Small Treasures
Child Care
Small Treasures Philosophy
The
program focus is to provide a warm, nurturing and stimulating home environment
for children to grow and develop socially, emotionally, physically and
cognitively. Small Treasures strives to form relationships between
parents, children and provider that are built around a core of cooperation, understanding,
and open communication.
It is
my belief that children learn through play. Each child will develop and blossom
at his/her own pace, given the right environment. In keeping with this
philosophy, most of the artwork your child does will be open ended. We do have
craft projects, but the children are encouraged to do as much of the work as
they can by themselves so that the end product is truly their own creation.
About Small Treasures
Small
Treasures is a state licensed and nationally accredited family child care home,
approved to serve up to 10 children.
Small
Treasures provides the unique opportunity for children to learn and grow in a
home environment, which exposes the children to a variety of experiences that
help them with important skills such as cooperation, problem solving, and
negotiation. These are lessons that they will carry with them for the
rest of their lives.
Small
Treasures is child-directed and provider-supported in its planning of
activities. Through meaningful one-on-one conversations, children learn
that their thoughts, feelings and opinions are valued and respected. This
program is designed for attendance from infancy through school age.
Small
Treasures is licensed (#2082384), through the Department of Early Education and
Care, located at
References
Whitney
Newman 617.364.8188
Donna
Dickerson 617.696.2834
Cathy
Cunliffe 802.464.1153
Small Treasures Director: Ruth Baltopoulos
Ruth
is the mother of 2 daughters -- Zina, age 24 and
Experience & Affiliations
Ruth
has 20+ years child care experience, 30+ years experience in business
management, and a lifetime of experience with the mentally & physically
challenged (older sibling), Nationally Accredited in 1997 (and one of the first
to be accredited in MA), First Aid Certification, Infant & Child CPR
Certification, Member of the National Association for Family Child Care; Mentor
and Referral Coordinator for the Milton Area Family Child Care Association, and
Member of the Advisory Council of the Milton Early Childhood Alliance.
Small
Treasures computes a weekly fee based on your contracted schedule. The
hourly rate used to determine your weekly fee will be: Full-time care 40 hours or
more for toddlers (over 24 months) / $6.00; Part-time of 20 to 39
hours or infant care for any number of hours / $7.00; Part-time care for
any age less than 20 hours / $8.00. A
late fee of $5.00 per each 15 minute increment shall be charged when parents
arrive beyond the contracted time.
Financial Responsibilities
Tuition
fees are to be paid every Monday morning. Checks should be made out to Ruth
Baltopoulos. There is a basket just inside the childcare entrance
in which your fee should be deposited. If your child is not scheduled on
a Monday, you are vacationing, or if Small Treasures will be closed for a
holiday/vacation, please deposit your fee ahead of time in the form of a
postdated check. A $15 fee will be charged for checks received
late. A $25 fee will be charged for checks that do not clear the bank and
cash payments may be required in the future.
Holidays, absences, the child's vacations, emergency closures or delays
due to inclement weather do not affect fees. Parents are responsible for
payments 52 weeks a year.
Taxes
Employee
Identification number for filing purposes: 04-3081674
Vacation Time 2009 - 2010
Small
Treasures will close for (4) weeks each year. All parents who have
children registered for 2009-2010 are financially responsible for these
closings. The weeks taken will be:
*December 28th thru January 1st *
*April 19th thru April 23rd *
*June 28th thru July 2nd *
*August 30th thru Sept 3rd *
On
the infrequent occasions that Small Treasures must close early, the date will
be posted as far in advance as possible.
Small
Treasures will be closed on the following holidays:
Labor
Day, September 7th New
Years Day, January 1st
Columbus
Day, October 12th MLK,
Jr. Day, January 18th
Veterans Day, November 11th Presidents
Day, February 15th
Thanksgiving, November 26th & 27th Memorial Day,
May 31st
Christmas, December 24th & 25th Independence
Day, July 5th
Small
Treasures celebrates a variety of holidays with the children through crafts,
songs, foods, stories, etc. If parents celebrate a holiday that they feel
may be of interest to the group please speak with the director.
