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When it comes to nutrition, it is an important part of early childhood. For example, My Plate explains the food groups and portions necessary for children from birth to age 8.

The main food groups consist of Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein Foods, and Dairy. It is important to have at least half of your grains be WHOLE grains. For the dairy portion, it is recommended to have low-fat or fat-free dairy milk.

Not only are the portions important, but also creating healthy eating habits. They should be started and modeled from an early age. Growing little tummies shouldn't have added sugars. You can switch out sugars with fruits, if needed. Each bite should be packed with nutrients needed.

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1. What are the two options for identifying students with learning disabilities?
There is an IQ achievement discrepancy model. The students are referred, tested by a diagnostician and then identified as having a disability or not.

2. List at least four benefits of using an RTI approach with struggling students.

early intervening

identification of learning disabilities

delivering services as soon as students begin to struggle

using classroom data, rather than subjective observations

3. Compton has been identified as a struggling reader. Name and explain the first step in the RTI approach. His school uses the standard approach.
The first step his teacher should consider is the option of Tier 2, a targeted intervention. She may need to provide additional instruction. She will have to add the other children that are struggling to read into a little group and have them practice until they are at the level they need to be.

4. Name and explain next step in RTI approach. Assume recommendation for question 3 was insufficient.
The next step would have to be an individualized intervention as mentioned in Tier 3.

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My plan is to create a 2 classroom daycare center. In both, they will have 1 restroom. The kitchen will be a long enclosed area that separates the classrooms. Each class will have easy access to the kitchen. There will also be a large entrance with a split office.

The classrooms will be an open concept. Shelves and tables will create the special areas in the classroom. Along the wall there will be cubbies. Each classroom will have access to a back door for emergencies purposes only. Each class will be able to hold 13 children.

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I would not be able to work here even as the Director. The pay is incredibly low. I think I would make up the tuition by cutting down daycare hours. Maybe even cutting down the number of children in the preschool classroom. The salaries could be paid bi-weekly instead of weekly or monthly.

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By extending the interview into the classroom, the Director is able to learn about how involved the candidate can be. In a typical office or conference room, they may be able to just tell you things they could do as opposed to what other options they can make happen with the items in and around the child safe environment. It also shows the Director how serious the candidate takes the position and if they are the right fit.

After hearing the candidates responses, I learned that they have quite a few great ideas when things seem to get cramped or a little boring. I think that its a great idea for some input rather than not having any suggestions or just standing and observing the situation.

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Dear New Board Member,
We are pleased to welcome you to the Board of Golden Tots Daycare. We look forward to having you on our team. Early childhood education is the period of learning that takes place from birth to eight years of age. It is a fundamental time for children as this is the start of their educational career.
To be on the board means you will be responsible for the leadership and governance of the daycare program. Board members must be ready to quickly and thoughtfully make their decisions based on their communities changing needs and values.

This letter addresses the issues by informing the board member of duties while being considered for the position. It can have them understand the importance of this big role. It could improve learning simply by informing the board members of what needs to be done, educationally and socially.

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At Golden Tots Daycare it is our mission to provide child care that meets the needs of each child and family in a safe environment. We pride our center in meeting the individual needs of each child while providing reliable, safe, and quality care. Our main goal is to provide an encouraging, fun, educational experience promoting social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.

This addresses the issues in the scenario by stating the philosophy of the daycare and by explaining and defining their educational goals.
This could be used to help improve teaching and learning by letting parents know what their child may lacking or what they are excelling in.

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Program maintenance consists of managing the important aspects of the preschool/daycare. The rules and regulations of the center must be followed daily to keep operations running smoothly. A director's duties include six major systems that must be managed:

1. Finance System: to ensure compliance from subsidized children to balancing pay roll.
2. Security System: to ensure the safety of the children
3. Facility & Equipment Maintenance System: Upkeeping classrooms daily, making sure nothing hazardous is left in the reach of small children
4. Personnel System: creating great work environment for staff
5. Family System: creating trusting relationships with families
6. Regulatory System: keeping the preschool/daycare licensed, trainings/orientation for new employees. Making sure all policies are posted.

This description describes the basics of each major system. Program maintenance is essential to keeping a preschool/daycare in business. If these duties are not fulfilled, it becomes a domino effect and can create more issues. It is a lot to take on, but the pay off is having trusting families and children to work with each and every day.

