It is hard to disagree that early childhood development plays a significant role in the whole future life of a kid. Since parents may be busy with work, they do not always have much time to teach their sons and daughters some necessary skills, so it is our child care facility’s purpose to do that. The program of our center for preschoolers (three to five years) is focused on ensuring and maintaining the health, safety, and nutrition of all children enrolled. Our center’s indoor and outdoor environments are kept sanitary, safe, and secure, and our prerogative is to keep a professional, benevolent, welcoming, and trustworthy atmosphere. All the lessons we develop are engaging, fun, play-based, and age-appropriate, so children can play and learn. Our center admits and supports the importance of providing safe learning environments, and all its efforts are aimed at achieving this purpose.
Location, Space, and Security of the Child Care Facility
Our child care facility is located almost in the city center in a quiet place surrounded by various city playgrounds and parks. There is a good hospital within walking distance from our facility, so professional and timely medical help is guaranteed. The center’s outside environment contains our own outdoor play area, sports ground, and a small park. In our facility, there are non-contact sanitizers at the entrance to each room for children, parents, and other visitors. When the kids go for a walk or to class, empty rooms are ventilated, and complex cleaning is performed; also, caregivers wipe all surfaces and wash floors with disinfectant. To enter our center, everyone needs to pass the security counter, where the guards always ask strangers to show their ID and name the reason for the visit. That is why the stay of children in our center is entirely safe.
The Interior Environment of the Center
The center’s inner space is thought out carefully and to the smallest detail because we understand that all children are different, and we must be ready for anything. Moreover, safety is our priority, so we always monitor who enters the center and never let neither parents nor strangers go beyond the hallway. Precisely the hallway is the second room (after the security point) that our visitors enter. There, the kids have the opportunity to change clothes, leave things in lockers, and say goodbye to their parents. Further, in our center, we have two classrooms with comfortable desks and blackboards for different hobby groups, including learning foreign languages in a playful way, modeling from plasticine, and drawing. In addition, there is a playroom with various board and other games, and a room with coaches and beds where children can sleep.
Indoor Lessons
Indoor Lesson Title: “Very Different Food”
During this lesson related to nutrition and health, the children will learn different types of food, including healthy and junk. First, the educators ask the kids some leading questions about food and meals, such as “what do you usually eat for breakfast?” and “do your parents allow you to eat a lot of candy and why?”. Then, we show some pictures of nutritious and junk food and ask the children do differentiate between them. After that, there is an active game where the kids have to name a type of meal or food and throw a small and soft ball to someone. He or she has to catch it if the named food was healthy or let the ball fall if it was harmful. Following this lesson, the children are expected to differentiate between nutritious and junk meals and explain why it is dangerous to eat fast food often.
Indoor Lesson Title: “Safety, Safety, Safety!”
The purpose of this both serious and play-based lesson is to teach the children how to interact with strangers. After watching interactive and educating cartoons (one is about the safety at home and another is about the streets, ten minutes each), the educators ask several kids to stand up and participate in a scene. One educator acts as a stranger and asks the children to tell about their homes, parents, and other personal information, while the other teaches the kids how to behave correctly and stay secured. After each child has participated several times, the whole group repeats the basic rules. Following this lesson, the kids are expected to know how to act if a stranger tries to take them away, break into their homes, or learn their personal information.
Outdoor Lessons
Outdoor Lesson Title: “The Language of the Road”
This lesson aims to promote the kids’ safety and teach them how to understand the language of the road. Three educators take the kids outside to the nearest road and explain how to watch out for the car and see the road signs. They also tell where it is allowed to cross the road and what to do if a vehicle is approaching fast. The educators have special materials, including toy cars and road signs, to demonstrate the kids some common road situations. To ensure that the children understand everything, we teach them how to cross a road correctly while being alone, with a friend, with a parent, and a group of other kids together with an adult. After this lesson, the kids are expected to know how to behave near and on the carriageway.
Outdoor Lesson Title: “The Obstacle Course”
Our coach and educator take the children to the center’s sports ground and tell them about the necessity of exercising. The sports ground is organized according to the description of an appropriate outdoor environment (“The outdoor environment: Designing for learning,” 2020). After learning the reasons for the importance of sports, the kids start the obstacle course. It is a fun-based lesson where the children may run and jump as much as they want. As for safety, there is always a nurse who can provide medical assistance. After his lesson, the children are expected to learn several new exercises and explain why the sport is necessary.
If a Child is with Special Needs
It is an honor for our center to say that we never discriminate the kids based on their health, and we do our best to improve our lessons so that they are appropriate for everyone. For instance, in our center, there is a child psychologist who knows sign language and can help a kid with partial deafness feel equal with others in the group. If such a kid joins our center, the lesson “Very Different Food” may be adapted to this child’s special needs. In other words, the child psychologist will join the class and assist the kid in hearing and understanding the discussions. The time for questions and answers will be added so that the child with hearing loss does not feel stressed. During the active game with the ball, the child psychologist will also help this kid.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, we can say that when planning the lessons, our primary purpose was to promote health among the children. We understand that it is challenging for preschoolers to perceive severe and necessary information, that is why all our lessons are fun-based, engaging, and age-appropriate. After completing all of them, the children are guaranteed to increase their understanding of the topics related to health, safety, and nutrition.
Reference
The outdoor environment: Designing for learning. (2020). Virtual Lab School. Web.