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How to Use DayCarePro.com
DayCarePro.com was created to provide childcare providers with professional support similar to that of teachers and other child-related professions. There are dozens of benefits to using DayCarePro.com. It can be used every day by childcare providers throughout their professional careers. Each section, tool, and resource of DayCarePro.com has specific ways and times childcare providers can use them.
Below is a detailed description of how to use each section of DayCarePro.com as well as its many tools and resources. DayCarePro.com sections are listed in alphabetical order.
Biting Management System ©
The DayCarePro.com Biting Management System © should be used by childcare providers immediately after a child bites at childcare. Biting is a common occurrence among children between the ages of 14 months and 3 years. It happens in all settings, such as childcare, preschool, and even at home. It is important to point out that when a child bites someone at childcare it is not the childcare provider or teacher’s fault. Children have bitten others since the beginning of time and will continue to do so until the end of time. It is a normal part of growing up and happens for many reasons.
When children bite someone while at childcare, it is a serious problem. Parents often become upset or angry. They at times blame childcare providers for the biting, stating they should watch the children more closely so the children cannot bite others. The truth is, children can bite someone even under close adult supervision. Another problem that arises from childhood biting is the spread of biting. Once a child has been bitten, they too learn to bite. Because of this, a child who has been bitten may in turn bite another child. In this way, biting is “contagious”. Once there is more than one child biting at a childcare, it becomes quite difficult for a childcare provider to get the children to stop biting. Things become even worse when a child is bruised, has broken skin, or is in some way injured as a result of being bitten. When this happens, parents become angry and can make things difficult for the childcare provider. It is not uncommon for parents to remove their children from the childcare as a result of biting incidents.
It can be very stressful for childcare providers when having a child removed from their care under such circumstances. Stress occurs for several reasons.
- Childcare providers are typically very attached to the children they care for. Because of this, childcare providers feel bad when children they care for are taken from their care.
- Childcare providers count on the income they receive from taking care of children. Having a child abruptly removed from childcare imposes a financial hardship on childcare providers.
When a parent’s child is bitten at childcare, the parents do not want excuses from the childcare provider about the biting incident. What the parents want from the childcare provider is the following:
- leadership
- an apology
- to know the facts surrounding the biting incident
- a guarantee that their child / children will not be bitten again
- to know what the childcare provider is going to do to keep the child from biting others in the future
Because child biting is a common but serious problem across childcare settings, DayCarePro.com developed a comprehensive system to help childcare providers take control of biting situations. The DayCarePro.com Biting Management System © provides a comprehensive approach to managing child biting incidents in childcare settings while at the same time satisfying parents’ wishes surrounding the biting incident and their child’s safety. The DayCarePro.com Biting Management System © gives childcare providers a process to take care of biting incidents, starting with the first time a child bites through eliminating the biting.
DayCarePro.com Biting Management System © makes it easy for childcare providers to:
- respond professionally
- maintain parents’ trust
- document biting incident facts
- examine over 22 factors related to children’s biting
- give parents informative handouts about child biting
- tell parents about biting incidents by reporting the facts
- develop effective interventions that stop children from biting
The DayCarePro.com Biting Management System © has five parts.
Directions for Managing Childcare Biting Incidents ©
The directions provide step-by-step instructions for childcare providers about how to use the DayCarePro.com Biting Management System © and what to do after a child bites.
Biting Documentation Forms ©
Biting Documentation Forms © should be completed immediately after a biting incident occurs. It is important for childcare providers to document biting incidents for their legal and professional protection, as well as to report information to parents. The forms provide a fast and comprehensive way for childcare providers to document biting incidents. The documentation forms use objective language and checkboxes to allow childcare providers to do unbiased documenting. The forms make it easy to share information about biting incidents with parents, physicians, psychologists, childcare licensing staff, and other professionals. Childcare providers should keep a copy of completed DayCarePro.com Biting Documentation Forms © for their permanent records.
Biting Information: Parent Handout ©
This handout should be given to parents of children involved in biting incidents immediately after the biting occurs. The parent handout provides easy to understand information about child biting behavior. The informative handout puts parents at ease and makes childcare providers look professional and in control of the situation.
Biting Analysis and Intervention Workbook ©
This workbook examines over 22 factors related to a child’s biting. When completed, the workbook is used as a plan / intervention to stop a child from biting. Childcare providers and parents should complete the workbook together, as a team. It is not the childcare provider’s sole responsibility to stop a child from biting. There are several reasons for this.
- Even though parents are not with their child at childcare, they can do a lot to help their child stop biting at childcare by working with their child at home. Because of this, is important for parents to work with the childcare provider to end their child’s biting.
