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DISCIPLINE POLICY
For children
under the age of about 18 months, I find it
most effective to remove the child from the
situation and redirect their attention
elsewhere. Although I will most likely
explain to the child that the offending
behavior was inappropriate, children of this
age are rarely able to fully understand what
they have done. Fortunately, at this age their
attention span is also usually shorter than
with older children, so simply showing them a
different toy or activity usually does the job.
For children of
about age 2 and over, I will alert the child to
the offense by saying firmly "NO", explaining
why the behavior is unacceptable and offering
the child the choice to behave. If the child
chooses not to behave appropriately, I will
first explain to the child why his/her behavior
is not acceptable, and then I will place the
child in the "time-out" chair under isolated
observation for a period of about 1 minute per
year of age. At the end of the time-out, the
child will be asked if he/she understands why
he/she had a time out. I will also encourage
children to apologize to the other child(ren)
involved, when developmentally appropriate.
This method not only stops the offending
behavior, but also teaches the child
consequence, responsibility, and empathy in a
positive manner.
To a point,
kids will be kids - but only as long as the
emotional and physical safety of all of the
children in my care is protected. In the rare
instance that I feel any child in my care has a
serious discipline problem, I will request a
conference with the parent(s). If an
understanding cannot be reached, I reserve the
right to terminate our contract in order to
guarantee the comfort and safety of the other
children in my care.
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CHILD ABUSE
Unfortunately,
this is a topic that must be addressed in
today's society. It should go without saying
that I will not knowingly allow any form of
sexual, physical, or emotional abuse of any
child in my care at any time. This includes
the time that the child is in his/her own
home. on the surface, this may sound like an
invasion of privacy, but I cannot ethically
turn a blind eye toward such abuse.
I think it is
best that we handle it openly and honestly to
avoid any possible misunderstandings. We both
want what is best for our children. Please
feel free to discuss this or any other issues
with me at any time.
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