[Morgan]

I don’t think screen time is necessary for childcare. Our children have enough screen time in public schooling and at home as it is. Maybe an occasional movie day once a month or something, but that’s it.

[Morgan]

Simply paying attention to the children you care for creates continuous serve and return opportunities, like circle time, story time, play time, eating meals together as a class. Even self care, like hand washing and potty training, can provide an opportunity for serve and return.

[Morgan]

The center I will be working for has a policy that charges $1.00 after every minute past closing and all attempts will be made to contact guardians, and then authorized pick up persons. If we cannot reach anyone, we contact the director or assistant director who will contact the authorities or CPS to assist in locating an authorized pick up person.

Since the parent would have gone through the process of being located by authorities or cps by this point. I would start by attempting to ease their emotions about the whole situation, ask them if they’d like to share why they’ve been late recently, and then kindly remind them of the late pick up policies that they agreed to and the consequences if they can’t follow policy. Then I would offer to help them find a solution to this issue.

Emotional responses and professionalism is such a hard line to walk, but I think this is the perfect balance. Opening with kindness and understanding, but always stick to facts and/or policies.