Self-Assessment: Health, Safety, and Nutrition

Be concise in answering the statements/questions in each box. The NAEYC criteria for National Accreditation is the basis of this
self-assessment to demonstrate alignment with the Standards and to familiarize students with this national accreditation process.
Describe how you supervise children adequately—by positioning self to see as many children as
possible, how you are aware of children’s location always, how you monitor by sound when children
may be out of visual range (as when using the toilet, etc.).
When supervising children, it is important to try to keep everyone in your view. Do not have your back
towards the children if you can help it. Walking around the environment helps, so you can see what all
children are doing but then also listening when walking as well. This way if you are walking around
and something happens not in front of you, you will be able to turn in the direction of the noise. I like
to count children throughout the day to make sure all children are accounted for. This is the same for
when children are going to the bathroom and out of site. Keeping yourself positioned closest to the
door where you can see the children in the environment and hear the child in the bathroom.
Describe the child tracking procedures you use when moving from one location to another (as in
when going from classroom to outdoor play area).
When moving children from one inside the classroom to the outdoor play area, keeping in constant
communication with the co-teacher about how many kids are lined up at the door, counting the
numbers out loud. This will be done as the children line up, then will be double checked with the
number of children on the clipboard and will be counted again as we enter the outdoor space. This can
also be done by calling off the children’s names but most important make sure you have the correct
amount of kids.

Describe your use of proper hand-washing procedures—list the times when you wash your own
hands and when you assist children in washing their hands.
The proper hand washing procedure wetting your hands with water, apply soap, scrub your hands for
20 seconds, rinse hands, dry hands with paper towel, and then shut the water off with paper towel in
hand.
A teacher should be washing their hands after using the bathroom, after playing outdoors or in sensory
bins, handling animals or cleaning cages/tanks, after coughing or sneezing into hands or blowing your
nose, before and after eating, before handling food, after taking care of a sick child or cleaning up
messes from children (feces, vomit, blood), after changing a diaper, and after taking out the garbage.
Children should be assisted with washing their hands from the time they are able to hold their head up
consistently until they have the hand washing procedure down. Teachers can still “assist” by walking
older children through the hand washing steps.

Describe a schedule for cleaning and sanitizing and what it means to use universal precautions—
including cleaning and sanitizing of surfaces, use of gloves and barriers to minimize contact with body
fluids, cleaning spills as they occur, cleaning and sanitizing toys that have been mouthed or exposed to
body fluids.
If you have open sores, cover them up. Always wear gloves when handling any type of bodily fluid.
Make sure the gloves are disposable so they can be tossed into the trash without the fluid touching your
skin. Wash hands with soapy water for at least 20 seconds. Hands should be washed after handling
bodily fluids, going to the bathroom, before preparing and eating foods, and after wearing gloves.
Bodily fluids should be cleaned up with bleach (1 part) and water (9 parts). Paper towels should be
used and then thrown in a garbage bag to be disposed of. Use caution when getting rid of garbage bags
that may have infectious materials or used needles. If items of clothing are soiled, wash them right
away in hot soapy water and then a hot dry.

Describe your process for being aware of children’s special health care needs, nutrition needs or
allergies, etc. Do you conduct daily health checks as children arrive? If yes, what do you look for? If
no, why not?
During a child’s initial intake, special health care needs related to nutrition and allergies are asked. The
teacher keeps in constant contact with the parents. On arrival, asking if the child has had breakfast and
what they have had and when they leave for the day talking about lunch and/or snack if something
new. If there is an allergy, post it where the cook and other teachers in that classroom can look to see if
the child is able to eat a certain food. If a reaction happens during the day, a call to the caregiver is
made to inform and see what the next steps should be. Upon arrival, teacher inspects the child’s face
and arms or any showing skin, if there is a rash or something unusual, ask the parent about it.

Describe the process for administering medication or applying sunscreen or other products. What do
you do to follow licensing requirements for administering and logging?
A caregiver needs to fill out a medication form, stating what the medication is, how it should be
administered, where it should be administered, and when it should be administered. After the
medication is administered, it should be written down in a medication log book, noting the time and
how much was given.

Give some examples of how you use care routines such as toileting, meal and nap routines as
opportunities to build relationships, language, concepts (food classification, nutrition, healthy
living, manners, etc.) and to build child’s self-awareness, social interaction and self-help skills.
When children are getting ready to use the bathroom or wash their hands before meal time, they need
to stand in a line. We talk about being polite and waiting our turn, hands are kept to ourselves, and
conversation is okay with others in line but needs to be at an inside voice level.
When children are sitting down to eat, I sit down at the table as well and talk with the children about
what they are eating. Sometimes I bring different food for myself and talk about what I am eating as
well. We also talk about manners and how you ask for something at the other end of the table. “Friend,
may you please pass the milk?” I talk about how it is not polite to reach over someone’s food. I also
talk about using our silverware/utensils when eating, unless what we are having is finger food (pizza,
fries, etc.).
Describe what you do during meal/snack times. Do you sit with children and promote children’s
feeding skills and social interactions? If yes, how do you? If no, why not?
During snack time, the plates, utensils, and napkins are set out on the table at each spot for a child.
After children wash their hands, they come sit at a spot and eat family style, meaning they are serving
themselves. My co-teacher and I sit at each table and have conversation with the children, sometimes
about snack and sometimes about other things. I am also modeling for the children how to properly eat
and have good table manners.

Describe what you do to handle and serve food using proper safety precautions and sanitary
techniques.
Children in my program typically serve themselves. Bowls of foods and spoons are set out in the
middle of the table. If children are to young to serve themselves, I wear gloves and serve them. I make
sure to not switch the spoons into different bowls so there is no cross contamination.
Describe the clean-up routine—how do you encourage children to participate in daily clean up and
maintenance of the classroom?
When cleaning up in the classroom, we play a clean up song. If some children are not participating, I
ask them for help telling them I don’t know where things go, and I really need their help. Children
usually respond well to this, as they feel needed. I will also sometimes just assign jobs for children.

Describe the toileting routine—how do you help children use the toilet following good health and
hygiene practices?
When children go into use the toilet the door is left open just a crack so the teacher can hear if help is
needed but still allows privacy. On the wall is a marked line underneath the toilet paper, so children
know how much toilet paper then need to don’t use to much. After children pull up their pants, they
flush the toilet and then go to the sink to follow the handwashing procedures. When they open the
door, I ask if they flushed and washed. You can usually tell by there faces if they have or have not done
those things. For younger children, the teacher can assist the children and guide them through the
directions of what to do.

Describe the nap time routine—what do you do to follow licensing regulations and meet children’s
need for rest? What do you do if a child does not sleep at nap time?
Children go down on there mats after they have washed up from lunch, gone to the bathroom, and
washed their hands again. Children’s mats are at least two feet apart from each other but usually more.
Calming music is playing softly. If the children do not fall asleep after an hour, they are able to get up
and do a quiet activity at the table (playdough, puzzles, etc.)