Sick/Bereavement Time
The
Director is allowed a total of (12) sick days per annual contract period (one
per month). Please be aware that these will not be used except in
the case of extreme illness. Small Treasures has had only four instances
of closure due to illness in the past 20+ years. In the case of
Bereavement, three days will be taken to attend services.
Attendance/Schedules
If
a child is absent for any reason or will be late arriving, please call within 1
hour of your expected arrival time. Parents are requested to call after 7:00AM
or before 9:00PM, although emergency calls are always accepted. Parents
are requested to give at least 2 weeks notice of any vacation time or optional
absences. Whenever possible, two weeks
notice will be given if personal time off is needed for the Director.
Parents should
be timely and adhere to their contracted schedule. Please do not arrive prior
to or later than your contracted arrival and departure times without consulting
with the Director for additional paid time. If you need to deviate from your
contracted time, please contact the Director to discuss
options. Small Treasures reserves the right to spontaneity,
and may schedule outings around the day’s anticipated drop-off and pick-up schedule.
Unscheduled
visits or impromptu early pick-ups are welcome with the realization that you
may not find us here! Parents may permanently change their schedule with
Provider approval and upon the signing of a revised contract. Pick up
beyond your contracted schedule will result in a $5 fee for every 5
minutes or increment thereof. A bill will be given to you indicating the
charge, and this fee should be paid in cash before the start of the next week.
Small
Treasures is open Monday Friday from 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Arrangements can
be made for early drop-off or late pick-up at the Directors discretion with a
rate of $10.00 per hour or increment thereof. In the event of an
emergency closure or delay, parents will be notified between 6:30 and 7:30
AM.
** Note **
Small
Treasures follows the
Drop-off / Pick-up
Please
make drop-off and pick-up times short and sweet for the benefit of the entire
group. Small Treasures may have a two
hour range of drop-offs and pick-ups at either end of the day and prolonged transitions
serve as a substantial delay to our schedule.
A warm hug and kiss and a clear good-bye or greeting generally works
best. When a new child is beginning
care, exception will be made as needed. Authorize pick-up persons are listed on your
child’s registration packet, and written permission is required to release your
child to anyone other than those listed on the enrollment form. If I have not
met the person who is to pick up your child, please let them know that I will
need to see a picture ID before I can release your child to them. If for some reason one of the child’s parents
is not allowed to pick the child up I will need a copy of the court order for
the child’s file. Without a court order I cannot legally refuse to release a
child to his/her parent. If you
are going to be late due to an unforeseen or emergency situation, please
call. Children learn very quickly in
what order everyone leaves and very often will become upset when their parent
does not arrive on time.
Parent Involvement
All
families are invited to schedule a time to share a planned activity with the
group at Small Treasures. Once the schedule is made, it will be the
parents' responsibility to make any necessary changes and notify the
Director. All parents are welcome to spend a day at Small Treasures
experiencing time with your child, and the group as a whole.
Discipline
A
safe, loving environment is important to keep children happy and healthy. There will be no corporal punishment used at
Small Treasures. Hitting and or name
calling is not allowed. If a child is
misbehaving s/he will be redirected to an appropriate activity with positive
messages such as, “we sit on the couch” or “we walk in the house”. If a child is having consistent trouble
getting along in the group, s/he may play by themselves at the table for a time
until they feel ready to rejoin the group. If a child is hurting someone else s/he
will be removed to time out for a short “cooling off” period which will not
exceed 1 minute per year of the child’s age.
Most
children respond very well to these methods, however if a child’s behavior is
consistently dangerous to him/herself or the other children a conference with parents
may be scheduled in an attempt to form consistent strategies to improve the
situation. If the behavior cannot be resolved it may result in termination of
childcare.
Appropriate Clothing
All
children should arrive for care dressed appropriately for outdoor play.
Unless it is raining or extremely cold, we will spend time outside every
day. When the weather prevents us from going out we more than likely
will be doing an art or craft activity. The children will get dirty. We will
also need a complete change of clothes to be kept here in case of toileting
accidents or spills. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that the
clothes kept here are appropriate for the season and have not been outgrown.
