GENERAL PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
written daily activity plan and statement of principles
Facilities shall establish and implement a written, planned program of daily activities based on the child's individual development at each stage of early childhood. The objective of the program of daily activities shall be to foster
incremental
Centers shall develop a written statement of principles that sets out the basic elements from which the daily program is to be built. An annual review of the written statement of principles guiding program development shall engage all staff. The elements to be included are those specified in the current edition of
Caring for Our Children, the National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs.
RATIONALE: Reviews of children's performance after attending out-of-home child care indicate that children attending facilities with well-developed curricula achieve appropriate levels of development (
1,
2).
Early childhood specialists agree on the:
a) Inseparability of cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development;
b) Influence of the child's health on all these areas;
c) Central importance of continuity of affectionate care;
d) Relevance of the phase or stage concept;
e) Importance of action (including play) as a mode of learning (
3).
Those who provide child care and education must be clear about the curriculum they are implementing.
All facilities need a written description of the planned program of daily activities so staff and parents can
have a common understanding and ability to compare
the program's actual performance to the stated intent. Child care is a "delivery of service" involving a contractual relationship between the provider and the consumer. A written plan helps to define the service and contributes to specific and responsible operations that are conducive to sound child development and safety practices and to positive consumer relations. In centers, because more than two child care staff members are involved in operating the facility, a written statement of principles helps achieve consensus about the basic elements from which all staff will plan the daily program. Caregivers need to be properly trained to develop and implement an effective plan.
Plans can ensure that some thought goes into programming for children. They also allow for monitoring and accountability. A written plan can provide a basis for staff orientation.
COMMENTS: The
NAEYC Accreditation Criteria and Procedures, the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) accreditation standards and the National Child Care Association (NCCA) standards can serve as resources. Contact information for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), NAFCC, and NCCA is located in Appendix BB.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
program of activities including special interventions
Facilities shall have a Program of Activities to include special interventions for children with any special restriction(s) of activities.
RATIONALE: All care facilities benefit from a regular activity schedule. For the child with special needs, an individualized education program or an individualized family service plan is required by the IDEA. The child's plan for care in an inclusive setting shall include activities with the other children at the facility as part of the child's regularly scheduled activities.
COMMENTS: Children with special needs will be participating in activities, adapted to their abilities, with peers, but may have some separately scheduled activities that may be required to implement the child's Individualized Education Program (IEP).
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
content of facility activities
The facility's activities shall include:
a) Both structured and unstructured times;
b) Both teacher-directed and child-initiated experiences;
c) Family involvement activities.
RATIONALE: A planned but flexible program that allows children to make decisions about their activities fosters independence and creative expression. The facility shall implement its program effectively.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
helping families cope with separation
The staff of the facility shall help the child and
parents cope with the experience of separation and loss.
For the child, this shall be accomplished by:
a) Encouraging parents to spend time in the facility with the child;
b) Enabling the child to bring to child care tangible reminders of home/family (such as a favorite toy or a picture of self and parent);
c) Helping the child to play out themes of separation and reunion;
d) Frequently exchanging information between the child's parents and caregivers, including activities and routine care information;
e) Reassuring the child about the parent's return;
f) Ensuring that the caregiver(s) are consistent both within the parts of a day and across days.
For the parents, this shall be accomplished by:
a) Validating their feelings as a universal human experience;
b) Providing parents with information about the positive effects for children of high quality facilities with strong parent participation;
c) Encouraging parents to discuss their feelings;
d) Providing parents with evidence, such as photographs, that their child is being cared for and is enjoying the activities of the facility.
RATIONALE: In childhood, some separation
experiences facilitate psychological growth by mobilizing new approaches for learning and adaptation. Other separations are painful and traumatic. The way in which influential adults provide support and understanding, or fail to do so, will shape the child's
Many parents who prefer to care for their young children only at home may have no other option than to place their children in out-of-home child care before 6 weeks of age, because many employers do not provide parental leave. In most other industrialized countries (such as France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Holland) family leave with pay is
available for a minimum of 6 months and can be taken by either mother or father or in some combination. Some parents prefer combining out-of-home child care with parental care to provide good experiences for their children and support for other family members to function most effectively. Whether parents view out-of-home child care as a necessary accommodation to undesired circumstances or a benefit for their family, parents and their children need help from the child care staff to accommodate the transitions between home and out-of-home settings.
Many parents experience pain at separation. For most parents, the younger their child and the less experience they have had with sharing the care of their children with others, the more intense their pain at separation.