- A child who bites others at childcare often times bites people at home or in other settings. Because of this, it is important for parents to know what to do in order to stop their child from biting while the child is not at childcare. If parents do not stop their child from biting when the child is not at childcare, it makes if very difficult for the childcare provider to stop the child from biting when he or she is at childcare.
- Parents are ultimately responsible for their children’s behavior, so they need to do their part to stop their child from biting.
When completing the Biting Analysis and Intervention Workbook ©, childcare providers and parents can use the DayCarePro.com Biting Intervention and Idea Bank © to get plans, interventions, and ideas they can use to complete the workbook.
Biting Intervention and Idea Bank ©
The Biting Intervention and Idea Bank © is used to help childcare providers and parents complete the Biting Analysis and Intervention Workbook ©. It has dozens of ideas and interventions that childcare providers and parents can use to help a child stop biting. For ease of use, the interventions and ideas are organized by category to match the Biting Analysis and Intervention Workbook ©. Childcare providers and parents simply select the ideas and interventions they want to use to stop a child from biting, print them, and then, write them down in the Biting Analysis and Intervention Workbook ©. When the workbook is completed, it is the plan that is used to stop the child from biting.
Child Behavior Improvement Programs ©
Every childcare provider has experienced the frustration of taking care of a child who frequently engages in challenging or inappropriate behaviors, such as:
- not sharing
- tattle-tailing
- playing rough
- hitting other children
- not following directions
- not waiting to take a turn
- running through the house
- being noisy during quiet-time
- taking toys away from other children
- damaging toys and household items
- saying mean things to other children
- having a temper-tantrum or behavioral outburst to get their way
Sometimes the childcare provider is able to help the child improve her behavior, sometimes the child’s behavior improves on its own, and sometimes the child’s behavior takes a long, long time to improve or never improves.
Childcare providers may go to the child’s parents for help getting the child’s behavior under control. Sometimes the parents are able to do things to improve their child’s behavior. But, this is often not the case. Many times parents say they do not have the same problem at home with their child, suggesting that the child’s problematic behavior at childcare is the childcare provider’s fault or responsibility to “fix”. Other times parents say they will work on their child’s behavior at home. But, the parents either do not know what to do to improve their child’s behavior, or they do things to improve their child’s behavior that may help at home but makes the child’s behavior worse at childcare. DayCarePro.com can help.
Behavior Improvement Programs ©
DayCarePro.com has Child Behavior Improvement Programs © designed to increase positive, healthy behaviors in children and at the same time cause undesirable behaviors to go away. DayCarePro.com Child Behavior Improvement Programs © are designed by psychologist Thomas Wolfe, PhD. The programs use research-based behavioral technology that is proven to increase desirable behaviors while reducing problematic behavior in children, if used correctly. There are many Child Behavior Improvement Programs © to choose from. Each program focuses on a single desirable (good) behavior that children learn to perform in place of an undesirable or problematic behavior. By helping children increase desirable behaviors that replace unwanted behaviors, children stop engaging in undesirable or problematic behaviors.
Note: If a childcare provider hired a psychologist to develop similar behavior improvement programs to use in her childcare, it would cost thousands of dollars. However, through DayCarePro.com, childcare providers are able to access child behavior improvement programs for pennies!
Behavior Improvement Programs Are Positive
DayCarePro.com Child Behavior Improvement Programs © use positive, reinforcing strategies to improve children’s behavior. The behavior programs never use negative or harmful methods to reduce undesirable behaviors in children. By focusing on increasing positive behaviors, children feel good about themselves as they improve their behavior. This way, children never get yelled at, scolded, or punished from adults as a way of trying to improve the child’s behavior.
Programs Have Three Parts
Each Child Behavior Improvement Program © is individualized for every child and has three parts. They include:
(1) detailed, step-by-step instructions explaining how to use the Child Behavior Improvement Program ©,
(2) behavior charts that are completed by the child to monitor progress and reach goals, and
(3) coloring sheets that show the positive behavior the child is learning to perform.
Young Children’s Brains
Children’s brains are still developing. Because of this, the part of their brains (the frontal lobe) that automatically remind them to do new behaviors does not work as well as it will in a few years. As a result, children under the age of five need constant reminders to do things that adults want them to do. By giving children coloring sheets and reward charts to complete, children receive constant reminders to do the desired behavior without needing to be reminded or nagged by adults.
Children love to color DayCarePro.com behavior improvement coloring sheets. When they have finished, children are proud of their work and want to show everyone around them what they have done. Coloring sheets can be hung up at the childcare and at the child’s home. Not only does the child feel proud and receive recognition, having the picture hung up serves as a constant reminder to the child that he should perform the desired behavior.