Emergency Policy
In
the event there is an emergency or injury to your child you will be notified
immediately. If you cannot be reached, the emergency contact person(s) on your
child’s enrollment forms will be called. If neither the parents nor the
emergency contact person(s) can be reached, and your child requires medical
attention, the Director will transport your child to the nearest hospital or
call an ambulance, depending on the severity of the injury.
If
the Director needs to leave the premises to accompany a child to the hospital, an
emergency back up person (Darlene Dever or Kathy Rea) will be called to stay
with the other children. All parents will be notified so that children can be
picked up as soon as possible. For this reason it is very important that you be
available, as well as immediately notify the Director of any changes to your
work/home phone number or those of your emergency contact persons.
If
there is a fire on the child care premises, the children will be evacuated by
the nearest exit and meet at the oak tree by the swing set. The Director’s mobile phone, or a neighbor’s
home phone, will be used to call emergency personal and all parents.
In
the event of a major emergency or natural disaster, your child will be
evacuated to the Milton High School Field House on
Illness Policy
For
the health and safety of everyone, I do not accept ill children into childcare.
If your child has a fever, is vomiting, has diarrhea or any other contagious
illness, with the exception of mild cold symptoms, s/he will not be accepted
into care. Please call within one hour of your usual arrival time if your child
will not be attending childcare.
If
your child becomes sick with any of the above symptoms during the day you will
be notified and you are expected to make arraignments to pick your child up
within 1 hour of notification. Any child
sent home from childcare because of illness, may not return until his/her
temperature has been normal without the aid of a fever reducing medication for
at least 24 hours and all other symptoms have been gone for at least 12 hours. If the Director is sick, or becomes ill
during child care and cannot provide care for your child, parents will be notified
as soon as possible so that alternate arraignments can be made.
The Dept.
of Early Education and Care requires written permission for the administration
of all medication, and a log will be kept.
Written permission will include: date and time medication is to be
given, correct dosage, name of medication, and the parent or guardian’s
signature. An annual permission form may be signed for nonprescription diaper
ointments, insect repellent and sunscreen. Medication permission forms are
available on request.
All
medications, prescription or nonprescription, topical or oral, must be provided
by the parents. All medications must be
in the original packaging and prescription medications must be in the
containers in which they were originally dispensed, with the original labels
affixed, showing the child’s name, dosage, and date, and must be administered
exactly as directed on the label unless authorized in writing by the child’s
licensed health care practitioner.
SIDS Practices
Small
Treasures practices SIDS risk reduction practices, including sleeping infants
on their backs in an individual crib, portacrib, or bassinet, without pillows,
comforters, stuffed animals or other soft, padded materials.
Small
Treasures will provide breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks. Parents are
requested not to send food with their children. All meals follow USDA
guidelines for proper nutrition. For children not yet on table food, parents
are required to supply formula and baby food. Small Treasures welcomes mothers
providing breast milk for their child. Infant cereal will be mixed with
formula, water or juice, but not breast milk.
Communication Sources
Upon entry into the program, Small Treasures
requires a register of information on each child to be kept on file, which may
include custody agreements, court orders or restraining orders. Parents are responsible for giving Small Treasures any
information that could be relevant to the health and safety of their child, or
others, such as: change in address and phone number for home or parents work,
contagious illness in the family, and any incidents which could affect the
child's behavior. Updates of the child's records will be done annually.
Small
Treasures will email a Daily Information sheet recording the menu and events of
the day. General information for parents, reminders, and memos will be
found on the bulletin boards directly inside the childcare entrance.
Please check this area daily. Parents are requested to communicate
any concerns, questions, comments, or impending vacations/scheduling
changes.
Child
Educators are mandated reporters, and as such, must by law report suspected
child abuse or neglect to the Department of Social Services.
General Supplies
Each
child should have on hand in his/her cubby:
¨ a complete change of
season appropriate clothing (parents should check frequently to ensure clothing
is the correct size/season)
¨ diapers and wipes (if
needed)
¨ a cozy blanket
¨ slippers
¨ sunscreen – (in the
summertime) children should have sunscreen applied by parent before, or at,
arrival. Sunscreen will be reapplied
when necessary in the p.m.