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A child care parent handbook is the foundation of parent-staff communication and alignment. It should lay out all of the information parents need to establish a common understanding that keeps your child care running smoothly.

By reading your handbook, families should know what to expect - and what not to expect - from your child care facility. It should answer all of the questions that parents have about your policies, rules, and procedures and outline your approach to childcare.

Handbooks must be well structured, comprehensive, and updated regularly. Creating or revising a handbook is a time-intensive task that may be out of your comfort zone if you are not a natural writer. That's why we have made this outline, which can serve as a guide. We have included key points to underscore in each section, and have structured the guide to make sense to parents.
For more ideas on what to include in your family handbook, check out our free templates!
1. Introduction and welcome

Begin with a welcome to families; it is a great way to stress your commitment to community and your excitement about what is to come. Keep this first section short and sweet, but craft it with care. This sets the tone for your center's relationship with parents.

2. Child care and teaching philosophies

Every child care has its own approach to teaching and early childhood education. Laying out your approach will give parents a good idea of what to expect for their children. Will you focus more on academic skills? Are you using play-based learning? Knowing this will help families contextualize what their child learns each day and how your teachers approach all the learning opportunities and development benchmarks that will come up throughout the year.

Be sure to use language that parents can understand: While you and your staff understand lesson planning and the intricacies of conflict management for 3 year olds, parents may not. One way to approach this section is to detail the specific outcomes you aim for at your child care and the best ways to get there.

3. Operating information

This section of the child care parent handbook is an important reference for parents and staff alike. Include facility hours, care schedules, a calendar, start and end dates, half days, and holiday policies. Parents should know which days they can expect care and which days are "off." If you send parents a digital handbook, make the calendar page easy to print.

In addition to a calendar, include all of the contact information for your center: phone number(s), email(s), website, child care app(s), and physical address.

4. Enrollment, wait list, and withdrawing policies

Even if your child care parent handbook is made available only to families who have already registered, include your childcare enrollment information. Parents may want to reference it to reenroll their children or to refer another family. Include program costs and eligibility requirements for enrollment.

Include wait-list information so that returning families know, for example, whether they get preference for spots or whether there are early-enrollment windows. Also, can parents expect to get a sibling into care even when you have a wait list? And when should families on your wait list expect to hear back?

Both of those areas are vital for families looking to enroll. Your handbook is a great tool for showing prospective parents what your center is all about, and if you give the handbook to guardians on the search for child care, those sections are key.

And because families' best-laid plans can change, make sure your handbook includes withdrawal information as well. How should parents notify you if they have to move? How far in advance is best? Are families penalized for withdrawing a child? Although withdrawals may be infrequent, laying out this information can make ending a care agreement smoother because everyone knows exactly what the procedure is.

5. Sign-in and pick-up procedures

Laying out your sign-in and pick-up procedures will help make families - especially new families - feel safe and confident. Knowing how everything should run means parents can prepare their child for the process before they step through your doors.

Don't forget to include information about late and early arrivals/departures. Do you offer digital sign-in? How does it work? This is also the time to outline your policies on non-parent pick-ups.

6. Sample daily schedule

Let parents know what to expect from day-to-day care. For example, how many meals are served? At what times? When do children nap? When do they play outside? This information affects what children will do and need at home. If, for example, you feed the children at 3:00 p.m. and your pick up is 3:30, parents may not need to prepare an at-home snack.

A sample daily schedule is also a great way to help potential families understand how your center operates, if you provide a copy of your handbook to them.

7. Supplies and snacks rundown

This straightforward and comprehensive section covers the food you provide and lets parents know what they need to bring. For example, must parents provide wipes and diapers? What about painting clothes or other outfits?

If you provide snacks/meals for children, how do you handle allergies? What types of foods will children eat? Are parents allowed to send snacks with their child, or is that prohibited? If you don't provide snacks/meals, how do you handle food storage? Do you allow children to share food?

Parents are busy. If tuition doesn't cover supplies or snacks, can they pay additional fees to have them supplied?

8. Sick days and schedule interruptions
Sick days:
Although parents know their child best, what criteria can be used to determine if a sick day is appropriate? If a child has a fever, when are they allowed back to child care? Include how parents should notify you that their child will not be coming in.

