In-House Newsletter
February 2017
Education Specialist
Curriculum Connection Sheets
Rainbow Child Care Center utilizes thematic curriculum units to provide a structured framework for learning. The framework provides teachers with guidelines while giving teachers the ability to differentiate instruction. By differentiating instruction, teachers ensure we meet developmentally appropriate practices and engage all learners in their zone of proximal development.
You will be provided with a color copy of your classroom’s Curriculum Connection sheet to hang on your Family Connection Board for families to view.
• The Curriculum Connection sheets have required activities that must be included in your lesson plan.
• The Curriculum Connection sheets provide you with a framework as well as the opportunity to add lessons that are geared to the children in your classroom.
• The Curriculum Connection sheets are posted on SharePoint as well as Google Docs at least one month prior to the thematic unit.
• The Curriculum Connection sheets also provide you information regarding the required enrichment programs for your classroom.
Rainbow Representative
Love is in the air during the month of February! As the Rainbow Representative you are a leader in your center and you should be promoting the Work of Love Board! As you peak into classrooms and help fellow teachers, be sure to let your center management staff know when you see admirable work, so they can write a heart and post it on the board. We want our families to see how much love and passion our teachers have for their children and their classrooms.
Each month we will continue to provide ideas as well as general tips for connecting with staff and families. We would also love to hear your ideas and see your hard work! Please send ideas and pictures of completed activities to education@rainbowccc.com.
Staff Connection Idea- “A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart.” Put together a board in the break room where teachers can leave a post it with information explaining how they touched a child’s heart that day. Provide staff with post its or paper hearts and have them post their reasons on the board. Let the board serve as a reminder of the wonderful benefits of working with children. Get into the Valentine’s Day spirit and have teachers create their own box or envelope for Valentines. Encourage staff to write each other Valentines that highlight things they love about that person!
Family Connection Idea- Share the love with your families too! Have some bowls of Teddy Grahams available to your families. With the bowls, have cute signs that say, “We Love You BEARY Much!” Make sure to have sandwich size Ziploc bags or the clear cellophane bags with twist ties so that the families can take home the sweet treat!
Health, Safety and Licensing Coordinator
Providing adequate supervision is of paramount importance. Serious issues can arise when children are not properly supervised; the children can get lost, cause mischief, or become seriously injured in a matter of seconds. Supervision techniques are important for many different reasons; it protects you, your children and the integrity of your center. Adequate supervision will help keep kids safe, identify potential risks, and help with parent retention. When a parent feels comfortable that we are supervising their child, they stay with us longer and help make the center more successful.
Providing adequate supervision is essentially an easy process when following Rainbow Child Care Center Guidelines.
1. Children should always be within sight and sound of a teacher.
a. Position yourself to see the entire area, including the bathroom.
b. Listen for different sounds, distress, happiness, or sadness.
2. Understand different children’s needs, some may be wanderers and it is important to identify the flight risk.
3. Check the room before leaving any area, even in the cribs.
4. Conduct a proper Name-to-Face check every hour and before/after transitions, this includes:
a. Calling out a child’s name, hearing them reply AND visually seeing them. (This aligns with our Sight and Sound Policy.)
b. Lining them up at the door for ALL transitions while doing Name-to-Face.
c. Ensuring via Name-to-Face that you have an accurate count of your children. Name-to-Face sheets are numbered for convenience.
d. If applicable, have one teacher stand at the front of the line and one stand at the back.
5. Remain at the table during meal times with the children to ensure child safety.
6. During nap time, light procedures must be followed in order to adequately maintain sight and sound of the child(ren).
a. Make sure no child’s head is covered by a blanket.
b. Blankets must not be placed in cribs and bibs must be removed prior to napping in all cases.
c. Infants must be placed on their back to sleep and checked regularly, every 15 minutes.
7. Never leave the room out of ratio.
If you follow these simple guidelines, you will never have a supervision problem thus protecting all your children and the integrity of our centers.