know the NAEYC recommended responses to follow.
My next scenarios is Ryan and he has just can in from out side with his mother, after going for a walk in the park, across the street. Five year old Ryan and his mother Jill was taking a walk in the neighborhood. The sun was bright and hot and they had stopped for ice cream. Ryan ate his ice cream as they walked back home. He finished his ice cream and began to play and run around while his mom watched. She saw that Ryan looked pale, but she thought it was because of the hot weather, so she hurried and got Ryan inside so he could cool off. She washed his face to help cool him off. They sat down and begin watching television. Jill noticed Ryan was very still and did not respond when she called him. Ryan appeared to be asleep, but Jill noticed that he was not breathing. She went over and shook Ryan, but he did not move. Jill dialed 911 and began performing CPR on Ryan because he was not breathing. She had noticed his pale look earlier and thought nothing of it, except that Ryan may have been tired. She examined his body while she was doing mouth to mouth on her son. He was already lying down and she continued to do CPR until the paramedics arrived. Ryan responded and started to cough and cry, not knowing what had just happen to him. He wanted his mother and Jill was there for him. Jill explained to the paramedics what happen before Ryan stop breathing and that this was his first time doing this. They took Ryan to the hospital for observations to make sure everything was alright.
Jill had took a CPR before this happened, because she knew that she needed to know this if her child or someone she knew every stop breathing, she could help them. She knew how important it was to be prepared for an emergency situation and she was. She wanted to know more about emergency situations and got training for them. To know what to do in emergency situations, one should gain knowledge and educate themselves.
If a person has a family member or friend that has a illness, make sure you are aware of how to help them if they had a reaction, or an emergency problem, so you could help them.
Because Darius’s teacher had training and knowledge about choking, she knew the signs and knew what to do fast. She had meetings with her paraprofessional all the time just in case they needed to respond to any situation with the children. Advance playing will help a person to be better prepared for a bad situation. They will know what to do in order and how to do it to save someone’s life. Everyone needs proper training when working with children in case of an emergency situation.
For adults to be prepared they should have files with parents contact information updated, first aid kits available, phones or radios to call for help, and most of all proper training. No one is ever prepared for emergency, but they can know the NAEYC recommended responses to follow.
My next scenarios is Ryan and he has just can in from out side with his mother, after going for a walk in the park, across the street. Five year old Ryan and his mother Jill was taking a walk in the neighborhood. The sun was bright and hot and they had stopped for ice cream. Ryan ate his ice cream as they walked back home. He finished his ice cream and began to play and run around while his mom watched. She saw that Ryan looked pale, but she thought it was because of the hot weather, so she hurried and got Ryan inside so he could cool off. She washed his face to help cool him off. They sat down and begin watching television. Jill noticed Ryan was very still and did not respond when she called him. Ryan appeared to be asleep, but Jill noticed that he was not breathing. She went over and shook Ryan, but he did not move. Jill dialed 911 and began performing CPR on Ryan because he was not breathing. She had noticed his pale look earlier and thought nothing of it, except that Ryan may have been tired. She examined his body while she was doing mouth to mouth on her son. He was already lying down and she continued to do CPR until the paramedics arrived. Ryan responded and started to cough and cry, not knowing what had just happen to him. He wanted his mother and Jill was there for him. Jill explained to the paramedics what happen before Ryan stop breathing and that this was his first time doing this. They took Ryan to the hospital for observations to make sure everything was alright.
Jill had took a CPR before this happened, because she knew that she needed to know this if her child or someone she knew every stop breathing, she could help them. She knew how important it was to be prepared for an emergency situation and she was. She wanted to know more about emergency situations and got training for them. To know what to do in emergency situations, one should gain knowledge and educate themselves.
If a person has a family member or friend that has a illness, make sure you are aware of how to help them if they had a reaction, or an emergency problem, so you could help them.
Emergency Preparedness; Natural and Human Disasters
Emergency Preparedness
Natural and Human-Generated Disasters
The two disasters scenarios that could threaten an early childhood environment in Atlanta would be tornadoes and flooding. The childcare center that is located in the subdivision is always threatened by tornadoes during the spring of the year. Then the childcare center, located on a lower piece of land, at the bottom of a hill, is always threatened by flood waters in the winter time.
My first disaster is a tornado warning has just been issued for H. County and everyone has been advised to take cover from the storm. The tornado has been spotted and is on the ground heading toward the daycare subdivision. All of the children are sitting at their tables coloring because during bad storms the teachers like to have them all in one place and sitting down. Due to the fact that there are glass windows and doors in the home, I have to first, protect the children from harm and danger without scaring them. We move the children to the closets and the bathrooms and cover them with covers to protect them from falling debris and any other damages that may occur during the storm.