What criteria do you use to call parents if a child is sick with, for example, a fever of over 100 degrees? Your handbook should include those guidelines as well as your protocol for contacting parents and emergency contacts if a child needs to go home. You can also include the types of over-the-counter medications you give to children if needed (e.g., Tylenol) for minor injury or illness.
Schedule interruptions:
Aside from sick days, how do you handle when parents need to interrupt their child's child care schedule - for example, if they are taking a family vacation? How should they notify you, and how far in advance? Does it affect their payments?

What are your policies on weather-related schedule interruptions, such as snow days or flood warnings? How will parents be notified? Include information on half-day or early pick-up procedures, if applicable.

9. Special classroom activity rules

Here is a chance for you to outline any rules about special classroom activities. Parents may have questions about birthday guidelines in particular, especially for older children. Can parents bring in snacks?

Another activity to cover is field trips. Do you have any trips on the calendar? What are the guidelines, including parent permissions? What happens if a parent doesn't give their child permission?

10. Codes of conduct and discipline procedures

Sharing your codes of conduct with parents sets the expectation for how the members of your child care community treat one another. By articulating your position, everyone comes in with the same understanding of mutual respect. Outline how you expect teachers to behave toward children and children to behave toward teachers as well as other children.

You should also outline any disciplinary procedures for children and staff. While this may be an uncomfortable topic, your community should know how you will handle a behavioral issue involving a teacher or a child. Include information on how parents should expect to be notified of any incidents.

11. Health and safety regulations

Here, provide all necessary information about health and safety at your child care. Be sure to include how you comply with state regulations, such as child-to-staff ratios or outdoor playtime, and where parents can check your certifications. If you are accredited by any group outside of a state agency, put that information here as well.

12. Emergency procedures

Being prepared for an emergency includes informing parents of your emergency procedures. Whether it is a weather alert or an accident, detail your procedures here. Be sure to give information on where your emergency meeting points are in the event that your child care's building is damaged, and be clear about how parents will be contacted.

This is also a good place to outline information on how parents of children with medical conditions, such as severe allergies, can work with teachers to create an emergency plan.

In this section remain factual. The likelihood of a true emergency happening at your child care is not high, and chances are that your next session will be relatively uneventful. While it is critical that teachers and parents are prepared for an emergency, nobody needs to be unduly alarmed.

13. Parent conferences and communications

You have already covered specific cases where parents need to contact you or vice versa, but it is worth including a section on general parent communication - your center will connect with parents far more than in the few ways outlined above.

In this section, include the following:

How often do you expect to meet with parents over the course of a session, and when?

What is covered in a parent conference, and what parents should prepare?

How can parents expect to hear routine updates from you - do you have an app you use daily, or a weekly newsletter, for example?

How can parents contact you with a nonemergency question, comment or concern?

How can parents change or update a child's basic information, such as address? Do you have an online system they can log into, or do they need to fill out a form?

To make a childcare center run, a lot of family/staff communication is needed. Setting out the basics in your child care parent handbook is a good way to facilitate that communication.

14. Billing policies

Your child care parent handbook should be an exhaustive resource for parents to consult regarding payments. You must include the following:

What your pay structure is

When are payments due

What happens when parents are late with a payment

How parents can pay (e.g., by check or autopay)

What variable charges a parent can expect to see, if any (e.g. for field trips)

How sick days, holidays, and other schedule interruptions affect billing and payments

At the end of the day, your child care is a business, and detailing your billing policies will help it run more smoothly. Parents, too, will appreciate having all of the information laid out so they can avoid any surprises and be prepared when bills are received.

15. Forms to return

Make a checklist of any childcare forms that need to be returned before the session starts so parents have an easy way to see whether they have completed everything necessary for enrollment. You can include any relevant forms in your parent handbook, but even if you have a separate forms packet, this can serve as a nudge to get everything in.

16. Acknowledgment and signature

At the end of your child care parent handbook, include a small section that parents sign and return. It should state that the parents have read your policies and understand them and that they agree to any stipulations you set out in your handbook.

You get out what you put in

A well-constructed handbook will streamline your parent/center relationship and answer questions before parents even know they want to ask them. That builds trust between your child care and the families you serve because it sends a strong message that you prioritize building the best environment for children and the best community for families.

