Carrie Henderson Weston's Blog
Posted by Carrie Henderson Weston
As hard as we may try, and as much love as we may give the kids in our center, occasionaly parents have had issues with something at our center-- typically stemming from an ongoing discipline issue involving the child. What always surprises me in these situations is how infrequently the parents make the choice to pull their child out of the center.
As I have watched these situations unfold, my honest reaction has been that maybe the parents should look at finding a new center for their children. Of course I believe that many of these issues can be worked out through proper communication, however, I think that this is something that should at least be considered. Parents, if you really and truly have lost faith in your childcare providers, however wonderful they were in the past, you should consider removing them from the center. It is important to regularly evaluate your child's center and at least have an idea of what other options are out there if your center closes or you choose to remove your child from their current center.
I know that this may be surprising advice coming from a childcare professional, but I really believe that it is vital to really consciously decide to send your child to a particular place on a regular basis, rather than making that decision once and taking it for granted. It is better for your communication with your daycare providers, better for your children, and better for the daycare providers themselves because any issues will be noticed and rectified before they reach a problematic level.
To read more on daycare evaluation, read my most recent article, Daycare Year-End Evaluation.
Copyright © 2006, Carrie Henderson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Posted by Carrie Henderson Weston
The other day I was watching some of the older kids at my school/daycare practicing for the Christmas Program this week at my school. Some of these kids have been at our school since they were in preschool and are now in 4th and 5th grade. My center makes a point of involving even the kids who are just in daycare (not preschool) in practices and performances for the holiday season.
The woman I taught preschool with for 3 years is still the music teacher and directs all of the Christmas and end of the year performances that happen at our school. Our kids are still children, and still behave rambunctiously sometimes, and still laugh at things that we adults can only shake our heads at, but what really strikes me about even their practices is the way that the students take ownership of what they are doing. I think that this is largely due to Mrs. Taylor who begins work with them when they are as young as 2 1/2 and emphasizes that performing for Christmas is something fun, something to be taken seriously and not something to be afraid of; their families are there to see them smile and sing and be cute, and the whole audience is moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas.
That's not to say that we never have kids that have stage-fright. One year we had a kindergarten girl cry up on stage so much that her little brother walked up to the stage and handed her his blanky. But this same girl has since then performed a guitar solo for one Christmas show and has participated in plays and many other events. This year will feature dancers, as several of the older kids have taken an interest in swing dancing, and another girl is involved in ballet.
I think that these older students have been able to take such an active role and are still excited in singing each year because of the foundations that were laid when they were in their youngest years.
Be sure to visit my recent article on this subject, Daycare Holiday Celebrations.
Copyright © 2006, Carrie Henderson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Posted by Carrie Henderson Weston
Teachers in any school, preschool or daycare appreciate the thought and time involved in giving holiday teacher presents, but sometimes the sentiment behind the gift is lost in translation.
- A few years ago one of my fellow teachers was given a denim jumper featuring ABCs and 123s and a healthy smattering of apples. Miss Memmott regularly wore fleece pull-overs, khakis and sweaters. With the gift came the explanation that the mother had noticed that Miss Memmott wore clothes that were more appropriate for a "college student" and that she had bought the jumper to show her what would be more appropriate.
- Candy-- usually this is a welcome stress-allieviator, but around the holiday season our daycare is deluged with so many treats that we subtly throw away some and regift other portions.
- A mother gave one of my co-teachers a gift certificate for a party-based cosmetics company, and later she found out that the certificate was only good if she spent $50 of her own money first.
- A mother gave my co-teacher and I homemade kahlua. (It is usually a no-no to give alcoholic beverages to your teacher, but thankfully this mother asked us first if it was alright.)
- A fellow teacher's face regularly broke out, and a parent gave her a gift certificate for a well-known medication for this condition. While the teacher would have appreciated the medication, she began to feel that others were paying a great deal of attention to her condition.
Something I just have to say again and again-- no apples! No apple pins, no apple scarves, no apple earrings. And no little red schoolhouse items either. If your daycare providers really liked these items, they would wear them. Before buying any of these items think, have you ever seen any of your daycare teachers wearing anything like this? If unsure, observe your teachers for the short amount of time that lasts before the holidays.
Be sure to visit my article, Daycare Teacher Gifts for gift ideas that won't make your daycare providers cringe.
Copyright © 2006, Carrie Henderson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Posted by Carrie Henderson Weston
Among the many medical emergencies which chould occur in the daycare setting, one of the most common is the chance of a child having a severe allergic reaction to something they have eaten, inhaled or even simply touched.
I recently covered this topic in my article, Daycare Allergies. Its surprising and sometimes saddening to witness the extent to which these issues affect some children.
The son of a friend had many severe allergies, one of which was latex. The entire class had been warned, notes had been sent home, and teachers all used non-latex gloves to serve snack or to apply band-aids. The real severity of his allergy only became apparent when one day he broke out in hives and began to have trouble breathing. Thankfully his mom volunteered at the school and she was able to drive him to the doctor and get the proper medical care. The culprit was eventually discovered in one of the other student's backpacks. The child had innocently placed some ballooons in his bag and that had been enough.
If you want to read more about what daycare centers can do to prevent situations like this from occurring, or ways to ease some of the feelings of "being different" that arise in children dealing with allergies, be sure to check out my article on this topic.
Copyright © 2006, Carrie Henderson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Posted by Carrie Henderson Weston
By mid-November the holiday season is underway and the cold weather has encroached upon much of North America, and in many daycares confusion is also upon us.
Literally hundreds of clothing items are being brought in, and many of them are unlabelled. One thing that parents can do to help daycare providers is to clearly label any and all clothing and snow items that they bring in for their kids to use. One often-forgotten-to-be-labelled item is the removeable liners that are found in many boots. These liners always seem to fall out of boots when children return to the daycare room and can easily be confused with other liners.
Another extremely helpeful act of parents is to pick one day at a time where they know that the kids will be getting ready and volunteer to assist in this process. This is not only invaluable to teachers in providing another set of hands, but it can also give parents greater sympathy for the gargantuan task that is getting kids ready for the snow.
Other things parents can do to help:
- Make use of old-fashioned mitten clips that are attached by a string rinning through both sleeves.
- Have an extra set of snow clothes that remain at school full time.
- Pack an extra set of socks for cold and wet little feet.
- Donate old and outgrown snow-clothes to your daycare to serve as extras when children's own items are misplaced or forgotten
One all important thing to remember-- teachers need to be understanding that the process of dressing kids will always take a long time. Parents need to understand that someone-- and it will likely be you will have a piece of snow clothes misplaced.
Visit my original article on winter clothing here.
Copyright © 2006, Carrie Henderson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
