Physical Fitness

•Explain what can happen when children do not engage in healthy fitness activities. Be sure to consider the impact on children of being overweight or obese, including implications for health and self-esteem.

So many negative things can happen when children do not engage in healthy fitness activities.  Children who do not engage in healthy fitness activities, they can become overweight or obese.  Being overweight or obese can have a major impact on children.  Children who are overweight or obese will have a greater chance of being overweight or obese when they become an adult.  Children who are overweight or obese will also have a greater chance of obtaining a communicative disease which can possibly last on to adulthood.  Children who are overweight or obese can suffer from things such as diabetes which will also be passed on to them when they go on to adulthood.

Children who do not engage in healthy fitness activities not only suffer from health issues but also self-esteem issues.  Children who are overweight or obese feel like they do not fit in.  Early childhood professionals stress to children the importance of engaging in healthy fitness activities.  Children who are overweight or obese may have low self-esteem.  A child's low self-esteem can be caused by themselves or by an outside source.  As sad as this is to know, children tend to pick on other children who do not fit the mold.  Children who are overweight and obese can gain a low self-esteem from their peers who are placing constant pressure on them.      

•Indicate how adults can help children develop good fitness habits. Describe at least two activities, such as specific games or movements, which are appropriate and enjoyable for children of this age. At least one of the activities should involve gross-motor (locomotor) skills, and another should involve fine-motor (manipulative) skills. Remember, the activities you recommend should be developmentally appropriate, which includes noncompetitive.

Adults can  help children develop good fitness habits by first and foremost setting a positive example for children to follow.  Adults can also help children develop good fitness habits by including them in their daily schedule in the classroom.  Some children do not have the positive example at home so allowing them to see this at school is important.  There are many different activities and games that can be used in the classroom in order to encourage good fitness habits in young children.  The first activity that can be done in the classroom to promote good fitness habits involves a gross-motor skill.  Playing freeze dancing where children dance and move around and when the music stops they stop.  The second activity that can be done in the classroom to promote good fitness habits is a fine-motor skill.  Puzzles are a great fine-motor skill that children of all ages can complete.  Making sure that puzzles are age appropriate is so important. 

•Based on your readings, include at least one inspirational, thought-provoking quote that captures your attitude and/or philosophy about fostering children's healthy growth and development.

After reading all the readings that were presented in this week's resources, there was one inspirational, though-provoking quote that captures my attitude and plays a large part in my philosophy about fostering children's healthy growth and development.  The following quote is the quote that I found that I completely agree with,  "All it takes to encourage an active start is a little time and imagination and a commitment to a healthy lifestyle." (Goodway & Robinson, 2006)  I think that this quote says a lot about my role as early childhood professionals and also about what we all should be doing when it comes to promoting good fitness habits in the young children that we come in contact with.   

Work Cited -

Goodway, J. D., & Robinson, L. E. (2006, May). Skiping toward an active start: promoting          physical activity in preschoolers. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/GoodwayBTJ.pdf       

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition and health in early education. (5th ed., p. 256-258 & 357- 358). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

 

 

Healthy Food and Nutrition

Good nutrition and eating habits are equally important to infants, toddlers and preschoolers.  Good nutrition and eating habits are so important to infants because that is the basis for their growth and development in the future.  The nutrition and eating habits that and infant get when they are an infant can make or break a child.  It is the first nutrition that their bodies are getting and it is important to instill healthy eating habits.  Good nutrition and eating habits are important to toddlers because this is the age when children start exploring new foods and need to be introduced to healthy choices.  If a child is not given healthy foods and does not have good nutrition, much like in infancy they will suffer for the rest of their childhood.  Good nutrition and eating habits are so important to preschool children because this is the time when children need good nutrition to succeed in school and to develop into healthy children.  Infants, Toddlers and preschoolers are all growing and developing so much.  With poor nutrition and poor eating habits a child's growth and development will lack immensely.        

Adults play a huge role in helping children develop healthy eating habits.  It is so important that adults recognize the role they play and that they act upon the role in an appropriate manner.  Adults can actively help children establish healthy eating habits by introducing healthy foods early on while keeping children away from unhealthy foods.  Including children in food preparation can make eating healthy fun as well as encourage children to be involved in their healthy eating.  Those are just two simple ways that healthy eating habits can be instilled in young children.  As adults we need to do our part to help young children stay healthy in this unhealthy world that we live in.

