As kids are heading back to school, we can use some public
school ideas to assess and improve our child care programs.
Most schools host a Back-to-School Night. This is a great way to get together with
parents, introduce any changes to your policies and procedures, and give
parents a chance to talk with you and their child’s teacher about your program.
You can take this time to invite parents
to participate in the program throughout the year by volunteering in the
classroom, reading to the children, or working on some projects at home.
The beginning of the school year is also a good time to make sure that you have
updated paperwork on all of the children in the program—correct phone numbers,
up-to-date immunizations, etc. Ideally,
you will also have some sort of portfolio and/or developmental checklist on each
student so that the classroom teachers can plan appropriate learning activities
for the year.
Along with the developmental checklists, you can take this time
to make sure that your program is developmentally appropriate, with a goal of
developing self-motivated, active learners.
But, part of that developmental appropriateness of your program will
include down time for the children, whether it be outside time for them to run
around and get fresh air or just unprogrammed inside time. While your program will include specific
learning goals for each child, each one should also have some daily down time
to just relax and gather their thoughts.
Even though most of us run programs that operate year-round,
back-to-school can be a good reminder to make sure our house is in order for
another year.
Misty
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