Admission Procedure: An interview and tour of my preschool classroom will be completed prior to your child being accepted into the preschool. If after the interview and tour we feel that my preschool will be a good fit, you will need to provide the following information prior to or on your child’s first day of school: registration form with emergency medical authorization, contact information for parents/guardians and emergency contact, immunization record, health care information and plan (if applicable). Children will be admitted to preschool on a first come, first serve basis. Their spot will be secure once I receive a $30.00 non-refundable registration/supply fee and signed registration papers. All children need to be four years old before October 1, to be able to attend the 4/5 year old class. All children need to be three years old before September 1 and potty trained to attend the 3/4 year old class.
Children will be released only to persons listed on their enrollment/registration form. Anyone not known to me will be asked to provide an ID. If you have an emergency and need someone not listed on the enrollment form to pick up your child you will need to call and give verbal authorization. That person will need to show ID. If someone attempts to pick up your child and they are not authorized, 911 will be called. A parent has the right to pick up their child whether they are listed on the enrollment form or not, unless a court order does not allow for this. I will need to have a copy of any court orders. If you or any other person arrives to pick up a child and appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, I will encourage you to let me call someone to come get you. If you leave with your child I will call 911 and report you.
The front door will be locked until 5 minutes before class time. Please make sure that your child is in my house and that you have signed them in before you leave. Try to arrive on time as it disrupts class when you are late and it makes it harder for your child. If you do arrive late, please make sure that you child has made it downstairs to our classroom and that you have signed them in before you leave. If for some reason you need to pick-up your child early from school, make sure that you come inside the house to get them and sign them out before you leave. If at all possible please let me know if they will be leaving early so that I can plan our class projects accordingly.
We will have several field trips throughout the school year and permission slips and payment need to be received prior to the field trip. All children must provide a car seat and no vehicle will carry more than the seating capacity of that vehicle. No child will be allowed to sit in the front seat of any vehicle.
Written authorization or denial for media use including, but not limited to, videos, music, software used during preschool needs to be received prior to the beginning of preschool. All media will be used for not longer than 30 minutes each.
If at any time you need to leave the preschool program on a permanent basis a 2 week notification is necessary.
The procedure for managing a situation where children remain after the scheduled closure of the preschool and parents, guardians, or other emergency contacts cannot be reached is that the local county department of social services or police, if necessary, will be notified. I have not been approved for overnight care and cannot keep children in care beyond midnight. You will receive a bill for activities and snacks for children who remain at my home after closing.
No child will be denied admission to preschool based on special needs. Services will be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I do accept non-immunized children (with a note of explanation). All my children and I have up to date immunizations.
If at any time I become ill, or am going out of town suddenly and cannot teach preschool, I will cancel preschool and give you at least a 24 hour notification. A substitute will be available in emergency situations. You will be required to pick-up your child in a timely manner
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Children will never be exposed to second hand smoke in the home or car. If visitors to the home smoke they will not be allowed to smoke in the home or yard.
In the event that we have an emergency that causes evacuation, there is an emergency kit in my van that contains food, water, and emergency numbers for the children. If you arrive at the home and no one is there due to an emergency we will be at the church across Research at 8610 Scarborough. If that location is not safe the backup location is Albertsons on Research and Union. For emergencies that require that we take shelter in the home there is an emergency preparedness kit in the basement that contains food, water, flashlights and activities.
Suspected or known child abuse should be reported to El Paso County at 444-5700.
Complaints about a Family Child Care Home can be made to the Division of Child Care at (303)866-3755 or 1-800-799-5876, 1575 Sherman St. Denver, CO 80203. The official rules regulating Family Child Care Homes can be obtained at the Division of Child Care 1575 Sherman St. Denver, CO 80203, or at www.cdhs.state.so.us/childcare or www.sos.state.co.us/CCR
I regularly receive emails updating me on current recalls. I regularly check my equipment for safety and value any input and knowledge you may have.
All children will play outside daily, weather permitting. The amount of time will depend on the weather and the day. There will be times when the weather extremes will keep us inside. I will provide sunscreen and all parents need to sign an authorization form for the use of sunscreen.
It is necessary to walk your child into school each morning and sign him or her in, using the clipboard that is placed on the counter. It is not necessary to ring the doorbell or knock when entering my home, please just walk right in. Please understand that we have a very tight schedule and it is important to be on time. If your running late, please walk your child down stairs to our classroom and make sure that I know they have arrived. When picking up your child you must be on time. If you are running late, please call me and let me know, leave a message if necessary. If I find that you have been late picking up your child more than two times, on the third time you will be charged a late fee of $1.00 a minute.
Our daily schedule will be pretty similar each day. The average day will look something like this:
9:00 – 9:25 Play and wait for everyone to get to preschool. Let the children have some time for socialization and time to talk about what they have been doing.