¨ a family photograph
which can be laminated
Diaper Supplies
Parents
are responsible for supplying disposable diapers for their child. In
addition, they should supply wet ones (box style), and powder or diaper rash
ointment if needed. Soiled laundry will be sent home in a plastic bag for
laundering and should be replaced on the next scheduled day.
Toilet Training
Toilet
training is a major milestone and there is no magic age of readiness. Some
signs are: waking up from nap with a dry diaper, willingness to sit on the
potty, and showing an interest in others using the potty. Parents should spend a weekend working on the
process at home when they feel the child is ready. After having success over
two days, and having discussed it with the Director, children may attend in
thick training pants. It is suggested
that an extra change or two of clothing and training pants are sent in during
the beginning phase. Please do not
bring your child into care in training pants or underwear without first having
a discussion with the Director.
Children
may not bring toys from home, unless they have been invited to for a special
occasion such as Show and Tell, Teddy Bear Picnic, etc.
Nap Time
Small
Treasures will provide sheets and blankets, nap mats or playpens, and provide each child with an individual
nap space. Naptime for infants is based upon their personal
schedules.
Afternoon
rest time is from 1:00 - 3:30, although this may deviate based on daily
schedules and events. All children who are not attending school are
required to lie down at this time. Because our mornings are very busy and our
day starts early, even children who do not rest at home will very often sleep
here. Please do not request that a child be kept up/awake.
The
telephone answering machine may pick up calls during busy/nap times.
Parents may leave a message and the call will be returned as soon as possible.
When
children have water play indoors or outdoors there will always be direct
supervision. During, hot weather children may have access to a sprinkler
and/or wading pools in the yard.
Forms, Permissions & Authorization
Enrollment
forms must be completed and accompany your child on their first day of care. Physical
and immunization forms should be completely by the Pediatrician and arrive within
4 weeks of your child’s enrollment date.
All forms must be updated annually. Please notify me of any changes to
the information on the enrollment forms so that I can keep them current. Failure
to return your child’s forms may result in termination of care.
A
child will be released only to authorized persons on record by verbal or
written consent. Children will be released to unauthorized persons with
written permission only. Children must arrive and depart the premises in
the appropriate car seat/belt as dictated by law.
A
permission form will be signed by all parents to acknowledge that I am at times
required to accompany children between a transportation vehicle and the
home. Children may be left unsupervised
for brief periods of time, on the child care level, in a safe environment, with
the house in view at all times.
In
the event of an emergency or disaster where children needed to be transported,
Small Treasures would do so either by foot/stroller or in a vehicle.
Parent-Provider Conferences/Progress Reports
Conferences
may be scheduled for each child under school age periodically, at the
discretion of the Director and/or parents and based on the needs of the
specific child. Progress of children will be handled by direct
communication on a daily or as needed basis.
Additionally, a written progress report will be generated every 3 months
for infants or children with special needs, every six months for
toddlers/preschoolers, and annually for school age children. Small Treasures seeks to be your partner in
working with your child, with the conference designed to be a time of mutual
sharing, discussion and goal setting. Times will be available for both
evening and daytime meetings.
Attached
you will find a sample daily schedule. Children learn the routine quickly and
judge time by what we are doing. Keeping to a basic schedule is very comforting;
therefore, meals and certain activities are done at the same time daily. Free
play, outdoor activities, and arts and craft activities are much more flexible
and depend on the weather and the mood of the children. Children are not
required to participate in arts and craft activities. Every effort will be made
to include everyone in the activities but free play is always an option during
these times.
Television
is kept to a minimum. We may have a short TV time daily (PBS only) while I
prepare lunch or snacks. Occasionally, if we have an extended period of
inclement weather, we might watch a short learning or sing-a-long video.
Birthday/Holiday Policy
Children’s
birthdays and various holidays are observed at Small Treasures. Parents
are invited to provide treats. Small Treasures will provide the paper
goods for all celebrations and parties. We have a no gift policy!
A
non-refundable deposit of a week’s tuition will be required to hold a slot for
your child.
