Entrepreneurship in Child Care Services

Entrepreneurship in Childcare Services 4 (2+2)

Lesson 25 : Maintenance, Health and Safety in a child care center

Health

1. Assessing Health Status:
   When a child first enters the school the status of the child’s health should be known. There is a need to know in general whether the child is capable of participating in all the activities of the school or there should be some restrictions. Most schools require a pre enrollment physical exam. The physicians report will certify that the child is free of communicable disease and any abnormal health problems. Additional information from parents might be taken about the children’s allergies, previous illness, hospitalization or any other experiences the child has experienced.
   Observations by teachers are also useful in discovering a child’s health problems. They see children for many hours during a week and can often detect problems that may not have been previously noticed. They might notice behavior that points to hyperactivity, hearing and vision impairment or poor motor coordination. Poor nutrition may be seen as a reason for the child’s listlessness or withdrawal from group activities.
   Certain health conditions will become progressively worse if left untreated. They may have a lasting and irreversible effect upon the child’s health and ability to function in a school. For example malnutrition may permanently disturb the child’s growth pattern. Behavior problems may affect learning and may become increasingly difficult to treat successfully as the child grows older.


2. Identifying conditions that interfere with learning:
   Often conditions that interfere with learning never become identified until the child reaches elementary school. By then a lot of time in which difficulties could have been corrected has been lost. The preschool or child care center can be instrumental in preventing this delay.
   Teachers should watch for the child who has difficulty with eye hand co-ordination or is awkward in games. The child who avoids close work or assumes an abnormal posture when doing it may also have poor vision. Complaints about inability to see or lack of curiosity about visually interesting objects may indicate vision problems.
   Children’s speech is often a good indicator of hearing disabilities. The teacher should be the first person to recognize a difficulty because parents are so accustomed to understand the child’s particular speech pattern.
   Speech difficulties may occur without hearing loss but will have an equally severe impact upon child’s learning. Language skills are intimately related to cognitive development. These might range from delayed speech to indistinct articulation. Articulation deviations are common in young children. If only a few words are unintelligible it can be expected that the child will be able to say words more clearly with time. If all the words are unintelligible and the child is older than 3-3.5 years professional help is indicated. Children who have delayed speech may be helped through special activities at school and home.
   Mild patterns of behaviour that limits the child’s ability to learn sometimes go unnoticed. In school such behaviour is usually noted. For example extreme shyness prevents the child from participating in group activities or making friends also the limited ability to stay with an activity.
   More severe patterns of behaviour are easily identified by both parents and teachers. The child who hits or bites others, the child who constantly moves around creating havoc every where he goes, severe temper tantrums etc. Behaviour deviations can often be assessed by experienced teachers. They will know that some behaviours are part of a child’s normal development progression. Others are personality characteristics. Such children should be referred to professionals.


3. Preventing future illness:
   Each person involved in an ECE programme should be concerned about the problem of illness in children. Young children are especially vulnerable to variety of infections and communicable diseases. One way to minimize occurrence of illness in school is to develop procedures for care of the environment.

General precautions to prevent spread of diseases in a child care environment :

• Clean class room on a regular basis including floor scrubbing and carpet cleaning.
• Wipe tables with detergent and water after play.
• Clean and disinfect toys, utensils or any objects that children handle or put into their mouth at least once a week.
• Clean and sanitize bathroom.
• The entire play area should be routinely cleaned and disinfected on daily basis.
• Clean sleeping cots or mats once a week. Wash sheets or blankets every week.
• Encourage children to wash their hands before eating and after toileting.
• Encourage children with running nose to use a tissue and then wash their hands afterwards.
• Separate children who are suffering with contagious diseases.