Preschool Licensing Requirements Including Teacher Certification and Student Health Records

If you are the owner or administrator of a licensed preschool you know there are many state regulations that must be met. You will find it's worth taking the time to be in compliance from the very beginning of the school year rather than trying to catch up after school has started. Doing a monthly check on records will eliminate the pressure experienced when the State Supervisor surprises you with an unscheduled visit.

In-service Training

As an administrator of a preschool you already know the importance of your entire staff being up-to-date on all in-service training. This can be tedious from the standpoint that not all of your teachers have necessarily joined your staff at the same time. Always know the exact date for renewal of all of your staff's in-service classes so you have arrangements made well in advance of the expiration dates.

There are several ways to meet these requirements. You can use a card system or make use of charts you can find online. It is important to have a way you can instantly see what training will be needed and how many of your staff members are required to have an update.

Student Health Records

When it comes to maintaining the required health records for currently enrolled students, always notify parents of upcoming required physicals at least four to six weeks in advance. Normally families find their health insurance will not allow a new physical unless it's within a few days of one year since the last physical. By giving parents plenty of time to make an appointment to coincide with the expiration date, along with a copy of the required form to be signed by the examining physician, you won't have the hassle involved with a child not having current records for immunizations, etc.

Allergies

If you have been made aware of any kind of student allergy, be sure you fully understand what it represents and what treatment may be required while the child is in school. Most states provide special forms for licensed preschools documenting that the parent has given instructions to the child's teachers for the care of the child should there be an allergic reaction. These forms need to be signed and dated by the parent and teachers showing they have been educated in the child's care.

In the state where I reside you must also have a copy of a doctor's prescription for these medications in the child's health file. The parent is also required to provide any needed medications to be kept at the school in case of an emergency.

If you have student's with peanut, egg or other food allergies, be sure to alert parents of classmates to read packaging of any food items they may provide to the class. As an example, certain types of candy may not have peanut products in them, but when examining the packaging it may have been manufactured in a facility that manufactures peanut products. This can cause a serious allergic reaction for a child with a peanut allergy.

I cannot stress enough....carefully read the packaging before sending something into school, food allergies can be a very serious matter.

I hope that sharing this information might be of help to you as an administrator of your preschool.

Please visit my website, http://www.preschoolsource.org/ for preschool information and guidelines for parents, teachers and administrators. Also, visit my blog, http://blog.preschoolsource.org/ for timely, topical posts on subjects related to preschool.

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Early Literacy - A Crucial Aspect of Child Development

There's nothing more important than our children, and getting them the best education is a key step in providing them with the best possible future. A number of crucial building blocks that help build a foundation for learning should be laid down as early as possible. Literacy is something that helps fuel the ability and the desire to learn. Early childhood care should help to facilitate a thirst for knowledge while laying these foundations for learning.

Early Literacy

There's much more to literacy than just the alphabet, and the right learning environment can have a huge impact on the way that your child develops literacy skills. Early literacy skills can mean your child starts reading and writing earlier and that they attain a better understanding of English and its intricacies.

One of the very first steps along this path is learning to talk. Language allows us to communicate ideas and even through crying an infant will discover that they can influence and alert those nearby what he or she wants and needs.

Stories and learning

Reading to your child and a preschool where stories and books play a central role helps build the understanding of writing, reading, letters and how stories work. When your child starts to take an interest in books and the stories that you read, they're more likely to pick up these understandings faster, so make sure you're choosing books that they like.

In preschools and daycare centres, rhyming songs and games also help to teach oral language skills as well. Children pick up the rhythms of English and they start to hear the different sounds that make up words.

Writing and drawing

Pencils, crayons and paper help children to communicate their ideas. Scribbles quickly become pictures and, to better describe what's on the paper, children learn to write simple words as well. A lot of drawing practice will help your child master the techniques required to write those difficult letters - be as encouraging as possible and set aside time for drawing and writing every day.

Preschools often take a hands-on approach to teaching writing skills as well. Most will practice writing individual letters and build up to the point where each child is able to write their own name.

These early literacy skills are integral to helping your child become a competent learner later on. Reading and writing are the two core elements of learning at a primary level, and it's this practice during early development that really helps children be prepared.

Little Wonders Childcare Centres can be found throughout NZ, check out our website today.

