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Archive for the ‘Policies’ Category

Creating An Inclement Weather Plan

Winter is will be arriving soon and this is a great time to develop or review your inclement weather plan. In fact, it seems that some winters we are better than others in terms of the amount of snow that we get,however, it is vital that parents know what to expect in the event there is inclement.

Here are  Nine things that you can do to plan for inclement weather, assure that parents & staff know what to do in the event of inclement weather and other helpful tips:

1. Connect with your local news channel to find out how you can list your snow or closing  schedule in the event of inclement weather.

2. Post a notice of your inclement weather procedures on your door and insert the notice in your parent handbook.

3. Have a list of your parents contact information at home with you; so that you can send out a group text about your planned snow or closing schedule.

4. If you plan to cancel transportation, notify parents at least 2-hours before school starts to allow parents enough time to locate back-up childcare.

5. Ahead of time, purchase ice melt or salt for your sidewalks to melt ice on your side walks.

6. Have a contract with a snow plow or landscaping company to clean your parking lot before your business opens in the event of inclement weather.

7. When conditions are too icy, you may want to consider planning a later opening time to allow staff and parents time to get to the center.

8. Post your plans to open later or close during inclement weather on your social media pages; at least 1 hour before your scheduled open time.

9. Be sure to provide updates to parents via voice mail, your website or your social media pages

I hope that you have found the tips in this blog post to be quite helpful to you. I look forward to hearing about how you plan to prepare in the event of inclement weather.

Shiketa

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Category:

Emergencies, parent communication, Policies

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Protect Your Child Care Business With An Activity Disclaimer

Many childcare programs provide a variety of open-ended art projects for the children in care. In fact, many of the activities are very colorful and consists of using materials that could potentially be placed in a child’s mouth once they take it home such as: scraps of paper, glue, stickers, paint, yarn, pom poms,etc.

I know what you may be thinking, “Isn’t the parent  responsible for their child at home?” Exactly, the parent is responsible for the supervision of his or her child at home.

However, what if you send home some art work or a sensory activity that the child decides to ingest and the parents says that you are responsible? How would you handle that situation?

My goal is to get you to think about reducing your liability and think about the art work that is being sent home with the children.

Questions to ask yourself before sending art work home: Is there anything that I’m sending home that could potentially be a choking hazard? Are any of the materials toxic? Should there be a safety note attached to the Sensory Bottle that Reads:( Please do not allow your child to drink this).

A recent experience at my Child Care Center inspired me to send home a disclaimer that informs parents that we are not responsible if a child ingests art materials while in your care.  For disclaimer ideas, I recommend that you seek some legal advice, be sure that your disclaimer supports licensing regulations or even contact your insurance agent. Be sure to add the new disclaimer to your parent handbook.

I look forward to reading your thoughts about this post. Please leave your comments below.

With Safety in Mind,

Shiketa

 

Category:

Activities, Art, Legal Matters, Policies

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