COMMENTS: Depending on the child's develop-mental stage, the impact of separation on the child and parent will vary. Child care facilities should understand and communicate this variation to parents and work with parents to plan developmentally appropriate coping strategies for use at home and in the child care setting. For example, a child at 18 to 24 months of age is particularly vulnerable to separation stress. Entry into child care at this age may trigger behavior problems, such as difficulty sleeping. Even for the child who has adapted well to a child care arrangement before this developmental stage, such difficulties can occur as the child continues in care and enters this developmental stage. For younger children, who are working on understanding object permanence (usually around 9 to 12 months of age), parents who sneak out after bringing their children to the child care facility may create some level of anxiety in the child throughout the day. Sneaking away leaves the child unable to discern when someone the child trusts will leave without warning.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
The facility shall develop and implement a plan that teaches each child how and when to use the toilet. Toilet learning/training, when initiated, shall follow a prescribed, sequential plan that is developed and coordinated with the parent's plan for implementation in the home environment and shall be based on the child's developmental level rather than chronological age.
To help children achieve bowel and bladder control, caregivers shall enable children to take an active role in using the toilet when they are physically able to do so and when parents support their children's learning to use the toilet. Caregivers shall take into account the preferences and customs of the child's family.
For children who have not yet learned to use the toilet, the facility shall defer toilet learning/training until the child's family is ready to support this learning and the child demonstrates:
a) An understanding of the concept of cause and effect;
b) An ability to communicate;
c) The physical ability to remain dry for up to 2 hours.
For school-age children, toilet learning/training shall include frequent opportunities to use the toilet and an emphasis on appropriate handwashing after using the toilet.
Children with special needs may require specific instructions or precautions.
RATIONALE: A child's achievement of motor and intellectual or developmental skills may be advanced or delayed, depending on the child's abilities, primary disability, or combination of disabilities. The child may not be socially or emotionally ready to learn how to use the toilet, despite the emergence of other skills. Caregivers should enable children to take an active part in controlling the functions of their bodies in a manner that gives them a sense of pride and confidence (
27,
28).
Toilet learning/training is achieved more rapidly once a child is toilet scheduled and demands from adults across environments are consistent. The family may not be prepared, at the time, to extend this learning/training into the home environment.
School-age children may not respond when their
bodies signal a need to use the toilet because they are involved in activities or embarrassed about needing to use the toilet. Holding back stool or urine can lead to constipation and urinary tract problems. Also, unless reminded, many children forget to wash their hands after toileting.
COMMENTS: The area of toilet learning/training for children with special needs is difficult because there are no age-related, disability-specific rules to follow. As a result, support and counseling for parents and caregivers are required to help them deal with this issue. Some children with multiple disabilities do not demonstrate any requisite skills other than being dry for a few hours. Establishing a toilet routine may be the first step toward learning to use the toilet and at the same time improving hygiene and skin care.
Cultural expectations of toilet learning/training need to be recognized and respected.
For more information on toilet learning/training, see
Tiolet Training/Learning: Guideline for Parents, available from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Contact information is located in Appendix BB.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
communication in native language
At least one member of the staff shall be able to communicate in the native language of the parents and children, or the facility shall work with parents to arrange for a translator to communicate with parents and children.
RATIONALE: The future development of the child depends on his/her command of language (
5). Richness of language increases as a result of experiences as well as through the child's verbal interaction with adults and peers. Basic communication with parents and children requires an ability to speak their
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
diversity in enrollment and curriculum
Facilities shall work to increase understanding of cultural, ethnic, and other differences by enrolling children who reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the community and by providing cultural curricula that engages children and teaches multicultural learning activities.
RATIONALE: Children who participate in programs that reflect and show respect for the cultural diversity of their communities learn to understand and value cultural diversity. This learning in early childhood enables their healthy participation in a democratic pluralistic society throughout life (
6,
7,
8). By facilita-ting the expression of cultural development or ethnic identity and by encouraging familiarity with different groups and practices through ordinary interaction and activities integrated into a developmentally appropriate curriculum, a facility can foster children's ability to relate to people who are different from themselves, their sense of possibility, and their ability to succeed in a diverse society, while also promoting feelings of belonging and identification with a tradition.
COMMENTS: The facility might celebrate holidays and other events of the cultural and ethnic groups in the community to provide opportunities to introduce children to a range of customs and beliefs. Materials, displays, and learning activities must represent the cultural heritage of the children and the staff to instill a sense of pride and positive feelings of identification in all children and staff members. In order to enroll a diverse group, the facility should market its services in a culturally sensitive way and should make sincere efforts to employ staff members that represent the culture of the children and their families. Children need to see members of their own community in positions of influence in the services they use.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
The child care facility shall assure that each child has at least one speaking adult person who engages the child in verbal exchanges linked to daily events and experiences. To encourage the development of language, the caregiver shall
demonstrate skillful verbal communication and interaction with the child.
