Finding A Preschool For A Child With A Chronic Illness

6 June 2017
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Finding a good preschool is never easy, but you may have even more concerns when your child is coping with a chronic illness. Here are some questions to ask about any pre kindergarten program you are considering choosing for your child.

How Well Is the Staff Trained?

The first question to ask is what kind of training the staff have. Ideally, they have solid experience and education in early child development. A staff member's education helps them understand how to meet young children's emotional, mental, and social needs. A solid foundation in early child development is most important to understanding children who have unique backgrounds, such as an illness. It will inform how they handle new situations with children. It also helps if the staff has a medical first responder or other medical staff on hand to monitor children's health and medical needs.

How Many Students Does Each Teacher Have?

Another thing that will matter when you have a child with extra needs is that the student to staff ratio is kept low. You want to make sure the pre kindergarten program staff have plenty of time to deliver care to your child without being rushed to attend to the needs of many children at once.

Do They Have an Emergency Plan in Place?

It's a good idea to ask about behavioral responses in case your child has a medical emergency. For example, ask how they would handle an allergic reaction, or a child who was vomiting, or something specific to your child's illness. You can get a sense of whether the staff has the training to deal with any of the scenarios that may arise and how they might communicate with you. Be sure to see what medical providers they would reach out to and what steps they would take first in an urgent situation.

Does the Staff Have a Rapport with the Children?

Caring for a child with a chronic illness takes a lot of patience, understanding, and communication. You'll want to know how in touch the staff is with each child under their care, so you feel confident they will know when your child is not feeling well. It's very important to set up observations to see how staff interact with the children on a daily basis. Having a face-to-face meeting between your child and the staff or teachers that would be looking after them is a great choice to boost your confidence that you've found the right preschool.

Check with a facility like Tender Years Academy Center for more information and tips.