What to Say to Parents
When childcare providers need to talk to parents about difficulty their child is having at childcare, it can be very stressful. However, a childcare provider can turn the situation into a positive experience for everyone involved, and at the same time gain respect and trust from the parents. This is a time for leadership and professionalism on behalf of the childcare provider. The childcare provider should tell the parents about her concerns without blaming the child or parents for the child’s behavioral difficulties. The childcare provider can then tell the parents not to worry because she knows how to improve the situation. The childcare provider can tell the parents she subscribes to DayCarePro.com and uses their Child Behavior Improvement Programs ©, which is a positive way of teaching children healthy behaviors to replace the behavior that is causing the child trouble.
Parents Are Encouraged to Use the Programs at Home
Since childcare providers can give parents access to the DayCarePro.com Parent Section, parents are able to use the Child Behavior Improvement Program © at home. DayCarePro.com recommends parents to do this for several reasons:
1) A child’s behavior is more likely to improve if the child works on doing the new behaviors at childcare and at home.
2) A child’s behavior will improve faster if the parents are also working on improving the child’s behavior at home.
3) By using the DayCarePro.com Child Behavior Improvement Program ©, the parents and childcare provider will be using the same approach to help the child and will not unintentionally do things to hurt each others efforts and the child’s progress.
4) Getting the parents involved in helping their child will help them become better parents (no matter how good they already are) and will strengthen their bond with their child as well as the childcare provider.
Use a Behavior Improvement Program © as a Theme for all Childcare Children
Sometimes parents may be concerned that their child will “stand out” or “appear bad” to others if they are using one of the DayCarePro.com Behavior Improvement Programs ©. There are several ways to handle this type of situation.
1) One way to handle the situation is for the childcare provider to tell the parents that having their child use a behavior improvement program is nothing to worry about. It is not a big deal. Many children use such programs.
2) A second way for the childcare provider to handle the situation is to use the Child Behavior Improvement Program © on all of the children at childcare. In this way, the program is used as a theme throughout the childcare and no single child stands out. This is a great way to handle things because many of the children at the childcare may benefit from the Behavior Improvement Program ©!
Childcare Contract ©
Childcare providers usually have to write their own childcare contracts. This can be difficult because childcare contracts need to cover many things, such as: legal issues, policies that childcare providers intend to use, childcare rates, payment due dates, late fees, what to do in case of emergencies, issues pertaining to sick children, snow days, sick days, vacation days, and much more.
It is very difficult to write a childcare contract that is: professional, thorough, protects childcare providers from legal problems and from being taken advantage of by parents, but at the same time is easy to read and perceived as being fair by parents.
DayCarePro.com has a contract that childcare providers can reference when writing or modifying their own contracts. Our contract covers 29 important areas of childcare. Even experienced childcare providers can learn something from the DayCarePro.com Childcare Contract ©. Since the DayCarepro.com contract is made available to members as a Microsoft Word document, childcare providers can save the contract as a Microsoft Word document on their computers. They can then modify it as needed and use it as their own childcare contract, or copy and paste parts of it in to their existing contracts.
DayCarePro.com has also made a Childcare Contract Cover Letter © available. The cover letter should be given to parents when the childcare provider and parents meet to go over the contract. The cover letter is important and serves two purposes:
First, it allows the childcare provider to give the parents a bit of personal information about herself, such as family history, professional training, work history, etc. This is a nice way for childcare providers to let parents know they are competent as well as easy to get along with. This also gets the parents in a non-defensive mood. This is then an ideal time to go through the childcare contract.
Second, the Childcare Cover Letter © allows childcare providers to present some personal information about themselves, while keeping the childcare provider’s personal life separate from the childcare contract. Going over the childcare contract is a time for presenting business information and not personal information.
Conference Forms ©
After a child has been attending your home or center childcare for awhile, DayCarePro.com recommends that you have a conference with the parent(s). It is recommended that you have a conference with parents every six months and at least once a year. The purpose of the conference is to see how much the child has grown in all areas of life, as well as to identify areas the child may not be making adequate progress in. DayCarePro.com’s Conference Forms © can be completed in five minutes. The forms make it easy for you to communicate with parents about how their child is doing in all areas of life. TheConference Forms © collect information about children’s language, motor, sensory, social, emotional, mood, and self-care development as well as diet/eating, and sleep information.
Information collected on the Conference Forms © will allow you to know where the child is at developmentally, identify any special needs the child may have, and will allow you to provide appropriate care for the child.
Information on the Conference Forms © has the same format as the Getting to Know You Forms ©. So, during your first conference with parents after their child began receiving your care, you can compare the information on the Getting to Know You Form © with the information on the Conference Form ©. Comparing results on the forms lets you and the parents see how much their child has developed, matured, grown, and learned since you began taking care of their child.
Similar to comparing Getting to Know You Forms © with Conference Forms ©, you can compare previous Conference Forms © with the current Conference Form © to show parents how much their child has matured, as well as identify areas of concern. When the parents see the progress their child has made, it makes you look competent, professional and a real asset to their child and family!