· For infants, these interactions shall include
· responses to, and encouragement of, soft infant sounds, as well as naming of objects by the caregiver.
· For toddlers, the interactions shall include naming of objects and actions and supporting, but not forcing, the child to do the same.
· For preschool and school-age children, interactions shall include respectful listening and responses to what the child has to say, amplifying and clarifying the child's intent.
RATIONALE: Conversation with adults is one of the main channels through which children learn about themselves, others, and the world in which they live. While adults speaking to children teach the children facts and relay information, the social and emotional communications and the atmosphere of the exchange are equally important. Reciprocity of expression, response, the initiation and enrichment of dialogue are hallmarks of the social function and significance of the conversations (
9,
10,
11,
25).
The future development of the child depends on his/her command of language (
5). Richness of the child's language increases as it is nurtured by verbal interactions and learning experiences with adults and peers. Basic communication with parents and children requires an ability to speak their language.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
Children shall play outdoors daily when weather and air quality conditions do not pose a significant health risk. Outdoor play for infants may include riding in a carriage or stroller; however, infants shall be offered opportunities for gross motor play outdoors, as well.
Weather that poses a significant health risk shall include wind chill at or below 15 degrees F and heat index at or above 90 degrees F, as identified by the National Weather Service.
Air quality conditions that pose a significant health risk shall be identified by announcements from local health authorities or through ozone (smog) alerts. Such air quality conditions shall require that children remain indoors where air conditioners ventilate indoor air to the outdoors. Children with respiratory health problems such as asthma shall not play outdoors when local health authorities announce that the air quality is approaching unhealthy levels.
Children shall be protected from the sun by using shade, sun-protective clothing, and sunscreen with UVB-ray and UVA-ray protection of SPF-15 or higher, with permission as described in
STANDARD 3.081, during outdoor play. Before prolonged physical activity in warm weather, children shall be well-hydrated and shall be encouraged to drink water during the activity. In warm weather, children's clothing shall be light-colored, lightweight, and limited to one layer of absorbent material to facilitate the evaporation of sweat. Children shall wear sun-protective clothing, such as hats, long-sleeved shirts and pants, when playing outdoors between the hours of 10
AM and 2
PM.
In cold weather, children's clothing shall be layered and dry. Caregivers shall check children's extremities for maintenance of normal color and warmth at least every 15 minutes when children are outdoors in cold weather.
RATIONALE: Outdoor play is not only an opportunity for learning in a different environment; it also provides many health benefits. Generally, infectious disease organisms are less concentrated in outdoor air than indoor air. Light exposure of the skin to sunlight promotes the production of Vitamin D that growing children require. Open spaces in outdoor areas, even those confined to screened rooftops in urban play spaces encourage children to develop gross motor skills and fine motor play in ways that are difficult to duplicate indoors. Nevertheless, some weather conditions make outdoor play hazardous.
Caregivers must protect children from adverse weather and air quality. Wind chill conditions that pose a risk of frostbite as well as heat and humidity that pose a significant risk of heat-related illness are defined by the National Weather Service and are announced routinely. The federal government has established health standards for a number of air pollutants. Child care providers must use this information appropriately.
Heat-induced illness and cold injury are preventable. Children have greater surface area-to-body mass ratio than adults. Therefore, children do not adapt to extremes of temperature as effectively as adults when exposed to a high climatic heat stress or to cold. Children produce more metabolic heat per mass unit than adults when walking or running. They also have a lower sweating capacity and cannot dissipate body heat by evaporation as effectively (
87).
COMMENTS: The Iowa Department of Public Health, Healthy Child Care Iowa has prepared a convenient color-coded guide for child care providers to use to determine which weather conditions are comfortable for outdoor play, which require caution, and which are dangerous. This guide is available on the website for the Iowa Department of Public Health at http://www.idph.state.ia.us/fch/fam-serv/HCCI/products/weatherwatch.pdf. The federal Clean Air Act requires that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establish ambient air quality health standards. Most local health departments monitor weather and air quality in their jurisdiction and make appropriate announcements.
To access the latest weather information and warnings, contact the National Weather Service. Contact information is located in Appendix BB.