Cooking together can be a lot of fun and can be used to help create healthy eating habits for young children.  Cooking together can be an enjoyable learning experience for children because it is hands on and there are so many fun options when it comes to cooking.  Below are three different recipes that preschoolers can make with the help of an adult.  Each recipe is fun and most importantly, healthy!

Recipe 1:   Frozen Yogurt Pops

Prep time: about 1 to 2 hours

Ingredients:

            1 8-oz. container of your favorite flavor of yogurt

Utensils:

            small paper cups

            wooden popsicle sticks (available in craft stores)

            plastic wrap

Directions:

            1.Pour yogurt into paper cups. Fill them almost to the top.

            2.Stretch a small piece of plastic wrap across the top of each cup.

            3.Using the popsicle stick, poke a hole in the plastic wrap. Stand the stick straight up in the center of the cup.

            4.Put the cups in the freezer until the yogurt is frozen solid.

            5.Remove the plastic wrap, peel away the paper cup, and eat your pop!

Serves: 3 to 4

Serving size: 1 pop

Work Cited -

Brinkley, A. (n.d.). Frozen yogurt pops. Retrieved from             http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/yogurt_pops.html

This recipe is a great alternative to unhealthy ice cream or cookies.  Using yogurt is healthy and a great snack for children to enjoy!

Recipe 2 - Ants On A Log

Original recipe makes 10 logs

Ingredients -

            5 stalks celery

            1/2 cup peanut butter

            1/4 cup raisins

Directions

            1.Cut the celery stalks in half. Spread with peanut butter. Sprinkle with raisins.

Work Cited -

Ants on a log. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ants-on-a-log/

This recipe is a great idea for a snack or can be included with a meal.  Peanut butter is a great source of protein for children and celery and raisins can be used as some of their daily intake of fruits and vegetables for the day.

Recipe 3 - Banana-Pear Caterpillar

Prep/Total Time: 15 min.

Yield: 1 Servings

Ingredients

            1 lettuce leaf

            1 medium banana, peeled

            1/2 medium red pear, cut into 1/4-inch slices

            2 raisins

Directions

Place lettuce on a salad plate; top with the banana. Cut 1/4-in. V-shaped slices halfway through the banana, spacing cuts 1 in. apart. Place a pear slice, peel side up, in each cut. For eyes, gently press raisins into one end of banana. Serve immediately. Yield: 1 serving.

Work Cited -

Banana-pear caterpillar recipe. (2000). Retrieved from          http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Banana-Pear-Caterpillar

This recipe is made up of nothing but fruit and vegetables that can be counted in a child's daily intake of fruits and vegetables.  This is a very healthy recipe that is a lot of fun to make! 

 

 

              

CPR and Choking Emergencies

Scenario 1 -

Susie is an 2 year old child who attends a daycare where there are 6 children and 2 teachers in her classroom.  One day during snack time, Susie starts to choke. 

 Proper emergency procedures

            - Encourage Susie to cough, if she is coughing then she is still able to breathe.

            - If she is not coughing, stand behind her with both of your hands around her waist.

            - Direct another adult or older child to call 911.

            - Make a fist with your thumb closest to their stomach and place it above the belly button             but below her ribs.

            - Grab your fist with the other hand and begin trusting inward and upward quickly.

            - Alternating the above technique with back slaps should dislodge the object. 

            - If abdominal thrusts and back slaps do not work, CPR is the next step. 

 Advanced planning is the best way to respond to or prevent an emergency situation always.  If you and your staff are properly trained on how to deal with an emergency situation then all emergency situations will run smoothly and will be resolved quickly.  Proper training could save a child's life when it comes to knowing how to help a choking child.  If a teacher is prepared and knows what to do if a child is choking they can act on the situation with leadership and confidence.  In this particular scenario, knowing how to appropriately handle a choking child as well as CPR skills are the necessary skills that are needed in order to prevent or positively resolve this emergency.   

I think that in this particular case, teachers need to be prepared on when calling 911 is appropriate as well as when it is not.  Teachers should also have family emergency contact information readily available so that parents can be contacted quickly when an emergency like this takes place.  With proper training and a plan, this scenario of Susie choking can be handled in a professional manner and can be resolved quickly.  It is important for teachers to be prepared to handle a situation much like Susie's where a child is choking.  This type of situation happens unexpectedly with many different ages of children, being prepared is the key to keeping children alive. 

Work Cited -

Francis, M. (n.d.). What to do when your child is choking. Retrieved from             http://www.parents.com/baby/injuries/choking/what-to-do-when-your-child-is-choking/

Scenario 2 -

Fred is a 4 year old boy who attends daycare where there are 20 children and 2 teachers in his classroom.  Fred lays down during nap time to take a nap and his teacher notices that he stops breathing while she is putting him to sleep.   

