Competency Goal 1 To establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment Functional Area 1: Safe One of my goals in the functional area of safe is to prevent or reduce injuries while children are in my care. This is an important goal for the age group children in my care because young children are often not aware of hazards in the environment or of behaviors that could cause injury. One of the ways I do this is by supervising children at all times. I always make sure children are where I can see and hear them, even when they are napping.
Another way I do this is by checking the child care environment, both inside and outside, every morning before the children arrive to make sure that outlet plugs are in place, that child-safety latches are hooked, and that there are no broken toys or dangerous objects in the child care space. Outside, I check to be sure that there are no splinters, rusting equipment, or sharp pieces. Functional Area 2: Healthy One of my goals in the functional area of healthy is to prevent the spread of germs in my child care. This is an important goal for the age group children in my care because oung children do not have good control over bodily functions and germs can be easily spread when children are in such close contact with each other. One of the ways I do this is by washing my hands before and after changing a diaper, after wiping noses or cleaning up other bodily fluids, before and after handling food or bottles, after coming in from outside, and any other time my hands are dirty. I also help the children to wash their hands at similar times. Another way I do this is by washing and sanitizing all mouthed toys immediately, and other toys daily.
I also make sure each child has his/her own bedding and I wash and sanitize bedding weekly. I believe that children need a variety of healthy foods, so our program belongs to the USDA Food Program and we serve lots of fruits and vegetables. I always sit down to eat with the children to model good eating habits. Functional Area 3: Learning Environments One of my goals in the functional area of Learning Environments is provide children with many and varied opportunities for learning through play. This is an important goal for he age group children in my care because young children learn by doing, by uses their senses to gather information about the world. One of the ways I do this is by regularly observing the children in my care to see what their interests, skills, and abilities are. Then I plan activities to meet their interests and needs. Another way I do this is by setting my child care environment up in interest areas—blocks, books, art, writing, puzzles and small toys, and dress-up. I change the materials in these areas frequently, to keep the children interested in what’s going on.