The Conference Forms © collect developmental information that pediatricians and physicians frequently do not have time to collect. However, they love to see this type of information if it is available to them. For this reason, we encourage parents to take copies of the Conference Forms © to their children’s pediatricians and physicians during checkups. This will help the doctors quickly understand where the child is developmentally, and if the child is behind in any areas of development. Being able to provide this information to physicians and the medical community makes childcare providers look very professional and competent.
Continuing Education Courses
Childcare providers in many states need to take courses to earn continuing education credits so they can renew their childcare licenses. However, many of these courses are expensive and are offered at night or on weekends. Childcare providers put in long hours each day taking care of children. The last thing they want to do is leave their home to spend their personal time taking courses. Further, paying for continuing education courses can be financially burdensome for childcare providers.
To give childcare providers an alternative to spending their hard earned money and personal time taking continuing education courses away from home, DayCarePro.com offers continuing education courses online. This way, childcare providers can earn continuing education credits for license renewal for free whenever they want without leaving their homes!
Getting to Know You Forms ©
When a child begins attending your home- or center-based childcare, you typically know very little about the child. The quickest way to get to know the child well is to complete a Getting to Know You Form ©. You can complete a Getting to Know You Form © by having the parent help you fill a form out. Or, you can have the parent fill out a form at their home and return it to you when it is complete.
There are seven Getting to Know You Forms ©. Each covers one year of child development. The forms collect information in all areas of development (language, motor, sensory, social, emotional, mood, and self-care) as well as medical, diet/eating, family, and sleep information. The Getting to Know You Forms © make it easy for you to communicate with parents about how their child is doing in all areas of life.
Information collected on the Getting to Know You Forms © will allow you to know where the child is at developmentally, identify any special needs the child may have (medical, diet, mood, etc.), and will allow you to provide appropriate care for the child immediately when she or he starts receiving childcare at your home or facility.
Information on the Getting to Know You Form © has the same format as the Conference Forms ©. So, if you have periodic conferences with a parent (we recommend having a conference every six weeks), you can compare the information on the Getting to Know You Form © with the information on the Conference Form ©. Comparing results on the forms lets you and the parents see how much their child has developed, matured, grown, and learned since you began taking care of their child. When the parents see the progress their child has made, it makes you look very professional and good at your job!
The Getting to Know You Forms © collect developmental information that pediatricians and physicians frequently do not have time to collect. However, they love to see this type of information if it is available to them. For this reason, we encourage parents to take copies of the Getting to Know You Forms © and Conference Forms © to their children’s pediatricians and physicians during checkups. This will help the doctors quickly understand where the child is developmentally, and if the child is behind in any areas of development. Being able to provide this information to physicians and the medical community makes childcare providers look very professional and competent.
Illness Resource Center ©
Common Problem: Sick Children Attending Childcare
Confusion often occurs between parents and childcare providers when it comes to children being sick and attending childcare. Several common areas of confusion include:
a) how severe a child’s symptoms must be before he cannot attend childcare
b) the length of time a child must stay away from childcare upon becoming ill
c) parents not understanding the rules childcare providers have about children being sick and attending childcare
Another area of frustration for childcare providers has to do with parents not wanting to miss work because their children “are not very sick”, even though they still have some mild symptoms or are within the illness’s incubation period. Because their children “do not appear very sick”, it is not uncommon for parents to give them Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or another fever reducing medication so their children feel better and do not appear sick. The parents then take their children to childcare so they can go to work. The reality is, children showing any signs of illness or who are within an illness’s incubation period should not attend childcare. When childcare providers remind parents of this, parents often respond by stating they are unaware of such rules, even though the childcare provider previously told the parents about the rules. DayCarePro.com can help.
Problem Solved: Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? © Manual
To solve problems like those described above, DayCarePro.com has developed the Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? © manual. The manual lists:
- 32 common childhood illnesses
- illness symptoms and signs
- illness incubation periods
- the amount of time a sick child must not attend childcare
DayCarePro.com recommends that the Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? © manual is used by childcare providers as a policy to define rules about ill children and childcare attendance. The manual should be given to the parents or guardians of every child being cared for by a childcare provider. Perhaps the best time to give the manual to parents is when childcare providers enroll new children and are explaining the childcare contract to the parents. Parents should be told to keep the manual in a place where they can easily access it. They should read the manual every time they have a question about their children being sick and attending childcare.
Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? Cover Letter ©
DayCarePro.com has also developed a cover letter for the Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? © manual. The cover letter states:
- what the Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? © manual is
- why the manual is used
- the manual rules are what will be used to determine when children can attend childcare and when they must stay home due to illness
Parents who receive the cover letter and Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? © manual find it very difficult to claim they are unaware of the rules about when their child cannot attend childcare because of illness. This manual is very handy and effective at keeping sick children away from childcare and at home where they belong until they are completely illness-free.