See
STANDARD 3.081 for information on requirements for applying sunscreen.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care
Home; Small Family Child Care Home
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES FROM BIRTH TO 35 MONTHS
personal caregiver relationships for infants and toddlers
Opportunities shall be provided for each child to develop a personal and affectionate relationship with, and attachment to, that child's parents and one or a small number of caregivers whose care for and responsiveness to the child ensure relief of distress, experiences of comfort and stimulation, and satisfaction of the need for a personal relationship. The facility shall limit the number of caregivers who interact with any one infant to no more than three caregivers in a given day and no more than five caregivers across the period that the child is an infant in child care. The caregivers shall:
a) Hold and comfort children who are upset;
b) Engage in social interchanges such as smiling, talking, touching, singing, and eating;
c) Be play partners as well as protectors;
d) Attune to children's feelings and reflect them back.
RATIONALE: Trustworthy adults who give of themselves as they provide care and learning experiences play a key role in a child's development as an active, self-knowing, self-respecting, thinking, feeling, and
loving person (
9). Limiting the number of adults with whom an infant interacts fosters reciprocal understanding of communication cues that are unique to each child. This leads to a sense of trust of the adult by the infant that the infant's needs will be understood and met promptly (
88,
89). Studies of infant behavior show that infants have difficulty forming trusting relationships in settings where many adults interact with a child, e.g., in hospitalization of infants when shifts of adults provide care. This difficulty occurs even if each of the many adults are very caring in their interaction with the child. Assigning a consistent caregiver to an eight-hour shift in such settings has been observed to help. This limits the number of different adults with whom the child interacts in a three to 24-hour period (
90,
91).
COMMENTS: Kissing, hugging, holding, and cuddling infants and children are expressions of wholesome love that should be encouraged. Caregivers should be advised that it is all right to demonstrate affection for children of both sexes. At all times, caregivers should respect the wishes of children, regardless of their ages, with regard to physical contact and their comfort or discomfort with it. Caregivers should avoid even "friendly contact" (such as touching the shoulder or arm) with a child if the child is uncomfortable with it. This is especially true of school-age children (
12).
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
interactions with infants and toddlers
Caregivers shall talk, listen to, and otherwise
interact with young infants as they feed, change, and cuddle them.
RATIONALE: Richness of language increases by nurturing it through verbal interactions between the child and adults and peers. Adults' speech is one of the main channels through which children learn about themselves, others, and the world in which they live. While adults speaking to children teach the children facts, the social and emotional communications and the atmosphere of the exchange are equally important. Reciprocity of expression, response, the initiation and enrichment of dialogue are hallmarks of the social function and significance of the conversations (
9,
10,
11,
25).
The future development of the child depends on his/her command of language (
5). Richness of language increases as it is nurtured by verbal interactions of the child with adults and peers. Basic communication with parents and children requires an ability to speak their language.
COMMENTS: Live, real-time interaction with care-
givers is preferred. For example, caregivers' naming objects or singing rhymes to all children supports
language development. Children's stories and poems presented on recordings with a fixed speed for sing-along can actually interfere with a child's ability to participate in the singing or recitation. The pace will be too fast for some children, and the activity will have to be repeated for the child to learn it.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
space and activity to support learning of infants and toddlers
The facility shall provide a safe and clean space, both indoors and outdoors, and colorful material and equipment arranged to support learning. The facility shall provide opportunities for the child to act upon the environment by experiencing age-appropriate obstacles, frustrations, and risks in order to learn to manage inner feelings and resources, as well as the occurrences and demands of the outer world. The facility shall provide opportunities for play that:
· Lessen the child's anxiety and help the child adapt to reality and resolve conflicts;
· Enable the child to explore the real world;
· Help the child practice resolving conflicts;
· Use symbols (words, numbers, and letters);
· Exercise physical skills;
· Encourage language development;
· Foster self-expression;
· Strengthen the child's identity as a member of a family and a cultural community.
RATIONALE: Opportunities to be an active learner are vitally important for the development of motor competence and awareness of one's own body and person, the development of sensory motor intelligence, the ability and motivation to use physical and mental initiative, and feelings of mastery and successful coping. Coping involves original, imaginative, and innovative behavior as well as previously learned strategies.
Learning to resolve conflicts constructively in childhood is essential in preventing violence later in life (
13,
14). A physical and social environment that offers opportunities for active mastery and coping enhances the child's adaptive abilities (
15,
16). The importance of play for developing cognitive skills, for maintaining an affective and intellectual equilibrium, and for
creating and testing new capacities is well recognized. Play involves a balance of action and symbolization, and of feeling and thinking (
17,
18,
19).
For more information regarding appropriate play materials for young children, see
Which Toy for Which Child: A Consumer's Guide for Selecting Suitable Toys from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and
The Right Stuff for Children Birth to 8: Selecting Play Materials to Support Development from National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Contact information for the CPSC and the NAEYC is located in Appendix BB.
