To help children recognize their emotions, you can approach them when they are frustrated/angry in the moment, and describe to them what you are seeing that leads you to believe they are frustrated/angry. You can follow this with trying to figure out what upset them, and then move on to trying some self soothing techniques, while offering…

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When I start to experience these feelings, I make sure to give myself a break from the current situation, and to do things that I enjoy. Even if I can only take 5 minutes away from the class, I will sit in a quiet space, and look at pictures of my cat, or watch silly videos on the internet to illicit a laugh. I will make sure to then go home…

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Responsive exchanges can be as simple as checking in with a child when you notice that they are acting upset or exhibiting challenging behavior, especially if this is not typical for the child. Speaking with the child in a manner that validates them as their own person, and drawing the child in to games and activities with you and the…

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Some of my favorite ways to release stress are reading fiction books that interest me; spending time with my cat, indoor and outdoors; cooking meals I enjoy with my significant other; during times when I am stressed at work, I really enjoy getting outside with the children and chasing each other around and just being silly in general. It…

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I would encourage them to get on the child’s level and look around the care environment to find objects or activities that could be particularly engaging for the child. When introducing the child to the activity, positivity and encouragement are huge in making the child feel comfortable to explore further. I would encourage them to ask lots…

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I think in situations where caregivers disagree on how to handle challenging behavior from a child, and one is not so kind when dealing with the child, that the guidance policy would be hugely helpful. This way everyone can read through and understand what is appropriate and what will not be tolerated.

A 2 month old should be sleeping in a single child crib with a snuggly fitting mattress.

I think the best ways to encourage their development through physical activity are songs/activities that go hand-in-hand. At my previous facility, I would set the children up for a ‘dance party,’ and the songs I would use had movements that it instructed the children to do to go along with the song. When they would get tired of these…

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You can make healthy habits fun by employing little games or songs with the habitual activities. I love using short songs to encourage children to wash their hands for the recommended amount of time, as the children really enjoy singing along.

Safety procedures I would highlight while giving parents a tour through my facility are; fire exits; areas where emergency procedures/supplies are posted; all doors to outside lock securely, and windows have privacy shades (in the event of a lockdown); location of walkie-talkies for staff communication; and location of fire extinguishers/AED.

If I suspected child abuse or neglect- since I am an assistant teacher- I would first go to either my lead teacher, or the director, whoever I could get in contact with the quickest. I would consult them, inform them of my observations, and tell them what I suspect and get their input. I would then report the findings to set in progress…

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My biggest worry about keeping children safe comes to infants in particular. They explore the world by putting objects in their mouth, and I am always so worried that something could cause them to choke, or they could run with it and fall and hurt their mouth or throat. I am extra vigilant when they pick up a toy to inspect this way, but I…

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I think it’s most important to establish a really open and honest communication style with the parents immediately. I prefer to tell them on the first day of meeting them that it is my responsibility to sometimes be the first person to spot something wrong with their children, and then act upon my observation to inform them and help them take…

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The 3 most important things I would want from my child’s provider are:

1 To know that they either have every required training/background checks by the state, or have a year plus of experience (I work in NIDO, so I think in terms of this age group the experience would be very important for me)

2 I would want to feel comfortable talking with…

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I have had the best success when encouraging the children to dance. I’ve loved being able to get onto youtube and find a children’s song they know that’s been tweaked enough to make it into something they want to dance to. Playing along with them is huge in getting their engagement in a positive way, and helping them control their body…

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When my lead and I started creating the daily schedule for our classroom, we first observed the children at the beginning of care and found that the time range where we could most likely get all of them to sit to eat, all of them to nap, and all of them to engage in outdoor play. We are in the NIDO classroom so it is not always exact, but…

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I think one of the most important components is a child-centered environment, where everything is their appropriate size. This allows them the greatest amount of independence; they can sweep up after themselves, or use a proportional chair to sit at a table that’s just their size, or pour water from one pitcher to another.

Good ways to speak with parents about these difficult subjects is to get input from another coworker before approaching them to come up with a sort of script to minimize any upset that might be caused. Good documentation of your own observations regarding the child will be paramount for backing up your input, but also for informing the parents…

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Observation and documentation helps early learning providers interact with the children in developmentally and age appropriate ways to continue their journey of learning and development. Each child is vastly different on this continuum of development, so having knowledge of their place along the continuum is paramount to creating an…

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I believe screen time is best left for the parents to utilize at home, especially when it comes to younger groups of children. Child care settings should be reserved for social/emotional development through interaction and play with their care givers and with the other children. They may teach shapes and colors on a youtube video, but who is…

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I believe that circle time can be the greatest chance to create a serve and return environment in a classroom setting with several children. Not only can this be done between the care giver and the children, but between the children themselves.

I would begin with asking questions about the parents day, their schedule and their child care needs. I would remind them of the documents signed outlining drop-off and pick-up times. I would detail to them how important it is for things to run as smoothly as possible in child care settings, and to do so a strict schedule must be followed…

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1. The WAC’s that address diversity and collaboration with families are 110-300-0080, 110-300-0085, and 110-300-0160.

2. The messages the WAC’s give regarding diversity and collaboration are that child care professionals must be inclusive and there must be plenty of communication and efforts to create a good working relationship with the…

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1. I discovered just how succinctly they outline every little nuance of day to day child care. There is an answer to every single question relating to this profession that I have ever had, all outlined neatly in the WAC.

2. I was quite surprised that any/all restraint needs to be reported. I had worked in previous facilities and this was…

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