Further reading:
Interested in learning more about how brightwheel can help delight your parents and manage your center? Download it today or book a demo with us!

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What to Include in Your Child Care Parent Handbook

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A child care parent handbook is the foundation of parent-staff communication and alignment. It should lay out all of the information parents need to establish a common understanding that keeps your child care running smoothly. By reading your handbook, families should know what to expect - and what not to expect - from your child care facility.

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How to Recognize Child Abuse and Neglect (Training Video)

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How the food you eat affects your brain - Mia Nacamulli

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Sugar is Not a Treat | Jody Stanislaw | TEDxSunValley

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CACFP Worksheets in English and Spanish

These worksheets can be used to empower Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) providers with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to implement CACFP meal pattern requirements. All worksheets are now available in English and Spanish.

Grains

Grains Ounce Equivalents

Whole Grain Rich

Infants

Meal Service and Menu Planning

Meats/Meat Alternates

Milk

Sugar Limits

Vegetables

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CACFP Worksheets in English and Spanish These worksheets can be used to empower Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) providers with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to implement CACFP meal pattern requirements. All worksheets are now available in English and Spanish.

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***You can do the homework and video case in the chapter OR you can go through the module on Response to Intervention through the IRIS vanderbilt site. 

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***You can do the homework and video case in the chapter OR you can go through the module on Response to Intervention through the IRIS vanderbilt site. 

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Perspectives & Resources

Objectives

By completing the entire Perspectives and Resources section and reviewing the accompanying activities, the learner will:

Acquire knowledge about the discrepancy and response-to-intervention (RTI) models

Understand the benefits of RTI

Acquire knowledge about different approaches to RTI

Learn about one model of RTI and how to implement it

Standards

This IRIS Module aligns with the following licensure and program standards and topic areas. Click the arrows below to learn more.

When you are ready, proceed to Page 1.

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By completing the entire Perspectives and Resources section and reviewing the accompanying activities, the learner will: Acquire knowledge about the discrepancy and response-to-intervention (RTI) models Understand the benefits of RTI Acquire knowledge about different approaches to RTI Learn about one model of RTI and how to implement it This IRIS Module aligns with the following licensure and program standards and topic areas.

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The Importance of Play in Early Childhood Education

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1. How do you think the RTI process might impact the child-programmed and play-based practice that is valued in many early childhood settings?

2. As a director, how might you support educators who are exploring how to use RTI in their classrooms?

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By extending the interview to the classroom, what is the director able to learn about the candidate that might not be evident in an interview confined to an office or conference room?As the program director, now that you have heard the candidate’s responses, what have you learned that can inform your decision as whether or not to hire this person? What do you still want to know?

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Space Planning, Equipment, and Facility Maintenance

The video titled Space Planning, Equipment, and Facility Maintenance provides an overview of the issues that must be considered when planning children’s spaces in an early childhood program. As you view the video, reflect on the following questions:

1. What domains of development should be considered when planning spaces for young children?

2. What factors should be considered when purchasing equipment for children’s classrooms?

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Nap and Rest for Toddlers and Preschoolers

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ITERS-R Provisions for relaxation and comfort & WHY

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FCCERS-R Furniture for routine care, play, and learning & WHY

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What is the importance of regulatory compliance?

What steps can be taken to ensure that new employees are aware of licensing requirements?

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North Dakota Early Childhood Workforce Registry

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ND Growing Futures is North Dakota's system for training approval toward child care license renewal, access to personal learning records and career pathways advancement, and data on the early childhood workforce. Offices in Fargo, ND.

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Copy of Updated Budgeting Template 2_17_22 (1)

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0:00 / 9:57•Watch full video

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NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct - Part 1 of 7

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Psychology of a Hero: LEIA and Leadership with guest Matt Schrader

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FInancial planning for EC programs: establishing a budget

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leadership practices in child development programs 2

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Leadership Practices in Child Development Programs: Personnel System This video provides an overview of the many roles that directors of early childhood programs must play. As you view this video, reflect on the following questions:                                   What strategies does this director use to ensure that morale among staff members is maintained?   What are the characteristics of a successful director?

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leadership practices in child development programs 2

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leadership practices in child development programs 1

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Watch the first and second parts for answer the video case questions.

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Watch the first and second parts for answer the video case questions.

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leadership practices in child development programs 1