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Educational Software for Kids Learning

Among the most important skills for a child to develop early on is familiarity with computers. No matter what vocation they choose in life, they will need to be comfortable with the basics of navigating on a computer and using a keyboard and mouse. All educational software helps to teach these skills even if the software was designed to teach them something else, like history or math. Kids will gain a comfort with reading and understanding menus, which will be necessary in most of the programs they will encounter later on in life. They will also gain the critical thinking abilities needed to use the software properly. Many types of educational software are similar to games, with the benefit being that they strengthen problem-solving abilities and hold the child's interest in a way that complements other teaching tools like books and videos. They provide all the entertainment benefits of a computer game (immediate feedback, scoring as a reward and to motivate the student) while providing lessons.

The various challenges contained in an education program, serve to reinforce lessons learned by standard methods, and also to introduce new areas of learning.

Math Software
There are programs available that teach a number of areas of math, ranging from the basics like addition and subtraction for pre-school students, to more advanced subjects like calculus. One of the things to look for with math software is that it offers lessons a variety of skill-levels so that as a child's ability grows, the lessons will become more difficult. Many programs will automatically adjust to the child's abilities based on their performance.

History Software
Whether a child is to be taught about ancient Egypt or American history, there are options for history software that provides that can provide them with the perfect learning environment for basic or advanced historical facts. Furthermore, history education is often tied with geography so that history software often provides an education in places and people as well. There are programs that teach about history in most parts of the world.

English Software
Reading and writing English is, of course, one of the most basic areas of a child's education. English software can help a child learn everything from phonics basics to advanced writing and vocabulary programs aimed at high school students. These programs can either be used to provide instruction for a child being home schooled or as a remedial tool or study aid.

Science Software
Programs like My First Amazing Science Explorer are good ways to develop a child's interest in science with the use of highly interactive and entertaining lessons for young children. The levels of science software available range from basic chemistry to 12th Grade physics.

Educational Software is useful both for homeschooling parents who like that their child is willing to focus on learning for hours at a time. The software is also for parents who just want to give their child an extra academic edge, whether or not they home school. These programs get a child into the habit of learning for fun even when they do not have an adult there to pressure them to do it.

All Educational Software offers educational software for all ages and all learners from Toddlers and Preschoolers to Grade School, Middle School, and High School. As well, it covers all subjects including math, language arts, science, music, learn to type, software for the deaf, and many more. The programs are designed to be fun as well as educational and in many cases link educational content to school curricula.

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How To Draw A Face With Numbers And Letters, A Tutorial For Children

Equipments

Before se start to draw, better for you to have all these easy things to draw. They would be:

PencilEraserA4 size paperYour imagination

Term and Condition

We need to have good understanding about all terms we used next. They would be directions, measure unit, method and your mood. The last thing I mentioned is very important. Be sure you are in a good mood, because you will not get your best if you are in negative emotion.

We need same perception about directions too, because if we don't, you'll do opposite of what I instruct you to. So the directions are based on you, not the paper. When I say right side, then it means right side of your body, so does when I say left side. The same thing occurred when we talk about up and down.

Measure unit we will use is inch, since you maybe more familiar with it. Centimeter is more detail than inch, but I'm afraid you're not getting used to it. So what about the method? No complicated method, just follow my instructions seriously.

Lets Draw

Take your paper and put on a flat surface of table. Hold your pencil as you hold it with your favorite style, please not to stress your finger, just relax. So here they are:

First of all, make a center point of your drawing media. For instance, use the center point of your paper. Make a slight point on your paper by your pencil.From your center point, make one inch slight line to the right.Make it one inch slight line to the left too.Rotate your paper 90 degrees, clockwise.In the bottom of the slight line you made, write down this number "9" with one inch height.Next, rotate your paper 180 degrees, counter clockwise.Now just write number "6" as big as number "9" you have made.Now, rotate your paper 90 degrees, clockwise. Can't you guess what object you have made? I'm sure you are.From the center point, make two inch length slight line.Rotate your paper 180 degrees counter clockwise, and find your paper upside down.Next to do is makes a dot or point, half inch from center point.Make a number "7" from its bottom side and up. How high your number "7" is as high as the slight vertical line you've made.Rotate your paper once more as 180 degrees counter clockwise, and then see what you draw. Can you see what the shape?Yes you are seeing a couple of eyes looking to left side and a nose below them.Now get your face image an emotion. It is up to you whether make the face cheer or sad.When you want make it cheers, just imagine letter "U" for smile. But if you prefer to make it sad, imagine letter "n" for glum.Decide your letter and make it wide. Draw it about 2 inches or even wider under the nose and you'll find mouth with expression you decided before.OK, your face is almost done. Now you need to add outline for all those you have draw. The outline will be letter "O".I'll not give you specific size of that letter "O". Have some courage to make it proportionally with objects inside it.If you done with that letter "O" or the outline, now it is time to give it a couple of ears. Put your tip of pencil on the right side outline straight to the eyes and make 2 inches height number "9". For the left side, do the same but flip the shape of number "9" horizontally.Now you are already have a basic face draw. Erases the slight lines you have been made gently.Add any lines you need to make it better or even modified the objects so it will be further better shape.

