Functional Area 1: Safe To reduce injury I always use the saying if you can predict something might happen then prevent it before. Children do not understand that there are dangers all around them, whether its the toys they play with, other kids and their belonging or the equipment that they play on.
The important goals that I have are always to put the children's safety, happiness and their needs first. The best way for me to follow through on this is to make sure I keep close supervision on all children at all times. I do a complete check of the area where children are to be playing every day before children come into my room. This means that I check everything that may come in contact with any child so that I know my room doesn't have any dangers.This involves making sure that no toys are broken, any chemicals are stored properly, the room is clean and sanitary at all times, children aren't sharing personal items, and that the children's toys are age appropriate. I also do a complete check of the outside area where children play.
This includes sweeping up any rocks that have fallen on the pavement before and while children play so they wont slip when running around, making sure that the kids don't climb the fence and that the gate to the fence gets closed after each use, making sure the storage container for the outside toys is properly supervised when a child wants to get a toy form inside it, and I also male sure all children are doing constructive activities.Functional Area 2: Healthy To prevent the spread of germs I make sure that my room is always sanitary. Children are not very self aware of what causes others to get sick whether its by someone else or by objects they play with. So any child that presents himself as being sick I give a little more supervision to so that the other children don't get sick.
This includes making sure that noses get wiped and hands washed right after, children cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing and again hands get washed right after, and that any one feeling the urge to throw up gets to the bathroom. Around the room on days where there is or was a sick child present I do extra sanitary measures while children are in my care to prevent the germs from spreading.To accomplish this I always make sure that the bathroom is clean and stocked with toilet paper-soap-and paper towels, I have children wash hands regularly before and after meals-after using the rest room (we also have a instructions in bathrooms to tell and show proper hand washing)-after coming in from outside-and any other time it washing is needed, We have a separate specially equipped body fluid kit with instructions on how to clean, sanitize, and dispose of any bio-hazards properly, toys that are played with by any child who is sick immediately gets sanitized after use (if cant fully sanitize yet put up and away form children till can), and bedding for each child is labeled and cleaned at the end of each week. We have a daily schedule that we follow for each room (rooms schedules do differ except for the meal times). At meal time I sit with my children to eat and before we eat there is a song that every child and myself sing as a class before we eat. I enjoy spending time eating with my children and helping to teach them good manners and to eat carefully so they don't choke.
Functional Area 3: Learning Environments I like to make weekly lesson schedules so that I am prepared to teach the children something new. Observing the children's personalities and level of comprehension help me in making my lesson. I watch them play and listen to what their imaginations come up with and how they interact with one another. To do this I place children in different centers.
Centers are where I break up my class in to four groups and place them in four different centers where they play for fifteen minutes.Then everyone switches centers and again play for fifteen minutes and so on till every child has played in each center. Centers include books, variety of blocks, doll house, kitchen area and materials, tool area, cars-trucks-and planes, and many other fun little games or activities. Every day new centers with new groups are made so that every one gets to play together fairly. I provide information and supplies for my lesson for the class that I am in based age appropriate and additional information and supplies for any age group that I might be switched over to also be age appropriate.
The Learning Center where I work provides the class setting based on the child's age group also which helps me in teaching my children.