Proper emergency procedures

            - Gently tap the Fred and say his name to see if he responds.

            - If there is no response as your co teacher to call 911.

            - Place the heel of your hand on the lower part of the breast bone and push down about 2             inches.

            -Let the chest come back up and repeat 30 times

            - If you are CPR certified tilt Fred's head back and give two rescue breaths into his mouth.

            - continue 30 chest compressions / 2 rescue breathes until Fred is conscious again, emergency             personnel show up, or someone is able to relieve you.

 Advanced planning is often the best way to respond to this type of situation.  Being CPR certified really could save Fred's life in this particular situation.  If a teacher is CPR certified, they would be able to quickly respond to an unconscious child like Fred.  Also, for the teachers to plan ahead in order to know who will be doing CPR and who will be contacting 911 in emergencies like this can save precious seconds of young Fred's life.  In this particular situation both advanced planning and being properly trained play a major role. 

Having a plan for situations like this one with Fred is important.  Also, having the appropriate supplies in order to not spread germs from one person to another during mouth to mouth contact is important.  Have a mouth barrier readily available at all times is important.  During CPR a mouth barrier can potentially save someone's life and can also prevent the spread of infectious diseases.  Family emergency contact information is important to have so that family members can be notified about the situation that their child is in.  

Work Cited -

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition and health in early education. (5th ed., p. 182). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

 

Emergency Preparedness: Natural and Human-Generated Disasters

•  Describe each of the disaster scenarios you have chosen (such as a hurricane that has quickly developed in your area) and a real or hypothetical early childhood setting (such as a Head Start program housed on a university campus near the coast). What are the main dangers posed by these situations? Who is at risk?

The first disaster scenario that I have chosen is a quickly developed storm that has placed my licensed home daycare in the threat of a tornado.  The main dangers posed by this situation is that a tornado will hit, causing damage to my home.  This disaster could potentially harm myself and the children in my care if I am not appropriately prepared to deal with a situation like this.

The second Scenario that I have chosen to use for this assignment is a gunman who is on the loose in my area.  The main dangers of this particular scenario is that there is a mentally handicap person on the loose who is trying to hurt anyone in their path.  This gunman has the potential to hurt myself and the children whom are in my care.   

 •  Explain why you and your colleagues should be prepared. What are the consequences of not being prepared?

In both scenarios that I have provided above it is very important for me to be prepared.  If I am not prepared, the lives of many children will be at risk. 

•  Summarize the appropriate steps you would take to develop a plan in advance for this disaster and how you would deal with it if it occurs.

In order to prepare myself to deal with a situation where a tornado was forming close to my home while I had children in my care, there are a few different steps that I would take in order to develop a plan.  I would first pack a bag that had things to entertain my children during this situation.  I would also pack snacks and drinks just in case we were stuck somewhere for a long period of time.  Packing diapers for children who needed them as well as other necessities for any other children in my care.  I would also make sure to have a charged cell phone at all times to keep in contact with emergency personnel and parents.  I would conduct drills so that they children know what to do in a situation like this in order to make our reaction time quick.  If this happened in real life, I would quickly gather my children into the hallway which is the safest area in my home.  I would take out toys to entertain the children while getting in contact with parents to let them know that we are responding to the threats.  I would sit patiently and try hard to entertain my children and keep them calm during the storm. 

In order to prepare myself to deal with a situation where a gunman is on the loose, I would also conduct drills with the children.  I would teach the oldest child here a code word that she would know meant to retreat to our safe spot.  I would pack a bag much like the one I packed for the tornado scenario.  I would have drinks and snacks, toys to entertain and other necessity items such as diapers and medicines.  If this were to happen in a real life situation, I would first make sure all doors were locked and that all the blinds were closed.  I would rush children into the bathroom which has no windows and I would lock myself and the children in the bathroom.  I would get in contact with emergency personnel to make sure they knew I was here with a group of children and to ask them to contact me when we were safe to come out.  I would also contact parents to let them know that we were in a safe place waiting for emergency personnel to tell us we were safe to come out.

 •  Explain how you would assess the risks.

In both scenario cases, I would assess the risks by watching the news and keeping in close contact with emergency personnel.  

•  Identify potential complications created by this disaster besides the main disaster/danger itself.

