Child Care Facility Analysis

Take a video tour of Little Angels Learning Academy in Missouri.  As you watch the video, analyze various aspects of the facility and how it is designed, organized, used, and maintained.  Support your analysis by referencing the philosophy, vision, and mission statement that you created in Week One.  Facility aspects include:  safety, welcoming environment, indoor space, outdoor space, health and well-being, philosophy of learning, staff, developmentally appropriate practice, parent communication, etc.

In your post, assess one aspect that you feel is commendable with support from Chapter 5 of the textbook.  Then, evaluate one aspect that you feel could be improved with support from the text (these may include aspects of the facility that were not addressed in the video).  Lastly, offer specific ideas for improving these aspects.  Your discussion post should be at least 200 words in length.

One of the most important responsibilities of early childhood administrators is to ensure that children’s nutrition, health, and safety needs are met.  For this discussion, select one of the following nutrition, health, or safety concerns to research:

1. Meal planning:  A child who is on a gluten-free diet
   
   
2. Playground safety:  A child who repeatedly breaks the rules at the playground
   
   
3. Immunizations:  Parents who choose not to immunize their child
   
   
4. Childhood obesity:  Parents who send their overweight child to school with unhealthy snacks
   
   
5. Food safety and sanitation:  A food service worker at the center who doesn’t use a hairnet or gloves
   
   
6. Communicable disease prevention:  A teacher who does not wash her hands after helping children in the bathroom

Describe two to three strategies to address this nutrition, health, or safety concern.  Support your ideas with a reference to at least one outside source and be sure to cite that source.  Your discussion post should be at least 200 words in length.

Supporting staff
 Choose one of the following questions that were asked of Ria Palet, from the National School District, in Chapter 7 of your textbook.

1. How might you support and mentor a staff member who was struggling to meet the expectations of the job?  What would you do to support him/her?  Address at least two different issues in your post.  (Examples: issues with time management, maintaining confidentiality, and/or handling misbehavior.  You may use these or your own choices.)
2. How might you challenge a staff member to continue to grow if she has been in the position successfully for a long time?  What would you do to support him/her?  Address at least two different issues in your post.  (Example: teaching in the same classroom/ same age for a number of years, has not explored the idea of varying curriculum, and/or has not explored professional development opportunities.)

Based on the question you choose, create a four-week plan to support your staff member.  The following must be included in your four-week plan:

1. At least one resource and an explanation of why you included this resource to benefit your staff member.
2. A reflection focus/question piece.  What is your end goal?
3. Two face-to-face meetings with a predetermined focus question for both meetings.
4. An evaluation component for the final meeting that will prove that this intervention was successful.  How will you know that your plan was successful?
5. Complete your plan in a Word document to include the days you plan on meeting.

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), in the position statement on developmentally appropriate practice (2009), “Practitioners work in collaborative partnerships with families, establishing and maintaining regular, frequent two-way communication with them” (p. 23).  Trust between home and school is built over time, starting with the very first phone call or visit to the program.  It is crucial to begin a positive relationship with your students’ families in order to best support your students.  

For this discussion, you will outline a program that you can implement at your center and with your teachers to foster a strong home-school relationship throughout the school year.

Include the following:

1. One detailed strategy that you can implement the first week of school.
2. A monthly strategy/theme from September to June (10 months/10 strategies)
3. One benefit you expect to see from your focus