Some potential dangers may be the electric going out and the home could possibly be damaged in the storm. Our communication lines may be cut off or have no signal to be able to call parents or the parents be able to call the center. We would therefore have a cell phone for parents to call in case of an emergency. We may have objects falling or flying in the home. So we must make sure everyone is safe until the storm end.
The children and the adults will all be at risk during the storm therefore we must be ready for the tornado when the warning comes. If we do not prepare for disasters, we will not know what to do with the children or where they need to go when we get a warning about a tornado.
In order to prepare, I will have to make sure that we have an evacuation plan posted in the house so that the teachers know what room they need to take their children in case of a storm, this way no one would be bumping into each other or running around and not knowing where to go while panicking. We would practice the drill once a month during off season and twice a month during the tornado season. I would send information home to parents so they would know what to do in case of a disaster. It would encourage the parents to practice at home with their children so that they would know what to do at home and at school. The teachers will know to count the children before taking cover and after taking cover during a storm. The will need to have their first aid kit handy, flashlight, and walkie talkie to keep in touch with the director. According to FEMA, listen to a weather radio, know when to take cover and where, and know what to do after the storm (www.FEMA.gov).
After the storm, I would make sure the children are safe and okay before checking the damages to the home, if any. If there are, I would contact my insurance company to report a claim, I would make sure I let parents know their children are okay, I would be ready to answer questions from the children and comfort them. Parents will know what to do because I would have already sent home a information package on what they would need to do if something should happen at our daycare center. This is what I would do to prepare for a tornado at this home daycare.
My second disaster is to prepare for a flooding. The daycare is located at the bottom of a hill near a lake. Because of the risk of flooding to the center, the staff has to be ready to line the children up and relocate them to higher grounds, at a local church nearby.
A flood warning has been issued so the teachers have to do roll call and gather supplies and survivor kit that is pre-made in the event of flooding. The rain is heavy and coming down fast. The parents already know where the children will be relocated to in case of flooding in the area. The staff has packed snacks, extra covers, first aid kit, flashlights, radios, and books for stories. The staff already knows the drill, so they contact the church to let them know that we are loading the children up on the buses and heading up the hill to the church for safety. Parents would also practice the drill with their child at the center on a monthly base to help children know that their parent already know what to do if a disaster happened.
The danger that can occur, if the children are not moved out of the center in time so they could possibly get caught in the flood waters and some could get stuck or drown. Or we may not be able to drive the buses and get the children to safety. The staff and the children are at risk if we are not prepared for the flooding. The whole community would be at risk from the flood. That is why the staff practiced what to do and how to do if they needed to act.
To develop my plan in advance, I had to know that the center was at risk for a flood. Then I talk with the local people to see what they did during a flood and I made preparations to be allowed to used the church for the children at the daycare center for safety when it rain and there is a flood watch. Then I wrote down what we needed to do in case of a flooding and posted it in all the classrooms, so they could follow the evacuations plan for leaving the classrooms and getting on the buses.
Other than being stuck down the hill, some other complication would be traffic, mudslides, electrical problems, and more than a day staying at the church. If that happened, then the snacks may run out for the children or they could get sick. Children would miss their parents and be scared of what has happened. We would hope for no complications.
After the storm, I would assess the damages to the property and make a claim if needed. If the center is okay then I would make sure everything is safe inside to before allowing the staff and children to return. Once I have a confirmation that it is, I would let them return to the center once I know it is safe.
References
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved on March 21, 2010 from: http://www.fema.gov.
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Natural and Human-Generated Disasters
The two disasters scenarios that could threaten an early childhood environment in Atlanta would be tornadoes and flooding. The childcare center that is located in the subdivision is always threatened by tornadoes during the spring of the year. Then the childcare center, located on a lower piece of land, at the bottom of a hill, is always threatened by flood waters in the winter time.
My first disaster is a tornado warning has just been issued for H. County and everyone has been advised to take cover from the storm. The tornado has been spotted and is on the ground heading toward the daycare subdivision. All of the children are sitting at their tables coloring because during bad storms the teachers like to have them all in one place and sitting down. Due to the fact that there are glass windows and doors in the home, I have to first, protect the children from harm and danger without scaring them. We move the children to the closets and the bathrooms and cover them with covers to protect them from falling debris and any other damages that may occur during the storm.
