Medical and Dental Records
It is the responsibility of each parent to provide documentation of up to date physical exams and immunization records before your child starts school. This information is required by state licensing regulations and is necessary for the health and safety of all children at the center. In addition, the information provided also helps in determining your child’s individual health care needs. Annual lead and hemoglobin testing are also required. Each child should also have regular dental exams according to the dentists recommended schedule. Because of increasingly stricter state laws and insurance requirements, we ask your cooperation in providing all necessary records to us prior to your child’s entrance into the program.
Vision and Hearing Screenings
Good hearing and vision are an essential part of a child’s ability to learn. Vision and hearing screenings are performed on all children enrolled. These screenings identify potential vision problems and assess both middle ear function as well as hearing ability. The hearing screen is done in conjunction with the Women & Infants Audiology using the otoaccoustic emission screening tool. Vision screenings are completed by trained staff using RDE stereotest. Both screenings are simple and take less than five minutes to perform. If concerns with hearing/vision are detected, you will be notified and encouraged to schedule a full evaluation.
Health Education
Health Education is a process designed to help children, parents, and staff to know and to care about themselves. Additionally, education includes teaching healthy practices to promote lifelong health and well-being. As such, Health Education is interwoven into all aspects of the program including classroom curriculum and focuses on health, safety, and nutrition.
Health Check
One of the best signs of whether a child is ill is how he/she looks and acts. Daily health checks are conducted by the teacher upon greeting each child at the start of the school day. Parents dropping their child off at the center are asked to spend a few moments with the teacher to report on the child’s current state of health. This takes less than a minute to perform but helps to ensure the health and well–being of all children. If signs of illness are detected, the parent is informed and guidance is given as necessary by the teacher and/or nurse.
NOTE: If your child becomes ill during the day, you will be asked to pick them up early. If we are unable to reach you, we will call the emergency numbers you have provided. It is important to keep those names and numbers up to date with at least two (2) additional people who are able and willing to pick up and care for your child.
If a child is ill and sent home, he/she may return to the center after he/she has recovered or has been treated according to health policies.
Contagious Disease
Contagious diseases are very common in early childhood. The staff at CHILD, Inc. work diligently in preventing and controlling the spread of contagious diseases in our classrooms. It is important to be aware of the most common contagious diseases and their symptoms. A booklet is available to all parents which includes pertinent information on contagious diseases including symptoms, treatment, and when to return to school. If there is a child with a contagious illness in a classroom, parents of all children are notified and information and guidance are provided as needed.
Medication Administration Policy
Parents must provide prescription medication in its original child-resistant container, labeled with child’s first and last name, name of medication, date prescription, physician’s name, medication expiration date and storage and administration instructions. The order for medication to be given “as needed” must include specific directions for administration, including minimum time between doses, maximum number of doses and instructions for when to give medication.
Non-prescription medication must be provided in its original container with specific physician instruction. All non-prescription and over the counter medications must be labeled with child’s name, name of medication, dates, doses, time(s) to be given, expiration dates of medication, and initials of staff member who received medication from parent.