Time / Money Savings: Have Parents Print Own Manual
To make things easier for childcare providers, they can give the Am I Sick? Can I Go to Childcare? Cover Letter © to parents and then tell them they must go to the DayCarePro.com Parent Section and print a copy of the manual for their records. This saves childcare providers time and money because childcare providers do not have to print the manual and consequently do not need to use their own printer paper and ink.
Illness Notification Letter ©
Since many illnesses are very contagious, a child who is sick at childcare can cause all the other children at childcare, as well as the childcare provider and her family, to catch the illness. It is thus very important to let each parent know when a child at childcare has become sick as well as what the illness is and symptoms are. This way, all parents can look for signs and symptoms of the illness in their children and respond as needed. By alerting all parents about illnesses at childcare, parents can respond promptly to signs their children are becoming sick and can keep their children at home until they get better. This minimizes the spread of communicable diseases and helps childcare providers offer the healthiest environment for the children they take care of.
Lice Management System ©
The DayCarePro.com Lice Management System © should be used by childcare providers immediately after a child in their care is found to have head lice, or is reported to have head lice by a parent. When parents hear their children have head lice, or have been exposed to head lice at childcare, they often panic. Parents commonly know very little factual information about head lice and have many misconceptions.
Note: Every childcare is at risk of getting a head lice outbreak. All things being equal, it is not the childcare provider’s fault if a head lice outbreak occurs in her or his childcare. Nor does it mean that the childcare is dirty or unsanitary. In fact the opposite may be true. Head lice prefer to live in clean environments.
When a head lice outbreak occurs at childcare, it is a time for leadership from the childcare provider. How a childcare provider responds to a head lice outbreak is extremely important. If the childcare provider appears worried, scared, and / or uncertain of what to do to get things under control, parents will react in much the same way. However, if the childcare provider appears calm, confident, and knows how to respond to a lice outbreak, parents feel at ease, will respect the childcare provider, and will be impressed by the childcare provider’s ability to handle the situation.
The DayCarePro.com Lice Management System © allows childcare providers to demonstrate good leadership in a time of crisis. Using our system, childcare providers can respond quickly, calmly, and effectively when a head lice outbreak occurs. The DayCarePro.com Lice Management System © has easy to read information sheets for childcare providers and handouts for parents allowing childcare providers to:
- notify parents that a child at childcare has head lice
- know what to say to parents of children who have head lice
- know what to say to parents whose children do not have head lice
- answer common questions that parents have about head lice
- provide important facts about head lice, including head lice symptoms
- tell parents exactly what to do to examine their children for head lice
- provide instructions for parents about treating head lice
- provide instructions for parents about monitoring their children for head lice
- provide instructions for parents about how to sanitize their homes
- provide parent instructions about how to sanitize children’s clothing and personal items
- tell parents when their children can return to childcare
- know how to clean and sanitize their home childcares or center-based childcares
The DayCarePro.com Lice Management System © has three parts.
What To Do If A Child In Your Care Has Head Lice © pamphlet
Childcare providers should read this pamphlet before a child in their care is found to have head lice. This way, they will know how to use the DayCarePro.com Lice Management System © and will not waste time learning how to use the system when a lice outbreak occurs.
- Provides a step-by-step explanation of how to use the DayCarePro.com Lice Management System ©
Parent Health Advisory: Lice Alert © form
Give this form to all parents immediately after head lice is detected. It tells parents:
- everything they need to know about head lice
- how to protect their children from getting head lice
- how and when to examine their children for head lice
- how to sanitize their home, furniture, personal items, etc.
Parent Health Advisory: Your Child Has Head Lice © form
Give this form to parents of children who have head lice immediately after head lice is detected. It tells them:
- everything they need to know about head lice
- how to treat their children to get rid of head lice
- how and when to examine their children for head lice
- how to sanitize their homes, furniture, and personal items
- how to sanitize their children’s clothing and personal items
- when their children can return to childcare
Membership Certificate ©
DayCarePro.com members can print an official DayCarePro.com Membership Certificate ©. Certificates are official in appearance and may be hung in childcare providers’ homes where parents can see them. Some childcare providers hang their certificates near their licenses.
By displaying a DayCarePro.com Membership Certificate ©, you are letting parents know you use professional tools and resources so you can provide the best care possible for their children. Displaying the certificate lets parents know you are a professional they can trust, rely on, and go to for answers when they have questions about their children.
Parents Owe You Money: How to Take Them to Conciliation Court ©
It is common for parents to stop taking their child to a home childcare provider without fully paying their bill. This often happens in two ways:
1) Parents quit taking their child to a home childcare provider and have not fully paid their bill for time their child was already taken care of by the provider.
