Helping Parent Information and Guidelines
Parents’ Classroom Responsibilities
- Attend orientation.
- Be prepared to work as helping parent one or two times per month. A calendar is maintained for each class by the room representative.
- On helping parent days, arrive at school by 8:45 (8:15 for 4s and 4s/5s classes). Be prepared to stay at school until 12:30 (1:00 for 4s and 4/5s classes). The time before and after class is intended for preparation and cleanup. It also allows time for teacher and parent to talk about plans or special concerns. Please dress for active participation. Expect to get as dirty as the children. Per state licensing regulations, siblings may not join the class on these days. We encourage parents with infants and toddlers to “swap” childcare with other classroom parents in the same situation. If you would like some help linking up with another parent, please ask the Director or assistant to the Director.
- Follow the teacher’s guidance on participation in the classroom.
- The helping parent is responsible for providing the snack.
- Parents are asked to sweep under snack and art tables according to teacher’s directions and to clean snack tables, countertops, and classroom sinks. Once classroom surfaces are clean, please spray with bleach water and bring the bleach bottle to the kitchen. Wash and rinse the snack dishes and spray with the remaining bleach water. Please empty the bleach bottle after you are done and stack the bottle in the basket to the left of the sink.
- All art materials, as well as inside and outside toys, should be put away for the day.
- Please check with your teacher to be sure all cleanup obligations have been met prior to leaving.
Snack
Snack
time should be an enjoyable, social time when children learn about good
nutrition (from the food selections and by observing the adults eating
nutritious foods), self-sufficiency (by doing what they can to serve
themselves), and table manners (passing food, taking turns). The
helping parent brings the snack, following these guidelines.
- The snack should consist of a protein, a fruit or vegetable, and a carbohydrate. The beverage should be water. Please refrain from bringing milk or meat for snack (per Health Department warning). Suggestions for snack are celery with peanut butter and raisins; apple slices with yogurt dip and bread; crackers, cheese and bananas; muffins, cheese, and thin carrot slices; and crackers and cherry tomatoes stuffed with cottage cheese. Snacks should be low in sugar and saturated fat and should avoid or minimize salt, artificial flavors, and food coloring.
- If cheese is not vacuum-packed, you can bring an ice pack or cooler or use the refrigerator in the kitchen. In general, the Health Department prefers that we use cheese from an unopened package and whole, washed fruit that is cut in our kitchen on a sanitary surface.
- The Co-op provides individual washable cups, plates, and napkins. Helping parents can bring spoons if appropriate for a particular snack. Snack is generally served family style. It is desirable to encourage the children to serve themselves. Consult the teacher for guidance if you are unsure.
- Especially for the younger children, avoid foods that are choking hazards, such as grapes, hot dogs, popcorn, crunchy peanut butter, nuts, and raisins.
- Snacks must be recorded on the class snack calendar provided by each room rep. At the end of each month, the calendars are filed in the office so as to be available for inspection during the annual DFPS visit.
- At the beginning of the year, the names of any children with allergies and the nature of the allergy will be posted near the snack area in each class. Parents in each class should decide how to handle the snack if there are children with food allergies. Two different approaches are (1) asking helping parents to avoid foods on the allergy list, and (2) asking parents of children with allergies to provide an appropriate snack for their child. Because very young children may have food allergies that adults are not yet aware of, licensing regulations require schools to prevent children from sharing their food with other children.
- Licensing regulations also require that the Co-op inform all enrolled families that since parents will be providing snacks for each class, the school “is not responsible for its nutritional value or for meeting the child’s daily food needs.” (Standard 746.3309)
- Birthdays and holidays are special days in the classroom, and the helping parent may wish to provide a special snack. However, the same general nutritional guidelines should be followed to minimize sweets and fats. Suggestions include fruit juice popsicles or muffins. Please check with the teacher if you are unsure about a particular food.
Suggestions for working with children
- In general, children will feel most comfortable if you can:
- Use a low voice when conversing.
- Sit on the floor or a child-sized seat so that your physical size does not overwhelm.
- Listen carefully to what children say. This indicates adult respect of their ideas and models listening behavior that the children will eventually imitate.
- Be available but not intrusive. If children are productively engaged, it’s okay to watch. Be aware that preschool-aged children learn more by doing than by talking (or listening to adults). Too much adult chatter is a distraction, and in the case of the youngest children it prevents them from practicing newfound vocabulary.
Classroom techniques that have met with success over the years
- Telling children what to do rather than what not to do. For example instead of, ”We don’t throw the toys,” a more helpful comment might be “Balls are for throwing; blocks are for building.”
- Giving choices when possible. Where compliance is necessary or expected (such as at clean-up time, on field trips, or at fire drills), use a matter-of-fact, no-nonsense tone. In some situations, a humorous approach works well.
- Giving children sincere approval when they accomplish a task that is difficult for them.
- Encouraging growth toward independence. Certainly a child’s request for help should be honored but in a way that leads him/her in the direction of self-reliance. Our goal is to help each child develop the self-esteem that comes with a sense of one’s own competence.
- Letting children know of changes in the routine. Giving notice near the end of an activity time gives children a chance to complete their projects.
- Verbally acknowledging children’s feelings. Language can serve to moderate strong emotions. Assuring children that these emotions are universal helps them to feel they have an ally in the understanding adult. Anger, frustration, hunger, fatigue, sadness, and excitement can all be part of a young child’s day.