In both cases it is possible that child would not cooperate with me during the disaster.  Depending upon the child's age, I would respond differently.  I would tell them the importance of them listening and if I had to I would use bribery to get the children in a safe place quickly.  Another complication that could occur is that I don't have enough time to grab the bag I have prepared for a situation like this.  I would do my best to entertain the children by singing and playing games with them until it was safe to come out.   

•  Describe any other steps you and/or your early childhood program should take to be prepared to handle this kind of crisis. What kinds of materials or documentation (e.g., first aid supplies, family emergency contact information, and so on) would be necessary and/or helpful?

I think it is important to make parents aware of how you will react to different disaster situations.  That way, if they cannot get in contact with you, they will know what you are doing with their child while they cannot reach you.  Keeping emergency contact information handy is so important for disasters such as the two that I have listed above.  Having the parents fill out a form with their emergency contact information will help me to contact them in an emergency like the two scenarios above. 

•  Explain how you might involve the families of the children in your care.

I would involve the families of the children in my care by letting them know our process that we take when there is an emergency.  I would also encourage them to speak to their children about the drills that occur during the time they are in my care.  Having the parents talk to their children about different disasters so that if they occur they will not be brand new to them would be helpful as well. 

Safety Practices and Policies

When it comes to infants and toddlers there are many potentially hazardous situations and/or safety threats that are common.  The first and one of the most important is SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome.  As a child care professional, it is our responsibility to be properly trained through a 2 hour course which provides us with appropriate information to avoid SIDS in our child care facility.  Placing a child on their back, in an approved crib or pack n play and checking on the infant every 10 to 15 minutes while sleeping to insure that they are still breathing.  Removing all crib bumpers, stuffed animal, pillows and blankets from the child's sleep reduce the risk of SIDS as well as making sure they are sleeping in an appropriate area.  It is not safe for an infant to sleep in a bed with an adult or on a couch, a crib or a pack n play are the safest sleep areas.  Families can provide the same sleep environment at home to make sure that they are doing everything in their power to reduce the risk of SIDS.

The next potentially hazardous situation is when infants learn to roll.  They go from non mobile to mobile in a split second which calls for major safety precautions to be taken.  Infants that can roll are capable of rolling off of a changing table.  While it is nice to think that we always pay close attention to children on the changing table, now it is vital to make sure that we are keeping a close eye and hand on these mobile infants now.  Keeping one hand on a child at all times while they are on the changing table is a policy that must be followed, especially when a child is able to roll.  With at least one hand on the child at all times, they are less likely to fall off the changing table without being caught first.  Much like SIDS, it is important for parents to follow the same policies at home to ensure that their child does not take a tumble at home. 

Mobility gets increasingly more as an infant continues to grow.  They are now not only rolling over but are crawling across floors and into unsafe areas.  This is the time when children get into chemicals and end up in the hospital for eating poison from cleaning supplies.  There is a policy that requires child proofing, safety gates across doorways and safety locks on cabinets with dangerous materials in them.  Making sure to childproof an area where children are can reduce the risk of them getting into chemicals and/or cleaning supplies and being poisoned.  Encouraging parents to childproof their homes just as if they were a daycare facility will help reduce the risk of this hazardous situation in the child's home. 

Along with increased mobility, children start to explore objects that they come in contact with.  Infants often explore objects through the use of their mouths, placing objects in their mouth is expected at this age.  Child proofing much like in the above example, placing safety gates and lock up to keep children out of areas that are harmful to them.  As well as keeping small items that could be a choking hazard out of the safe infant play area is so very important.  Making families aware that placing things in their mouth is normal in infancy will help parents to understand the importance of keeping small objects away from their infants.  If families provide the same safe environment at home, they will be less likely to have an infant choke or eat something harmful to them. 

Last but not least, when infants grow into toddlers they increase mobility again.  Toddlers begin walking but their walk starts off as a wobbly, very unsteady walk.  During this time period toddlers experience a tremendous amount of falls daily.  It is policy that a safe, age appropriate environment is provided for infants and toddlers.  Sharp objects that could potentially hurt a falling toddler should be nowhere to be found.  Corner pads should be placed on the sharp corners of objects that must exist in the room in order to prevent injury during a fall.  Providing a safe environment at home is just as important as the safe environment at daycare.  Families can take the same safety precautions at home in order to reduce the risk of injury to their infant or toddler. 

Work cited -

 

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition and health in early education. (5th ed., p.51-52). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Retrieved from http://1133713068.reader.chegg.com/reader/book.php?id=80252c435dbd973346a415a0da02b5be&page=24