2) Parents stop taking their child to the home childcare without giving a two week notice to the provider and without paying for the two weeks, even though the childcare contract states that: a) parents must give a two week notice before taking their child out of a provider’s care, and b) they must pay for these two weeks even if their child stops coming to the home childcare during this time.
To help home childcare providers get paid by parents who have not fully paid their bills, DayCarePro.com developed a manual just for home childcare providers. The manual describes in detail everything a home childcare provider needs to know to take a parent to court, as well as how to prepare for court.
The manual is thorough, and starts out by showing childcare providers how to write a letter (called a demand letter) to parents demanding that they pay their bill. The demand letter puts a lot of pressure on parents to pay their outstanding bill. This is because it describes unpleasant actions that will be taken and consequences that may occur if they do not pay their bill (legal consequences, damage to credit, liens against property, public humiliation, added expense resulting from legal fees, and so on). Often times, parents pay their outstanding bill after receiving the demand letter. If they do not, then the manual can be used to guide childcare providers through the process of taking them to conciliation court. The manual also tells childcare providers what they should do to become well-prepared for court as well as what to do and say while in court.
Last, the manual provides step-by-step information for childcare providers about how to collect their money after winning a conciliation hearing.
Potty Training Program ©
The DayCarePro.com Potty Training Program © should be used by childcare providers and parents to potty train children. Most childcare providers are very skilled at potty training children. However, many times parents are not. It is not uncommon for childcare providers to work hard all week potty training a child, only to find out that the parents have done such things as:
(a) put their child in a diaper at night because they are too tired to potty train after work,
(b) go on weekend trips or short vacations and stop potty training their child because it is inconvenient to do so, and
(c) use different techniques for potty training than their childcare provider is using.
Parents who do these types of things undo the progress their childcare provider has made potty training their child. This creates a very frustrating situation.
The DayCarePro.com Potty Training Program © addresses this problem. It makes parents get involved in their children’s potty training by having them work as a team with their childcare provider. It uses research-based behavioral techniques for parents and childcare providers to use to teach their children how to use the toilet. This makes the program very effective and minimizes the time needed to potty train children.
The DayCarePro.com Potty Training Program © has three parts.
Childcare Provider Instructions: DayCarePro.com Potty Training Program ©
Read the instructions prior to using the DayCarePro.com Potty Training Program ©.
- The instructions are simple and provide a step-by-step explanation of how to use the Potty Training Program ©
Parent Handout: DayCarePro.com Potty Training Program ©
Give this form to parents when considering potty training their child. The handout discusses:
- signs that a child is ready to potty train
- Golden Rules of Potty Training, i.e., importance of the childcare provider, patience, and consistency
- eight research-based steps that parents and childcare providers use as a team to potty train their child
Parent-Childcare Provider Agreement: DayCarePro.com Potty Training Program ©
Complete this form with parents before starting to potty train their child. The form allows parents and childcare providers to agree on important potty training issues such as:
- how the child will use the toilet
- rewards that are acceptable to give to their child
- how frequent their child will be placed on the toilet
- what the child will wear during different stages of potty training
- words that will be used to talk to their child about potty training, e.g., “poopy”, “potty”, etc.
- the importance of parents following through on potty training their child after work, during weekends, on trips, etc.
- and much more
School Readiness Assessment Program ©
School readiness is a “hot topic“ in America. School readiness has to do with how well prepared a child is to start school. Although everyone agrees that school readiness is important, it is not well defined. There is no single definition of school readiness. Because of this, it is defined differently across agencies and educational institutions. DayCarePro.com uses the following definition of school readiness. School readiness refers to how prepared a child is to start kindergarten in the areas of reading, writing math, general knowledge, and social competence.
The American government is pushing the idea of getting children well-prepared to start kindergarten. This is important because the American education system is not keeping pace with education systems in other developed countries. It makes sense that if America’s education system is to catch up with other countries, it will have to do so, in part, by making sure that children at large possess certain skills preparing them to learn when they begin kindergarten. Making sure kids have this set of educational skills is what we call “school readiness”.
DayCarePro.com’s School Readiness Assessment Program ©
DayCarePro.com has a school readiness assessment program that assesses 15 areas of school readiness:
- 6 areas of math school readiness
- 4 areas of writing school readiness
- 3 areas of reading school readiness
- 2 areas of general knowledge school readiness
It is recommended that the School Readiness Assessment Program is administered to a child 12 to six months before the child starts kindergarten. This way there is time for the child to catch up in areas that she may be behind in before starting kindergarten. It does not matter how old the child is when she is given the assessment program. Since these are the skills the child is expected to have upon starting kindergarten, the child’s age does not matter.