Some potential dangers may be the electric going out and the home could possibly be damaged in the storm. Our communication lines may be cut off or have no signal to be able to call parents or the parents be able to call the center. We would therefore have a cell phone for parents to call in case of an emergency. We may have objects falling or flying in the home. So we must make sure everyone is safe until the storm end.
The children and the adults will all be at risk during the storm therefore we must be ready for the tornado when the warning comes. If we do not prepare for disasters, we will not know what to do with the children or where they need to go when we get a warning about a tornado.
In order to prepare, I will have to make sure that we have an evacuation plan posted in the house so that the teachers know what room they need to take their children in case of a storm, this way no one would be bumping into each other or running around and not knowing where to go while panicking. We would practice the drill once a month during off season and twice a month during the tornado season. I would send information home to parents so they would know what to do in case of a disaster. It would encourage the parents to practice at home with their children so that they would know what to do at home and at school. The teachers will know to count the children before taking cover and after taking cover during a storm. The will need to have their first aid kit handy, flashlight, and walkie talkie to keep in touch with the director. According to FEMA, listen to a weather radio, know when to take cover and where, and know what to do after the storm (www.FEMA.gov).
After the storm, I would make sure the children are safe and okay before checking the damages to the home, if any. If there are, I would contact my insurance company to report a claim, I would make sure I let parents know their children are okay, I would be ready to answer questions from the children and comfort them. Parents will know what to do because I would have already sent home a information package on what they would need to do if something should happen at our daycare center. This is what I would do to prepare for a tornado at this home daycare.
My second disaster is to prepare for a flooding. The daycare is located at the bottom of a hill near a lake. Because of the risk of flooding to the center, the staff has to be ready to line the children up and relocate them to higher grounds, at a local church nearby.
A flood warning has been issued so the teachers have to do roll call and gather supplies and survivor kit that is pre-made in the event of flooding. The rain is heavy and coming down fast. The parents already know where the children will be relocated to in case of flooding in the area. The staff has packed snacks, extra covers, first aid kit, flashlights, radios, and books for stories. The staff already knows the drill, so they contact the church to let them know that we are loading the children up on the buses and heading up the hill to the church for safety. Parents would also practice the drill with their child at the center on a monthly base to help children know that their parent already know what to do if a disaster happened.
The danger that can occur, if the children are not moved out of the center in time so they could possibly get caught in the flood waters and some could get stuck or drown. Or we may not be able to drive the buses and get the children to safety. The staff and the children are at risk if we are not prepared for the flooding. The whole community would be at risk from the flood. That is why the staff practiced what to do and how to do if they needed to act.
To develop my plan in advance, I had to know that the center was at risk for a flood. Then I talk with the local people to see what they did during a flood and I made preparations to be allowed to used the church for the children at the daycare center for safety when it rain and there is a flood watch. Then I wrote down what we needed to do in case of a flooding and posted it in all the classrooms, so they could follow the evacuations plan for leaving the classrooms and getting on the buses.
Other than being stuck down the hill, some other complication would be traffic, mudslides, electrical problems, and more than a day staying at the church. If that happened, then the snacks may run out for the children or they could get sick. Children would miss their parents and be scared of what has happened. We would hope for no complications.
After the storm, I would assess the damages to the property and make a claim if needed. If the center is okay then I would make sure everything is safe inside to before allowing the staff and children to return. Once I have a confirmation that it is, I would let them return to the center once I know it is safe.
References
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved on March 21, 2010 from: http://www.fema.gov.
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Ga. Daycare Policy
Five potentially hazardous situations/safety threats common to the preschool age group are indoor falls, keeping toys picked up, using durable, balanced furniture that will not tip over easily, avoid highly waxed floors and stairways, and use infant and child equipment that is in good repair and inspected for safety.
Indoor falls may or may not be prevented but because preschoolers are unbalanced with their developments, teachers have to be watchful at all times, to help prevent a preschooler from falling unnecessary. Maybe mats could be used to help break falls. Even at home, parents should make sure they do what they can to help their preschoolers become balance and constantly monitor the babies and know that hazards are possible at anytime. The safety policy that applies to this treatment is supervising and staffing and if staffing and supervision is right then there will be enough teachers to watch the children at all times.
Keeping the toys picked up is another safety hazard situation. If teachers are not careful about cleaning up and observing the surroundings a preschooler may trip and fall and injury themselves. Other measures that teachers can take are to show the children how to pick the toys too by modeling that behavior daily. Families can also practice cleaning up with their children after they get through playing. And then they will do it at school also. Children’s activity is the policy that applies to this situation because children are suppose to play daily, therefore the toys will be out and about anyway.
