Do you remember your life pre-covid? Do you remember when your children used to tell you different incidents and narrate stories to you when they came back from the day-care? Well, speaking on behalf of the entire staff and support staff at Ipsaa day care , we too miss our children and having to share our moments of joy with them daily. Let’s all hope we see each other again soon in good health!
Talking about health, I am sure that as parents, most of you have guided your children towards the importance of washing hands. Whether it’s singing “happy birthday” during the hand wash routine or just talking to your child about the importance of washing hands, good health or health education is not only linked to washing hands: it also includes eating right, keeping yourself hydrated and exercise.
When a child comes to the center he/she is exposed to the world outside their home. The child must be on their feet and see for themselves what awaits them in their world called the “day-care”. As a pre-school; our topmost priority is making the day care healthy for the child to be in and to explore. In times like covid, it is imperative to plan ahead for our children and their futures in the day care. Inculcating a routine in the center will not only make the child pick up the good habits first hand but also learning by doing. Good habits and cleanliness routines have always been a part of our curriculum. Now more than ever, we feel the base of all that we do in the center is cleanliness. A proper sanitized center that complies with all the health guidelines will never face difficulty in its functioning and as a result the children will be happy and safe. Currently, if we focus on the need of the hour then we will also come to a conclusion that we need to focus more on good health habits rather than just the teaching learning routine.
Let me point out a very important thing here, none of us are healthcare professionals but because we work in a field where we are responsible for our little ones, abiding by the correct norms is always seen as the most important step for us. When the children come back to the centers they will be told about the importance of staying healthy especially during these trying times. We must not forget that the children are too young so burdening them with excess information may also work in the reverse for us. At a primary level, the children coming to us in our centers spanning across India, should be treated with utmost responsibility and care. A curriculum that has all the important guidelines to leading a healthy life should be mentioned clearly and with defined principles for the teachers to teach the children. These children should be taught about the importance of health through different rhymes, stories and fun activities. As we all know that the children have hardly enjoyed any physical activities because they have been inside their homes for this long, we ,as a pre- school, must try to integrate health education with physical activities. By this I mean having the children engaged in different activities that will keep them busy and make them enjoy the day-care more. Sensitization begins at home. Since many of you parents are already doing this at home, we must take it forward from there in our centers. The right download for our teachers will work in the betterment of the children as well. Before, a specific and broad subject like health education was given importance but it was not the base of everything. Now, the teacher must take notice of the number of children who will play together, the toys they play with and the children to play with their own toys.
To conclude, the teachers, and the parents must work together as a community to help achieve high standards of health for the children. https://ipsaa.in/gurgaon/
I hope we meet soon, in high spirits!