Trust me, those step is a basic method to draw a basic face. If you have handled this very well I'll continue to give advance tutorials.

If you need illustration or else just contact me trough this link http://legitlike.com/family/

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The Purpose-Built Creche

It may seem self-evident that a crèche should be built from scratch, rather than adapted from an existing premises - attempting to make do with the spaces, structures and limitations inherent in the default facilities. So it may surprise you to know that until 1995 there were zero purpose-built crèches in Ireland. None. That year Ireland's first crèche was built from the ground up for that purpose, and since then many more have followed suit.

Why is it important to build a crèche especially for the purpose? An excellent document produced by the Department of Health and Children called We Like This Place, Guidelines for Best Practice in the Design of Childcare Facilities, published in 2004, points out that - unlike most building projects - crèche design is about considering the children first, last and always:

What is critical is that the building and its environment are suitably designed in such detail as to enhance the child's growth and development. It is vital for the designer to have a clear understanding of the way the building will be used, what age groups are being catered for and the needs of the children on a practical level. Architectural statements are of little value if the children and their carers do not have a clear understanding of the environment created.

While it is possible to have such an intensely child-focused approach when adapting an existing building, it is much easier to a crèche design from the ground-up if you are actually building from the ground up.

This truly comprehensive document covers everything including planning permission, site selection, design layout, use of colour and creating a mood, fixtures and fittings, outdoor spaces, and much more, taking all the guess-work out of developing a top-quality, child-focused crèche.

In its chapter on Design the report delineates precisely what spaces are required, and gives advice about how each should be approached. It makes the point that every crèche should include the following:

EntranceReception AreaAccess for the DisabledParents' RoomManager's OfficeCirculation Areas (including corridors, indoors and out)Children's rooms (details below)Storage for Children's BelongingsSleep Areas (with detailed guidelines re space, ventilation, temperature, etc)Toilets (for children, staff and visitors, including nappy changing facilities)Staff RoomLaundry/Utility AreaKitchenOutdoor Play Area(s)

Clearly, this is not a project to be undertaken lightly. Every aspect of the project requires carefully planning, always keeping the needs of children at the forefront. To give some sense of the scope of thought that must go into each aspect of designing a crèche, let's take a look at some of the many issues to consider when designing children's play spaces.

On the one hand, the report notes, children need a wide range of kinds of spaces appropriate to different activities throughout the day. On the other hand, 'each child should be able to identify with one particular room which affords... a sense of belonging.'

Also, large open areas should be broken up into smaller spaces, providing room to interact in large and small groups, to run safely, to sit quietly or 'hide'... all the while being observable by staff. Some areas must be pristinely clean, while wet and 'messy' spaces are also necessary. Variety is the key, and both indoor and outdoor spaces should offer enough spatial variation to accommodate the wide range of activities that make up the child's day.

The look of the spaces is equally important, with care being taken to ensure variations in space, shape, height, texture and a balance of artificial and natural light and considerations of ventilation and fresh air. Colour is such an important consideration that an entire chapter is devoted to selecting colours for walls, ceilings, floors and decor.

It is far from easy to design a high-quality, child-focused crèche from scratch, but We Like This Place, available from http://www.dcya.gov.ie, is a great place to start.

This article was submitted by Simona Rusnakova, SEO consultant of Voodoo, on behalf of The Park Academy creches in Dublin who enhance children's joy, nourish their bodies and minds, cultivate their eagerness to learn and ensure their absolute safety.

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