Beginning Years Parent Information

Beginning Years is a Peanut-Free Center

Due to the severe nature of peanut allergies, the difficult task of removing peanut oils from skin and the inability of young children with this allergy to indicate they are having a reaction we are trying to provide the safest environment possible. Please do not bring peanuts, peanut butter sandwiches, crackers, candy, etc., in your child’s lunch box. If your child eats peanut butter at home for breakfast please be aware of trace peanut oils on skin and clothing and wash with soap and water or change clothing before coming to daycare.

COVID-19 Policy

If your child is exposed to COVID-19:

• Notify Beginning Years of all direct exposures
• Watch for symptoms
• Have your child tested if symptoms develop

If your child has a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case:

• Notify Beginning Years of all positive or probable COVID-19 cases
• Keep your child home, for a minimum of 5 days, until symptom-free
• Provide Beginning Years with your child’s negative COVID-19 test results before returning

If a Beginning Years employee has a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case:

• Notify Beginning Years of all positive or probable COVID-19 cases
• Stay home until symptoms improve and you are fever-free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medication.
• When returning to work, wear a well fitting KN95 mask until 10 days after your first day of symptoms

If a COVID-19 case is reported to Beginning Years:

• Beginning Years will inform families of any direct exposures (names of individuals testing positive will be kept confidential)
• Classrooms will remain open provided substitutes are available when needed and attendance is above 50%
• Masks are encouraged, but not required

It is our goal to keep our classrooms staffed and open so you can depend on us as your childcare provider. You can help our teachers and children to remain healthy by keeping your child home if they are sick, having them tested if you suspect COVID-19, and by reporting any COVID-19 cases and direct exposures to Beginning Years as soon as possible. We will promptly communicate any COVID-19 issues so you can make the best decisions for your family.

Illness Policy

Illness can spread through a daycare very quickly. To minimize this problem, please do not bring your child to Beginning Years if he has the following symptoms: temperature of 100 degrees or more, vomiting, severe headache, undiagnosed rash, diarrhea that cannot be contained, a cough accompanied by respiratory tract secretions that cannot be contained, a continually thick green or yellow runny nose, or red and discharging eyes. The child must be 24 hours symptom free without the use of fever-reducing medication and/or 24 hours after antibiotics have been started before returning to Beginning Years. Additionally, children with fever blisters/cold sores will be excluded until the mouth sores are scabbed over as the virus is transmitted through saliva. Please contact the Director about extenuating circumstances and regarding specific policy including but not limited to head lice, hand foot and mouth, and molluscum. If your child becomes ill the parent will be notified immediately. The child will be isolated from others until the parent arrives.

Holidays

Beginning Years will be closed for these holidays: New Year’s Day, MLK Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving and a one week Christmas Break. If one of these holidays falls on the weekend, Beginning Years will be closed on the nationally observed day (either Friday or Monday) and a notice will be posted.

Inclement Weather

If the road conditions are hazardous enough that the Boise School District closes the schools, then Beginning Years will also be closed.

Discipline Policy

Self-control is listed as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:23. At Beginning Years we work toward developing your child’s self-image and self-discipline through loving words and actions. This program will focus on PREVENTING behavior problems by providing an organized physical environment and a variety of age appropriate adult-directed and child-initiated activities and by redirecting a child before the negative behavior arises. At times, however, discipline problems will arise.

It is our goal to deal with these discipline problems in a positive, loving manner. Choices are given to the older children in an effort to teach them to control their own behavior. If a discipline problem should continue, a child may be removed from an activity for a short period of time in order to give him/her the chance to calm down away from the group. A child will never be isolated or left unsupervised. The incident is discussed with the child with the understanding that “I didn’t like what you did, but I still like you.” This restores confidence in the child rather than leaving him/her with a damaged self-image.

If a child exhibits severe behavior problems (i.e., hitting, kicking, biting, etc.) and extreme disciplinary action is needed, the parents will be contacted and asked to work together with Beginning Years in eliminating the undesired behavior. If the staff cannot keep the other children safe because of a child’s escalating behavior, the child will be dropped from the program immediately. Staff is trained with “logical consequences/reality discipline” methods. Our parenting library contains books on these methods that work well in the home too.

If a child cries and is inconsolable for 45 minutes, the parent will be called to take the child home.