9:25 – 9:45 Circle Time – During Circle Time we will talk about our theme for the day, read a book, sing songs, and do “show and tell” on Friday. We will also have calendar time, talk about the weather, review letters and numbers. Talk about our jobs and do the “pledge of allegiance".
9:45 – 10:00 Science/Math/Reading Activity – This activity will introduce your child to different concepts in science, math, or basic reading readiness skills. Depending on the day and the theme will be doing simple science experiments, cooking, acting, etc.
10:00 –10:15 Snack Time – A snack assignment list will be included with each newsletter. Please have your child bring a healthy snack on his assigned day. Snacks will follow USDA regulations and I will provide other/extra food if necessary. I will inform you at the beginning of the year fi there are any allergies in your class to be aware of. I do my best to schedule your child to have snack during the week of their birthday. Please feel free to bring any kind of special treat on this day.
10:15 – 10:30 Writing – We will write letters, and some children may start to write words. We will also practice writing our names, addresses, and phone numbers.
10:30 – 10:50 Activity Time – This time will be for arts and crafts based on the theme.
10:50 – 11:10 Center Time – I will have centers located around the room with different activities based on our theme. They can stay at one center the whole time or move to other ones. Some centers will be based on creative play while others are listening to audio books or even learning to us a computer.
11:10-11:30 Clean-up/ Outside Time – We will clean-up during this time and repeat songs, talk about our theme, get “crayons” for the day, put work in back-packs, line-up, and go play outside.
The main goal for the four-year old preschool class is to prepare your child for Kindergarten. Although academic learning is very important, it is also necessary for your child to be socially and emotionally prepared. I will take all of these aspects into consideration when planning our daily themes and curriculums. We will be working on these various areas by having circle time, (which will include show and tell, calendar, weather, songs, dancing, finger plays, and stories) having brief play time with the other children, learning to share, learning personal responsibility, how to hold a pencil correctly, cutting with scissors, learning some simple sign language a using a variety of mediums for both gross and fine motor coordination.
We will focus on the alphabet and sounds. We will spend a lot of time learning how to write and begin reading. We will celebrate each holiday as they come throughout the year.
The most common form of behavior modification is positive reward. Each day that a child is being a good listener, or being kind he or she will be rewarded with a paper crayon. Once your child has three paper crayons he or she can pick a treasure from the treasure box. When disciplining is necessary, redirection or a time-out will be used. If your child continues to be a problem or is causing harm to the other children you will be notified. Normally children are very well behaved and do not need much more than a reminder of the rules.
Out of respect for the other children and their families, please do not bring your child to preschool if they are sick. If they are struggling with a fever of 101 degrees, green runny nose, croupy cough, stomach upset or diarrhea, please let them stay at home that day. If they have any of these symptoms during school, you will be called and asked to pick them up. Once they have no symptoms for at least 24 hours they can be readmitted to preschool. You will also be notified by phone of any accidents, injuries, or other emergencies and if you or I feel it is necessary you may pick up your child.
All medications that need to be stored at preschool will be locked in a box out of reach of the children and will be in compliance with the state department approved medication administration course.
We will have “show and tell” every Friday. Please remind your child to bring something to show. If they forget to bring something, I will encourage them to tell about something important to them. If the item they bring is breakable, or you are worried about something happening to it, please let me know and I will put it away after show and tell time. If they would like to bring something relating to the theme for that day, even better; I would love to use this time to reinforce what wear e learning. Please however, do not allow your child to bring other items from home, as they can cause disruption, get lost, broken, or misplaced. I cannot be responsible for items that are brought into my home. Please, do not have your child bring a toy that promotes violence.
You will receive a calendar at the beginning of each month explaining our themes and various activities for the month. We will be taking field trips at various times during the year and I will be asking for your help at these times, if necessary.
Tuition is due by the 10th of every month.
We will follow District 20’s holiday schedule for time off of school. If a snow-day or a two hour delay occurs during the school year I will follow District 20 decisions on canceling class. Due to the fact that I have no control over the weather, that I have already planned for the day, made the copies and prepared my schedule, I will still charge for the class, even if it is cancelled due to snow.
Please have your child bring a backpack to each class. It allows your child to gain more responsibility and helps make sure that all the papers and projects return home safely. Please be sure that the backpack is large enough to carry their papers.
I have learned from past experiences that an extra change of clothes is very important. Please put a full set of clothing (shirt, pants, socks, and underwear) in a gallon size zip lock bag labeled with the child’s name.
For the most part, I want your child to have fun, be happy and learn and grown during this year of preschool. This is such an exciting age and there is so much to explore. If you need to speak to me, please feel free to email me or call me. You may find it useful to write me a note. I will read it, call you or write a note back to you in response. I appreciate feedback, comments and concerns. Please call me whenever you need to talk about your child.
Thank you!!!
Rachel