The use of durable furniture that will not tip over is under the policy for equipment and it should be age appropriate. If the furniture is not durable or safe then it should not be allowed in a classroom for use by the children. A teacher should check and make sure that the furniture is free from hazards or bad situation and show a child the proper way to use the furniture in the beginning. As parents, they should make sure they do the same thing at home with the children. Show children how to properly use equipment so that the same may be done at school.
Avoiding highly waxed floors and stairways are a hazard to not only the children but the staff also. In order to keep from having children slip and fall, avoid slippery areas. Make sure as teachers the classroom floors are not a danger to children when playing or just walking. If it is too slippery for a teacher then it is too slippery for a child. Parents need to make sure they avoid having slippery floors at home which may cause a child to slip and fall and bump their head. To avoid injuries, avoid stairways and slippery floors when possible. If a child has to be carried at a point, because of the floor or stairs, do so. But find out how to avoid that happening again. Health, safety, and discipline would be the policy for this threat because it talks about the different risks and ways to avoid the dangerous situations that are a hazard to children.
Last is the use of infant and children equipment that is in good repair and inspected for safety because children do not know what is good or bad for them to play on, the teacher have to be the eyes in the classroom every day. They should inspect all the equipment before the children begin playing on it and they should monitor the equipment for safety as well while the children are playing. Parents are responsible for checking their children equipment before giving it to them or allowing them to play on it. This will help prevent an injury in the long run if they are proactive. The policy that applies to this situation is equipment because it tells teachers how to care for the equipment properly and how it is monitors it for safety.
These are some of the potential hazardous safety threat common to the preschool age group. As teachers and parents, we have to be responsible for the children safety and be aware of their surroundings at all times to keep them safe.
Indoor falls may or may not be prevented but because preschoolers are unbalanced with their developments, teachers have to be watchful at all times, to help prevent a preschooler from falling unnecessary. Maybe mats could be used to help break falls. Even at home, parents should make sure they do what they can to help their preschoolers become balance and constantly monitor the babies and know that hazards are possible at anytime. The safety policy that applies to this treatment is supervising and staffing and if staffing and supervision is right then there will be enough teachers to watch the children at all times.
Keeping the toys picked up is another safety hazard situation. If teachers are not careful about cleaning up and observing the surroundings a preschooler may trip and fall and injury themselves. Other measures that teachers can take are to show the children how to pick the toys too by modeling that behavior daily. Families can also practice cleaning up with their children after they get through playing. And then they will do it at school also. Children’s activity is the policy that applies to this situation because children are suppose to play daily, therefore the toys will be out and about anyway.
The use of durable furniture that will not tip over is under the policy for equipment and it should be age appropriate. If the furniture is not durable or safe then it should not be allowed in a classroom for use by the children. A teacher should check and make sure that the furniture is free from hazards or bad situation and show a child the proper way to use the furniture in the beginning. As parents, they should make sure they do the same thing at home with the children. Show children how to properly use equipment so that the same may be done at school.
Avoiding highly waxed floors and stairways are a hazard to not only the children but the staff also. In order to keep from having children slip and fall, avoid slippery areas. Make sure as teachers the classroom floors are not a danger to children when playing or just walking. If it is too slippery for a teacher then it is too slippery for a child. Parents need to make sure they avoid having slippery floors at home which may cause a child to slip and fall and bump their head. To avoid injuries, avoid stairways and slippery floors when possible. If a child has to be carried at a point, because of the floor or stairs, do so. But find out how to avoid that happening again. Health, safety, and discipline would be the policy for this threat because it talks about the different risks and ways to avoid the dangerous situations that are a hazard to children.
Last is the use of infant and children equipment that is in good repair and inspected for safety because children do not know what is good or bad for them to play on, the teacher have to be the eyes in the classroom every day. They should inspect all the equipment before the children begin playing on it and they should monitor the equipment for safety as well while the children are playing. Parents are responsible for checking their children equipment before giving it to them or allowing them to play on it. This will help prevent an injury in the long run if they are proactive. The policy that applies to this situation is equipment because it tells teachers how to care for the equipment properly and how it is monitors it for safety.
These are some of the potential hazardous safety threat common to the preschool age group. As teachers and parents, we have to be responsible for the children safety and be aware of their surroundings at all times to keep them safe.
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