1 Education Presented By: Catrina Glenn Education Assistant Office Work Partner Meeting September 17, 2009

2 Why Family Style Meals & Conversations With Children? Performance Standards (c) Meal service. Grantee and delegate agencies must ensure that nutritional services in centerbased settings contribute to the development and socialization of enrolled children by providing that: (c)(4) All toddlers and preschool children and assigned classroom staff, including volunteers, eat together family style and share the same menu to the extent possible;

3 Family Style Meals- Conversations with Children cont. Activities Adults encourage interesting and pleasant table conversation across a variety of topics, not only subjects related to food and nutrition. Some methods for facilitating meal time discussions include: Asking open-ended questions, modeling good listening skills, and encouraging turn-taking in conversation; and Encouraging children to compare, contrast, and classify food attributes, such as taste, texture, shape, size, and color.

4 Safety Checks- Why are they required? (a) Health emergency procedures. Grantee and delegate agencies operating centerbased programs must establish and implement policies and procedures to respond to medical and dental health emergencies with which all staff are familiar and trained. At a minimum, these policies and procedures must include: (f)(1) First aid kits. Readily available, well supplied first aid kits appropriate for the ages served and the program size must be maintained at each facility and available on outings away from the site. Each kit must be accessible to staff members at all times, but must be kept out of the reach of children (f)(2) First aid kits must be restocked after use, and an inventory must be conducted at regular intervals.

5 Safety Checks- Cont (a)(7) Grantee and delegate agencies must provide for the maintenance, repair, safety, and security of all Early Head Start and Head Start facilities, materials and equipment (a)(10)(iv) Rooms are well lit and provide emergency lighting in the case of power failure; (a)(10)(v) Approved, working fire extinguishers are readily available; (a)(10)(vi) An appropriate number of smoke detectors are installed and tested regularly; (a)(10)(viii) Indoor and outdoor premises are cleaned daily and kept free of undesirable and hazardous materials and conditions;

6 Safety Checks- Cont. Activities Adults ensure children are engaged in interesting and fun learning activities covering a variety of safety topics. Some methods for facilitating safety activities relating to checklists include: Asking open-ended questions, modeling; Engaging children in fire and tornado drills in order to make the experience as meaningful as possible; Read books/stories relating to drills/safety procedures; Conducting activities and discussions about experiences.

7 Questions? Education Manager Suzanne Tilley Health Services Manager Matilda Elizondo Team Leaders Liz Martinez Jackie Shivers Crystal Andrews Associate Director for Program Development/QA Sebrina Carroll