The Childcare Center

Clothing

During toilet training, we ask that the child be dressed in “user friendly” clothing, as much as possible. The best items are shorts and pants with elastic waists, or dresses. Try to avoid really tight clothing, pants with snaps and zippers, and overalls. These are difficult for children to remove “in a hurry”.

Age Group

The child must be showing signs of readiness. When a child is ready, the process should go pretty quickly.

Pull-Ups

The child must be kept in pull-ups or 5-ply training pants at all times. Putting a child in diapers part time, and training pants part time, can be confusing and delay the training process.

Permission Slips

THE CHILDCARE  CENTER sometimes supplements the in class curriculum with off premise field trips. Parents are required to give written permission for their child to attend each field trip. Notification of a field trip will be sent home in advance of the trip, with all pertinent trip information including, destination, date, time, reason for trip, cost, and mode of transportation. Accompanying the notification paper, teachers will include a permission slip to be filled out, signed, and returned to the teacher prior to the date of the trip. The field trip permission slip must be filled out completely and accurately, and all trip costs must be paid in advance in order for your child to attend.

Safety First

We focus on safety with the children, which extends into our transportation policies. For the convenience of parents, we provide safe transportation to and from local schools. Our Childcare driver has a NC License and has been checked for clean driving records before transporting the children to and from school or field trips.  We want to ensure you that your children are in the safest care when they are at The Childcare Center.

All children must have a signed transportation form to be transported to school and on trips.

Indoor play

We provide a variety of age-appropriate toys for indoor play. Toys may be rotated or placed temporarily out of use so that the children do not become bored. Younger children have less-developed organizational skills and can get easily frustrated or upset when there are too many toys to choose from. It is also more difficult for them to help with clean up when there are toys everywhere, because it is so overwhelming to them. For this reason, during free play times, each child may select one or two things at a time to play with. They will be shown how to put those things away before selecting something else.

Outdoor play

We will be playing outdoors every day that weather permits. Please make sure that your child is appropriately dressed (see Clothing/Attire section) for outdoor play at all times. Our activities will include walks, playground, water play (sprinkler in summer), and others. We do not go outside when the temperature is below 20 degrees (including wind chill), or above 95 degrees (including heat index). We are mandated by state law to take the children outside. Parents who feel that their child is not well enough to participate in outdoor activities must keep them out of childcare until they are able to participate in all activities.

Discipline

We maintain a positive discipline policy, which focuses on prevention, redirection, love, consistency and firmness. We stress two main patterns of behavior: respect for other people and respect for property. The children are explained the rules of the center frequently, so they are all familiar with the guidelines. Please keep in mind that there WILL be disagreements between children. Young children have a hard time expressing their feelings. Sometimes they hit, throw toys, bite, etc. We will try to prevent problems, redirect when appropriate, discuss inappropriate behavior, encourage making amends when offense involves another person, and sometimes withdraw privileges based on the principle of “natural consequences”. An example might be where a child is misusing a toy then he/she will not be allowed to play with the toy for a period of time. The use of time outs will be rare except when a brief cooling off period is needed. Sometimes when children are fighting or throwing toys, we will put the toy in a short time out, and then bring it back into circulation a little later. This seems to work better than giving the child a time out.

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will there be any spanking, physical abuse, verbal abuse, name calling or isolation used. Neither food nor sleep will ever be withheld from children as a means of punishment.
If a discipline problem arises that does not respond to the above mentioned techniques, we will hold a conference with the parents. Together, we will try to find a solution. You may be called to remove your child if his/her behavior prevents us from being able to properly care for the other children. If the problem continues, other arrangements for the care of the child will have to be made, for the safety and well being of all.

Sick Child Policy

Under no circumstances may a parent bring a sick child to daycare, if the child shows any signs of illness (see SYMPTOMS REQUIRING REMOVAL OF CHILD FROM CHILD CARE), or is unable to participate in the normal routine and regular day care program. Sick children will expose all children and staff members who they come in contact with. These people can in turn expose the other children. Sick children want care from their parents in the comfort of their own homes. If other children become ill due to exposure to your sick child, either because he/she was returned to day care before full recovery or because he/she was not picked up promptly upon notice of becoming ill, other parents will be unnecessarily inconvenienced. Because this is disruptive to other children and their families, your cooperation on this issue is extremely important.
Every effort is taken to reduce the spread of illness by encouraging hand washing and other sanitary practices.

Children will be visually screened when they arrive in the morning. In the event a child becomes ill and needs to be picked up, the parent(s) will be called and are expected to come pick the child up within one hour (60 minutes). If the parent(s) cannot be reached, or have not arrived within an hour, the emergency contact person will be called and asked to come pick the child up.
For the benefit of our staff and other children in our care, a sick child will not be permitted to return to care for 24 hours after condition has returned to normal. The child may return 24 – 48 hours (depending upon the illness) after they have received the first dose of an antibiotic. If a child receives an antibiotic for an ear infection, he/she may return to day care immediately if he/she has been free of other symptoms mentioned for at least 24 hours. If you aren’t sure about whether or not to bring your child to care, please call your on site director to discuss it. Allergy related symptoms, and non-communicable illnesses do not require exclusion if you have a note from your doctor.

Symptoms requiring removal of child from day care:

Fever: Fever is defined as having a temperature of 100°F or higher taken under the arm, 101°F taken orally, or 102°F taken rectally. For children 4 months or younger, the lower rectal temperature of 101°F is considered a fever threshold; (a child needs to be fever free for a minimum of 24 hours before returning to daycare, that means the child is fever free without the aid of Tylenol®, or any other fever reducing substance.)

• Fever AND sore throat, rash, vomiting, diarrhea, earache, irritability, or confusion.
• Diarrhea: runny, watery, bloody stools, or 2 or more loose stools within last 4 hours.
• Vomiting: 2 or more times in a 24 hour period. Note: please do not bring your child if they have vomited in the night.
• Breathing trouble, sore throat, swollen glands, loss of voice, hacking or continuous coughing.
• Runny nose (other than clear), draining eyes or ears.
• Frequent scratching of body or scalp, lice, rash, or any other spots that resemble childhood diseases, including ringworm.
• Child is irritable, continuously crying, or requires more attention than we can provide without hurting the health, safety or well-being of the other children in our care.

Just a note: Many times our child care may get blamed for the illness of a child, meaning that we have “allowed” sick children to come here. Parents may not stop to think that when sick children are brought to our center, our entire staff is also at risk of exposure. How would you feel if another parent brought their sick child and exposed your child? We STRESS this again — if you are not sure whether or not it is okay to bring your child, please call ahead to ask us. We may require a doctor’s decision as to whether or not the child is contagious. We appreciate you cooperation in this matter.

Medications

Parents will provide any medications needed by the child, including over-the-counter and prescription medicine. Written authorization is needed for us to administer ANY medication, prescription or over-the-counter.

Emergencies

Minor bumps and scratches are inevitable, but we make every effort to keep the children safe through supervision and childproofing. Minor injuries receive appropriate first aid, and if an emergency injury or illness occurs, you will be contacted as soon as possible. If necessary, your child will be taken to the nearest hospital where you will be asked to meet us. If you are not going to be at your usual place of employment, or at home, please make sure that we have a number where you can be reached.