Each area of school readiness can be assessed in five minutes or less. Every area that is assessed has a benchmark children should meet before going to kindergarten. If a child meets all 15 of the benchmarks, then he is considered school-ready. However, if the child does not meet benchmark in one or more areas, then he should work on skills needed to meet the benchmark(s). For example, in the Pre-Math Skills: Identifying Patterns © assessment, children must be able to identify three out of four patterns in order to be considered school-ready in pattern recognition.
If the child is able to identify three or four patterns, great! However, if the child is not able to identify at least three patterns, the child should work on identifying patterns until he is able to identify at least three of the patterns on the Pre-Math Skills: Identifying Patterns © assessment.
Many Good Things About The School Readiness Assessment Program ©
First, children absolutely love to take the DayCarePro.com School Readiness Assessments ©. They think that it is a game and like the attention they receive from the childcare provider of parent who is administering it to them.
Second, parents are able to give the assessment to their children. This takes some of the burden off childcare providers.
Third, there is no need to give all 15 assessments. Childcare providers and parents can administer any of the assessments they would like. Also, there is no need to give all 15 of the assessments to a child on the same day. Any number of assessments can be given at any time, making the assessment process extremely flexible.
Fourth, the assessment results are scored on the School Readiness Report Card ©. The School Readiness Report Card © creates a profile that allows childcare providers, parents, teachers, and others to see a child’s strengths (areas where the child reached benchmark) as well as areas the child needs to improve in (areas the child did not reach benchmark in) to be considered school-ready.
Fifth, being able to identify a child’s strengths and weaknesses allows childcare providers and parents to work on areas with the child that she did not reach benchmark. Time is saved because you can focus on improving areas of weakness and less time working on areas of strength.
Sixth, the school readiness assessment program collects very specific school readiness information on children that school teachers do not usually get. Even kindergarten screenings conducted by public school districts do not typically gather such extensive information. This is because the DayCarePro.com School Readiness Assessment Program © collects specific information directly related to curriculum.
Seventh, the School Readiness Report Card © can be shared with preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers. Teachers love to see how children perform on the 15 School Readiness Assessments ©. This is because the results show them specific areas of strengths and weaknesses. Since the result show teachers exactly where children are behind, teachers know precisely what to work on in order to help children catch up. Note: this is a particularly important point. Results should always be shared with children’s preschool and kindergarten teachers so teachers can help children excel in areas of strength and catch up in areas of weakness.
Eighth, using the School Readiness Assessment Program © makes childcare providers look like competent professionals. Parents and teachers are impressed when they see the School Readiness Report Card ©. Childcare providers who use the School Readiness Assessment Program © also impress childcare licensing staff, particularly because there is pressure on childcare provides to engage in school readiness activities with the children they take care of.
Whose Job is it to Get Children “School-Ready”?
Whose job is it to get children ready for kindergarten? This may be answered by being practical. Parents generally have little idea about what school readiness is. Even if they understood the concept of school readiness, it is unlikely that they would know how to go about building the pre-education skills that prepare children for success in kindergarten. Also, parents generally work during the day and take care of family matters at night, so they have relatively little time available to engage in school readiness activities even if they wanted to and had the resources to do it.
A 2005 study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Human Services found that 69% of Minnesota children ages birth to five have both parents in the workforce (Child Care Action Campaign, 1999). Also, 77% of Minnesota children spent the year before kindergarten in a childcare or early childhood setting. So, being realistic, if the American government wants children to have a standard set of educational skills before they start kindergarten, it appears that the burden of getting children prepared to start kindergarten falls upon childcare providers. Again, this is because most children (at least in Minnesota) spend time in a childcare setting the year before they start kindergarten.
Childcare Providers and School Readiness
Childcare providers are receiving pressure to get children prepared to start kindergarten. However, most childcare providers do not have degrees in education. This creates a problem in two ways. First, since the concept of “school readiness” is not well defined, childcare providers may not know what skills children should have to be school-ready. Second, since childcare providers generally do not have teaching backgrounds, they may not know how to teach children the educational skills needed to be considered school-ready. DayCarePro.com can help!