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
separation of infants and toddlers from older children
Except in family style, small, closed groups of mixed aged children, infants and toddlers younger than 3 years of age shall be cared for in a closed room(s) that separates them from older children.
In facilities caring for three or more children younger than 3 years of age, activities that bring children younger than 3 years of age in contact with older children shall be prohibited, unless the younger children already have regular contact with the older children as part of a group or because of pooling of children during early morning arrivals or late afternoon departures.
Caregivers of infants shall not be responsible for the care of older children who are not a part of the infants' closed child care group.
Groups of infants shall receive care in closed room(s) that separate them from other groups of infants and older children.
RATIONALE: Infants need quiet, calm environments, away from the stimulation of older children and other groups. Younger
infants should be cared for in rooms separate from the more boisterous toddlers. In addition to these developmental needs of infants, separation is important for reasons of disease prevention. Rates of hospitalization for all forms of acute infectious respiratory tract diseases are highest during the first year of life, indicating that respiratory tract illness becomes less severe as the child gets older. Therefore, infants should be a focus for interventions to reduce the incidence of respiratory tract
diseases.
COMMENTS: This separation of younger children from older children ideally should be implemented in all facilities but may be less feasible in small or large family child care homes. Although a group of children of different ages receiving care together from one or two caregivers may increase this risk of transmission of infection among members of the group, the
developmental and curricular advantage of mixed age groupings may offset this risk.
Separation of groups of children by low partitions that divide a single common space without sound attenuation or control of interactions among the caregivers who are working with different groups is not acceptable. This arrangement essentially combines the separate smaller groups into a large group. When partitions are used, they must control interaction between groups and control sound transmission. The acoustic controls should limit significant transmission of sound from one group's activity into other group environments.
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES FOR 3- TO 5-YEAR-OLDS
personal caregiver relationships for
Facilities shall provide opportunities for each child to build long-term, trusting relationships with a few caring caregivers by limiting the number of adults the facility permits to care for any one child in child care to a maximum of 8 adults in a given year and no more than 3 in a day.
RATIONALE: Children learn best from adults who know and respect them; who act as guides, facilitators, and supporters of a rich learning environment; and with whom they have established a trusting relationship (
20,
21). When the facility allows too many adults to be involved in the child's care, the child does not develop a reciprocal, sustained, responsive,
trusting relationship with any of them.
Children should have continuous friendly and trusting relationships with several caregivers who are
reasonably consistent within the child care facility. Young children can extract from these relationships a sense of themselves with a capacity for forming
trusting relationships and self-esteem. Relationships
are fragmented by rapid staff turnover or if the child is frequently moved from one child care facility to another.
COMMENTS: Compliance should be measured by staff and parent interviews. Turnover of staff lowers the quality of the facility. High quality facilities maintain low turnover through their wage policies, training and support for staff (
22).
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
opportunities for learning for 3- to 5-year-olds
Facilities shall provide opportunities for children to observe, explore, order and reorder, make mistakes and find solutions, and move from the concrete to the abstract in learning.
RATIONALE: The most meaningful learning has its source in the child's self-initiated activities. The
learning environment that supports individual dif-
ferences, learning styles, abilities, and cultural values fosters confidence and curiosity in learners (
20,
21).
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
selection of equipment for
The facility shall select, for both indoor and outdoor play, developmentally appropriate equipment, for safety, for its ability to provide large and small motor experiences, and for its adaptability to serve many different ideas, functions, and forms of creative expression.
RATIONALE: An aesthetic, orderly, appropriately stimulating, child-oriented environment contributes to the preschooler's sense of well-being and control (
23).
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
expressive activities for
Caregivers shall encourage and enhance expressive activities that include play, painting, drawing, story telling, music, singing, dancing, and dramatic play.
RATIONALE: Expressive activities are vehicles for socialization, conflict resolution, and language de-
velopment. They are, in addition, vital energizers and organizers for cognitive development. Stifling the preschooler's need to play damages a natural integration of thinking and feeling (
24).
TYPE OF FACILITY:
Center; Large Family Child Care Home; Small Family Child Care Home
Facilities shall foster a cooperative rather than a competitive atmosphere.
RATIONALE: As 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds play and work together, they shift from almost total dependence on the adult to seeking support from peers. The rules and responsibilities of a well-functioning group help children of this age to internalize impulse control and to become increasingly responsible for managing their behavior. A dynamic curriculum designed to include the ideas and values of a broad socioeconomic group of children will promote socialization. The inevitable clashes and disagreements are more easily resolved when there is a positive influence of the group on each child (
19).
