Covid-19

I keep Greenhouse Preschool and my policies in compliance with guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF), and the Washington Administrative Codes (WACs). Links to all 3 are included below the FAQs.

FAQ

For which symptoms must a child be kept home?

Interim exclusion guidelines during these times require children to stay home if they exhibit any of the following:

  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Fever of 100.4 or higher, or chills
  • Headache, muscle aches, or body aches
  • Abnormal fatigue
  • Sore throat
  • New loss of taste or smell
  • Congestion or runny nose
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Children who express that they generally feel unwell

What happens if a child shows symptoms while in care?

If a child displays any of the symptoms above (and I will take the temperature of any child whom I suspect may be feeling unwell), they the child will be kindly distanced from peers while I contact their parents and arrange for their immediate pick up. Everything the child has used will be sanitized and/or removed from play as much as possible.

How long must children stay home if they show symptoms?

I have attached links below to the DOH and DCYF guidance on testing, quarantine, and isolation. These have been subject to frequent change over the last couple years, and I will stay in compliance with necessary requirements.

How do I minimize the likelihood of my child being sent home when they aren’t truly sick?

I understand that deciding when to keep a child home can be a difficult decision. Often children have occasional coughs, slight congestion or runny noses, or feel slightly ‘blah’ or ‘fatigued’ when there is nothing medically wrong. As inconvenient as it is to adjust your schedule to keep a child home, it is my job to minimize the spread of ANY contagious illnesses among the children, thereby ensuring maximum health and attendance for all families. I encourage families to read my attached links (to DOH and DCYF protocol) in order to determine when allergy medication, negative COVID tests, children’s medicine, inhalers, or notes from pediatricians could help your child maximize attendance while ensuring health and safety for the group. Thank you for your help in serving the whole community.

Who has to wear masks and when?

As of Spring 2022, the mask mandate is lifted and no one needs to wear masks. If the mandate resumes, I would comply as I did before, by wearing and requiring masks. Currently, I am delighted to not wear a mask anymore because it does hinder communication, emotional expression and bonding. Children, especially, benefit from full-faced human interaction.

How are you cleaning the school environment?

DCYF has always had thorough standards of maintaining sanitation in child care settings, as the risk of children spreading germs among one another is nothing new (see WAC link below for detailed examples of cleaning and sanitizing that I do). All childcares have been required to comply with these strict guidelines pre-COVID-19. Due to COVID-19, ‘abundance of caution’ requires that all soft surfaces are laundered daily instead of weekly (children’s individual bedding, couch cover, most other soft surfaces have been temporarily removed from use). Bathroom, tables, chairs, play items and high-touch surfaces are cleaned, sanitized and disinfected multiple times daily as they always have been. Windows and ventilation allow ample fresh air as much as weather allows.

What hygiene practices are modeled, taught and upheld with children?

Handwashing is taught, modeled, often supervised, and readdressed with individual children as necessary (i.e. if I see or notice that they are skipping steps or ‘forgetting’). Clear, simplified visuals steps are presented in the bathroom in direct view of the sink. We read books, sing songs, have puppetry and role play examples to explain the purpose and importance of proper handwashing. Automatic foaming soap dispenser is used, and individual paper towels are used; as these products ensure that children are not sharing a ‘wet source’.

I’ve made a video of many of these basics practices, songs, and games:

I’ve also read aloud my FAVORITE germ and handwashing book:

While adults are being encouraged to count to 30 during this pandemic, I find that this distracts the children (they end up not washing properly because they are so focused on counting). Preferably, teach your child to perform these steps well (with common reminders in parenthesis):

  1. Water all over (BOTH hands all the way wet)
  2. Soap all over (do not wash off the soap immediately. Rub fronts and backs of both hands and in-between fingers)
  3. Water all over (rinse all soap off)
  4. Dry (the point is not simply to crumple up the paper towel into a ball and throw it away, USE it to soak up all the wet on the front, back and in between fingers)

Children are taught and reminded to cover all coughs and sneezes in their ELBOWS (not hands). Tissues are available and children learn to wash after blowing their noses. If children pick noses or stick fingers in their mouths (this is common and age-appropriate) they are kindly reminded to wash their hands. This practical expectation usually does reduce the frequency of these behavior simply because the child learn that they would rather not have their play interrupted.

Children ABSOLUTELY do better if these expectations are upheld consistently at home. These skills are age-appropriate, ethical, and your child is absolutely capable.

Parents, I know you can’t be everywhere at once – so here is the **TEACHER TECHNIQUE** for mastering this: If I cannot see if a child washed but they came out of the bathroom suspiciously quickly… I’ll ask to smell their hands. If a child washed, I can smell the soap and I thank them. If they did not wash, they immediately put their hands behind their backs, grin sheepishly at me and say “oops, I forgot”. I remind them of the health importance and then I IMMEDIATELY SUPERVISE them doing it thoroughly. Through this practice, the children who truly didn’t know how to wash are supported in learning the skill, and the children who are intentionally trying to take this shortcut learn this strategy is ineffective, followed up on, and ends up taking them more time. All children benefit. No shame or punishment is necessary – it is human nature to try to experiment with shortcuts out of activities we don’t enjoy. As parents and teachers, it is our job to ensure that they do not solidify this shortcut by getting away with it. Instead, we uphold calm, consistent expectations and help them build a positive habit through UNDERSTANDING the importance of hygiene.

LINKS TO REGULATORY AGENCIES which Greenhouse Preschool complies with:

Department of Health: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/DOH-OSPI-DYCF-SchoolsChildCareGuidance.pdf

Department of Children Youth and Families: https://dcyf.wa.gov/coronavirus-covid-19/early-learning

Washington Administrative Codes that pertain to childcare (110-300-0200 through 110-300-110-300-0245 are the most relevant for addressing cleaning and sanitizing):  https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=110-300&full=true