Self-Help Skills Programs ©
Self-Help Skills Programs ©
DayCarePro.com has Child Self-Help Skills Programs © designed to help children learn to engage in adaptive behaviors allowing them to take care of themselves throughout the day. Examples of adaptive self-help behaviors include doing the following things without help from an adult:
- Buttoning a shirt or sweater
- Hanging up a coat after taking it off
- Keeping food on the plate while eating
- Putting an a coat
- Putting on a hat
- Putting on mittens
- Putting on shoes
- Putting shoes away
- Picking up toys
- Putting dishes in the sink after eating
- Washing hands after using the toilet
- Zipping a coat
Childcare providers and parents spend a lot of time during the day helping their children take care of such tasks. Many times, children need help with these tasks at inconvenient times, which puts a lot of stress on childcare providers and parents. For example, a child may need help putting on her coat, hat, and mittens during a time that all of the children at childcare are going outside to play. Since many children are going outside at the same time, they all get dressed to go outdoors at the same time. Childcare providers can only help one child at a time. While helping a child get dressed to go outside, other children who also want help commonly whine, repeatedly yell for help, cry, and sometimes have behavioral outburst. This puts a lot of pressure on the childcare provider who is doing the best she can do to get the children ready to go outdoors.
Children who can take care of their own daily-living needs are really appreciated by childcare providers and parents because they reduce stress in the childcare and at home. All normally developing children eventually learn to perform self-help tasks that allow them to get through their busy days independently. However, many children do not learn these skills as early as they could. This is because parents and childcare providers may not:
(a) be aware that children can learn self-help skills at very young ages
(b) have the time to teach their children how to perform self-help skills
(c) know how to teach their children how to perform self-help skills
DayCarePro.com can help! DayCarePro.com Child Self-Help Skills Programs © are designed by psychologist Thomas Wolfe, PhD. The programs use research-based behavioral technology that is proven to increase self-help behaviors in children if used correctly. There are many Child Self-Help Skills Programs © to choose from. Each program focuses on a single self-help skill / behavior that children learn to perform.
Note: If a childcare provider hired a psychologist to develop similar child self-help skills programs to use in her childcare, it would cost thousands of dollars. However, through DayCarePro.com, childcare providers are able to access child self-help skills programs for pennies!
Self-Help Skills Programs Are Positive
DayCarePro.com Child Self-Help Skills Programs © use positive, reinforcing strategies to teach children self-help skills. The self-help skills programs never use negative or harmful methods to teach self-help skills to children. By using positive ways to teach children skills to take care of their daily-living needs, they feel good about themselves. The children become better able to take care of their own needs throughout the day and rely less on adults, which is great for their self-esteem!
Programs Have Three Parts
Each Child Self-Help Skill Program © is individualized for every child and has three parts. They include:
(1) detailed, step-by-step instructions explaining how to use the Child Self-Help Skill Program ©,
(2) self-help skill charts that are completed by the child to monitor progress and reach goals, and
(3) coloring sheets that show the self-help skills the child is learning to perform.
Young Children’s Brains
Children’s brains are still developing. Because of this, the part of their brains (the frontal lobe) that automatically remind them to do new behaviors does not work as well as it will in a few years. As a result, children under the age of five need constant reminders to do things that adults want them to do. By giving children coloring sheets and reward charts to complete, children receive constant reminders to do the new self-help behaviors without needing to be reminded or nagged by adults.
Children love to color DayCarePro.com self-help skill coloring sheets. When they have finished, children are proud of their work and want to show everyone around them what they have done. Coloring sheets can be hung up at the childcare and at the child’s home. Not only does the child feel proud and receive recognition, having the picture hung up serves as a constant reminder to the child that she should perform the self-help behavior throughout the day.
Parents Are Encouraged to Use the Programs at Home
Childcare providers should encourage parents to use the Child Self-Help Skills Programs © at home. Whenever possible, it is best for childcare providers and parents to work as a team. Since childcare providers can give parents access to the DayCarePro.com Parent Section, parents are able to use the Child Self-Help Skills Programs © at home. DayCarePro.com recommends parents to do this for several reasons:
1) A child is more likely to learn new skills and behaviors if the child works on doing the new skills and behaviors at childcare and at home. Practice makes permanent!
2) A child will learn new skills and behaviors much faster if the parents are also working on improving the child’s behavior at home. Practice makes perfect!
3) By using the DayCarePro.com Child Self-Help Skills Programs ©, the parents and childcare provider will be using the same approach to help the child and will not unintentionally do things to hurt each others efforts and the child’s progress.
4) Getting the parents involved in helping their child will help them become better parents (no matter how good they already are) and will strengthen their bond with their child as well as the childcare provider.
Use a Child Self-Help Skills Program © as a Theme for all Childcare Children
Sometimes parents may be concerned that their child will “stand out” or “appear bad” to others if their child is using one of the DayCarePro.com Self-Help Skills Programs ©. There are several ways to handle such a situation.
1) One way to handle the situation is for the childcare provider to tell the parents that having their child use a self-help skills program is nothing to worry about. It is not a big deal. Many children use such programs.
2) A second way for the childcare provider to handle the situation is to use the Child Self-Help Skills Program © on all of the children at childcare. In this way, the program is used as a theme throughout the childcare and no single child stands out. This is a great way to handle things because many of the children at the childcare may benefit from learning new self-help skills!
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